[ExI] biggest winners in the shutdown

[The Avantguardian]

On Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 08:54:29 PM PDT, spike jones via extropy-chat <=
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:=20

> As the nation (and the world) begins re-opening shops and businesses, I b=
egan wondering today who would be the least happy about it.=C2=A0 Who were =
the biggest winners during the shutdown?

[snip]

> Insurance is a betting game: in a sense we bet we will have an accident, =
they are betting we will not, so if we have an accident, we win that bet (h=
ell of a bet to win, ja?)=C2=A0 If you don't put your chips on the table, y=
ou cannot win.=C2=A0 So... their revenue would be down some, but their payo=
uts would be down more.=C2=A0 So they win during the shutdown.

>Anyone other big winners during the shutdown?
------------------------------------
I might have simply overlooked it previously, but it seems that Zoom.com we=
nt from a relatively obscure website / software to being one of the most po=
pular in the world practically overnight. How they handled that huge upsurg=
e in traffic without crashing is actually kind of impressive. I think Micro=
soft Teams is another killer app for those working or schooling from home d=
uring the pandemic. I imagine Amazon's quarterly earnings report will be pr=
etty good. Online media streaming services like Netflix and such are probab=
ly busier than ever.

Lots of biotech companies and commercial medical labs are probably=C2=A0 bu=
sier than ever with all the demand for diagnostic testing. If there is any =
credence to the lipstick effect, then I imagine cosmetic companies and othe=
r purveyors of low cost luxury goods are probably surging right now. Ditto =
fitness gear like running shoes and the like.

I know I am missing a lot but that is all I can think of for now.

Stuart LaForge