According to the latest count, 126,000 people have been infected by COVID-19 worldwide, 68,000 have recovered and 4,600 have died, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. (Photos by DTN and courtesy of the CDC)

OMAHA (DTN) -- The metaphoric "black swan" known as the coronavirus has swooped in and quickly put a hold on daily American life and routines and continued pummeling both commodity and stock markets on Thursday.

Soybeans hit a new nine-month low in the May contract with a 13 1/4 cent drop to land at $8.59. November soybeans were down 13 3/4 cents as well. May corn closed down 8 3/4 cents on Thursday, also hitting its contract low at $3.65. December corn was down 5 1/4 cents as well.

"Meal and oats were the only things with tiny gains on the day, but everything else was just a bloodbath of red across the entire commodity board Thursday," said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. He added that the downturn does not appear as severe long term as the 2008 market crash, but the downward market moves have been swift. "It's the uncertainty of when can we resume life again on any normal -- or quasi-normal -- scale."

There may be no great strategy when such a rapid price collapse happens, but it highlights the value of risk management. A few weeks ago, Hultman pointed out the value of buying soybean puts.

"A lot of people poo-poo buying options or that sort of thing, but here is a perfect example of a risk that could not be anticipated ahead of time," Hultman said. "In retrospect, it looks pretty good to buy a put option for 3 or 4 cents a bushel, which is almost nothing compared to the risk we are seeing right now."

DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart noted the mixed signals in livestock, given live cattle contracts were down the $3 limit while cash hogs were up slightly, 5 cents at an average of $54.04. Stewart said the commodity markets are following the stock market down, but people still need food.

"I think that's a lot of the fear of it, but that's completely against all of the facts of it," Stewart said. "Even as we're evaluating this, people are still eating and still consuming."

U.S. oil prices also dropped 4.5% to end at $31.50 a barrel. April ethanol was down 4.1 cents a gallon Thursday to $1.181. That is down from $1.241 last Friday's close, and Thursday's close is the lowest close for spot ethanol since 2005.

The tumble in stocks has come fast and furiously. On Feb. 12, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was sitting at 29,551 points, looking like it was ready to crest 30,000 for the first time ever. Stock trading was temporarily halted for the second time in a week, but the downslide continued when trading resumed. At closing Thursday, the Dow hit 21,200 points and had fallen 10%, the largest one-day decline since 1987. The Dow has lost 28% of its value in three weeks. The S&P 500 is down 27% since its peak on Feb. 19.

Trying to stem the losses, the Federal Reserve on Thursday stepped in again, deciding to add $1.5 trillion into funds banks lend to each other through Friday. The Fed also announced it will buy $60 billion in Treasury bonds over the next month.