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‘This might be bad’

Another day, another bracing warning from health officials about the coronavirus. Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Americans should prepare for a wider outbreak in the U.S., leading to another severe sell-off in markets.

It’s a matter of when, not if, the coronavirus will spread, said Nancy Messonnier, the director of the C.D.C.’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad,” she said. “Disruption to everyday life might be severe.”

Officials are preparing to shield the economy, with the Federal Reserve vice chair Richard Clarida warning that the disruptions now centered in China “could spill over to the rest of the global economy.” He said it was too soon to speculate about the potential effects of the outbreak, suggesting that the Fed is not yet prepared to act.

• Traders, however, are betting that the Fed will cut rates sooner rather than later, with futures markets implying a 30 percent chance of a cut at the central bank’s meeting in March, 60 percent in April and near certainty that benchmark rates will be lower by the summer.