Not quite. A lottery is ergodic, while a pandemic is not. No one can know the course of a pandemic early on, so the precautionary principle dominates. Also,

Not quite. A lottery is ergodic, while a pandemic is not. No one can know the course of a pandemic early on, so the precautionary principle dominates. Also, income/employment is coupled to the market. If the market tanks out, people can lose their jobs, given the downturn a double whammy for "buy and hold"ers. Personally, I jumped into cash/Treasuries and made some puts/bets on SPY. In the worst case, nothing happens and I'm out a little money. But my job pays me more money every week, so being out a little money isn't such a big deal.