Coronavirus and the Economy: It Isn't Over Yet

Just when we thought the worst was behind us, coronavirus is back with a vengeance this week. Several U.S. states, including Florida, Texas, and California, are now reporting record daily case numbers.

The sudden spike in infections comes on the heels of both loosened quarantine restrictions and massive nationwide protests. The political left wants to blame reopenings, while the political right wants to blame everyone who took to the streets. As far as we’re concerned, though, it doesn’t matter.

Whatever the cause, the fact is that coronavirus is back in the news cycle, and economic forecasters are once again left scratching their heads as to how this all turns out. We’re still months out from even the chance of a working vaccine, and that has left much of the economy paralyzed or at least stuck in limbo. 

At this point, there are a lot of people who are simply over it already. They figure the virus is out there and if they get it, they get it. No sense in hiding under a rock for the rest of our lives; let’s just get back to normal already. There are still plenty of people, though, who think we need to maintain serious caution. They may fear for their own lives or the lives of their family. Neither of these positions are without any merit.

So long as a significant portion of the population is left feeling afraid, though, we will continue to face a degree of economic disruption. This has all been going on for nearly six months now, still with no end in sight. And yet, U.S. stocks, somehow, are flirting with record highs as I type. We should all find this disconnect concerning.

Until now, the economy has been buoyed almost entirely by aggressive stimulus measures and monetary injection, but this model is only sustainable for so long. We can either let the current stimulus package expire (enhanced unemployment benefits are due to expire by July 31), or we can run another round, further diminishing the value of the U.S. dollar.

It seems that very few investors want to swallow the pill that there’s going to be some more pain ahead. We’re acting as if we just plug our ears and keep chugging along, this recession will disappear and everything will get back to normal. The truth is we may just be delaying the inevitable.

This, of course, doesn’t mean it’s time for investors to completely cash out, but rebalancing your portfolio will be essential if you want to prepare for what’s coming. Part of that process means a higher allocation of cash and gold, but it also means finding stocks that are likely to benefit from this uniquely disrupted economy.

Back in March, we published our monthly issue of Technology and Opportunity, highlighting five stocks to buy in the wake of the coronavirus market meltdown. Here’s how all five of those stocks have performed since then:

Comparably, the S&P 500 is up 27.55% in the same time frame, meaning that every single one of our picks beat the market’s most prominent index. Either we got incredibly lucky, or we know how to pick stocks. I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Of course, if you’re not a member of Technology and Opportunity, you can’t rewind the clock and make money on these five stocks like many of our members already have. But the good news is that we feature new stock picks every issue and are constantly putting out reports with actionable information for investors.

This includes our latest coronavirus stock report, which includes two vaccine developers and one little-known medical device company. It also includes our new report on three robotics stocks, which I expect to perform incredibly well in this new age of social distancing.

If you’re unsure of how to move forward in the current investing environment, this is definitely a good place to start. We’re offering these reports for free, through this special offer here.

Until next time,

Jason Stutman

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