Stocks Down For The Day, But Record Their Best Month In Decades

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today

Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President

Stocks Down For The Day, But Record Their Best Month In Decades Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower yesterday, but the Dow and the S&P had their best month in 33 years, while the Nasdaq had its best month in 20 years. For April, the Dow was up 11.08%, the S&P was up 12.68%, and the Nasdaq was up 15.44%. As you know, stocks exited their bear market in late March/early April, and are now in a new bull market (officially defined as closing up by 20% or more from their lowest bear market close). The Dow, on March 26th, exited their bear and started a new bull. The S&P followed suit on April 8th. And the Nasdaq did the same on April 14th. Currently, the Dow is up by 30.95% from its lowest close, the S&P is up by 30.17%, and the Nasdaq is up by 29.57%. And it looks like there's a lot more upside to go. That doesn't mean there won't be any more downside. Ups and downs are a normal part of trading. But the market is now focused on the recovery. The worst of the outbreak is behind us. As tragic as it was, we dodged the most dire of predictions. That's allowing the economy to open up sooner than had been expected. The unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus is allowing businesses and workers to hit the ground running when states begin to reopen. And since the economy was so strong going into this (just two short months ago we were celebrating the strongest economy of our lifetime), it's likely that we'll snap back bigger and faster than ever before. May is going to be an exciting month as more states begin reopening their economies. There will be good news and bad news along the way. But with each successful phase of the reopen, the economy, and people's lives, can start getting back to normal. Some things will change, you can be sure. But getting America back to work and open for business will be a great achievement. And stocks should continue to soar. Best, Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor 5 Stocks Set to Double: Sunday Deadline There's still time to get in on our 5 Stocks Set to Double. Each is the single favorite of a Zacks expert with the best chance to gain +100% and more in the months ahead: 1. Small-cap biotech with potential for $1 billion in annual revenue. 2. Young company in an industry positioned to triple again by 2025. 3. Retailer that's riding the surge in online demand. 4. Financial juggernaut that thrives on volatility. 5. Standout Internet service with explosive upside. Deadline to download this just-released Special Report is midnight Sunday, May 3. See Stocks Now >> Most Popular Articles from Zacks.com Image: Bigstock 5 Must-Buy Consumer Staples Stocks Ahead of Earnings Results The sector has so far reported strong results and are likely to maintain the momentum for the rest of this earnings season. Read More » Image: Shutterstock 5 Stocks to Play the Coronavirus-Led Online Delivery Boom With stay-at-home orders in place, e-commerce sales in the United States have increased 49% for daily average online sales. Read More » Image: Bigstock Remdesivir Progresses on Coronavirus Trial: Pharma Upbeat At least 50% of the patients administered with the drug showed improvement, while more than half were cured and discharged from the hospital within two weeks. Read More » Image: Bigstock 3 Undervalued Zacks Rank #1s Stocks have made up about half of the March crash, but remains double-digits away from highs made earlier this year. That leaves plenty of value in quality names. Read More » Image: Bigstock 5 Small-Cap ETFs Beating S&P 500 in April Extension of the paycheck protection program, some forgivable loans, strong dollar and the talks of reopening of the economy supported the small-cap ETFs in April. Read More » Sponsor Increase Investment Returns with Free Zacks' Portfolio Tracker Follow your investments easily in one place. Get free email updates that alert you to major events affecting your stocks and funds, including timely recommendation changes, earnings announcements and, most importantly, earnings estimate revisions. Click to Learn More>> Image: Bigstock Bull of the Day: AXT Inc (AXTI) This stock is one of very few that is seeing higher estimates for the near term and also shows strong projected earnings growth. Read More » New Zacks Strong Buys for May 1st Here are 5 stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today. Read More »   Download our app for convenient on-the-go access to even more—daily and weekly newsletters published by Zacks experts, proprietary research and tools, and Portfolio Tracker on Zacks.com. Visit Success Stories to hear how Zacks research, tools and portfolios help our members outperform the market. 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