Monday, stocks were down Friday but futures are up Monday morning due to positive statements that the COVID-19 may be peaking and maybe the end is in sight.
The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% the largest jump since 1975. However, to keep things in perspective this is the lowest the unemployment rate was under Obama.
Texas is getting hit with a double whammy, low oil prices and the COVID-19 shutdown.
The attached article may be the most enlightening article for investors who believe that when the virus subsides stocks will recover their old highs. From 2008 to the peak this year all net new money coming into stocks was a result of corporate stock buy backs. Those days are over so the recovery may that a lot longer that expected. That doesn't mean there won't be opportunities to profit.
Pull quote from the article: "Corporate buybacks, in fact, have been the only net source of money entering the stock market since the financial crisis in 2008, according to Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at research firm Reynolds Strategy. Buyback programs, through which companies repurchase their own shares on the open market, can help boost share prices by reducing the amount of stock outstanding and lifting a company’s per-share earnings, though not its overall profit."