Stocks Slip on One-Year Anniversary of Pandemic Low

SPECIAL ALERT: The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $2.4 trillion by 2028 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. That’s why Kevin Cook has published the 3rd edition of his Special Report, Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now. Recommendations from the 2nd edition climbed as much as +205%, +258% and +477%. The 7 stocks Kevin highlights in this edition could soar even higher. Log on to Zacks.com to read the report now.


Stocks pulled back a bit on Tuesday, but it pales in comparison to where we were one year ago today.

We didn’t know it at the time, but March 23, 2020 was the coronavirus low. Or put another way, it was the beginning of the biggest buying opportunity in history. Stocks had plunged into a bear market faster than ever before as we began locking down the economy, but the S&P has surged approximately 75% since then.

Yes, covid is still very much with us (more on that later), but this seems like a good time to just reflect on how far we’ve come. We’ve gone from watching for a depression to watching for a new round of all-time highs in just 12 months! Give yourself a pat on the back for getting through all that.

As for today, stocks failed to add onto yesterday’s advances. The NASDAQ was the biggest loser by slipping 1.12% (or nearly 150 points) to 13,227.70, which takes out most of Monday’s 1.23% increase.

Meanwhile, the Dow was off 0.94% (or about 308 points) to 32,423.15, while the S&P slipped 0.76% to 3910.52. These declines completely took out yesterday’s gains.

The market really didn’t like hearing that Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, was extending its lockdown for another month amid a rise in coronavirus cases due to all the variants out there. As a result, recovery names took a dip on Tuesday after leading the market for the past several weeks.

Elsewhere, the dynamic duo of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen both testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. They didn’t break much new ground.

Basically, the recovery off of those lows from a year-ago has been impressive, but the economy is still far from reaching the goals necessary to make a change in policy. Plus, they will let the market know far beforehand if any such moves are on the way. Powell and Yellen did comment on high asset prices, but aren’t worried about them.

Unfortunately, investors are worried about them, and encouraging words from Mr. Powell hasn’t been soothing their concerns. At least the 10-year Treasury yield moved lower on Tuesday and closed below 1.7% again.

Powell and Yellen will testify in front of the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow.

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Stocks Under $10: Did you hear the news? Brian added Gannett (GCI) on Tuesday. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) is a digitally-focused media and marketing solutions company that’s best known for the USA Today. The editor really likes its chart and its most recent earnings beat of 84%. GCI has topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the past four quarters. Best of all, this company looks to be swinging back to profitability. Estimates for this year have dramatically improved to a loss 24 cents from a loss of 84 cents in the past month, while expectations for next year are now at a profit of 27 cents from a loss of 48 cents in the same amount of time. Make sure to read all about it in the full write up. By the way, Brian also sold two of the portfolio’s biggest losers today by dropping Franks International N.V. (FI) and EMCORE Corp. (EMKR). Finally, Mogo (MOGO) was one of the best performers on Tuesday by gaining 3.3% after announcing better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and an acquisition.

Zacks Short Sell List: We saw only one swap for this week’s adjustment. The portfolio short-covered Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) and replaced it by adding NeoGenomics (NASDAQ:NEO). By the way, this portfolio had a couple top performers on Tuesday, as the market selloff led to positive performances for its short positions in Teradata (NYSE:TDC, +7.8%) and Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN, +3.1%). Learn more about this emotion-free portfolio that takes advantage of falling and volatile markets by reading the Short Sell List Trader Guide.

All the Best,
Jim Giaquinto