The 14 financial metrics to watch right now, plus coronavirus investing strategies and stock picks

Ruobing Su/Business Insider

Dear Readers,

We've reached the stage of the coronavirus outbreak where investors have digested weeks of unprecedented market volatility and are looking ahead to the next phase. How bad will the economic damage end up being? How long until the curve starts to flatten in earnest? And what does that mean for markets?

In order to tackle these complex questions, our reporter Rebecca Ungarino reached out to 14 Wall Street experts to see how they're viewing the landscape. But instead of soliciting general outlooks, she asked them each for the single metric, index, or signal they're watching most closely.

The breadth of responses was astounding. The strategists surveyed returned answers spanning everything from the US dollar to secondary volatility indexes to the COVID-19 case curve. Each answer provided valuable guidance around how top investing minds are thinking about coronavirus.

Read the full story here.

Going beyond that, we have our usual assortment of actionable investing tips. They've been split up into two easy categories: (1) expert recommendations and (2) stock picks.

Expert recommendations

Bank of America examined the stock market during every recession since 1929 and concluded the recent meltdown is not over. Here's its trading strategy for a deeper crash.

BofA derivatives strategists say it would be an anomaly if the stock market downturn doesn't worsen, and share a trading recommendation that could cushion against further losses and short-term rallies.

READ MORE HERE >>

RBC polled 185 investors during the worst first quarter in stock-market history. They revealed what they're buying and selling as the coronavirus crisis persists.

The firm found that despite the coronavirus, investors in late March were the most bullish on stocks since a quarterly survey began in 2018. Here's what they were doing with their money during that time.

READ MORE HERE >>

5 corporate-debt experts break down how the coronavirus crisis is ravaging cash-strapped firms - and share what they're buying to avoid risky 'zombie' companies

Investors in the $8 trillion market for corporate debt are showing a preference for higher quality due to the sudden economic downturn. Five experts shared where they are finding value in this market and the industries they consider as land mines.

READ MORE HERE >>

Stocks are technically back in a bull market, but Wall Street experts don't trust it. 6 of them explain why we're doomed to fall further - and share what traders should do as turmoil continues.

Many experts on Wall Street doubt recent stock gains are going to last. Business Insider reviewed research and commentary by six investing pros and compiled their strategies and advice as well as their warnings.

READ MORE HERE >>

An investing veteran who moves 3 million shares a day breaks down his 6-part strategy for navigating a coronavirus-stricken market - and says stocks could lose another 31%

Nishant Porbanderwalla, a 16-year day-trading veteran, leans on a variety of disciplines and rules to navigate the wild point swings and rapid shifts in sentiment.

READ MORE HERE >>

A stock chief at $7.4 trillion BlackRock shared with us his coronavirus-investing playbook: How to keep money safe, what he's avoiding, and some surprising contrarian bets

With the economy possibly frozen in place for months, and amid the threat that similar measures will be imposed again, Tony DeSpirito is looking for companies that can outlast their peers.

READ MORE HERE >>

'Follow the hot hands': HSBC lays out a coronavirus-investing playbook focused on funds that have beaten the market for years - and shares the top stocks in each

HSBC strategist Alastair Pinder argues there's evidence funds with top-tier track records will continue to win, and says investors following their approach since 2012 would have handily beaten the market.

READ MORE HERE >>

Single-stock picks

GOLDMAN SACHS: These 13 cheap stocks are poised for years of better-than-expected profits - and they're must-haves as the coronavirus wipes out earnings in 2020

David Kostin, the firm's chief US equity strategist, says some of the largest S&P 500 companies are going to post better earnings over the next five years than their stock prices suggest.

READ MORE HERE >>

• Jefferies says these 15 stocks make the perfect buy for investors seeking quality, defense, and recovery as the coronavirus sends markets spinning
• Buy these 14 stocks flush with the cash reserves to survive a prolonged coronavirus crisis, BTIG says
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 15 high-yielding cash-rich stocks as coronavirus uncertainty forces companies to slash dividend payments

Best of the rest

• 'Absolutely zero money out of my own pocket': How Jared Holland turned a little-known real-estate-investing strategy into screaming business - and nabbed a $120,000 profit on a 'free house'
• UBS breaks down how the coronavirus crisis imperils a $5.4 trillion market that investors rely on for income - and explains why the Fed's massive support will be inadequate
• 'The whole world's f---ed': A former Goldman Sachs hedge-fund chief says coronavirus fallout will cause the 'largest insolvency event in all history' - and warns of another 20% plunge in stocks
• A new survey of 159 pro investors shows experts are looking to buy stocks again. Here's what 9 of them had to say about where they're putting money to work.
• The stock-investing chief at $485 billion Schwab offers 4 crucial tips for weathering the coronavirus storm - and outlines how to keep making money
• RBC says coronavirus-battered stocks could plunge another 28%. Here are the areas of the market they say will thrive when the dust clears.
• 'Let them go bankrupt': Billionaire bond king Jeffrey Gundlach says the government should let cash-strapped airlines go belly-up - and intervention will just end up juicing their profits
• 'Still too high': Goldman's global equity chief lays out 4 reasons why the stock market will melt down further before it fully captures the coronavirus crisis

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