The best investing stories of April: Recommendations from A-list market gurus, tips from Wall Street strategists, and top stock picks

To say global markets are in flux would be a vast understatement. The coronavirus outbreak has dealt the global economy its most immediately devastating shock of the modern era, leaving a tangled trail of wreckage in its wake.

Trading in everything from stocks to commodities has looked downright broken at times as investors weigh a constant deluge of new developments. And confusion still reigns supreme.

The Investing team at Business Insider is constantly on the hunt for clarity and expert tips designed to help traders navigate these unprecedented times. Divided into three distinct areas, here are some of the team's top findings from the month of April.

Expert recommendations

• The Zevenbergen Growth Fund is up 16% this year, making it the number-one US equity mutual fund. We spoke to Anthony Zackery, one of the fund's five portfolio managers, about how the fund has dominated 99% of peers — and got his 7 stock picks to buy in a post-pandemic world.
• Tony DeSpirito, the CIO of fundamental active equity 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.
• Mark Rayner of Royce Investment Partners is the top small-company stock picker of the past 5 years. He told us what bargains he added to his portfolio as the market sold off — and shared his 3 favorite investments for the next decade.

Wall Street strategist commentary/outlooks

• Business Insider asked 14 investment strategists and analysts to provide one crucial metric, index, or signal they're closely tracking as coronavirus throws markets into disarray. From industrial indexes to stock-market moving averages, here's the full list of what they shared.
• Bank of America strategist Jared Woodard says focusing both on the near and long term will help investors recover more quickly from the recent downturn. He shared how to build build the perfect post-coronavirus portfolio.
• Jim Paulsen, the chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group, thinks investors should "keep some powder dry" as the market continues to shake of the coronavirus sell-off. He explained why stocks could repeat an ugly crash that's only occurred once since World War II.

Stock picks

• Market disruptions have created some screaming "buy" opportunities for the immediate term. But what about for the long run? Morgan Stanley handpicked the 18 best US stocks to buy now while they're cheap to enjoy profits for years to come.
• Goldman Sachs strategists think the stock-picking environment is the ripest it's been in more than a decade. They offered the 11 top stocks to watch for wide price swings in the coming months — some of which they recommend buying, and others they think should be shorted.
• Analysts at Credit Suisse think equity investors should be eyeing cheap, cash-heavy financial stocks well-positioned to ride a wave higher following the coronavirus sell-off. The team provided 11 high-quality stock picks that should prosper as the overall environment improves.

Read the original article on Business Insider