EDITOR'S NOTE
This week's three-day rally in stocks was fun while it lasted, but on Friday investors returned their attention to the coronavirus news, and it was bad.
The U.S. now has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19, and it's far from clear how long its economy will be in a virtual lockdown. It's also unclear whether the economy can be restarted as quickly as it was stalled.
Stocks took back some of their recent gains on Friday, but ended the week overall with strong advances. 
Impressive spikes are common in bear markets, but they don't often hold. Maneesh Deshpande, Barclays chief U.S. equity strategist, says "bear market head fake rallies" are common.
Congress passed a $2 trillion fiscal package on Friday, and the Federal Reserve has stepped up swiftly with unlimited interventions, giving investors plenty to cheer. But there are still important variables investors just can't know.
“Two other uncertainties facing investors (the length of the economic quarantine required to contain the virus and the ultimate economic damage) remain unresolved,” Deshpande said.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. TOP NEWS
TOP VIDEO
CNBC PRO
SPECIAL REPORTS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
