Stock Market Today: U.S. in Recession, But Nasdaq Sets New High

Apple, Amazon notch new records in rally; Boeing leads Dow to sixth consecutive gain

(Image credit: Felix MAckel)

A year of bizarre market juxtapositions continued on Monday as the Nasdaq set new all-time highs on the same day America learned it is officially in a recession.

This morning, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) – an American nonprofit that acts as the official arbiter of recessions and recoveries – said the U.S. economy entered a recession in February, marking the organization's fastest such declaration.

But, yet again, Wall Street looked not at the gloomy rear-view mirror, but instead toward brighter hopes for the future. On the same day that hard-hit New York City began rolling back its coronavirus-prompted restrictions, the Dow registered its sixth consecutive advance – a 1.7% gain to 27,572, led once more by Boeing (BA, +12.2%).

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The S&P 500 finished up 1.2% to 3,232 to enter positive territory for the year. And Apple (AAPL, +0.6%) and Amazon.com (AMZN, +1.7%) notched record closes to lead the tech-heavy Nasdaq (+1.1% to 9,924) to a new all-time high, eclipsing its previous bull-market high set on Feb. 19.

Don't ignore the realities of this recession. Tens of millions of Americans remain out of work, scores of small businesses are struggling, and corporate America isn't done shedding jobs yet. Oil giant BP (BP) just announced it will cut 10,000 workers, some of whom are U.S.-based, and several airlines have suggested they'll have to lay off employees or trim wages in the coming months.

In other words, brush up on what there is to know about recessions, and also consider stocks that should fare well under recessionary or otherwise poor economic conditions.

Also, don't ignore good deals where you can find them. The market's rapid rebound has wiped away many stock bargains in a hurry, but investors still can find several retirement-focused picks trading at decent prices. These aren't the once-in-a-lifetime steals they might have been in March, but they still offer attractive entry points and much-better-than-average yields.

Kyle Woodley

Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.


Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism. 


You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.