After tumbling by double digits in March, major stock markets have rallied in early April on seemingly any and every indication that the coronavirus pandemic might be plateauing. That cautious optimism might be wishful thinking on the part of Wall Street, however: It's possible second waves of infection will emerge after local, state, and national lockdowns are lifted. It's also possible that the economic damage already done is worse than currently known. Wishful thinking or not, individual investors should continue to maintain a long-term mindset.
However, investors also need to be realistic about the unusual nature of the current situation. For example, Repligen (NASDAQ: RGEN) and Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) have distributed risk across diverse customer bases and ridden megatrends to impressive growth in recent years. But both growth stocks might be more exposed to unfolding economic risks now.
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