Seeing Opportunities, Investors Go Shopping: Live Business Updates

One reason: It’s the time to buy for investors able to stomach the market’s swoons.

Cole Smead, a portfolio manager at the Smead Value Fund, has been snapping up bargains in beaten-up parts of the market, like oil and energy producers, homebuilders and shopping mall companies, that are closely tied to short-term swings in the economy.

“We will never get these prices again,” said Mr. Smead, whose fund has $1.3 billion in assets.

As economically damaging as the pandemic will no doubt be, Wall Street is starting to see a path forward that wasn’t clear a few weeks ago. Slowing infection rates, hefty government relief packages and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to calm the markets have helped eased investors’ minds.

Some of the buyers are opportunistic hedge fund traders and mutual fund managers, driving sharp gains for blue-chip shares that were battered by the market sell-off. Some are traders feeling pressure to get into a rising market. And some are short-sellers forced to buy to minimize their own losses.

But mom-and-pop investors have largely been sitting out — a sign that the rally doesn’t reflect widespread optimism.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus.html