It’s official:
President Trump’s declared the coronavirus outbreak a national emergency.
Surrounded by members of the newly formed White House Coronavirus Task Force, Trump announced the declaration at a news conference in the White House’s Rose Garden.
$50 billion in financial resources will become available to Americans affected by the pandemic.
During his statement, Trump also said that he expects the U.S. to have an additional 1.4 million test kits within a week and 5 million within the next month. The latter he doubted Americans will “need anywhere near.”
Stocks climbed almost instantly after the news broke. Futures went “limit up” this morning, leading to a 6%+ open across the major indexes. By midday, those returns had been pared back significantly.
But now, in the wake of Trump’s declaration, confidence seems to be riding higher. The Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq Composite finished out the day with gains of 9.36%, 9.20%, and 8.87%, respectively.
If yesterday’s epic fall was the bottom, then that means today’s session is the start of a recovery.
Don’t be surprised to see futures go “limit up” again on Monday morning.
With that in mind, plenty of stocks are set to rise next week. Many of which were sold-off into oblivion over the last few days.
However, the best buying opportunities might be lurking elsewhere. Stocks that didn’t get absolutely torched could generate enough momentum to soar, even if the general market falls again.
Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) is a prime example of that.
In the daily candlestick chart above, you can see that STRA has done quite alright during the last few weeks.
Yes, the stock sold-off, but it managed to avoid a complete collapse. You can’t say that about most American companies these days.
After setting a lower low last week and bouncing off the lower Bollinger Band (BB), STRA broke out above its minor bearish trend (represented with the yellow trendline). And even though STRA’s already risen significantly, it could still go higher. The stochastics indicator suggests as much.
If the stock trades above its daily high by a significant amount, it might make sense to go long with a trade trigger of $159.50. From there, STRA could go on to set a higher high, taking it past its February high of $176.39.
Best of all, STRA managed to avoid a major plunge over the last few days. If the market fails to produce a rally next week, STRA could keep going all on its own.
Or, at the very least, not get completely crunched in a mass sell-off. Either way, STRA’s a good play.
Regardless of what happens with the coronavirus outbreak in the near future.
