Markets Live Recap: What Made the Nasdaq Break Its 6-Day Winning Streak

Stocks fell sharply today as investors continue to evaluate the United States' ability to reopen the economy.

The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all closed about 2% lower for the day as the volatility/fear index (VIX) spiked over 14%.

That's even on news that House Democrats unveiled their latest $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill...

Here's what our experts - Chris Johnson, D.R. Barton, Jr., and Shah Gilani - thought about the volatile move today, and which stocks investors should be focusing on to smooth out the bumps in their portfolios.

Chris Johnson (8:45 a.m. EDT)

• Boeing Co.'s (NYSE: BA) CEO predicts a major U.S. airline will "most likely" fold by September.
  • Instead of trying to forecast which airline it will be, Chris thinks investors should be closely watching Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) because it's well-capitalized and should be one of the last airlines to fail.
  • If LUV announces any major problems, that's bad news for the rest of the industry.
• The Fed began buying corporate bond ETFs today, which essentially means the Fed is saying failure is not an option for these companies.
  • Chris is slightly concerned about this because many of these companies were having problems paying back their debt before the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Taxpayers may be on the hook for corporate debt defaults if these businesses aren't quickly able to generate revenue again once the economy reopens.
• Chris' favorite stock to watch today is 8x8 Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) - the company reports earnings tomorrow, and if it pulls back to $18, then Chris thinks investors should buy it.
  • Don't buy ahead of earnings at $20, however, because the stock is too expensive at that level.

D.R. Barton, Jr. (1:30 p.m. EDT)

Sign up for SMS so you never miss special events, exclusive offers, and weekly bonus trades.
• D.R. is cautiously optimistic about the COVID curve flattening in the United States.
  • The numbers are showing a drop in some of the highest-effected areas - New York and New Jersey - and if that trend is able to continue after the economy reopens, that will be a positive sign for stocks.
• D.R. is bearish on Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and thinks investors would be wise to sell the news that it's looking to acquire GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB).
  • Uber is up 5% on the day, but D.R. thinks it will be a long time before its core business will return to pre-COVID levels.
• Instead of buying an ETF full of cloud companies, D.R. thinks investors would be better off just owning Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) because they're the biggest, best, and don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
• The last stock D.R. says he likes today is Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU).
  • He thinks investors could start nibbling at current levels around $46 per share and do well over the next year or two.

Shah Gilani (3:45 p.m. EDT)

• Shah is concerned about the uptick in new COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, South Korea, and Spain.
  • If that happens in the United States as more states reopen their economies, that would likely drag on stocks and could take us to new lows.
• Shah's also concerned about the comments from Dr. Fauci that we're not doing enough testing in the United States and that colleges may not open in the fall.
• Shah thinks investors should stay away from Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) even though the stock was down about 9% on the day after Sir Richard Branson announced plans to sell 12% of his SPCE stock in attempts to save his flailing Virgin empire.
  • That's because space travel is one of the most nonessential businesses imaginable right now.

Catch us tomorrow - starting LIVE again at 8:45 a.m. EDT with Chris Johnson, right here.

If you missed our live streams today, you can now replay them on our YouTube channel, here.

Got a question you want our experts to cover? Send us a note.

Learn How to Harness This Powerful Options Trading Secret for Yourself

Live from his private office in Florida, America's No. 1 Pattern Trader is revealing his most lucrative options trading secret yet.

It's the reason he's able to make such fast, profitable moves on companies like Netflix, Apple, Facebook, even Amazon - the reason he's able to see major paydays long before they happen.

We're talking about the potential to see the future of any stock on the market.

And Tom Gentile's going live to show you exactly how to do it.

Believe it or not, it's as easy as a few simple clicks of your mouse...

In no time at all, you could be lining up trade opportunities one by one and watching as your account grows bigger and bigger.

Click here to learn more.

Follow Money Morning on Facebook and Twitter.