Should I Sell My Stocks Now?

Uncertainty in the stock market is about as high as it has ever been.

COVID-19 combined with election day tomorrow has investors asking themselves, "Should I sell my stocks now?"

The Dow tumbled more than 900 points on Wed., Oct. 28 for its worst drop since June.

Then, it dropped another 150 points to close out the week on Friday, Oct. 30.

This week could see even more volatility.

Money Morning's Chief Investment Strategist, Shah Gilani, believes there are three reasons for this.

First, the novel coronavirus is spiking across the United States and Europe, hitting new record highs in some places.

Now France and the U.K. are going on lockdown again, and more countries are expected to follow suit.

Second, two leading vaccine candidates, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY), are halting progress on their COVID-19 vaccines, citing "adverse reactions" to their most recent trials.

This means we're likely going to have to wait longer than we already anticipated to return to normal around the world.

Previous estimations over the summer said that we'd have a vaccine by the end of this year. Now, it might not be until well into 2021...

And third, Democrats and Republicans can't agree on the next stimulus package that Wall Street thinks the economy really needs. Especially as the number of new jobless claims is increasing again.

All of this has retail investors like you and I asking ourselves, "Should I sell my stocks now?"

It's a good question, but the answer is tricky. That's why we'll show you the specific stocks to sell now, plus stocks that could actually do well in this environment...

Continue Avoiding These Industries

With COVID-19 cases spiking across 29 states, it's increasingly looking like we're going to see more cities and states implement another round of lockdowns.

That's especially true as we head into the winter months here in the states, when diseases are more likely to spread.

Combine that with the fact that people travel less in the winter than they do in the summer before COVID-19, and you get a perfect storm for the airline and cruise line industries.

Investors who thought they were being savvy buying these stocks for what appeared to be big discounts back in March have been severely disappointed.

The stimulus airlines and cruise lines already received and may receive again are not enough to cover the extensive losses they've suffered from a huge drop in passengers.

So, double-check your portfolio now and make sure you don't own any of these stocks.

Even with the recent drop in markets last week, we're still near all-time highs on the S&P 500.

But if you take a look at the US Global Jets ETF (NYSEARCA: JETS), it's a very different story...

Investors who bought stocks like Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK), and Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) on the initial dip back in March are still waiting for these companies to get back to their pre-COVID highs.

The JETS ETF as a whole is down 47% from $32 before COVID to $17 today. And there could be more pain to come...

An article from Newsweek back in August reported that air travel is down 85% from the same time last year. And with an uptick in COVID-19 cases, this downtrend could persist through much of next year...

Now, let's take a look at the cruise lines. Since there isn't a specific ETF dedicated to cruise lines, we're going to take a look at some of the most popular individual stocks in that industry.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) is doing pretty poorly. It's down 58% from its pre-COVID highs of $135 to $56.50 today, and it doesn't look like things are getting better anytime soon...

On its most recent earnings call, RCL reported a $1.64 billion loss on a 92% drop in passengers. That's down considerably from the $473 million it profited in Q2 of 2019.

If you thought that was bad, just take a look at Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL). This stock is down a 73.5% over the same time frame.

Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival is experiencing a massive drop-off in passengers, and it's reflected in the company's earnings.

In Q3 of 2019, CCL reported a profit of $1.83 billion. This year, it's a loss of $2.86 billion.

And it's laying off its employees in droves. According to a report from Port and Terminal back in September, Carnival laid of 7,000 of its 33,000 estimated employees.

Needless to say, you should continue avoiding airline and cruise line stocks at all costs.

Buy These Top Stocks Instead

There have been two bright spots in financial markets since COVID-19 took the world by storm.

Both the technology and gold mining sectors are at new all-time highs right now, and I think that momentum should carry through next year.

Let's start with tech.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLK) is actually up about 8% from its pre-COVID highs.

Since people can't travel, they're staying inside and using technology more every day.

Instead of going into the office to work, they're working from home and using Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) and Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) more.

Instead of going to the store when they need to buy something, they're ordering from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) more.

Instead of going to restaurants, they're ordering from GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) more.

And instead of going to the movies, they're watching more shows and films with Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX).

All of these companies have experienced massive user growth thanks to the lockdowns caused by coronavirus.

And when tech companies report more users, their stocks tend to pop along with that user growth.

All of the stocks listed above are at new all-time highs, and I think that momentum could easily continue throughout 2021.

Even if we find a vaccine to COVID-19 next year, our society is becoming more engrained in tech every day.

People are going to continue using these products much more than they did pre-COVID because they're going to get so used to using them now that they can't imagine going back after the lockdowns are over.

Switching gears for the last time here, let's talk about our last group of stocks to buy now - the gold miners.

Gold, the commodity, has been absolutely on fire since the government stepped in an provided its first round of stimulus back in March.

Essentially, investors are using gold as a hedge to all the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and inflation caused by the Fed for printing so many dollars out of thin air.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Fed has printed about $3 trillion.

When the Fed prints dollars, each unit becomes worth less than it was before. That's Inflation 101.

But since gold is a finite commodity that can't be created out of thin air, each unit is more valuable as more dollars are pumped into the system.

Gold is a deflationary commodity, and gold mining stocks are one of the best ways to play this historic run that saw the precious metal break $2,000 per ounce for the first time back in August.

The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDX) is up 25% from its pre-COVID highs - from $30 per share to $37.50 today.

And I have reason to believe its momentum combined with the next round of stimulus from the Fed (projected to be about another $1.8 trillion) could carry it toward $50 or $60 per share by this time next year.

Three Stocks Even Better Than GDX

Chief Investment Strategist Shah Gilani just held his first-ever stock-picking lightning round event - running through more than 50 stocks to tell you if they are stocks to buy or stocks to sell.

Dozens are overpriced and overhyped - you should ditch them ASAP.

But Shah says THESE three stocks are "screaming buys."

All three are trading at a discount... they're under-the-radar companies most people haven't even heard of... and they have massive tailwinds ready to send their share prices into the stratosphere.

To get the company names, tickers, and price targets for Shah's picks, go here now.

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