What Happens to the Markets If There’s a Vaccine?
A return to normal—when it comes—ought to be a boon for investors, but strategists see risks around the corner.
Trying to game out anything in the 2020 financial market can be a humbling experience. Massive fiscal and monetary stimulus has been doing battle with a historic recession and a pandemic. Would you have expected a crash? You got one in February and March. And then came a rally right on its heels, bringing stocks back near record highs.
So nothing is obvious. Still, on the list of events with the potential to reorder sentiment on a dime, one prospective catalyst is on almost every forecaster’s mind: the discovery of a vaccine for the Covid-19 coronavirus. If and when one comes, it ought to be a massive boost for investors, right? Wall Street pros answer with an emphatic “Maybe.” Here are three scenarios gleaned from money managers and strategists: