5 Top Stocks for August

The stock market has been all over the place this year. It crashed along with the economy as governments enacted measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 only to rebound sharply as states lifted restrictions.

The stock market's next direction is anyone's guess. While there's reason to be concerned about the potential for rough roads ahead with COVID-19 spreading like wildfire across the sunbelt, optimism also abounds due to vaccine hopes, low interest rates, and government stimulus. Those dueling forces can make it hard for investors to know what to do.

In light of all this uncertainty, we asked some of our contributors what stock they thought stood out as a top opportunity this August. They tabbed Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Skechers (NYSE: SKX), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Here's why.