The Best Stocks to Invest in If You Have $3,000
For more than four months, investors have been taken on one heck of a roller-coaster ride. In a span of less than five weeks between February 19 and March 23, the broad-based S&P 500 entered bear market territory and ultimately lost as much as 34% of its value. Then, in the 11 weeks that followed, the benchmark index would reclaim more than 80% of its losses. This whipsaw in the S&P 500 represented about a decade's worth of volatility crammed into a four-month time frame.
While it's undoubtedly been an emotional and trying time for short-term traders, bouts of panic-selling have historically always been good news for long-term investors. Even though emotions can drive short-term stock moves, operational earnings growth from great companies tends to drive long-term share-price appreciation.
With the S&P 500 still down for the year and the CBOE Volatility Index considerably higher than its historic average, there's plenty of opportunity for investors to put their money to work. Best of all, you don't need to be rich to make bank in the stock market. If you have, say, $3,000, in disposable cash that won't be needed for bills or emergencies, you have more-than-enough money to buy into some of the best stocks the market has to offer.
Source Fool.com
