Morningstar

Smart Investor: Top-Performing Dividend Stocks, Buffett’s Japan Investments, and Muni Bond Funds

We wrap up our coverage of the markets and the week.

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This week’s highlights:

The rebound continued, with the market up 3% over the week. While tech was a big reason for the rally, industrial stocks led this charge with a 4.3% gain. Stocks recovered from a mid-week swoon set off by news that the US economy shrank in the first quarter. This data had plenty of distortions, but as Sarah Hansen reports, it may set the stage for a recession.

That said, the April jobs report showed that the second quarter started off on a solid foot, despite President Donald Trump’s trade wars. But as Morningstar’s senior US economist Preston Caldwell explains, it was too soon to see tariffs pinch the economy.

This past week saw Trump’s 100th day in office, a traditional milestone with which to assess the start of a presidency. As Hansen writes, investors were looking for a continuation of the bull market, but have gotten volatility and uncertainty instead. Click here for a look at Trump’s first 100 days in charts.

Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, aka Woodstock for Capitalists, happens this weekend. We’ll have plenty of coverage, along with Berkshire’s earnings. In addition, Leslie Norton looked at a set of Warren Buffett investments that haven’t gotten much attention: Japanese trading companies. What are these stocks, and why does Buffett own them? We explain.

We’ve talked a lot about the jump in Treasury bond yields, but another part of the bond market has been posting losses this year: municipal bonds. Gabe Alpert looks into why tax-exempt bonds are in the red, as well as why they might be a buy right now.

Lastly, we’ve got our look back at the past month in the markets, including the best- and worst-performing stocks in April and the top dividend stocks for month. That list ranges from a tobacco company to a toy maker.

As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our weekly calendar of key upcoming data and events.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.

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