Now that the pandemic is showing tentative signs of plateauing, the pundits on financial media are getting mindlessly upbeat. I distinctly remember hearing some of these very same pundits assuring their audience in late 2007 that the sub-prime mortgage market was in fine shape and wouldn’t pose a problem.

Whenever I listen to the misguided advice on channels such as CNBC, it reminds me of a Woody Allen movie in which he plays a financial adviser. When asked about his investment approach, Allen’s character responds: “I invest people’s money until there is nothing left.”

My point is this: Despite the recent rebound in stocks, tune out the financial cheerleaders. Don’t get prematurely bullish. This pandemic could drag on for several more weeks. Even if infections and deaths ended tomorrow, it will take several months for the economy to recover from massive job losses. A second wave of infections already is emerging in China, so declaring victory over COVID-19 would be foolhardy, to say the least.

Sure, you can position your portfolio to make money in a post-COVID world. You don’t have to wait for the bear market to bottom out to start buying stocks again. But you need to be selective. Below, I’ll guide you toward promising places to put your money.

Fed action offsets bad jobs data…

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported 6.6 million initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending April 4.

Regardless, the three main U.S. stock market indices opened higher Thursday, as investors were cheered by the Federal Reserve’s announcement of new stimulus measures worth $2.3 trillion to help small and medium sized businesses. But the Fed’s action might not be enough.

Today’s DOL report comes in the wake of a string of bad news on the jobs front. The DOL reported on April 2 that weekly unemployment claims reached just over 6.6 million, for the week ending March 28. That number far surpassed the previous record of 3.3 million, set in the DOL’s March 26 release. In the span of only two weeks in late March, about 10 million Americans filed for unemployment. Then came today’s DOL release.

Despite recent optimism that COVID-19 is waning, economic damage is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

Jobs are getting decimated around the world. United Nations officials recently reported that global job losses from the coronavirus crisis are on track to surpass 25 million.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that COVID-19 will turn global economic growth “sharply negative” in 2020, causing the worst economic decline since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Heartbreak hotel…

Not surprisingly, the leisure and hospitality industries have borne the brunt of job losses, as quarantined consumers cancel vacations and remain stuck at home.

Travel-related businesses (and by extension transportation companies) are taking it on the chin because of “social distancing” and quarantine restrictions. It will take many months for the worst hit industries to recover, even after the virus is contained.

Congress last month passed the CARE Act, a $2.2 trillion fiscal spending package that provides a lifeline to families and businesses most affected by the virus. Business leaders argue that more needs to be done.

The White House asked Congress on Tuesday for an additional $250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses clobbered by the outbreak. A Senate vote on the proposal is expected Thursday. That money should help ailing Main Street hospitality businesses, but big hotel chains and airlines remain in dire straits.

In the first quarter, every sector that makes up the Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded funds that represent the S&P 500 fell by double-digits.

In Q1, the S&P 500 fell 20%, its worst quarterly showing since 2008. The consumer discretionary sector, which includes automobiles, hotels, restaurants, and leisure, underperformed the S&P 500 with a quarterly decline of 21.4%.

My colleague Jim Pearce makes a cogent case for the travel and leisure industry as a COVID-19 turnaround play.

Read This Story: Your Passport to Profits

If you’ve been following my advice in recent months to elevate cash levels, you’re in a good position to incrementally buy shares of intrinsically sound stocks at once-in-a-lifetime prices.

It makes sense to increase your exposure to the leisure/hospitality sector’s blue-chip names. Even if it takes several months for these companies to recover, they’re trading at rare bargains that will make their inevitable resurgence hugely profitable.

Your “profit calendar”…

Another one of my colleagues, Jim Fink, can offer you COVID-resistant profits, too.

As chief investment strategist of Options for Income, Jim has been using seasonality to trade options very successfully.

In fact, Jim has developed a “profit calendar” trading system that allows you to collect payments every Thursday, similar to a paycheck. This system doesn’t care about market ups and downs or pandemic quarantines. It works under all conditions.

These payouts can range in value from $1,150 to $2,800, but average out to $1,692.50. Jim developed his strategy by studying the tried-and-true practices of Chicago pit traders and modifying them for use online.

It’s like getting an extra paycheck, week in and week out. The gain is so reliable, you can schedule it on your calendar. Jim made himself a wealthy man with his system. Now he wants to share his secrets with you.

How does Jim Fink do it? Click here for details.

John Persinos is the editorial director of Investing Daily. You can reach him at: mailbag@investingdaily.com