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5 things investors need to know about stocks in April

USA TODAY Special Report

Seasonally, this marks an important inflection point when the market wraps up what has historically been its strongest six-month stretch and heads into the weakest six months starting in May.

Do storms loom on Wall Street's horizon?

Turbulence has already been on the rise and there is plenty looming that could add to the volatility. The Federal Reserve meets at the end of the month, and investors will pore over several key economic reports this month — starting with the March jobs report on Friday — for clues on when the central bank will start shifting its stand on monetary policy.

1. Fed to fuel more volatility?

Adding to the drama, companies soon start giving first-quarter earnings reports, and Wall Street will have to contend with what analysts expect to be the first down quarter for profits since the third quarter of 2009.

FULL STORY: Federal Reserve could rain on April's parade

2. Good jobs news? Guess again

Trish Regan is an anchor at Fox Business Network  and a columnist at USA TODAY.

As far as the March employment numbers go, columnist Trish Regan argues that the good news expected in the report may not actually be so good because it understates long-running weakness in the U.S. jobs market that won't be easy to fix: the low wages of a service economy.

"The harsh reality is our economy is stuck in the middle of a structural shift. Just as when the U.S. struggled with the painful transition from an agrarian-led economy to a manufacturing-led economy, we are currently feeling the effects of a move from a manufacturing economy into a service economy. And, no one is entirely yet sure just how profitable a service economy will be."

FULL STORY:'Good' March jobs report may not be so good

3. April can be awesome for these stocks

So what's an investor to do? You might want to check out the small group of stocks that has out-performed the market the past five Aprils. Fifteen stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have averaged gains of at least 5% during the month, and half of those are in the real estate business.

If you've got enough real estate, there's plenty of others to choose from — including chipmaker Intel, which sells for a relatively cheap 13.3 times its past 12 months' earnings and sports a 3.1% dividend yield as well. The biggest April winner — and, given oil prices, the biggest long shot this April — NRG Resources, up an average 7.8% the past five Aprils.

FULL STORY: 15 stocks that usually shower cash in April

4. Time for the Apple Watch

In the tech stock universe, it might be a new month, but the same stock will be at the forefront of investors' minds: Apple launches its long-awaited wearable computing device on April 24 and looks likely to dominate headlines again.

FULL STORY: All eyes are on Apple Watch

Apple Watch is expected to generate millions of sales and billions of dollars, but many analysts remain skeptical.

5. And speaking of Apple ...

And as all the attention turns to Apple, this might be a good time for investors to check out just how focused their portfolio is on Apple because of how many exchange-traded funds are heavily exposed to the stock.

FULL STORY:Do you have too much Apple in your portfolio?

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