April was one of the wildest months in recent memory for markets, capped off by a key data release that showed the economy shrank last quarter for the first time in years.

The US famously bounced back from a pandemic recession that struck like a hammer blow in 2020. Fueled by a massive government rescue effort that pumped tremendous amounts of money into the economy, the nation was soon outpacing rivals in a return to growth.

April has been one of the wildest months in recent memory for markets, capped off by a key data release that showed the economy shrank last quarter for the first time in years. The Dow was down 500 points,