The coronavirus crisis has effectively reset the board. While both the economy and stock market will someday return to their earlier-year strength, neither will look the same. That means some of the best stocks to buy right now might look much different from top picks just a few quick months ago.

The market might very well have another leg down. It's far too early to say we're out of the woods given that most of America is under quarantine and we have yet to see what first-quarter earnings and second-quarter guidance looks like. But we're getting late in the game for a truly defensive posture. That's closing the barn door after the horse has already bolted. While a few protective picks might be in order, now is the time to start planning for the next bull market.

Even professional bears are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

"I'm selectively buying in my personal accounts," says John Del Vecchio, co-manager of the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear ETF (HDGE). "There were plenty of companies that went into this crisis on life support, kept alive by cheap debt. You're going to see a lot of these companies fail. But at the same time, a lot of high-quality blue chips are on sale right now at prices we may never see again in our lifetimes."

Many companies will be gutted. It might take years for airlines to return to pre-crisis passenger numbers, and they might go through bankruptcy or a government conservatorship in the meantime. Likewise, retailers and restaurants might be dealing with the fallout from lockdowns for months or years, as will their banks and landlords.

However, some of Wall Street's best stocks could come out of this with relatively minor scratches. Many have massive stores of cash that will help them weather short-term profit drops. Some might actually benefit from a coming recession by picking up market share when its competitors fold.  Many of these beneficiaries are tech stocks, but certainly not all. Plenty are in the gritty, old-fashioned real economy.

Today, we'll look at 20 of the best stocks to buy now as investors shift their focus to the recovery. These companies boast a blend of well positioned businesses, strong balance sheets and/or leading positions within their industries.

Amazon.com

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Amazon.com (AMZN, $1,997.59) entered the coronavirus crisis uniquely positioned to do well.

With many of its competitors forced to shut their doors, Amazon's traditional retail business continued to deliver packages virtually uninterrupted. In fact, at a time when most retailers were panicking about lost revenues, Amazon's biggest problem was finding the manpower to deal with a surge of new orders.

But that's not all. With much of the world's population under lockdown, Amazon's Prime video streaming service has been keeping people entertained. And its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit has helped companies of all sizes keep their operations running while their workforce is working from home.

Toilet paper manufacturers will enjoy a spike in sales in the first half of this year, but sales will fall off a cliff in the second half, as the people who hoarded won't need to replace their supplies for a while. You can't make the same argument for Amazon, however. AMZN has been for more