The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Monday Tee Up: Rate Cut Odds Go Up This week, Wall Street will focus on earnings reports, the health of the U.S. economy, and when (and by how much) the Fed will cut interest rates. Odds of a 50-basis-point (bps) cut at the next rate meeting in September have spiked. This follows the weaker-than-expected jobs report from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended last week down 2.1%, the S&P 500 lost 2.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.4%. Year to date, the Dow is higher by 5% and both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are up 12%. On the economic calendar, the schedule is light this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. Trade Deficit will be reported. On Wednesday, Consumer Credit hits the tape. On the earnings calendar, Tyson Foods reports on Monday. On Tuesday, Airbnb, Uber, Yum! Brands, Caterpillar, Amgen, and Duke Energy. On Wednesday, Disney, CVS Health, Hilton, and McKesson. On Thursday, Eli Lilly, Paramount Global, Expedia, and Take-Two Interactive. And on Friday, AMC Networks. Earnings have been coming in 12.9% higher this quarter than a year ago. Some 75% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far. Expectations are for 8%-12% earnings growth for 2Q. This follows 8% growth in 1Q and 10% in 4Q23. At Argus, we forecast EPS growth for all of 2024 at 8%-9%. Last week, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as expected. But that decision and Chairman Powell's press conference were completely overshadowed by the subsequent July jobs report. Nonfarm Payrolls surprised on the downside at 114, 000 new jobs, compared to a revised-lower 179,000 the in June. The Unemployment Rate surprised to the upside, hitting 4.3% for July versus the expected 4.1%. This prompted worries that the labor market is cooling too quickly, and speculation that the Fed has waited too long to cut interest rates -- possibly imperiling a desired soft landing. Mortgage rates fell to 6.73% for the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Gas prices went up a penny, to $3.48 per gallon for the average price of regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 3Q and calls for expansion of 2.5%. The Cleveland Fed CPINow indicator forecasts 3.01% for July CPI. Looking ahead, the next Fed rate decision is on September 18, with odds at 100% for a rate cut. Of that, 20% expect a 25-bps cut, which compares to 88% last week before the jobs number came out. But of greater interest is that the odds are now at 80% that there will be a 50-bps cut (compared to 11% who felt that way last week). There are two more Fed rate meetings this year, on November 7 (two days after the U.S. presidential election) and December 18. We are standing by our call that the Fed will cut interest rates twice this year and twice in 2025.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

Management's ability to "raise guidance" can often be a catalyst for market-beating returns in the quarters ahead. The first-quarter earnings season has crossed the 90% mark and is wrapping up, with blended earnings (actual results and the consensus for those still to report) showing a year-over-year gain of almost 7%, according to Refinitiv. That is considerably better than the 4%-7% advance expected at the start of the earnings period. Leading the outperformance were strong gains in Communication Services earnings, up 43%, and Consumer Discretionary, up 26%. On the flipside, Healthcare and Energy, both down 24%, are performing the worst. Our analysts are always on the lookout for companies that boost outlooks during earnings season, as this is often a signal for momentum in the months ahead. Here is an initial list of BUY-rated companies in the Argus Fundamental Universe of Coverage at which management raised guidance or increased its outlook during the 1Q24 EPS reporting season.

Monday Tee Up: A Breather

In this edition, Fair Isaac's upside fair; Initiating Coverage of GE Vernova; and US cable valuations have tumbled perhaps more than deserved; and Marvell Technology, Tilray Brands, and Yum China.

The Same, Only Different: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Stocks

Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, analyzes insider trading and institutional stock ownership. Form 13-Fs, which institutions must file to report their holdings, are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters and have come in for 3Q23. We review 13Fs of major activists to determine core holdings and new purchases. Activist investing is now less about generating a short-term return and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. Activists recently made progress with investments into companies such as FedEx and Union Pacific. Based on Vickers data, here are some recent new purchases and key holdings of activist investors, as well as other high-profile money managers.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Over the past few weeks, trading generally has been bad for stocks and good for gold and Bitcoin. For the S&P 500, the 38.2% retracement of the rally since October 2022 was busted and support near 4,200 was lost. Breadth was weak in a manner typically seen in bear markets -- but at times also seen during corrective phases of a bull market.

Stocks fell on Wednesday morning amid continued concerns about rating downgrades for some U.S. banks and more weak economic data from China, which reported deflation in both consumer and producer prices in July. On the earnings front, Twilio shares rose after the software maker posted above-consensus 2Q results and raised its full-year earnings forecast. Meanwhile, Lyft shares fell 7% on concerns about slowing revenue growth as the company cuts prices to better compete with Uber. The Dow fell 0.4%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 1.2%. Crude oil rose slightly to $83.50 per barrel, while gold fell $10 to $1950 per ounce.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, tracks and analyzes insider trading and institutional stock ownership trends. Form 13-Fs, which institutions must file to report their holdings, are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters, and have now come in from 1Q23. We review the 13Fs of the major activist investors, including Carl Icahn, Trian Fund Management, Jana Partners and ValueAct Holdings, among others, in order to determine their core holdings and new purchases. Activist investing has evolved in recent years and is now less about generating a short-term return on an underpriced stock and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. Activists have made progress in the past year with high-profile investments into blue-chip companies such as FedEx Inc. and Union Pacific. Based on Vickers data, here are some recent new purchases and key holdings of Activist investors, as well as other high-profile money managers such as Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway and Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors LLC.

Monday Tee Up: Is Inflation Slowing?

So far this year, the Dow is up about 2%, the S&P is higher by around 8%, and the Nasdaq is up some 15%. That has caught the attention of investors who suffered through a very difficult 2022. Also so far this year, insider sentiment, gleaned from weekly data compiled by Vickers Stock Research, had not offered any indication that stock prices were out over their skis. But the most recent data from Vickers has caught our attention, and suggests a little consolidation may be in order.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are American Express Co. (AXP); Skechers U S A, Inc. (SKX); Seagate Tech Hldgs Pl (STX); Netflix Inc (NFLX) and the Focus List deletions are JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM); Home Depot, Inc. (HD); Microsoft Corporation (MSFT); T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS).

Each December, Argus surveys its team of analysts, seeking their best ideas for the upcoming year. The Argus Research team draws on its experience (the average analyst has 18 years of Wall Street experience and 10 year at Argus), as well as the company's proprietary six-point research framework and earnings and valuation models to make the calls. Argus analysts cover the waterfront (every sector from Energy to Healthcare to Consumer to Technology), so each sector is represented. This year's list includes some long-time favorites, as well as some recent upgrades and new initiations. The list includes mostly large-caps and mid-caps, and both growth and value stocks. We will be going over the list in more detail during our January webinar and detailing why each stock has been selected by the covering analyst. In the interim, more information on each of these BUY-rated stocks is available on our website.

Most in the investment community likely knew this day would come. Indeed, as economic statistics continued to show an economy weakening on many fronts, the idea that the Federal Reserve might need to take some pressure off the brake (which has been pinned to the floor) made sense. Chairman Powell has now confirmed that policymakers likely will deliver a smaller rate increase in December. Stocks reacted very positively, yet we wonder if outgoing Fed President Bullard (a hawk) might speak up and ruin the party.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

The U.S. Dollar Index (USD) has fallen over the past three days and is back near recent lows as well as important short-term support at $109. This is the third time the greenback has pulled back since it peaked in late September at $114.75; it is the second time it is testing $109. This region also represents a prior high from back in July, so it takes on increased importance. The dollar has broken its 50-day for the second time since late October and is nearing trendline support off the lows since February (just above $109).

Stocks Rally in October, but Fed, Elections Threaten Gains

Wednesday was a nice change of pace from the drudgery of falling stock prices, skyrocketing rates, and the soaring U.S. dollar. In a well-timed release (as SPX futures were getting hit overnight, and the greenback was higher, and strategists were worried that the gilt market would seize up, and many markets were stretched), the Bank of England came to the rescue. The BOE said that it was buying unlimited amounts of long-dated bonds to help stabilize markets after gilt yields soared and the pound slumped to a record low in the wake of last Friday's U.K. budget announcements. The BOE also postponed a planned sale of gilts for next week.

They don't call it "King Dollar" for nothing! The U.S. Dollar Index continues to soar at the expense of many other currencies. We have been looking for a break in this very strong uptrend, but have been on the wrong side of this forecast. There are some positive things about a strong dollar and, of course, there are some negative things.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

The Bull Battles Back: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Markets

The S&P 500 broke out of what looked like a bearish wedge, rising 1.2% and 3.9% over the past two days. The next piece of chart resistance is from the prior high and breakdown level at 4,180. Even after the spike, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) remains in the bear-market zone and has not cycled into overbought territory (a sign of consistently strong price) since November.

In the stock market, the fear of upcoming news is often far worse than the news itself. We have important days just ahead, starting with June CPI today and June PPI on Thursday. We also have the start of Q2 EPS season, which kicks off this week with some important Financials reporting and moves to major Technology companies reporting toward the end of July. Many are still worried about inflation, despite some clear evidence of very weak commodity prices and a weakening economy. As well, many believe EPS estimates for the next few quarters are far too high. Technicians don't make predictions in those areas, but have some good advice. Ignore the numbers, but watch the reaction to the numbers.

Maybe it's a good idea to switch to a four-day week and just skip Mondays. That said, we have played this game before -- with a day or a few days of price strength that are followed by new corrective/bear-market lows. The S&P 500 finished on Tuesday with a whopping 2.5% gain, rising 90 points. That sounds great but...one-day gains of at least 1.5% occurred 10 times during the initial phase of the bear market (from January until March) and we have seen the same thing nine times during the second part of the bear market (that started in April). Since January, we have witnessed three fairly strong attempts to break the downtrend -- and all failed miserably.

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG investing, is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. He doubled down in his January 2021 letter, calling on company managements to disclose their plans for making their businesses "compatible with a net-zero economy" by 2050. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

While stocks sank for seven weeks, several of the major indices hit key support levels. The S&P 500 hit a 38.2% retracement of the rally off the March 2020 lows on May 20 (down near 3,800) and bounced sharply. That carried into last week, with the index jumping 6.6% (the biggest one-week gain since March).

Sustainable Impact Investing, or ESG Investing, is gaining traction with Argus Research clients and with the global investment community. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees about $9 trillion in assets, announced in January 2020 that his firm would be investing in companies that are making progress on sustainability. Mr. Fink's new focus follows rapid growth in sustainable assets in recent years. According to the Global Sustainable Investment Association, global assets under management in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) strategies had grown to $40 trillion in 2020. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Impact Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. Performance of these initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.

ESG Stocks

Stocks fell on Wednesday morning ahead of the Federal Reserve's afternoon policy statement and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. On the employment front, payroll provider ADP said that U.S. companies added 247,000 payroll jobs in April, down from 479,000 in March and below the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 383,000. The Dow fell 0.3%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 1.5%. Crude oil rose more than 3% to $106 per barrel, while gold dropped $3 to $1868 per ounce.

While stocks continue to hold (by a whisker) important chart support from the January through March lows, WTI has calmed quite a bit. The five-day rate-of-change has fallen to zero from two trips over 20% in March and one trip over 11% in April. Crude oil was at $102 Wednesday, down from $130 in early March and up from $93 on April 11. WTI might be tracing out a triangle and the further we move toward the apex, the more price volatility shrinks. Triangles can break both ways. The chart pattern, along with the shrinking volatility in stocks or commodities, sometimes suggests that a big move one way or another is coming.

As the stock market has exploded higher since March 14, certain sentiment indicators have flipped back to bullish (as expected). Fortunately, we have not seen any extremely bullish readings from sentiment, which supports the possibility for further upside from stocks.

The 10-year Treasury yield pulled all the way back to chart resistance in the 1.70% area in early March. The 10-year had also retraced about 50% of the upward move from December to mid-February. Since then, yields have popped back to 2.15% while breaking out to new recovery highs. A measured move -- based on either the completed ascending triangle or a cup-with-handle -- targets the 2.4% region, a level we have not seen since May 2019.

Stocks fell on Wednesday morning, giving up some of Tuesday's gains, led by declines in the Technology and Communication Services sectors. Retail sales data was stronger than expected. The Commerce Department said that U.S. retail sales rose 3.8% in January, above the consensus estimate of 2.0%, after a 2.5% decline in in December. The Dow fell 0.6%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 1.0%. Crude oil traded near $95 per barrel, while gold rose $7 to $1863 per ounce.

The U.S. housing market has contributed to the economic recovery from the pandemic, though some statistics have fallen from recent highs. Indeed, we no longer anticipate the sector will be a strong driver of above-trend GDP growth in upcoming quarters. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales in December 2021 totaled 6.2 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate -- well above the 3.9 million rate in May 2020 but down from the 6.7 million rate in October 2020. The Commerce Department reported that new one-family homes were selling at an 811,000/year rate in December -- again, up from the 582,000 rate at the pandemic depths but down from 993,000 in January 2021. Yet housing permits -- a leading indicator for the industry -- may be sending a different signal. According to the Census Bureau, permits were authorized in December at a 1.9 million rate, in line with the pandemic-period high in January 2021. While most of these indicators have cooled, housing prices have not. The S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for November 2021 showed that prices gained 19% year-over-year. The high prices loosened inventory: currently there is a 6.0-month supply of existing homes for sale (the average range is 4.5-7.5 months), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Until pricing pressures start to cool, we look for modest growth, at best, in the housing sector.

Argus has published its latest Portfolio Selector, which features its popular Focus List. Each month, Director of Research Jim Kelleher, CFA, surveys the team of Argus Research industry analysts for their timeliest recommendations out of the company's fundamental universe of approximately 500 stocks. The Focus List typically includes 30 stocks: turnover is high, as Director of Research Kelleher typically adds three or four new stocks per month. Below are the latest additions, all of which are rated BUY at Argus.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are Apollo Global Management Inc (APO); T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS); Procter & Gamble Co. (PG); Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) and the Focus List deletions are Corning, Inc. (GLW); Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK); Monster Beverage Corp. (MNST); Netflix Inc (NFLX).

Back with a Vengeance: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Markets

Back with a Vengeance: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Markets

The United States economy is full of innovation. It has to be. Manufacturing industries that dominated the economy decades ago - textiles, televisions, even automobiles to a large degree - have moved overseas, where costs are lower. Yet the U.S. economy, even during the pandemic, has expanded to record levels. If U.S. corporations weren't innovating, the domestic economy would not be growing and capital would not be flooding into the country. Consider that U.S. GDP was approximately $1 trillion in 1930 but nearly $23 trillion at the end of 1H21. That's growth of 23-times. Meanwhile, the U.S. population has grown less than three-times during that time span, to 320 million from 120 million. The delta between GDP growth and population growth has been driven, in large part, by innovation. In addition, the value of listed corporations on U.S. stock exchanges at the end of 2020 was approximately $41 trillion, according to SIFMA, representing 38% of global equity market capitalization, while U.S. GDP represented only 26% of global GDP. The current low level of interest rates and the relatively high level of the dollar both attest to the confidence that global investors have in the innovative U.S. economy.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are DuPont de Nemours Inc (DD); Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (HLT); Twilio Inc (TWLO); Corning, Inc. (GLW) and the Focus List deletions are LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB); American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP); International Business Machine (IBM); T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS); Restaurant Brands Intl In (QSR).

The stock market moved lower last week, with tech stocks relatively outperforming blue chips, though both were off. During Friday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, or 0.78%. The S&P 500 was down 0.77%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.87%. For the week, the DJIA was down 761 points, or 2.15%, the S&P 500 was down 1.69%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.61%. Year-to-date, the DJIA is up 13.07%, the S&P 500 is up 18.70%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 17.28%.

Second-quarter earnings announcements are nearly complete, with some 90% of S&P 500 companies having reported. The profit recovery from the depths of the pandemic low in 2Q20 was been swift, with earnings growth of 93% in 2Q21, according to Refinitiv. But earnings do not look good just on a relative basis -- the $53.93 projected to be earned by S&P 500 companies for the second quarter is the highest ever for the index. Investors can now turn their attention to the third quarter, when earnings are expected to rise a still-strong 30% year-over-year. Our analysts are always on the lookout for companies that raise their outlooks during earnings season. Management's ability to "raise guidance" can often be a catalyst to strong returns in the quarters ahead. Here are 20 BUY-rated companies in Argus coverage for which management has raised guidance or increased its outlook during the 2Q21 EPS reporting season.

Trying to Get to Normal: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Markets

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Stocks finished higher on Thursday in a volatile session as investors weighed a new round of 1Q earnings reports along with weekly employment data. The Labor Department reported that first-time jobless claims fell to 498,000, the first drop below 500,000 in the pandemic era and below the consensus forecast. However, continuing claims rose to 3.69 million from 3.653 million and topped the consensus estimate. The data came ahead of the government's April employment report on Friday morning. The Reuters consensus calls for the addition of 978,000 new payroll jobs after an increase of 916,000 in March. The Dow rose 0.93%, the S&P 0.82%, and the Nasdaq 0.37%. Crude oil fell 1% to $65 per barrel, while gold rose $31 to $1815 per ounce.