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 cold hard message is sinking in. Higher rates are here to stay for longer than expected. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said multiple times that the Fed will be 'data-driven' when deciding on monetary policy. And the data has spoken. First, let's look at inflation. There has been great progress made in knocking inflation down from its peak of 9.1% in June of 2022. But achieving progress at the current lower levels, with inflation in the low-3% range, as expected, has been difficult. The Fed has been specific, saying inflation needs to be at 2% before restrictive policy will be eased. The Fed was patient after the January inflation data, and again with February data. But when March showed persistently higher prices, the Fed threw came right out and said that change can wait. Chairman Powell said the following last week. "The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence..." and "If higher inflation does persist, we can maintain the current level of restriction for as long as needed." Now let's consider unemployment. The Fed again has been specific. Officials are looking for a 4.1% unemployment rate to gently (hopefully) slow the economy. Currently, the rate is not budging and is vacillating between 3.8% and 3.9%. Given the current macroeconomic backdrop, the following is a list of industries and companies we like that should benefit from a sustained period of higher interest rates. All are BUY-rated at Argus.

Stock markets were mixed on Thursday morning following a slightly better-than-expected PPI reading. In March, U.S. headline PPI rose 0.2% after increasing 0.6% in February and 0.4% in January. Prices for final demand services advanced 0.3%, while goods prices declined 0.1%. This brings annual PPI to 2.1%, up from 1.6% last month. Core PPI rose 0.2% after advancing 0.3% in February. The annual core PPI rate now stands at 2.8%, up from 2.7% in February. Leading the increase in services was the index for securities brokerage and investment-related services, which rose 3.1% -- while prices for traveler accommodation services declined 3.8%. A major factor in the decrease for final demand goods was energy, which decreased 1.6% -- while food prices advanced 0.8%, led by a 10.7% increase for processed poultry. The Dow was down 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq was up 0.5%. Crude oil traded above $85 per barrel and gold rose $12 to $2360 per ounce.

As of Dec. 31, 2022, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts operates 843,000 rooms across more than 20 brands predominantly in the economy and midscale segments. Super 8 is the largest brand, representing around 19% of all rooms, with Days Inn (14%) and Ramada (14%) the next two largest brands. During the past several years, the company has expanded its extended stay/lifestyle brands, which appeal to travelers seeking to experience the local culture of a given location. The company closed its La Quinta acquisition in the second quarter of 2018, adding around 90,000 rooms at the time the deal closed. Wyndham launched a new extended stay economy scale segment concept, ECHO, in the spring of 2022. The United States represents roughly 60% of total rooms.