This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Mid Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. The market capitalization range for U.S. mid-caps typically falls between $1 billion and $8 billion and represents 20% of the total capitalization of the U.S. equity market.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.

This edition features our oil-demand forecast; Chinese banks; new coverage of a Chinese homecare firm; and notes from BlackBerry, Zoom, and DocuSign.

This edition features Ford's electric future; the funeral industry in Australia; Amazon's move to buy MGM; and notes from Toll Brothers, General Mills, and Intuit.

The Housing Economy Awaits its Next Act

This edition features our take on CEO remuneration; the state of the U.S. economy; a relaunch of our research on Iliad, and notes from Hostess Brands, Palo Alto Networks, and Teledoc.

Stocks rose on Thursday morning after three days of losses, led by the Technology and Consumer Discretionary sectors. On the employment front, the Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 444,000 for the week ended May 15, down from 478,000 a week earlier and slightly below the Bloomberg consensus of 450,000. The Dow rose 0.6%, the S&P 0.8%, and the Nasdaq 1.4%. Crude oil fell to $63 per barrel, while gold traded near $1879 per ounce.

Stocks fell again on Wednesday morning amid continued inflation fears, as the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.68% and U.S. consumer prices rose at their highest rate in nearly 12 years. The Labor Department reported that its consumer price index rose 0.8% in April, up from 0.6% in March and well above the Reuters consensus forecast of 0.2% growth. The CPI also rose 4.2% from the prior year, up from a 2.6% increase in March. The Dow fell 0.9%, the S&P 1.2%, and the Nasdaq 2.0%. Crude oil traded near $66 per barrel, while gold fell $4 to $1832 per ounce.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Mid Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. The market capitalization range for U.S. mid-caps typically falls between $1 billion and $8 billion and represents 20% of the total capitalization of the U.S. equity market.

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 fell on Friday morning following a new round of first-quarter earnings reports from major companies along with March consumer spending data. The Commerce Department said that U.S. consumer spending rose a strong 4.2% last month after a decline of 1.0% in February. The reading came in slightly ahead of the Reuters consensus forecast of 4.1%. The Dow fell 0.6%, the S&P 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 0.2%. Crude oil traded near $64 per barrel, while gold fell slightly to $1769 per ounce.

Sustainable Impact Investing is gaining traction with the global investment community. In January 2020, BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink, who oversees approximately $9 trillion in assets, announced 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. But the 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 the climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights.