Often overlooked amid gyrations in the stock market is dividend income, which is an important element of total return. Between 1930 and 2012, dividend income accounted for 42% of total return of the S&P 500, according to Hartford Funds. And that's just the average. In some decades, dividends accounted for more than 50% of total returns and even 100% of returns. More recently, dividends have accounted for 15%-20% of returns. Still, in 2018, dividend payments softened the blow when most market indices declined as the Federal Reserve hiked rates. Not all dividends are created equal, though, and it is important to understand the difference between the two main categories: high-yield stocks and dividend-growth stocks.

Back on April 14, we wrote about the bullish technical outlook for semiconductors, a key Technology industry. At the time, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor (SOXX) and the Van Eck Vectors Semi ETF (SMH) SOXX had just made all-time highs (ATHs). Additionally, nine of 10 major holdings in the SOXX were at or near ATHs.

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.

Stocks were mixed on Thursday morning following news that the Biden administration would support intellectual property waivers on coronavirus vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna shares were down sharply, though JNJ was flat. On the employment front, the Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 498,000 for the week ended May 1, down from 590,000 a week earlier and below the Bloomberg consensus of 538,000. The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.3%. Crude oil fell 1% to $65 per barrel, while gold traded near $1815 per ounce.

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.

April was a good month for stock indices and most of the S&P 500 sectors. The "500" jumped 5.2%, while the Nasdaq popped 5.4%, the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) leapt 5.9%, the Dow Industrials tacked on 2.7%, the NYSE Composite added 4%, the S&P Mid-Cap 400 rose 4.3%, and the lagging Russell 2000 moved higher by 1.8%. Those results represent very consistent gains among asset classes and market caps.

Stocks kept the momentum going in April, and are now up almost 12%, including dividends, in the year-to-date. Our analysts have been progressing through earnings season, and have come across many stocks in coverage that have approached target prices. We set target prices through our valuation framework, which includes analysis of historical multiples, peer multiples, future dividends, and cash flows. After adjusting the models for the latest earnings and dividend information -- most of which has been good -- here are some of the stocks on which we have raised target prices over the past month. All stocks are rated BUY at Argus.

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.

We are again addressing the issue of extreme sentiment, as fear remains absent from the stock market and has been missing in action since the COVID-19 collapse back in February and March of 2020.

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.

Innovation may be hard to define, but to borrow from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, you know it when you see it. 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 is at its largest point in history and still growing. If U.S. corporations weren't innovating, creating new products and services, and moving into new markets and applications, the domestic economy would be contracting, not expanding, and capital would not be flooding into the country. Particularly at this juncture of the market and economic cycles, we look to innovative companies to navigate the challenges. At Argus, an 85-year-old independent research firm that has innovated a time or two in its long history, we have focused on four types of innovative companies: Industry Disruptors; First to Market; New Product Specialists; and Product & Process Perfectors. The following innovative and BUY-rated companies recently were added to our Growth model portfolio, as well as our new Innovative Growth Separately Managed Account, and our Modern Innovators UIT. The full list of stocks also is in our Innovation theme model portfolio.

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 stock market moved higher last week as earnings season got underway and volatility continued its downward trend. Tech stocks performed roughly in line with blue chips. During Friday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 165 points, or 0.48%. The S&P 500 was up 0.36%, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.10%. For the week, the DJIA was up 400 points, or 1.18%, the S&P 500 was up 1.37%, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.09%. Year-to-date, the DJIA is up 11.74%, the S&P 500 is up 11.43%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 9.03%.

Stocks were mostly higher on Friday morning following more bank earnings reports and new housing market data. Morgan Stanley posted strong 1Q earnings that topped consensus expectations, despite a nearly $1 billion loss from the collapse of Archegos Capital. Bank of New York Mellon also reported above-consensus results, though both EPS and revenue declined from the prior year. On the housing front, the Commerce Department said that U.S. housing starts jumped 19.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.739 million units in March, above the Reuters consensus forecast of 1.613 million. In China, the National Statistics Bureau reported first-quarter GDP growth of 18.3% from a depressed 1Q20; however, on a quarter-over-quarter basis, growth slowed to 0.6% from 3.2% in 4Q20. The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq was flat. Crude oil traded near $63 per barrel, while gold rose $11 to $1778 per ounce.

Stocks rose on Thursday morning, led by the Technology and Healthcare sectors, as investors weighed more 1Q earnings reports and weekly employment data. The Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell sharply to 576,000 for the week ended April 10, down from 769,000 a week earlier and below the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 700,000. Bond yields retreated, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury falling below 1.6%. The Dow rose 0.8%, the S&P 0.8%, and the Nasdaq 1.0%. Crude oil fell slightly to $63 per barrel, while gold traded near $1767 per ounce.

etting Ready for Higher Prices?

Stocks were mixed on Wednesday morning following the first 1Q earnings reports from major banks. JPMorgan Chase posted solid earnings as strong capital markets activity, along with reserve releases, more than offset weakness in its lending business. Wells Fargo also reported much stronger-than-expected results with help from reserve releases. The Dow rose 0.6%, the S&P rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%. Crude oil traded near $63 per barrel, while gold fell $11 to $1736 per ounce.