What happened to the September sell-off? A month ago, the S&P 500 was in the process of falling off all-time highs (ATHs) set early in September. From the ATH of 4,537 on 9/2/21, the '500' fell to the 4,350s on 9/21/21; staged what would be a failed rally to just under 4,450 on 9/24/21; and then made twin lows right around 4,300 on 9/30/21 and 10/4/21.

We recently raised our rating on the Basic Materials sector to Over-Weight. Despite challenges presented by the Delta variant and the tenacity of COVID-19, the global economy continues to reopen, spurring demand for goods and underscoring scarcity across the supply chain. In this environment, we look for demand for commodities to remain robust and pricing to remain strong. The sector accounts for 2.5% of the S&P 500, and includes industries such as chemicals, paper, metals and mining. Over the past five years, the weighting has ranged from 2% to 4%. We think investors should consider allocating 3% of their diversified portfolios to stocks in this sector. The sector is underperforming thus far in 2021, with a gain of 17.7%. It outperformed in 2020, with a gain of 18.1%, and underperformed in 2019, with a gain of 21.9%. Here is how we use our analysts' Materials sector ideas in our Focus List and Model Portfolios.