The approximately $1.7 trillion cryptocurrency market (Bitcoin, Etherium, Dogecoin, etc.) has been tumbling from a $2 trillion-plus level on a flurry of negative developments. These include Tesla's Elon Musk halting acceptance of Bitcoin for Tesla products due to environmental concerns; China saying it would not allow financial institutions to provide services related to crypto transactions; and Colonial Pipeline paying Bitcoin as ransom to hackers, furthering the notion that cryptocurrencies are ideal for enterprises seeking to evade laws. Prior to the headlines, cryptocurrencies were on a tear despite no clear path to widespread adoption by consumers or businesses, and amid uncertainty over regulation. We estimate that the global equity market capitalization is approximately $90 trillion. Gold is about $10 trillion. For crypto to make it on the radar for most investment managers' asset-allocation models, we expect it needs to at least triple in value, to approximately $5 trillion. By then, maybe there will be more uses for and regulations to define the asset, and more fundamentals to support valuation; this has worked for gold over the years. For the broader market, collapsing crypto prices also signal excessive liquidity in the system, and worries could spill over into other asset classes. Essentially, markets are in risk-off mode when Bitcoin tanks.

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.

Positive 1Q21 Earnings Trends Boost EPS Forecasts

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.

April 2021 lived up to its billing as the best stock month of the first half. During April, the S&P 500 appreciated 5.2%, better than any month so far this year; March was closest with a 4.2% gain. Through the end of the fourth month, the S&P 500 is up 11.3% year-to-date.

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 2021 lived up to its billing as the best stock month of the first half. During April, the S&P 500 appreciated 5.2%, better than any month this year; March was closest with a 4.2% gain. Through the end of the fourth month, the S&P 500 is up 11.3% year-to-date.

With April winding down, you can count on someone, somewhere saying, "sell in May and go away." That pronouncement is mainly popular because it rhymes. While it is true that summer is typically a period of relative underperformance, market timing rarely works. And sometimes summer is a good time for stock performance.

Stocks continued their overall strong trend in the April 16 week, which saw the launch of the biggest crypto exchange (Coinbase) and finished with modest but across-the-board gains. Also notable in that week was the resurgence in growth sectors that had previously taken a back seat to cyclical and defensive areas of the market.

Stocks fell for a second day on Tuesday morning, led by sharp declines in the Financial and Energy sectors. IBM shares rose more than 4% following stronger-than-expected first-quarter sales and earnings, helped by strength in the company's cloud computing business. On the negative side, Abbott Laboratories fell sharply after reporting slightly lower than expected sales, including a sequential decline in revenue from coronavirus test kits. The Dow fell 0.9%, the S&P 0.9%, and the Nasdaq 1.1%. Crude oil traded near $62 per barrel, while gold rose $9 to $1780 per ounce.