Stocks rose on Tuesday morning amid continued positive earnings reports and new consumer confidence and housing market data. The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index rose to 113.8 in October, up from 109.8 in September and above the consensus forecast of 108.3. On the housing front, the Commerce Department said that new home sales rose 14% in September to an annualized rate of 800,000 units, up from a revised 702,000 in August. The reading was the strongest since March and above the Reuters consensus forecast of 760,000. The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 0.6%. Crude oil traded near $84 per barrel, while gold fell $19 to $1787 per ounce.

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 were mixed on Thursday morning following earnings reports from IBM, Tesla, and Blackstone, and new employment data. IBM shares fell more than 7% after the company posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter revenue, while Tesla rose 3% after strong 3Q earnings, driven by record vehicle deliveries. On the employment front, the Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 290,000 for the week ended October 16, down from 296,000 a week earlier and below the consensus forecast of 297,000. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P was flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. Crude oil fell more than 1% to $82 per barrel, while gold traded near $1781 per ounce.

Sentiment, as measured by at least a few indicators, has backed off from euphoric levels, which is a bullish sign. Quite simply, when the market goes down quickly and leaders turn into laggards, pessimism among market players can jump quickly. However, it works both ways -- so don't be surprised if there is a surge in bullishness very soon.

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.

After September's nearly 5% decline, the S&P 500 is off to the races in October. From a sector perspective, early fourth-quarter leadership remains with the year's winners. Energy is out in front, with a 9% gain in just two weeks of 4Q21 trading; that has pushed the sector's market-leading annual gain past 53%. There's a long climb back for Energy, which fell 40% in 2020.

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 were mostly flat on Monday morning as investors weighed more 3Q earnings reports and new manufacturing and housing market data. The Federal Reserve reported that U.S. manufacturing output fell 0.7% in September after a revised 0.4% decline in August. The Reuters consensus forecast had called for an increase of 0.1%. On the housing front, the National Association of Home Builders said that its housing market index rose 4 points to 80 in October, above the Reuters consensus of 76. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P was flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Crude oil rose to more than $82 per barrel, while gold traded near $1771 per ounce.

Stocks rose again on Friday morning, extending Thursday's rally, amid new earnings reports and retail sales data. The Commerce Department said that U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in September, above the Reuters consensus forecast of 0.2% growth. The August reading was also revised up to 0.9% from 0.7%. Goldman Sachs shares rose more than 2% following much better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The Dow rose 0.9%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 0.3%. Crude oil traded near $82.50 per barrel, while gold fell $23 to $1775 per ounce.

Stocks rose strongly on Thursday as investors focused on solid earnings from major banks and lower-than-expected weekly unemployment claims. First-time claims fell to 293,000, down from the prior week and below consensus. Continuing claims dropped to 2.593 million from 2.727 million a week earlier, and were also below the consensus forecast. Inflation data was mixed. The Labor Department said that its producer price index for final demand rose 0.5% in September, down from 0.7% in August and below the consensus forecast of 0.6% growth. However, producer prices were still up 8.6% from the prior year, up from 8.3% in August. The Dow rose 1.56%, the S&P 1.71%, and the Nasdaq 1.73%. Crude oil rose to $81.50 per barrel, while gold rose $4 to $1798 per ounce.

Stocks rallied on Thursday morning following strong earnings reports from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and UnitedHealth Group, and new producer price and employment data. The Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 293,000 for the week ended October 9, down from 329,000 a week earlier and below the consensus forecast of 320,000. The Dow rose 1.2%, the S&P 1.3%, and the Nasdaq 1.4%. Crude oil rose to $81 per barrel, while gold traded near $1800 per ounce.

Stocks were mixed on Wednesday morning following more signs of sustained high inflation and solid earnings from JPMorgan and BlackRock. The Labor Department said that its consumer price index rose 0.4% in September, up from 0.3% growth in August and above the Reuters consensus forecast of 0.3%. Core consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.2%, in line with consensus expectations. Core prices also rose 4.0% from the prior year. The Dow fell 0.5%, the S&P fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Crude oil traded near $80.50 per barrel, while gold rose 2% to $1794 per ounce.

Of all the small- to mega-cap indices we follow, there are only two that are above their 50-day moving average: the Russell 2000 (IWM) by $0.30 and the S&P SmallCap 600 (SML). Yes, of late we have seen some relative outperformance from small-caps versus mega-caps. But it is certainly not enough to get us excited. Both the IWM and the SML remain in trading ranges going all the way back to March, about seven months ago.

The big banks are typically the first to report earnings, and those announcements are now beginning. The 2Q21 EPS season was one for the ages, with 96% year-over-year growth. The third quarter is expected to be strong, but not that strong, with the current consensus forecast calling for 29% growth. Factors behind the slowdown include: 1) a more-difficult comparison than the prior quarter, which was stacked up against the worst of the pandemic quarters; 2) the emergence of the Delta variant over the summer; and 3) troubles in the supply chain, which forced many companies to curtail production. Based on our multi-input model, which includes granular analysis of both sectors and quarters, we recently increased our estimate of S&P 500 earnings from continuing operations for 2021 to a rounded $191. Our revised 2021 EPS estimate assumes 38% growth from our static 2020 estimate. Off the higher 2021 base, and on the assumption that positive economic momentum in the pandemic-recovery year of 2021 can be carried forward, we have raised our estimate of S&P 500 earnings from continuing operations for 2022 to a rounded $214. Our revised 2022 EPS model assumes 14% growth from our 2021 estimate, in line with earlier expectations. Sectors that we expect to see lead 3Q21 growth include Energy and Financials.

Despite the recent sell-off in the equity markets, breadth has been impressive thus far this year and every sector turned in a positive performance through 3Q21 (though last year's laggards were generally the leaders). Take Energy, for example. The sector fell 37% in 2020 and also lagged the market in 2019. This year? A different story. Energy is the leading sector, with a gain of 40%. The Financial Services sector has also turned things around in 2021, rebounding from a 4% slide in 2020 with a 30% advance so far this year. One more example is Real Estate, which dropped 5% in 2020 but is up 24% in 2021. Other market-beating sectors this year include Communication Services (+21%) and Information Technology (+15%). The turnaround in sector performance hints at a shift in the market toward value investing and away from growth. Our Sector Over-Weights reflect a blend of growth and value, and include Information Technology, Healthcare, Industrials, Financial Services, and Materials. Our Under-Weights include Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples.

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.