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.

We continue to keep a close eye on market breadth, as longer-term measures of breadth remain supportive of higher stock prices, while intermediate-term breadth continues to improve and is firmly bullish.

Over the weekend, the House of Representatives approved the largest public works bill since the 1950s. The bipartisan trillion-dollar bill, which was passed by the Senate in August, now goes to President Biden's desk for signing. The plan focuses on improving the country's infrastructure, from roads and bridges to water systems and electricity grids. It also targets the auto industry, with a focus on electric vehicles and charging stations. In the power sector, Biden's goal is to achieve a carbon-free power industry by 2035. To improve energy efficiency in buildings, he is looking to retrofit four million buildings in the four years. Elsewhere, business Services companies also stand to benefit; bond issuance should pick up given that the infrastructure spending plan will be financed at least in part by bonds; and payroll companies could get a boost processing more paychecks as the infrastructure plan creates "millions of good paying jobs." All-in-all, some of the companies that we think may benefit include the following.

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.

For a moment, September seemed like a worst nightmare for investors. Yet the further we get from September, that month's selloff barely qualifies as a bad thought. The stock market followed up its strong October with a positive pair of winning sessions to start November. Earnings continue to outperform expectations, and the VIX keeps working lower as fear drains from the market.

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.

The VIX Volatility Index had been averaging in the mid-teens for five years before spiking to an average of 29 in 2020. But that average masked the worst readings of last year as high (as 85 in March as the U.S. economy started to shut down in response to the onset of the pandemic). The VIX has slowly been pushing down toward mid-teen readings in recent months, enduring speed bumps along the way such as a recession, second and third COVID-19 waves, an extraordinarily divisive U.S. presidential election, and fears of inflation. In the past month, however, investors' nerves have been soothed by strong 3Q EPS reports and the VIX has declined 30% back toward the mid-teens. While the S&P is almost 21% higher for the year and within 1% of all-time highs, investors are cautioned to remain alert. Since 1920, the index has recorded a 5% pullback three times a year on average and a 10% correction once every year and a half. On our S&P 500 valuation model, stocks currently are priced for perfection. In this environment, we recommend investors focus on high-quality stocks, with strong balance sheets and experienced management teams.