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 rose on Thursday morning, despite a weaker-than-expected GDP report, as investors continued to focus on strong third-quarter earnings. The Commerce Department said that U.S. GDP rose at a 2.0% annualized rate in 3Q, the weakest reading since 2Q20 and below the Reuters consensus forecast of 2.7% growth. The Dow rose 0.5%, the S&P 0.8%, and the Nasdaq 1.2%. Crude oil fell to $82 per barrel, while gold traded near $1800 per ounce.

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.

Value stocks are outperforming growth in 2021 (for the first time since 2016), though a recent rally in growth stocks has narrowed the performance advantage for value. But in an environment of historically low interest rates, many investors are still searching for high levels of income, which often can be found in value stocks. During recent years, the performance record has favored growth. Since 2010, the Russell 1000 Growth Index has climbed more than 450%, compared to an advance of 180% for the Russell 1000 Value Index. In eight of the past 10 years, growth stocks have topped value stocks. That hasn't always been the case. In the previous decade, including the Great Recession, value stocks were better performers than growth stocks, advancing an admittedly low 8%, but still better than growth, which declined 15% during the decade. Value investors trace their roots to the famous "Security Analysis" textbook, written by Ben Graham, an economics professor at Columbia University. Warren Buffett was one of his students. The tide may now be turning. Progress on COVID-19 vaccines has given a lift to some of the cyclical companies (energy companies and banks) that have lagged in recent quarters, and value stocks have kept pace with growth stocks in the past year. In any event, value is the place to achieve income. The current yield on the iShares Russell 1000 Value Index ETF is 1.6%, compared to the 0.5% current yield on the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF. This is important, as the current yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is 1.30%. For our list this week, we have screened our coverage universe for stocks that are BUY-rated by Argus Research analysts, have an Argus Financial Strength rating of at least Medium, and have a yield of 3.0% or higher. New stocks in our portfolio include the following.

Value stocks are outperforming growth in 2021 for the first time since 2016. While a recent rally in growth stocks has narrowed the performance advantage for value in the year to date, an environment of historically low interest rates is one in which many investors are still searching for high levels of income -- which often can be found in value stocks. When we look for attractive high-yield/deep-value stocks at Argus, we look for low valuations on metrics such as price/earnings, price/sales, price/book, yield, and price/cash flow. We also look for companies with clean balance sheets, high levels of profitability, high-quality earnings, and experienced management teams. We seek to avoid companies in industries that are in secular decline, or with dividend yields that are so high that the payout is clearly at risk. Based on numerous requests from clients, we have designed a portfolio of companies that are BUY-rated at Argus Research, have a Financial Strength rating of at least Medium, and have a yield of 3.0% or higher.

Stocks rose on Monday morning as investors weighed more 2Q earnings reports, M&A news, and prospects for an infrastructure deal in Washington. Payments firm Square Inc. rose nearly 9% after announcing that it would purchase Australia's Afterpay Ltd. for $29 billion. Manufacturing data showed continued expansion, but came in slightly below consensus. The Institute for Supply Management said that its index of national factory activity fell to 59.5 in July, down from 60.6 in June and below the Reuters consensus of 60.9. The Dow, the S&P, and the Nasdaq were all up about 0.4%. Crude oil traded near $72.50 per barrel, while gold rose slightly to $1818 per ounce.