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.

Insider-sentiment barometers tracked by Vickers Stock Research continue to their volatile ways. Insider sentiment was relatively weak for multiple months starting in late 2020, with particular weakness in Technology stocks trading on the Nasdaq. More recently, sentiment started to improve, though Technology remained at the back of the pack. Last week, overall sentiment fell once again -- including an out-and-out 'tech wreck' that saw a Nasdaq sell/buy ratio of 11.26 (with anything over 2.50 deemed to be bearish). With that in mind, results this week are better.

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

This edition features our U.S. housing outlook; smarter hydrogen investing; Swatch's prospects in a pricey luxury market; and notes from Johnson & Johnson, Schwab, and AMD.

Stocks were mostly higher on Friday morning following more bank earnings reports and new housing market data. Morgan Stanley posted strong 1Q earnings that topped consensus expectations, despite a nearly $1 billion loss from the collapse of Archegos Capital. Bank of New York Mellon also reported above-consensus results, though both EPS and revenue declined from the prior year. On the housing front, the Commerce Department said that U.S. housing starts jumped 19.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.739 million units in March, above the Reuters consensus forecast of 1.613 million. In China, the National Statistics Bureau reported first-quarter GDP growth of 18.3% from a depressed 1Q20; however, on a quarter-over-quarter basis, growth slowed to 0.6% from 3.2% in 4Q20. The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq was flat. Crude oil traded near $63 per barrel, while gold rose $11 to $1778 per ounce.

etting Ready for Higher Prices?

Stocks were mixed on Wednesday morning following the first 1Q earnings reports from major banks. JPMorgan Chase posted solid earnings as strong capital markets activity, along with reserve releases, more than offset weakness in its lending business. Wells Fargo also reported much stronger-than-expected results with help from reserve releases. The Dow rose 0.6%, the S&P rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%. Crude oil traded near $63 per barrel, while gold fell $11 to $1736 per ounce.

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.

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.

Just when anxiety over the market's direction started to intensify, the S&P 500 said, 'I got this,' and ended the 3/26/21 trading week at a new all-time closing high (ATH). Note that the closing price was less than a half-point above the prior ATH set on 3/17/21, which in market terms seems like a lifetime ago.

Isn't March supposed to go out like a lamb? Market breadth was very weak on Tuesday, with NYSE decliners beating advancers by more than 1,900. We also saw a number of indices, as well as crude oil, either break down from small head-and-shoulders (H&S) patterns and/or see 5-day/13-day exponential moving-average crossover sell signals.