Stocks were mixed on Wednesday morning after reaching record levels on Tuesday. On the employment front, first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 778,000 for the week ended November 21, up from 748,000 a week earlier and above the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 730,000. Core capital goods orders excluding aircraft rose 0.7% in October, down from 1.9% in September but above the consensus forecast of 0.5% growth. The Dow fell 0.6%, the S&P fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%. Crude oil traded near $45 per barrel, while gold rose $5 to $1809 per ounce.

Stocks finished down in the trading week ended November 20, as an historical year gallops toward a close. The S&P 500 and DJIA were each down less than a percentage point despite the worsening pandemic and the president's efforts to overturn the election results. Still, November has so far logged an 8.8% gain on the S&P 500, propelled higher by the positive vaccine news out of Pfizer and Moderna.

Stocks were mostly lower on Friday morning as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continued to surge, and states and cities imposed new measures to help control the pandemic. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's decision not to extend emergency lending programs beyond the end of the year also weighed on sentiment. Two federal unemployment benefit programs, currently providing assistance to more than 12 million workers, are also set to expire at the end of the year. The Dow fell 0.4%, the S&P fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Crude oil fell slightly to $41.50 per barrel, while gold rose $12 to $1873 per ounce.

Stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday morning amid more positive news from Pfizer, which reported that its coronavirus vaccine was 95% effective in the final results of its late-stage trial, and from Boeing, which received FAA approval to fly its 737 MAX jet after a 20-month review. On the housing front, the Commerce Department said that October housing starts rose 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million units, up from 1.459 million in September and above the Reuters consensus forecast. The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq was flat. Crude oil traded near $42 per barrel, while gold fell $3 to $1882 per ounce.

The 3Q20 EPS season is mostly in the record books, with retailers the last group to report. The results were not pretty, but were better than 2Q20. Through mid-November, Refinitiv reported that S&P 500 earnings declined in 3Q at a 7.4% rate -- a vast improvement from the prior quarter's 30.5% decline. Excluding the Energy sector, earnings declined at a 3.2% rate. Of the 462 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for 20Q3, 84% have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This compares to a long-term average of 65% and prior four-quarter average of 73%. Our analysts are always looking for companies that raise their outlooks during earnings season. Management's ability to "raise guidance" can often be a catalyst to strong returns in the quarters ahead. There were not many in this most-recent period. Here are 12 BUY-rated companies in Argus Coverage for which management has raised guidance or increased its outlook during the recent EPS reporting season.

This edition features Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine; new coverage of Roku; an Australian home improvement retailer; and notes from Tencent, Palantir, and Aurora Cannabis

As earnings season moves towards completion, the volume of insider transactions is returning to normal, lending increased significance to the proprietary sentiment indicators from Vickers Stock Research. For three consecutive weeks during the heart of earnings, insiders turned bearish in a manner that exceeded the norm for that time on the calendar. During the bearish turn, the DJIA moved from 28,586 (close on 10/12/20) down to 26,501 (close on 11/2/20). Insiders then became bullish -- and one week later, the DJIA was back up to 28,323 (close on 11/6/20). So what gives this week?