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.

Stocks were generally higher on Wednesday morning, led by the Technology and Consumer Discretionary sectors, as investors awaited more details about the Biden administration's $2 trillion infrastructure improvement plan. On the employment front, payroll provider ADP said that U.S. private employers added 517,000 jobs in March, up strongly from a revised 176,000 in February. The reading missed the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 550,000, though it was still the strongest gain since September. The Dow was flat, the S&P rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%. Crude oil traded near $61 per barrel, while gold rose $19 to $1703 per ounce.

President Joe Biden is preparing to announce an infrastructure-rebuilding plan that he estimates will create up to 10 million clean energy jobs. The following areas of the economy stand to benefit from the government spending, which could total as much as $4 trillion. The first element of the plan is improving the country's infrastructure, from roads and bridges to water systems and electricity grids.

Stocks rose on Wednesday morning, led by the Energy and Industrial sectors, amid a second day of congressional testimony from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. IHS Markit said that its flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 59 in the first half of March, up from 58.6 in February but slightly below the Reuters consensus forecast of 59.3. The Commerce Department also reported a 0.8% decline in core capital goods orders last month, down from growth of 0.6% in January. The reading also missed the consensus forecast of 0.5% growth. The Dow rose 1.0%, the S&P 0.7%, and the Nasdaq 0.1%. Crude oil traded near $60 per barrel, while gold rose $5 to $1730 per ounce.

We recently raised our rating on the Communication Services sector to Over-Weight. In this barbell sector, media and entertainment companies should benefit from robust online activity and the reopening of theme parks and movie theaters. Providers of telecom services should benefit from ARPU gains as the 5G rollout gains traction. The style mix of the sector is approximately one-third value and two-thirds growth. The adjusted pro-forma beta is approximately 1.1 (like the old telecoms), while the yield is 0.9% (reflecting the impact of Google and Facebook). The smoothed growth rate is 7% and the P/E ratio is 21x. The sector accounts for 11% of the S&P 500. We think investors should consider allocating 12%-14% of diversified portfolios to the sector. Here are some of our top picks.

Everyone is talking about the new $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plan instead. Meanwhile, U.S. debt levels have quietly and quickly grown over the past 10 years. Total U.S. debt is now more than 120% of GDP, according to the Office of Management & the Budget. That is the highest level since World War II. In the 1980s, the debt/GDP ratio was solidly in the 40% range, and moved up toward 60% by 2000. The debt level soared around 2010, as the government spent aggressively to brake the recession and rekindle growth. (According to Keynes, that's what the government is supposed to do.) Still, despite more than 10 years of economic growth prior to the pandemic, the debt level has only grown as a percentage of GDP. Now, in light of the fiscal spending to fight the impact of COVID-19, debt levels have surged. This is not a problem that has to be fixed today. After all, interest rates are low on an historical basis and policies to change the trajectory (less spending, more taxes) could push the economy into decline. But politicians should start to establish a plan to address the issue in the next 10-15 years. If not, the situation could result in hyperinflation or an inability for the government to address long-term problems such as rebuilding infrastructure or addressing climate change.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are Lazard Ltd. (LAZ); KLA Corp. (KLAC); Silk Road Medical Inc (SILK); Pinterest Inc (PINS) and the Focus List deletions are Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG); Moderna Inc (MRNA); Verizon Communications Inc (VZ); Western Digital Corp. (WDC).

When the investing environment is potentially undergoing a major trend change, investors find themselves deciding if good news is good or bad, and if bad news is bad or good. The current major trend change encompassing the investing environment is the rise in interest rates; and the good news/bad news event was the February nonfarm payrolls report.

This edition features the future of networking; European food delivery; online education; and notes from GE, Costco, and Snowflake.

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.

Stocks fluctuated on Friday morning amid continued inflation concerns, a day after Thursday's sharp selloff. The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending rose 2.4% in January after declining in December, helped by government pandemic relief checks and a reduction in new coronavirus cases. The Dow fell 1.0%, the S&P fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.6%. Crude oil traded near $62 per barrel, while gold fell $44 to $1731 per ounce.

Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, tracks and analyzes insider trading and institutional ownership trends. Form 13-Fs are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters, and are now coming in from 4Q20. We review the 13Fs of the major activist investors, including Carl Icahn, Trian Fund Management, Jana Partners, and ValueAct Holdings, among others. Activist investing has evolved and is now less about generating a short-term return on an underpriced stock and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. Here are some recent new purchases and key holdings of activist investors, according to Vickers.

Stocks were mostly higher on Thursday morning, led by the Technology sector, following new employment data. The Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 793,000 for the week ended February 6, down from a revised 812,000 a week earlier but above the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 760,000. The Dow was flat, the S&P rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. Crude oil fell slightly to $58.50 per barrel, while gold traded near $1838 per ounce.

Stocks sold off last week, due in part to frenzied trading in certain corners of the market, along with FOMC commentary that highlighted a slowing recovery. The general public took special note of this week's equity market drama, with Google search interest for 'stock market' at its highest levels since March 2020. Blue-chips fared slightly better than tech stocks during the slide. On Friday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 621 points, or 2.03%. The S&P 500 was down 1.93% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.00%. For the week, the DJIA fell 3.27%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.31%, and the Nasdaq Composite sunk 3.49%.

Stocks fell on Wednesday morning as investors weighed a new round of earnings reports and awaited the Federal Reserve's afternoon policy statement and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. On the earnings front, Microsoft shares rose more than 2% after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal 2Q results and issued strong 3Q guidance. Boeing reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, hurt by weak demand for aircraft due to the pandemic and a $6.5 billion charge on its new 777X jet. The Dow fell 1.1%, the S&P 1.1%, and the Nasdaq 0.8%. Crude oil traded near $53 per barrel, while gold fell $7 to $1844 per ounce.