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 fell on Wednesday morning as investors weighed new retail sales and producer price data, and awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting. The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January, up from a decline of 1.0% in December and well above the Reuters consensus forecast of 1.1% growth. The Labor Department said that its producer price index rose 1.3% in January, up from 0.3% in December and the strongest gain since December 2009. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 1.2%. Crude oil traded near $60 per barrel, while gold fell $18 to $1781 per ounce.

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 Sanmina Corp (SANM); D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI); T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS); American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP) and the Focus List deletions are Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR); Kroger Co. (KR); NextEra Energy Inc (NEE); Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW).

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.

Stocks rallied on Thursday morning, recovering from Wednesday's selloff, amid lower-than-expected jobless claims. The Labor Department reported that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 847,000 for the week ended January 23, down from a revised 914,000 a week earlier and below the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 875,000. The Dow rose 1.8%, the S&P 1.6%, and the Nasdaq 0.9%. Crude oil rose to $53 per barrel, while gold traded near $1866 per ounce.