Often overlooked amid gyrations in the stock market is dividend income, which is an important element of total return. Between 1930 and 2012, dividend income accounted for 42% of total return of the S&P 500, according to Hartford Funds. And that's just the average. In some decades, dividends accounted for more than 50% of total returns and even 100% of returns. More recently, dividends have accounted for 15%-20% of returns. Still, in 2018, dividend payments softened the blow when most market indices declined as the Federal Reserve hiked rates. Not all dividends are created equal, though, and it is important to understand the difference between the two main categories: high-yield stocks and dividend-growth stocks.

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 kept the momentum going in April, and are now up almost 12%, including dividends, in the year-to-date. Our analysts have been progressing through earnings season, and have come across many stocks in coverage that have approached target prices. We set target prices through our valuation framework, which includes analysis of historical multiples, peer multiples, future dividends, and cash flows. After adjusting the models for the latest earnings and dividend information -- most of which has been good -- here are some of the stocks on which we have raised target prices over the past month. All stocks are rated BUY at Argus.

Innovation may be hard to define, but to borrow from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, you know it when you see it. The United States economy is full of innovation. It has to be. Manufacturing industries that dominated the economy decades ago -- textiles, televisions, even automobiles, to a large degree -- have moved overseas, where costs are lower. Yet the U.S. economy is at its largest point in history and still growing. If U.S. corporations weren't innovating, creating new products and services, and moving into new markets and applications, the domestic economy would be contracting, not expanding, and capital would not be flooding into the country. Particularly at this juncture of the market and economic cycles, we look to innovative companies to navigate the challenges. At Argus, an 85-year-old independent research firm that has innovated a time or two in its long history, we have focused on four types of innovative companies: Industry Disruptors; First to Market; New Product Specialists; and Product & Process Perfectors. The following innovative and BUY-rated companies recently were added to our Growth model portfolio, as well as our new Innovative Growth Separately Managed Account, and our Modern Innovators UIT. The full list of stocks also is in our Innovation theme model portfolio.

Stocks were little changed on Thursday morning following new employment and housing market data. The Labor Department said that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to 547,000 for the week ended April 17, down from 586,000 a week earlier and below the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 610,000. The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell 3.7% to an annualized 6.01 million in March. The reading was the weakest since August 2020 and below the consensus forecast of 6.19 million. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P was flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Crude oil fell slightly to $61 per barrel, while gold traded near $1787 per ounce.

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 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.

The United States economy is full of innovation. It has to be. Manufacturing industries that dominated the economy decades ago - textiles, televisions, even automobiles, to a large degree - have moved overseas, where costs are lower. Yet the U.S. economy, prior to the pandemic, had expanded to record levels. And now, the U.S. Healthcare industry is mobilizing to improve COVID-19 testing, treatments and vaccines. Consider that U.S. GDP was approximately $1 trillion in 1930 but nearly $22 trillion at the end of 2019. That's growth of 22-times. Meanwhile, the U.S. population has grown less than 3-times during that time span, to 320 million from 120 million. The delta between GDP growth and population growth has been driven in large part by innovation. In addition, the value of listed corporations on U.S. stock exchanges at the end of 2020 was approximately $32 trillion, representing 41% of global equity market capitalization, while U.S. GDP represented only 25% of global GDP. The current low level of interest rates (the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield is 1.1%) and the relatively high level of the dollar both attest to the confidence that global investors have in the innovative U.S. economy.

The U.S. economy added 379,000 jobs in January, ahead of expectations. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.2%. Most of the job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, with smaller gains in temporary help services, healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, and manufacturing. Employment declined in state and local government, education, construction, and mining. The labor market continues to reflect the impact of the pandemic, as the shape and character of the workforce is changing. In February, 22.7% of employed persons teleworked because of the pandemic, up from 21.8% in November; this trend is likely to remain intact through 2021. The current number of jobs is 8.7 million lower than the February 2020 level. The civilian labor force is down 4.5 million from last February, as these workers have given up on finding jobs. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that another 745,000 people filed initial unemployment claims, and the total of continuous claims was 4.4 million, down from 4.9 million a month ago. The data indicates that the employment environment, while improving, is still under stress -- a point Fed Chairman Powell made in a press appearance Thursday. We expect the unemployment rate will remain high, and the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low, into 2022.

The stock market performed well last week, touching fresh highs with no clear-cut catalysts aside from relatively strong earnings. Tech stocks outperformed blue chips, though small-cap stocks outperformed both. During Friday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 28 points, or 0.09%. The S&P 500 was up 0.47%, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.50%. For the week, the DJIA climbed 310 points, or 1.00%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.23%, and the Nasdaq Composite led the way, climbing 1.73%. Year-to-date, the DJIA is up 2.78%, the S&P 500 is up 4.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 9.37%.

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.