This edition features winners and losers after Texas storm; Airbnb's prospects for a travel rebound; Workday approaching our fair value; and notes from Public Storage, Palo Alto Networks, and Republic Services.

Stocks were largely flat on Wednesday morning following earnings reports from Alphabet and Amazon and new employment data. Payroll provider ADP said that U.S. private employers added 174,000 jobs in January, well above the Reuters consensus forecast of 49,000 and up from a loss of 78,000 in December. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P was flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%. Crude oil traded near $56 per barrel, while gold rose $3 to $1836 per ounce.

January ended with a fizzle, as stocks recorded their worst month since October and the S&P 500 registered a loss for the month. In a month that featured the incursion at the Capitol Building and a heavily policed inauguration, few predicted that the key market driver would be a retail chain that a few hedge funds (to their misfortune) perceived to be on its last legs.

In 1849, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Now, over 170 years later, his prophetic statement aligns perfectly with stock-market sentiment.

With earnings season now in full swing, the volume of weekly insider transactions reported by Vickers Stock Research has slowed and should remain slow for the better part of the next three weeks. Last week, Vickers processed some 898 transactions that meet the criteria for inclusion in this week's Weekly Insider Report, compared to 1720 at this time last month.

NYSE margin debt has soared since the end of March along with the recovery in stocks. There has been a very consistent long-term pattern in margin debt and its strong ability to predict major market tops. Are we there yet?

Stocks rose on Tuesday morning as investors weighed earnings reports from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Halliburton, and congressional testimony from Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen. The former Fed president said that she would focus on boosting employment and wages, which have been battered by the pandemic, and that economic recovery also depended on the rapid and broad distribution of coronavirus vaccines. The Dow rose 0.3%, the S&P 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 0.7%. Crude oil traded near $53 per barrel, while gold rose $11 to $1840 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.

Last week, we talked about precious metals having been dead money since peaking in a parabolic move in early August. Steep moves to the upside typically see fairly large countertrend moves to the downside and also take time to bottom. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a little spark under the metals, especially silver -- so it's possible we are finally at the beginning of another upside run.

The onset of the coronavirus earlier this year knocked the stock market into a bear market. Though stocks have recovered, the U.S. economy is still in recession and COVID-19 cases are spiking as the weather turns colder and people head indoors. Volatility, which was low in early 2020 after a robust year for equities in 2019, has spiked higher, and has remained elevated. Is it time to cash in the chips? We note that investors exit the stock market at their own peril, as long-term returns from equities consistently have outpaced long-term returns from other asset classes such as fixed income and cash. As well, those returns are from eras when the 10-year Treasury bond yield was not sub-1.0%. So what's a potential equity strategy for investors amid all the uncertainty? Argus believes that Min Vol is an all-weather strategy that is timely in any investing climate. Academic literature and, more to the point returns history, indicate that Min Vol can deliver market-matching returns on an absolute basis and superior returns on a risk-adjusted basis over various time periods. Stocks included in our Min Vol model portfolio and typically industry leaders and have received a high score from our A6 Quant Model on Financial Strength and a low score on Risk. Stocks in the portfolio include the following.

Maybe you intend to catch-up on certain things over the holidays. That's what defensive sectors appear to be doing in the fourth quarter. At the nine-month mark, income-oriented, defensive, and/or cyclical sectors were deeply lagging -- and they won't catch the leaders in 2020. But in the past two months, formerly unloved sectors have meaningfully closed the gap.

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.

The Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report for November 2020 will be released on December 4. The news has been good the last few months, as approximately 12 million jobs were created from May through October, and initial unemployment claims have declined from an average of 5 million per week in April to 800,000 per week in October. But the recovery is not complete, as the gains have not made up for the losses in March and April, when the economy shed a total of 22.2 million jobs. Unemployment claims ticked higher last week to 778,000, and continuing claims are above 6.5 million. That's out of a total workforce of 160 million. Continuing claims have been declining since peaking in April, but jobs growth has slowed since July, as numerous states are again tightening restrictions with COVID-19 cases surging. Our forecast for nonfarm payrolls growth for November is 625,000. That's a decline from the October level but would still contribute to reducing the unemployment rate, assuming the labor force participation rate remains steady.

Waste Connections is the third-largest integrated provider of traditional solid waste and recycling services in the North America, operating 98 active landfills (14 are E&P waste landfills), 124 transfer stations, and 66 recycling operations. The firm serves residential, commercial, industrial, and energy end markets. Waste Connections entered the Canadian market with its 2016 merger with Progressive Waste. In 2019, roughly 14% of consolidated revenue was generated from the firm's Canadian segment.

Republic Services ranks as the second-largest integrated provider of traditional solid waste services in the United States, operating roughly 189 active landfills and more than 200 transfer stations. The company serves residential, commercial, and industrial end markets. It also runs a sizable recycling operation North America.

Republic Services ranks as the second-largest integrated provider of traditional solid waste services in the United States, operating roughly 189 active landfills and more than 200 transfer stations. The company serves residential, commercial, and industrial end markets. It also runs a sizable recycling operation North America.

Waste Connections is the third-largest integrated provider of traditional solid waste and recycling services in the North America, operating 98 active landfills (14 are E&P waste landfills), 124 transfer stations, and 66 recycling operations. The firm serves residential, commercial, industrial, and energy end markets. Waste Connections entered the Canadian market with its 2016 merger with Progressive Waste. In 2019, roughly 14% of consolidated revenue was generated from the firm's Canadian segment.