Based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Boston Scientific is a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical devices used in a range of interventional medical specialties, including interventional cardiology, peripheral interventions, vascular surgery, electrophysiology, oncology, endoscopy, urology, gynecology, and neuromodulation. The company is a component of the S&P 500.

That first quarter was one heck of a party -- and now we've had two consecutive quarters of strong gains. As well, there have been five months with gains and 18 out 22 weeks in which the S&P 500 (SPX) has moved higher. And that happened with barely a speck of price volatility. The S&P 500 rose 10.2% in Q1, the S&P 100 (OEX) was up 10.9%, the Nasdaq (IXIC) was up 9.1%, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) was up 8.5%, the S&P MidCap 400 (MDY) was up 9.9%, and the Russell 2000 (IWM) was up 5%. Bonds sold off a bit, the 10-year was up 34 basis points, gold (GLD) was up 7.6%, WTI was up 16%, the U.S. Dollar Index was up 2.4%, and Bitcoin soared 65%.

Boston Scientific produces less invasive medical devices that are inserted into the human body through small openings or cuts. It manufactures products for use in angioplasty, blood clot filtration, cardiac rhythm management, catheter-directed ultrasound imaging, upper gastrointestinal tract diagnostics, interventional oncology, neuromodulation for chronic pain, and treatment of incontinence. The firm markets its devices to healthcare professionals and institutions globally. Foreign sales account for nearly half of the firm's total sales.

We see what we believe are some great opportunities right now in Healthcare -- and we like the sector overall. Argus Director of Research Jim Kelleher, CFA, recently completed his quarterly sector review and raised Healthcare sector to Over-Weight from Market-Weight. The healthcare environment is undergoing rapid transitions, and we now see an unfolding period of significant promise and opportunity. Our newly-favored stance is based on resumption of deferred medical procedures and significant new quality-of-life drugs and treatments. The category is broad and has underperformed the S&P 500 over the past year. The Healthcare sector ETF (XLV) is up 15% over the past year compared to a gain of 31% for the S&P 500. We see opportunity here to pick up some steady companies, with big brands and solid financials. These companies are science-focused and enhance lives. They are innovators. In our list this week, we look across several subsectors within the Healthcare sector and pull out some leaders we like. These stocks also are included in our Focus List and Model Portfolios, as noted below.