U.S. stocks were mixed intraday on Friday as investors digested new economic data. In February, total nonfarm payrolls rose 275,000 according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report. This was higher than the expected 198,000, and higher than last month's 229,000 (revised down from 353,000). While a hotter-than-expected jobs reading initially sparked a sell-off, the rise in unemployment on the next line of the report led stocks to bounce back. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% in February, rising 0.2% from the month prior. In February, total nonfarm payrolls rose 275,000 according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report. This was higher than the expected 198,000, and higher than last month's 229,000 (revised down from 353,000). The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% in February, rising 0.2% from the month prior.

Monday Tee Up: Jobs Friday

Stocks rallied on Thursday on rising retail sales boosted by higher fuel prices. In other news, Arm Holdings began trading on the Nasdaq in an IPO that was valued at $54 billion. The shares opened above $56 and closed at $63.59. The success of this IPO has given a boost to the tech sector and optimism that the IPO market will recover. The S&P 500 closed up 0.8%, the Dow was up 0.96% and the Nasdaq rose 0.8%. Crude oil passed $90 per barrel, while gold fell almost $1 to $1931 per ounce.

Stocks were mixed on Wednesday morning amid more signs of cooling inflation as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy statement this afternoon. While the Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged, investors will be focusing on the central bank's economic commentary and prospects for rate hikes at subsequent meetings. The Labor Department said that U.S. producer prices rose 1.1% from the prior year in May, down from 2.3% in April. The reading was the lowest since December 2020 and below the Reuters consensus forecast of 1.5% growth. The Dow fell 0.4%, the S&P rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. Crude oil traded near $70 per barrel, while gold rose $12 to $1971 per ounce.

Stocks rose strongly on Thursday morning, a day after the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate, as expected, by 25 basis points. The rally reversed sharp losses on Wednesday. In his post-announcement news conference, Fed Chair Powell again stressed the Fed's commitment to bringing down inflation to its 2% target. He noted that tighter credit conditions would likely allow the Fed to scale back future rate hikes, but dismissed suggestions that it would cut rates later this year. The Dow rose 1.3%, the S&P 1.6%, and the Nasdaq 2.3%. Crude oil rose to $71 per barrel, while gold rose $34 to $1983 per ounce.

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.

A Hard 2022, an Uncertain 2023: Our Monthly Survey of the Economy, Interest Rates, and Stocks

Monday Tee Up: Inflation, Inflation, Inflation

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 were mixed in volatile trading on Friday morning as investors continued to focus on inflation, rate hikes, and prospects for recession. Manufacturing data was weaker than expected. The Federal Reserve said that production at U.S. factories fell 0.1% in May after rising 0.8% in April. The consensus called for modest growth of 0.3%. Including mines and utilities, overall industrial production rose 0.2%, down from 1.4% growth a month earlier. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P was flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.9%. Crude oil fell sharply to $111 per barrel, while gold traded near $1841 per ounce.

The overall Insider Index from Vickers Stock Research continues to benefit from a long-term trend of benign/bullish sentiment among corporate executives, directors, and beneficial owners. The Index (at -11.70 compared to -11.96 last week) continues to improve within the neutral zone that runs from +5.00 to -14.00. Despite insider-transaction volume that is at the lowest level since January (with insiders broadly prohibited from trading now that earnings season is fully underway), the Insider Index (reflecting six months of transaction data) is at its most-positive level since September 2020.

This edition features Broadridge's potential, trends in utility companies, new coverage of Datadog, and Eastman, Atlassian, and Comcast.

Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday morning amid rising Treasury yields. The selloff was led by the Financial, Communication Services, and Technology sectors, with only Energy in positive territory. Goldman Sachs shares fell more than 8% after the company posted lower 4Q earnings and missed the consensus EPS estimate. The Dow fell 1.6%, the S&P 1.7%, and the Nasdaq 2.2%. Crude oil rose more than 1% to $85 per barrel, while gold fell $4 to $1813 ounce.

This edition features European banks; California utilities; traditional payment firms; and notes from Johnson & Johnson, Green Thumb Industries, and new coverage Lithium Americas.

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 were mostly lower on Friday morning following a weaker-than-expected August employment report. The Labor Department said that the U.S. added just 235,000 payroll jobs in August, down from a revised 1.053 million in July and well below the Reuters consensus forecast of 728,000. The official unemployment rate fell to 5.2%, down from 5.4% in July. The Dow fell 0.2%, the S&P fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%. Crude oil traded near $70 per barrel, while gold rose $22 to $1833 per ounce.

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 rose on Monday morning recovering some of last week's losses. Tomorrow, May existing home sales will be released. They are expected to remain close to the 5.80 million SAAR reported in April. The S&P was up 1.2% and the Nasdaq 0.6% and the Dow was up 1.6%. Crude oil traded near $73 per barrel, while gold traded near $1782 per ounce.

For the past two weeks, we've discussed sentiment improvement among corporate executives, directors and beneficial owners (albeit on low transaction volume that is typical during earnings season). Prior to that, the weekly data from Vickers Stock Research showed insiders were generally cautious for the past few months, and insiders at Technology sector firms were particularly cautious. But that all started to fade lately, as sentiment among sectors moved back towards alignment and overall sentiment improved. But this week, everything old is new again.