The second quarter of 2024 was rewarding for equity investors, as the S&P 500 increased another 4% and has gained almost 15% year to date. Growth was the segment leader in 2Q, as the S&P 500 Growth Index advanced approximately 8% in the period while the S&P 500 Value Index declined slightly. Leading sectors included Information Technology and Communication Services, while sectors in the red for the past three months included Real Estate, Materials, Industrials, Financial, and Energy. The average stock in the Argus Universe of Coverage declined 2.4% during the quarter, while the median stock dropped 3.0%. The average BUY-rated stock declined 0.7%, while the average HOLD-rated stock gained 6.7%. Will the rally broaden in 2H24, or will investors keep focusing on Tech and Communications groups? Will small-caps pick up their pace (the Russell 2000 was up 1.8% in 1H24), or is the current bull market rally due for a break, with some profit-taking coming into play? Given declining interest rates, we expect growth stocks to continue to carry the bull market, while the risk of recession puts a premium on clean balance sheets, which are also more prevalent among large-caps. Investors seeking value are encouraged to focus on dividends and look for yields in the 3-4% range. Here are the top 10 performers from the Argus Universe last quarter, including, somewhat surprisingly, representatives of five of the 11 major sectors, as well as the five worst performers.

Insiders remain on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the breadth of the overall market is of concern to some, with the DJIA lower over the past month, the S&P higher, and the Nasdaq soaring. That's not ideal balance -- though there are some recent signs of the start of rebalancing among the major indices. As well, some big-name tech companies are making headlines as C-suite execs sell stock (see Nvidia). That's well worth keeping an eye on -- but it is hard to pound the drum too hard right now. With the stock up about 156% in the YTD, some profits were likely to be taken. Again, though, this needs to be watched carefully, not just for NVDA but for all the AI stocks that have pulled the stock market to all-time highs. If they start to wobble, will investors truly reallocate or head for the hills? On a sector basis, selling by insiders last week was greatest in Information Technology, with shares valued at $430 million sold, followed by Healthcare ($198 million sold) and Financials ($157 million sold). Buying outpaced selling in Energy, with $52 million of shares bought versus $1.5 million sold, as well as in Consumer Staples. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Applied Materials Inc. (NGS: AMAT) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE: TEVA).

Insiders remain on the fence. All of the one-week sell/buy ratios from Vickers Stock Research improved this week (but are not stellar), while all the eight-week ratios are best described as flat. From a longer-term view, the six-month-based Insider Index from Vickers appears to have leveled off after months of deterioration -- and indeed improved slightly from last week. Still, the reading remains far from bullish territory and no return to bullish is imminent as the index is at its most-bearish level since September 2021. End of day, there is no compelling movement in insider sentiment this week. Meanwhile, according to Argus' Mark Arbeter, CMT, 'market breadth is certainly not optimal for a bull market, and eventually one of two things likely will happen. The rest (or part) of the market will wake up and start to participate, adding to the semiconductors strength, or the semis will run into trouble and take an already weak market structure lower. Dominance by the heavily weighted market caps is not a bad thing -- as long as it persists.' On a sector basis, selling by insiders last week was greatest in Information Technology, with shares valued at $1.11 billion sold, followed by Consumer Staples ($338 million sold) and Financials ($185 million sold). Buying outpaced selling in Energy, with $107 million of shares bought versus $45 million sold, as well as in Real Estate and Materials. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL).

U.S. stocks were slightly lower after the open today, but have since moved mostly into the green, with only the Russell 2000 down as of this writing. Still, the action is not robust, with the range for the indices a tight -0.48% to +0.19%. To paraphrase William Shakespeare, it seems 'neither a buyer nor a seller be' is the quote of the day.