Rapidly rising inflation in 2022 knocked stocks into a bear market. While growth strategies suffered the most, value strategies also declined. Even bond prices were lower that year. Stocks have recovered and a new bull market has started, but gains have been largely driven by only a handful of high-tech companies. Inflation remains an issue and the Federal Reserve has yet to lower rates. Is a recession in the offing? With all the uncertainty, 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.

Rapidly rising inflation in 2022 knocked stocks into a bear market. While growth strategies suffered the most, value strategies also declined. Even bond prices were lower that year. Stocks have recovered and a new bull market has started, but gains have been largely driven by only a handful of high-tech companies. Inflation remains an issue and the Federal Reserve has yet to lower rates. Is a recession in the offing? With all the uncertainty, 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.

The driver of the S&P 500 (SPX), the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), and the Nasdaq Composite has been semiconductor stocks, led by Nvidia (NVDA). That stock has soared 156% in 2024, with Micron Technology (MU +64%), Broadcom (AVGO +49%), Qualcomm (QCOM +48%) and Applied Materials (AMAT +46%) jumping as well. The slope of the semiconductor chart continues to steepen and there is a potential bearish momentum divergence. The iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) recently was 30% above its 50-week exponential average and quite extended. A pullback would be welcome, but sooner or later, the semis could go parabolic -- which is fun while it lasts, but is always the ending price blowoff for an advance. Most of the other tech industries have not done well in 2024, so it's also possible that funds taking profits in semis will move into other areas that may benefit from AI later on. Interestingly, four of the biggest Technology sector gainers recently were beaten-down stocks such as Accenture (ACN), Epam Systems (EPAM), Salesforce.com (CRM), and Cognizant Technology (CTSH). All four traced out weekly up-patterns (closed above their prior week highs) while ACN traced out a monthly up. Those stocks are clear AI beneficiaries, but likely down the road (though maybe not that far down the road). Their technical turnaround is still early as they all recently hit intermediate-term lows. These stocks could have seen "forced" selling in recent months as many investors needed funds to chase the semis. Of interest, there has been some massive insider selling at Nvidia, including from its CEO, Jensen Huang. That's certainly not surprising. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals develops therapies to address cystic fibrosis and other diseases. The company was founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has 5,400 employees. It has research programs and facilities in the U.S., the UK, and Canada. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.