In this edition, Grab Holdings worth grabbing now; examining medical-device makers' moat; a hard look at software makers' moat; and Vesync, Macy's, and Travelers Companies.

It's been a wild, volatile, mostly down week with stocks rotating from tech to small caps, then surprisingly back the other way. There's been much selling and segmentation in the broad market. The massive, global IT glitch was not a welcome ending to a summer Friday morning. At midday, Wall Street is all in red and trying to shake off the week and get prepped for next week - Big Tech earnings are coming and more key inflation data.

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 Vickers Top Insider Picks is a daily report that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify 25 companies with compelling insider purchase histories based on transactions over the past three months.

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.

The Vickers Top Insider Picks is a daily report that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify 25 companies with compelling insider purchase histories based on transactions over the past three months.

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.

Demand from all corners of the globe for the safety and security of U.S. Treasury debt has acted to keep a lid on long-term interest rates, even as the Federal Reserve has raised short-term rates aggressively for more than two years and inflation has remained stubbornly high. Total public debt owed by the U.S. federal government was $34.6 trillion at the end of 1Q24, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Outside of U.S. investors, the two largest holders of U.S. public debt are the nations of Japan, which owns 3.3% of the debt, and China, which owns 2.3%. The other nations among the top 10 holders have 8% of the debt, so the top 10 holders collectively own about 14%. The grand total of U.S. debt owned by foreign holders is $8.0 trillion, or about 23% of the total. This total holdings level has been steady over the past six months. Japan has been a leader here, as the nation's holdings have increased by 5%, or $50 billion in the past six months. China, meanwhile, has been selling, in part for political reasons. China's current Treasury holdings are lower by about $50 billion this year. Over in Europe, countries such as Belgium, France, and Luxembourg have been buyers. We think this type of global demand for U.S. Treasuries should help keep long-term rates from spiking much higher in 2024-2025.

There has been a little of everything in the past two weeks, from a five-day wipeout in the previously loved semiconductor industry, taking out almost 10%, to a massive rally in the heretofore hated small-caps, adding 11.5%. We've also seen a number of breadth thrusts, which usually occur at the beginning of a new uptrend, as well as a breakout to minor all-time highs for gold. There was also the attempted assassination of former president Trump. Finally, this morning brings news of a global technology outage and, of course, more earnings news. Thursday could have been worse if not for some late buying that pushed the indices off recent pullback lows. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% and is down 2.2% over the past two days, but found intraday support yesterday from its 21-day exponential average -- just as it did during the minor pullback in late May. The greater damage has been elsewhere, with the Nasdaq giving up 4.2% over the past six days and the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) down 4.7% over the same period. Both have given up their 21-day exponential averages for the first time since April, but neither has broken their prior closing low from June 24. Their uptrends off the lows since April have given way on a minor basis and the 21-day rate-of-change for the QQQ has dropped into negative territory. In addition, we have seen minor and bearish 5/13 exponential moving average crossovers for the Nasdaq and the Nasdaq 100. Because of the size of the mega-cap rallies since early 2023, we think there is a greater probability that the current pullback could last into August and September, which is generally a weak seasonal time of year for stocks. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

Stocks fell on Thursday as investors continued rotating out of tech stocks and also to take profits on recent run-ups. The S&P 500 lost 0.8%, the Dow was down 1.3% and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. Oil also turned down and is trading just above $82 per barrel.

Money continues to flow into small caps and out of Big Tech. The Russell is up slightly. The Nasdaq is down nearly 1%. Chips were making a comeback earlier from the massive selloff yesterday but that momentum has not held, even with good news from Taiwan Semi. Back to small-caps and some perspective, the total market cap of the main small-cap index, the Russell 2000 (ticker IWM) is said to be only as large as one of the multiple $3 trillion market-cap stocks in the 'Magnificent 7.' But let's not spoil the party. Over the past week, IWM has soared more than 10%.