In this edition, Bellway builds an appealing position; Kenvue is looking fairly healthy; Rockwell engineers a most; and Rheinmetall, Disney, and New Fortress Energy.

In this edition, utilities' dance with AI depends on regulators' returns; we see improving prospects in household and personal care; initiating coverage on Vipshop; and Hugo Boss, Inwit, and RingCentral.

Stocks are widely lower, continuing yesterday's slide and on the back of this morning's surprise Jobs report. The Unemployment Rate ticked up to 4.3% for July from 4.1% the month before. Nonfarm Payrolls printed at 114,000, much lower than the expected and the month before. These weak labor numbers raise questions: Did the Fed wait too long before pivoting to easing monetary policy? Will they enact a larger cut in September, perhaps 50 bps instead of the expected 25 bps? Is the desired soft landing still possible? We note that the recent GDP report gives us confidence that the U.S. economy has avoided a recession. And more data keeps coming. Deep breathes. Every day we recalibrate.

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 major benchmarks were on the upside with the Nasdaq leading the way, up more than 2%, amid a surge in semiconductor stocks. Investors await the 2 pm press release from the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

The stock market tried its best to rally on July 29, but with major EPS reports, a Fed decision, and an employment report looming, higher prices attracted sellers and the major indices finished flat. The market will either continue lower in the near term or the pullback will end and new highs are just around the corner. We would bet on the former, as there is no indication from the recent price action of the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Nasdaq 100 that the selling is over. While the tech-heavy indices, industries, and mega caps have worked off overbought momentum conditions on a daily and weekly basis, we have not yet cycled into oversold territory on a daily basis. Do we have to? Absolutely not -- but it probably would be healthy. The last time Technology indices/stocks were oversold on a daily basis was on April 19 -- but just barely, with the 14-day relative strength index reaching 30. The last time tech was oversold on a weekly basis was in mid-2022 -- and prior to that, during the pandemic. Long-term relative strength leadership rarely cycles into oversold territory on a weekly or monthly basis except during mega meltdowns and crashes. So there is a smell of panic in Technology land as the 'can't miss' semiconductor stocks are stinking it up. But at least the money fleeing those stocks is being moved into other areas of the market. The NYSE, Dow Jones Industrials, the S&P 500 equal weight, the S&P MidCap 400, the Russell 2000, and the S&P Small Cap 600 continue to catch a bid -- with most remaining near all-time highs. As of this writing, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX $220.58) has cratered almost 17% over the 14 sessions, its largest decline in that time period since June 2022 (which was during a tough bear market for Information Technology). There is a cluster of support near $200, which includes the last low in April, trendline support off the lows since October 2022, and a 38.2% retracement of the bull market. Distribution days on the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and the SOXX continue to add up as we count seven on both ETFs over the past 14 days.

In this edition, lights bright for EV maker Greely Automobile; T. Rowe Price rowing well; new subsidies conducive to China home appliance sales; and STMicroelectronics, Tyler Technologies, and Enel SpA.