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 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)

Argus has published its latest Portfolio Selector, which features its popular Focus List. Each month, Director of Research Jim Kelleher, CFA, surveys the team of Argus Research industry analysts for their timeliest recommendations out of the company's fundamental universe of approximately 500 stocks. The Focus List typically includes 30 stocks: turnover is high, as Jim typically adds three or four new stocks per month. Below are the latest additions, all of which are rated BUY at Argus.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are Merck & Co Inc (MRK); Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (CRWD); Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ); Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE) and the Focus List deletions are CIENA Corp. (CIEN); General Mills, Inc. (GIS); ServiceNow Inc (NOW); Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VRTX).