Stocks Up, Small-Caps Soar

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today Stocks Up, Small-Caps Soar [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Up, Small-Caps Soar [Stocks Up, Small-Caps Soar]Image: Bigstock Stocks finished higher yesterday with the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq, all hitting new all-time highs yet again. But the star performer yesterday was the small-cap Russell 2000 which soared 2.65%. They stopped just short of making new all-time highs of their own. But they are now easily within striking distance of breaking out at any time. (Maybe even today.) Earnings season continues to rally stocks. Even though more than half of the companies in the S&P have reported earnings so far, there's still a lot more to go with another 1,706 companies on deck for the rest of this week, another 1,443 next week, and another 553 the week after that. In other news, the PMI Manufacturing Index came in under expectations at 58.4 vs. midpoint views for 59.2. But the ISM Manufacturing Index beat expectations with a print of 60.8 vs. midpoint views for 60.5. Both readings, irrespective of the estimates, were both considered very strong showings. Construction Spending, however, dipped -0.5% m/m vs. the consensus for a 0.5% gain. But y/y, it clocked in at an impressive 7.8% gain. Today we'll get Motor Vehicle Sales, and a look at retail sales via the Redbook report. It also marks the beginning of the 2-day FOMC Meeting, which concludes tomorrow with the FOMC Announcement and Fed Chair Press Conference. Nothing is expected to happen with rates. But traders are expecting the Fed to finally begin their long-awaited, and widely anticipated, bond taper (buying $10 billion a month less for Treasuries, and $5 billion a month less for mortgage-backed securities). In the meantime, stocks are on a tear. And so they should be. With Q4 earnings growth expected to accelerate, and more and more of the economy opening back up as virus cases go down, stocks are surging because of it. And if Congress actually does get the infrastructure bill passed, that will add even more stimulus money to an economy primed to soar. These are historic times for both the economy and the market. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [5 Top-Rated Stocks for August- Just Released]( MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five highest-rated stocks for August, 2021. None of the usual suspects, including Apple and Tesla, made the cut. Sign-up for MarketBeat's free ratings newsletter using the link below to see which companies made the list. 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