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 stock indices closed higher on Wednesday for only the fourth time in the past 15 days. We are ignoring February 26 as the index gains were meaningless. Some of the indices have bounced only to their sharply falling five-day exponential average and stalled. It was the second risk-on day in a row, with gains in Information Technology, Energy, Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services, and Financial. Defensive Consumer Staples was whacked over 2%. The largest gainers on the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) were again the recently beaten-up IT issues as well as Utility stocks that benefit from the AI and data center buildouts. We talked about improvement in some of the breadth stats yesterday and will add a few more today. The number of NYSE new 52-week lows peaked at 218 on March 4 and dropped to 94 as of March 11. At the same time, the NYSE is at a lower level. The percentage of new lows (of total issues) peaked at 8% back in December and is now at 5%. We get worried when the percentage of lows rises above 10%. NYSE advancing volume bottomed on March 3, although declining volume hit a new high on March 10. We remain worried as only 40% of SPX stocks are above their 200-day, with the danger zone below 45%. For the S&P 100, 50% of stocks are above their 200-day. For the QQQ, the result is 42%. The VIX Volatility index closed outside its upper daily Bollinger Band on Monday, fell inside the upper band on Tuesday, and closed lower on Wednesday. This three-day sequence created a VIX sell signal and S&P 500 buy signal. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

CrowdStrike provides cloud-native cybersecurity for enterprise IT and cloud data workflows. The company's Falcon platform protects client workflows from data breaches by automatically detecting and preventing cyberattacks. CrowdStrike was founded in 2011 and completed its IPO on June 12, 2019 at $34 per share. About 32% of the company's revenue is generated outside the U.S.

March 10, 2025: Is Inflation Budging? The next batch of inflation data comes out this week. The Nasdaq has crossed back and forth into and out of correction territory. The S&P 500 has also turned negative for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is clinging to positive ground. Last week, the Dow lost 2.4%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.1%, and the Nasdaq lost another 3.5% and now is down 9% from its high in mid-December. Year to date, the Dow is up 0.6%, the S&P 500 is down 2%, and the Nasdaq has lost 6%. On the economic calendar, the key CPI inflation report is due on Wednesday. For January, CPI came in at 3.0% and Core CPI, excluding food and energy, was at 3.3%. For February, Argus Chief Economist Chris Graja forecasts CPI at 2.9% and Core CPI at 3.2%. Also on the calendar this week is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report and the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index on Tuesday; wholesale inflation indicator PPI on Thursday; and consumer sentiment on Friday. Chris Graja's Economic Call of the Week is the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for February, which he expects to decline to about 101 from last month's 102.8. That would remain above the pre-election 93.7 in October and the 51-year average of 98. This indicator, due on Tuesday from the National Federation of Independent Businesses, is especially important because 'smaller' businesses employ about half of the U.S. private workforce. Chris offered the following thoughts. 'We expect to see that small businesses remain optimistic for about the next six months, but it may be getting harder. The NFIB's Uncertainty Index jumped in January and only one of the Optimism Index's 10 components rose, while seven decreased and two were unchanged.' Earnings season is essentially over. The list of stragglers reporting this week includes Ciena, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Kohl's on Tuesday; Adobe on Wednesday; and Ulta Beauty and Dollar General on Thursday. For the fourth quarter, corporate America booked a strong 17% EPS growth rate when compared to the prior-year quarter and 9% growth compared to 3Q24. Financial, up 35%, and Communication Services, up 32%, were the top performing sector. All sectors were higher except Energy, which fell 29%, according to Refinitiv. Argus forecasts 12% EPS growth for 2025 and 11% EPS growth for 2026. Last week, Argus Chief Economist Chris Graja nailed the jobs report. Nonfarm Payrolls came in at 151,000 for January. Chris' call was for 150,000. The Unemployment Rate ticked up to 4.1%, matching his forecast. Chris' Call of the Week, the ISM Services Index, also did well. He noted that this statistic was important because the services sector accounts for almost one-half of the U.S. economy. Well, the news was good: the index reading was 53, above the break-even point of 50 and signaling that the economy is likely to remain on a growth path, despite the potential impact of government layoffs, tariffs, and trade wars. In other news from last week, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator fell further and now forecasts a decline of 2.4% for 1Q, indicating contraction. As of mid-February, the reading was for expansion of 2.3%. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast is forecasting a 2.5% rate for CPI in March. That's lower than forecasts for the February rate, so is moving in the right direction. Mortgage rates continued their decline, dipping 13 basis points, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.63%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices dropped a nickel to an average price of $3.08 per gallon for regular gas. Looking ahead, the next Fed rate decision is on March 19, with odds at just 2% for a rate cut, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, the next meeting is on May 7, with odds at 37% for a cut.