Stocks End Best First Half In Years  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed mostly higher yesterday, finishing one of the best first-half starts in years. It was actually the S&P's 2nd best first-half performance since 1998, with a gain of 14.4%. They also put in their 5th new all-time high in a row, and their 5th consecutive quarter of gains. For the record, the Dow ended the first-half with a 12.7% gain, the Nasdaq with a 12.5% gain, and the small-cap Russell 2000 with a 17.0% gain! The improving economy continues to underpin stocks. That was underscored by yesterday's Pending Home Sales Index which gained 8.0% m/m vs. views for -0.8%. The index came in at 114.7 vs. last month's 106.2. Although, the Chicago PMI came in under expectations at 66.1 vs. estimates for 71.0. And the State Street Investor Confidence Index slipped -2.1 points to 96.3. (Although, it should be noted that last month's reading was upwardly revised by a half point from 97.9 to 98.4.) Looking at the three main regions, China was down -9.0 points at 91.7; North America was down -3.4 points at 95.3; and Europe was down -2.0 points at 91.0. But the ADP Employment Report gained more than expected with an estimated 692,000 private payroll jobs last month vs. the consensus for 550,000. This was a nice surprise and bodes well for Friday's Employment Situation report. The consensus puts nonfarm payrolls up 675,000 (555K in the private sector and 120K in the public), with the unemployment rate ticking down from 5.8% to 5.7%, while the participation rate ticks up from 61.6% to 61.7%. But before that, we have another busy day of economic reports this morning with Weekly Jobless Claims, the PMI and ISM Manufacturing Indexes, and Construction Spending. All of the major indexes are trading at or near their all-time highs. And since first-half gains of the magnitude we just saw, typically lead to a continuation of gains in the second-half, it looks like there's a lot more upside to go. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. That means getting into the right stocks and staying out of the wrong ones. Making money in the market is easier than you think. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. But there are a few tips you can use immediately on your very next trade. And there's one in particular that can transform your portfolio. You can read all about it in my latest commentary... One Little Secret for Big Results for the Second Half of 2021 Best,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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