Summary

Last week was a decent four-day run for stocks, with mild gains seen across a broad spectrum of asset classes, sectors, and industries. The S&P 100 (OEX) rose 2.3%, the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) tacked on 2%, the S&P 500 (SPX) added 1.9%, the S&P 600 (SML) rose 1.4%, and the S&P 400 (MDY) was up 0.8%. All the indices appear to be tracing out bull flags, with the SPX, OEX, Nasdaq, and QQQ just below their all-time highs and the MDY and SML between their 50-day and 200-day averages. Real Estate led for the week, with a gain of 2.7%, while the Financial, Information Technology, and Healthcare sectors all popped 1.8%; Consumer Discretionary and Staples added 1.5%; Industrial rose 1.4%; and Materials, Utilities, and Communication Services were up between 0.8% and 1.2%. Energy was the only sector that fell, giving back 0.6%. Within large-cap market factors, growth led with a 2.1% gain, core added 1.8%, and value was up 1.3%. The best-performing industries for the week were Hotel & Lodging REITS, Recreational Services, Airlines, Tires, Personal Products, and Aerospace, which all gained 4%-5%. The weakest industries included Aluminum (down 4.6%), Distillers & Vintners (down 3%), Durable Household Products and Coal (down 1.5%) and Gold Mining (