Dividend income is often overlooked amid gyrations in the stock market. Consider that in 2024, market bulls were boasting about 24%-plus S&P 500 returns. No one was very focused on the broad market index's 1.2% dividend yield. But dividends are an important element of return, and 2025 for a while was bearing that out. Through May, the S&P 500 was up a thin 1.1%; without dividends, there was essentially no returns at all. Of note, dividend income accounted for 42% of the total return of the S&P 500 between 1930 and 2012, according to Hartford Funds. And that's just the average. In some of those decades, dividends accounted for more than 50% of total returns and even 100%. More recently, dividends have accounted for a smaller portion of returns, at around 15%-20%. But not all dividends are created equal, though, and it is important to understand the difference between the two main investment categories: high-yield stocks and dividend-growth stocks.

Tuesday's price action was interesting and, we believe, rare. The major indices gapped nicely higher at the open and added to their gains until about 9:50 a.m. The market then witnessed a vicious selloff in what looked like a second consecutive day with a failed rally. Intraday rallies that don't hold during a downtrend generally are very bearish and show that investors are selling any kind of strength. Yet on Tuesday, the dip buyers emerged and pulled off quite a buying spree. Some selling set in at 3:00 p.m., perhaps from margin calls.

Sustainable Impact Investing is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, first focused on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. In time, the list of industries to avoid increased to include soft drinks, fast food, and oil and gas, among numerous others. Performance of initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights. Given the strategy's focus on leading management practices, we expect the growth curve for Sustainable Investing to again slope upward in the years ahead.

Stocks saw a nice snapback rally on Wednesday. Crude oil (WTI) was smacked, falling 5.5% to $98.50/barrel, while Brent oil dropped by about the same percentage to $105/barrel. That took a lot of pressure off the bond market, as the 10-year Treasury yield declined 9.5 basis points (bps), the 5-year fell 10.5 bps, and the 2-year dropped 8 bps.