Earnings season is drawing to a close, so many insiders are free to trade again without seasonal restrictions. But just in time, investors are again worried about rising inflation and the associated move higher in Treasury yields. Meanwhile, the war in Iran is stuck in place, with the critical Strait of Hormuz still locked down. Despite all of that, the insider-sentiment data from Vickers Stock Research suggests that insiders are looking beyond near-term obstacles and are increasingly optimistic. On a scale where readings below 2.00 are bullish, readings from 2.0 to 6.0 are neutral, and readings above 6.00 are bearish, the current NYSE One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio is 2.45, improved from 6.75 last week; the Nasdaq ratio is 3.44, improved from 6.20 last week; and the Total (all exchanges) ratio is 2.98, improved from 6.34 last week. Drilling down to sectors, long-term sentiment data is largely unchanged from last week, with only one sector seeing enough momentum to move to a new sentiment rating. The Real Estate sector now has to a long-term bullish insider-sentiment reading, with its eight-week ratio now at 1.6 from a neutral 2.6 last week. Meanwhile, and in keeping with the above, one-week sentiment turned predominantly bullish, with eight sectors now recording bullish One-Week Sell/Buy Ratios, including the Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financial, Healthcare, Real Estate, and Utility. Sectors with neutral ratios are Industrial, Information Technology, and Materials, and there is not a single sector with a bearish one-week view. That is a stark turnaround from last week, when six of the 11 sectors were bearish. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) and GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NGS: WGS).

LyondellBasell Industries manufactures chemicals and polymers, refines crude oil, produces gasoline blending components, and develops and licenses technologies to produce polymers. Lyondell Petrochemical Corp. began business in 1985 and merged with Basell Polyolefins to become LyondellBasell Industries in December 2007. LyondellBasell filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 and emerged from bankruptcy in 2010. The company has approximately 20,000 employees. The LYB shares are a component of the S&P 500.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Mid Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. The market capitalization range for U.S. mid-caps typically falls between $1 billion and $8 billion and represents 20% of the total capitalization of the U.S. equity market.

LyondellBasell is a petrochemical producer with operations in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company is the world’s largest producer of polypropylene and also a major producer of polyethylene and propylene oxide. Its chemicals are used in various consumer and industrial end products. Well over half of LyondellBasell’s production comes from its North American operations.