Stocks Up On Economic Optimism  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed modestly higher yesterday. And with two days left, before a 3-day holiday weekend, the major indexes are higher for the week. There was no new news yesterday, per se', but the 'old' news is more than enough to lift stocks. We just came off of a great earnings season with rosy forecasts for the future. The economy continues to rebound as virus cases drop, vaccinations rise, and the economy opens up. An infrastructure package is likely to get done in the near future. And whether it's $2.25 trillion, or $1.7 trillion, or whatever, that's another huge amount of money that will bolster the economy even more. And with full-year GDP expected to come in at the fastest pace in 37 years, it looks like there's a lot more upside to go for both the economy and the market. That optimism can also be seen in the latest State Street Investor Confidence Index, which tracks the buying and selling of professional investors. Yesterday's report came in at 97.9, which was up 5.4 points or 5.83% vs. last month's 92.5. Specifically, the North American component was up 6 points to 97.8. The Asian component was up 9 points to 100.8. Although, the European component slipped by -1.2 points to 93.0. All in all, it showed institutional investors increasing their appetite for equities. Today, we'll another look at the economy with the Durable Goods Orders report, the second estimate of Q1 GDP (first estimate was 6.4% with the current consensus at 6.5%), Weekly Jobless Claims, the Pending Home Sales Index, and the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index. It's an exciting time for stocks right now. What we're seeing is history in the making. And historic times typically usher in historic price moves. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. That means getting into the right stocks and staying out of the wrong ones. If you're looking for additional ways to find stocks with big upside potential, consider looking at what the insiders are doing. Insiders at publicly traded companies are required by law to disclose their purchases. And do so within 48 hours of their trade. When top executives at companies are buying more shares, or when large numbers of executives are making new purchases, that can send a powerful signal that something good is happening to that company, and could soon be happening to that stock. And that can lead to big gains. To learn more about this type of insider trading and how you can benefit from it, please check out our latest commentary... The #1 Insider Signal Every Trader Should Know Best,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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