04/20/2026 ValuEngine Weekly Market Summary & Commentary

Weekly Market Recap – Week Ending April 17, 2026 U.S. equity markets extended their upward momentum this week, led by strong gains in technology and growth-oriented segments, as reflected in the sharp advances in the Nasdaq-100 and semiconductor-linked names. Broad-based indices also moved higher, supported by resilience in large caps and selective strength across communication … Read more

Taking a Defensive Stance on Defense Stocks

Amidst widespread speculation, The return of President Trump as commander-in-chief could threaten earnings growth in the defense industry in 2025. Analysts seeing it this way point to these items on the perceived Trump agenda: Hardball negotiations with defense contractors led by the new Department of Government Efficiency co-heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy; Trump’s stated belief one … Read more

How Much Runway Room Remains for the Aerospace/Defense Sector?

This year Aerospace stands out as one of the few industry sectors with a positive return other than energy and utilities.   For example, the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), the largest ETF by assets representing the industry, returned 15.2% over the past twelve months in contrast to the -13.6% return posted by … Read more