The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are DuPont de Nemours Inc (DD); GE Vernova Inc. (GEV); Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR); Dicks Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) and the Focus List deletions are ASML Holding NV (ASML); Linde Plc. (LIN); Oshkosh Corp (OSK); TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX).

Palantir develops and provides software that enables customers from government agencies to commercial enterprises to integrate data for decision-making and operations at scale. The company initially provided its software to the U.S. intelligence services before broadening its customer base. In 2023, 55% of its revenue was generated by its government segment and 45% from its commercial segment, of which 38% was generated outside the U.S. Palantir's class A shares trade publicly under the symbol PLTR. Palantir's super-voting class B and class F shares, held by insiders and founders, do not trade publicly. The company is effectively controlled by founders Alexander Karp, Stephen Cohen, and Peter Thiel through the super-voting class F shares that represent a 49.99% voting interest. Palantir was founded in 2003 and went public at $10 per share on September 30, 2020.

Monday Tee Up: Housing & Retail This is not a full trading week, with the Juneteenth holiday on Wednesday. But there will be retail sales and housing data to consider, as well as a handful of earnings. Wall Street will continue to digest the big flow of news from the last few weeks, including the Fed meeting and the recent data on inflation and jobs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended last week lower by 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, and the Nasdaq was up 3.2%. For the year, the DJIA is higher by 2%, the S&P is up 14%, and the Nasdaq has powered ahead by 18%. On the economic calendar, Tuesday brings Retail Sales, Industrial Production, and Capacity Utilization data. Thursday features Housing Starts. Friday delivers updates on Existing Home Sales and Leading Economic Indicators. At least seven Fed officials have public speaking engagements this week, and they likely will face questions about the 'dot plot' released last week -- which now indicates only one interest-rate cut this year. On the earnings calendar, Lennar reports on Monday; KB Home on Tuesday; Jabil, Kroger, Darden Restaurants, and Accenture on Thursday; and CarMax on Friday. The homebuilder earnings, coupled with the housing data, should paint a detailed picture of the state of housing. Overall earnings for 1Q came in 8% higher than in the same quarter last year. That's better than was expected before the reporting season started. We expect earnings to improve further in the second half of the year. For the full year, we forecast a 9.5% gain. Second-quarter earnings season kicks off on Friday, July 12, with the big banks stepping up to the plate. Last week, data showed some progress on inflation. CPI edged down to 3.3% for May versus 3.4% for April, while core CPI dipped to 3.4% from 3.6%. As expected, the Fed did not move on interest rates, but the dot plot surprised Wall Street with only one rate cut implied for this year. Despite that headline news, we still believe the Fed will cut twice this year and two more times in 2025. Mortgage rates dipped further below the 7% mark last week, to 6.95% for the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Gas prices dropped again, to $3.43 per gallon for the average price of regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 2Q and calls for expansion of 3.1%. The Cleveland Fed CPINow indicator for June is at is 3.15%. The next Fed rate decision is at the very end of July, with odds for a rate cut at 10%. The odds pop to 68% for a cut in mid-September, to 80% for November 7, and to 96% for December 18.

Palantir is an analytical software company that focuses on leveraging data to create efficiencies in its clients’ organizations. The firm serves commercial and government clients via its Foundry and Gotham platforms, respectively. The Denver-based company was founded in 2003 and went public in 2020.