Most major benchmarks hit record highs last week, with only the Russell 2000 Index of small-cap names retreating slightly.

In a holiday-shortened trading week, the S&P 500 made news on Thursday surpassing 4,000 for the first time. Select tech shares rallied last week as well, helped by semis and hardware stocks and a bounce in Facebook.

Markets were mixed again last week, as investors continue to weigh reopening optimism against higher inflation and interest rate concerns. Small caps lagged for the second consecutive week, suggesting yet another reversal in market leadership.

Investors remained focused on rising bond yields last week, as yields reached their highest level in over a year. Energy stocks retreated due to rising U.S. inventories and demand concerns related to renewed lock-downs across Europe.

Stocks rebounded back into record territory last week as the Labor Department's CPI report on Wednesday reassured investors that inflation was benign. The rest of the week's data was also upbeat: jobless claims fell, there was continued progress on the Covid-19 vaccination front, and President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law.

It was another roller-coaster week on Wall Street, as longer-term interest rates continued to climb. The rise in rates weighed the hardest on growth stocks increasing the discount on their future earnings, while value names managed to post gains.

Stocks continued to pull back in response to higher interest rates and inflation fears. The S&P 500 posted its biggest weekly decline in a month, while the NASDAQ Composite Index experienced its worst decline since October.

Rising interest rates weighed on stocks this week thanks to a combination of hopes for future stimulus, continued easing of monetary policy, better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, and more progress in fighting the coronavirus.

U.S. markets notched a second week of gains and reached record highs helped by better news on the vaccine rollout front and declining case trends. We also saw the last major wave of fourth-quarter earnings reports, with 82 companies in the S&P 500 reporting.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and I wanted to link to Will Farrell's new ad for General Motors "kicking off" its energy into electric vehicles. We have been telling people that 2021 is going to be the Year of the EV - this seals it!