To the naked eye, it was just another up week for stocks. The S&P 500 Index rose 7 points, the eighth time in a row it’s been up. Beneath the surface a barrage of headlines on everything from earnings to the Federal Reserve and taxes were drawing brighter lines between winners
and losers.
While benchmarks muddled along and broader volatility gauges plumbed to record lows, turbulence was rising within individual industries. Homebuilders and companies with shaky finances dropped as the House tax bill sought a limit on mortgage and interest expense deductions. Meanwhile, Apple joined other tech megacaps in beating estimates, solidifying