Perrigo, founded in 1887, is a leading manufacturer of generic over-the-counter healthcare products and supplier of infant formulas for the store-brand market. Perrigo's private-label consumer products encompass a variety of cold/allergy, gastrointestinal, first aid, motion sickness, vitamin, smoking cessation, and other remedies. The company has a market cap of approximately $4 billion after divesting its RX pharmaceutical business in 2021. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Perrigo has over 9,000 employees.

Stocks rose on Thursday as investors digested new data. Initial jobless claims were 221,000 for the week ending March 30, up from last week's revised 212,000 and above expectations. Ongoing unemployment declined to 1,791,000 from the previous week's revised 1,810,000. The U.S. trade deficit was $68.9 billion in February, an increase of 1.9% from January. Exports of goods increased $5.0 billion, led by aircraft (+$1.4 billion) and crude oil (+$1.1 billion), while exports of passenger vehicles declined $0.9 billion. Imports of goods rose $4.7 billion, led by cell phones and household goods (+1.4 billion) foods, feeds and beverages ($1.3 billion), and automobiles and parts (+1.1 billion). The Dow was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq gained 0.9%. Crude oil traded above $85 per barrel, while gold traded near $2313 per ounce.

Stocks rose on Thursday as investors digested new data. Initial jobless claims were 221,000 for the week ending March 30, up from last week's revised 212,000 and above expectations. Ongoing unemployment declined to 1,791,000 from the previous week's revised 1,810,000. The U.S. trade deficit was $68.9 billion in February, an increase of 1.9% from January. Exports of goods increased $5.0 billion, led by aircraft (+$1.4 billion) and crude oil (+$1.1 billion), while exports of passenger vehicles declined $0.9 billion. Imports of goods rose $4.7 billion, led by cell phones and household goods (+1.4 billion) foods, feeds and beverages ($1.3 billion), and automobiles and parts (+1.1 billion). The Dow was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq gained 0.9%. Crude oil traded above $85 per barrel, while gold traded near $2313 per ounce.

Small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID) have underperformed large-caps over the past 12 months, but may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by the fallout from global events. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps. As well, there are long stretches in the record books when SMID stocks have outperformed large-caps. That said, SMID stocks can be risky. The standard deviation for monthly returns was 5.7% for SMID stocks over a 2003-2021 test period, versus 4.3% for large-caps. Still, despite the risks, diversified investors look to have exposure to small- and mid-caps based on the long-term performance record.