Stocks traded to new highs once again during a relatively quiet and holiday shortened week. Though the gains were relatively modest in percentage terms, the breadth of the markets was broadly positive with most stocks making gains and 9 out of 11 S&P Sectors finishing in positive territory.On the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%, the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the NASDAQ 100 tacked on 0.7%. Energy was the worst performing sector, shedding 3.6%, yet still leads the pack YTD with a gain of 39.6% in 2021. Focus List Top PerformersSymbolPriceAddedCurrentPrice%ChgSQ17.25241.89+1,302.26SE44.04275.70+526.02LRCX100.49612.85+509.86SAM168.00973.58+479.51LULU73.64377.42+412.52NVDA156.53802.01+412.37MSFT55.09277.94+404.52UNH120.33412.11+242.48MU23.2678.74+238.52MSCI166.96560.23+235.55 All Focus List StocksPremium Tools & ResourcesEarnings ESP Filter Premium ScreensZacks #1 Rank List Industry Rank ListFocus List Research ReportsMy Portfolio Getting Started With few significant economic data releases or earnings reports, the main focus of traders and investors during the week’s four trading sessions was interest rates. In a sign that debt market investors have put aside most of their previous concerns about inflationary pressure, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury Notes notched a low of 1.25% on Thursday before partially rebounding to close out the week at 1.36%, down 9 bps from the previous Friday.The narrative seems to be that while we have seen some increases in consumer prices as well as in labor costs, the price movement can mostly be explained away as the result of temporary supply shortages and distribution issues rather a fundamental and lasting change in supply or demand.Oil prices backed off of recent highs as traders realized that while the inability of OPEC+ to reach an agreement on production numbers last week will constrain supply in the short term, it could also mean that frustrated members will start pumping with impunity over the next few months, depressing global prices. WTI Crude for August delivery settled the week at $74.00/BBL. – down 1.5%.Though expectations for volatility generally fall as stocks rise, the CBOE Volatility Index was up slightly on the week, topping out at just above 20% intraday during Thursday’s session and finishing the week at 16.2%. That’s still fairly low, historically speaking – though there’s a seasonal component to low vols during the months when many traders and investors take vacations.After trending sideways during the first six months of 2021 even as many stocks staged big rallies and the S&P has gained 18%, the shares of Apple (AAPL) have been climbing steadily lately – closing on Friday at $145.11, up 17% over the past five weeks.Big tech stocks were the main target of an executive order signed by President Biden that mandates that the FTC, FCC, and other federal agencies examine the effect of monopoly power on price competition. Wall Street, Health Care companies, Internet Service Providers and even the manufacturers of hearing aids also find themselves in the crosshairs and will be subject to increased scrutiny of their business practices going forward. The equity markets didn’t appear overly concerned and the effect of the order on asset prices was fairly muted.The DataWhile there was only a sparse schedule for the release of economic data during the week, there were two numbers that – when considered together – paint a picture of a potential supply/demand dislocation in the labor markets that could take some time to work itself out.The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that the number of job openings remained steady at 9.2 million – the highest number in recorded history – while the Labor Department reported 373,000 new jobless claims, which was higher than expectations of 350,000.Over the coming months, expect to frequently hear the term “mismatch” from economists who are analyzing a labor market in which a significant number of people are looking for work even as employers are having trouble filling open positions. The mismatch includes geographical issues – people can’t (or don’t want to) pick up and move to other parts of the country where jobs are more plentiful – as well as the reality of workers not having the training and skills that prospective employers are looking for.Additionally, many workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic seem to be holding out for their ideal jobs rather that taking one of the copious current listings in the service, warehousing and delivery industries.Over long periods of time, these issues tend to get worked out through innovation. For the time being however, it looks like we’re going to keep seeing stubbornly high unemployment - even as your favorite restaurant can’t hire fast enough to keep up with demand.The Focus ListThere were no changes to the portfolio during the week. Most of the holdings on the Focus List followed much the same pattern during the week – relatively flat on Tuesday and Wednesday, declining along with the broad markets on Thursday and a rebound on Friday to get back to – or slightly above - the unchanged level.The Week AheadThe schedule of economic releases picks up a bit this week with two important measure of price inflation, the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index, early in the week, followed by Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization on Thursday and Retail Sales and Business Inventories on Friday.We’ll also kick off earnings season with bank earnings reports starting on Tuesday. JP Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS) and US Bancorp (USB) are all scheduled to issue Q2 results before the week is over. Right in the middle of the traditionally slow Summer trading season, those numbers and any changes in future earnings guidance are likely to set the tone for the week’s trading.-DaveP.S. With your Zacks Premium, you can access today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks before you make another move. See the Zacks #1 Rank List >> Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report Bank of America Corporation (BAC): Free Stock Analysis Report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report Morgan Stanley (MS): Free Stock Analysis Report Citigroup Inc. (C): Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report U.S. Bancorp (USB): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research