Stocks were mixed on Tuesday morning following the first earnings reports from major banks. JPMorgan shares fell despite the company's better-than-expected 3Q earnings and lower loan loss reserves. Citigroup shares also fell after the company reported higher costs and forecast a slower economic recovery in 2021. Net income at Citi fell sharply from the prior year, but came in well above the consensus forecast. The Dow fell 0.3%, the S&P fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.3%. Crude oil traded near $40 per barrel, while gold fell $33 to $1896 per ounce.

BlackRock provides investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its range of products includes separate accounts, mutual funds, the iShares franchise of ETFs, and other pooled investment vehicles. Assets under management were $7.81 trillion as of September 30, 2020. iShares is a global leader in ETFs, with funds in multiple asset classes and $2.2 trillion in ETF assets under management as of September 30, 2020. In May 2020, PNC Financial Services Group, which held about 22% of BlackRock common shares, sold its stake through a registered offering.

Often overlooked amid the market's gyrations, dividend income is an important element of total return. Consider recent results: in 2015, the S&P 500 delivered a total return of 1.4%, including dividends -- but excluding dividends, the market was down 0.7%. Capital gains were a bit easier to achieve in 2016-17, though we note that dividend payments still contributed about 15%-20% of total return for investors. And dividend payments softened the blow in 2018, when most market indices declined as the Federal Reserve hiked rates. Between 1930 and 2012, dividend income accounted for 42% of total return of the S&P 500, according to Morgan Stanley. Not all dividends are created equal, though, and it is important to understand the difference between high-yield stocks and dividend-growth stocks, particularly in a slow-growth or recessionary economic environment.

Stocks were mixed on Friday, echoing an unsettled week in which blue chip indexes rose but formerly hot growth stocks cooled off. Stocks were volatile all week as investors weighed steadily rising new COVID-19 case numbers and deaths against surprisingly strong economic data including retail sales, housing starts and permits, and industrial production. On Friday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both increased 0.3%. For the full week, the Dow increased 2.3%. The S&P 500 was up 1.3%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.1%. Year-to-date, losses are now 6.5% for the Dow and 0.2% for the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq is up 17.1%. Over the past 52 weeks, the Dow is down 1.8%, while the S&P 500 is up 8.3%, and the Nasdaq is up 28.9%.