Schwab Network

Nick Raich says the AI infrastructure buildout has fueled a technology-led rally that remains the only sector outperforming the S&P 500 (SPX), and he stays overweight tech through year end. He warns that rising interest rates and weakening earnings estimates could create a two-quarter divergence between stock prices and fundamentals, a pattern that has preceded every major correction. Raich ex...

Tony D'Onofrio, president of Sensormatic Solutions, says US holiday store traffic is expected to fall about 3.5% this year as physical and digital retail merge, with stores like Walmart (WMT) doubling as distribution centers. He notes AI agents will drive roughly 20% of holiday commerce while inflation remains a headwind, but says wealthier shoppers keep spending. D'Onofrio emphasizes that...

Jay Jacobs, US head of equity ETFs at BlackRock (BLK), says international stocks are coming back in favor as investors use more precise ETFs to target AI-related countries like Taiwan and Korea, along with policy-driven markets like Brazil. He sees the Mag 7 reestablishing leadership but notes investors are also looking beyond them into memory, power infrastructure, and materials like copper. Jaco...

Charles Schwab's Brett Crowther sees the S&P 500 (SPX) pushing against resistance with a potential breakout target ahead, though rising yields are creating competition for equities. He flags Boyd Gaming (BYD) as oversold and due for a bounce toward $80 ahead of earnings, despite headwinds like slowing Las Vegas traffic and prediction markets eating into gambling. He also likes Amphenol (AP...

Neena Mishra, director of ETF research at Zacks Investment Research, says AI is expanding rather than disrupting cybersecurity, with stocks like CrowdStrike (CRWD), Palo Alto (PANW), and Zscaler (ZS) rallying and cybersecurity ETFs up about 50% year to date. She calls AI models escaping their sandboxes a "Jurassic Park moment" that makes cybersecurity a must-have spend, and highlights ET...

Will Anthropic's IPO face a similar trend to SpaceX (SPCX)? David Shapiro thinks so, pointing to appetite reaching a fever pitch ahead of a tentative public debut before the end of 2026. Even after company leadership expressed AI safety concerns, David says interest in the IPO increased. Evan Schloassman addresses concerns as to whether the current market environment can stomach Anthropic'...

Joy Tang, CEO of Markable AI, breaks down Amazon's (AMZN) fall Prime Big Deal Days event, with Adobe (ADBE) forecasting $9.9 billion in US online sales and fashion, seasonal, and household items leading the way. She explains how creators are driving purchase decisions, with creator-influenced spending expected to grow from 6% to 30% of online consumer spending in the next few years. Tang also note...

"For years, Spotify (SPOT) has had an enormous edge" over competitors in the music streaming space, says Andy Swan of LikeFolio. Consumer demand trends between it and Apple (AAPL) Music show pressure stacking up against the streaming giant. "It's appropriate to be cautious," according to Andy, who points to other consumer trends that he worries can mute Spotify's future...

Kiana Danial, the InvestDiva, says Nvidia (NVDA) is "underpriced" despite holding a colossal $5.7 trillion market cap. She outlines her bull case for the Mag 7 giant that includes an expanding AI landscape with frontier models that she says will need Nvidia's hardware. Kiana compares the company to AMD Inc. (AMD), Intel (INTC), and Broadcom (AVGO) to explain how each take different p...

Nvidia (NVDA) is now planning $235 billion in share buybacks, something that shows "extreme confidence" in CEO Jensen Huang's future vision for the company, says Paul Powers. He adds that the buyback allows Nvidia to deepen its AI moat and monetize businesses it currently has investments in. Wedbush's Matt Bryson believes addresses Nvidia's evolving role in the entire AI stac...

Charles Schwab clients diversified their portfolios throughout September, highlighted by what Joe Mazzola considers a unique trend in sharp ETF inflows. As he says, not just one ETF made the top 10 buys in the month, but five. Among the top equity buys in September: SpaceX (SPCX), Amazon (AMZN), Broadcom (AVGO), and Nvidia (NVDA). Meta Platforms (META), AMD Inc. (AMD), Palantir (PLTR), and Intel (...

Scott Bauer of Prosper Trading Academy tells investors to expect "a lot of volatility" in October as he sees it as the most volatile month of the year. That said, he highlights trading opportunities in stocks and ETFs he expects to weather the storm. Scott takes investors through his example options trades in Alphabet (GOOGL), Expedia (EXPE), and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM). Kevin Gr...

Paul Schatz, founder and president at Heritage Capital, sees a split market with mega-cap tech at highs while the average stock is down over 20%. He advises caution in Q4, says October needs a 5% pullback to fuel a year-end rally, and is bullish on Bitcoin toward 100,000 into Q1 2027. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market M...

Morningstar Wealth's Ahmed Khan says Zscaler (ZS) is positioned to benefit from AI-driven network traffic growth but has underperformed peers like CrowdStrike (CRWD), Fortinet (FTNT), and Palo Alto (PANW) due to weaker execution and its narrower focus on network security. He sees the upcoming investor day as a chance to address concerns around AI monetization and the recent CRO departure. Tom Whit...

Melius Research upgraded Microsoft (MSFT) to buy from hold and sees a strong case building for the Mag 7 giant's Azure cloud platform. Marley Kayden takes investors through the key takeaways from the analyst note, which explains why the firm sees Microsoft and its team as the "adults in charge" for the AI trade. Prosper Trading Academy's Charles Moon walks through his example opt...

It's going to be a light week for economic data, says Charles Schwab's Cooper Howard, though he points out scrutiny on inflation data remains high amid a Fed interest rate hiking cycle. As for how it affects fixed income, Cooper tells not to "pick up nickels in front of a steamroller" as volatility grips the bond market. One opportunity he highlights now: municipal bonds due to e...

Jay Woods of Freedom Capital Markets tells investors to always keep one eye on the AI trade, particularly Nvidia (NVDA) as it taps the door on another new record high. It comes as market breadth across the S&P 500 (SPX) stumbles, though as Jay explains, the upcoming earnings season has opportunity to lift stocks across Wall Street. Meanwhile, the Mag 7 stocks have soared, though Jay has concer...

ISM services and PMI composite data roughly hit in-line with Wall Street estimates while confirming a continuing uptick in prices. As Kevin Green explains, the prints pushes equities toward a move higher. In the commodity space, crude oil moves have stayed quiet even as prices remain elevated near $90 a barrel. KG warns that Treasury auctions can ramp up volatility in yields. As for the S&P 50...

Justin Bergner sees midterm elections as a clearing event but warns that rising rates, declining real wages, and a stretched consumer create more downside risk than upside. He is skeptical that AI CapEx productivity gains can fully offset consumer weakness and is modestly defensively positioned. He likes Ferguson (FERG) and Genuine Parts (GPC) in industrials, Fifth Third (FITB) in financials, and...

C.H. Robinson (CHRW) seeks to strengthen its transportation empire with an acquisition of RXO (RXO). As Diane King Hall points out, it's not the only acquisition moving Wall Street on Monday, highlighting Schneider Electric's $20 billion deal to buy PTC (PTC). She also talks about an upgrade in DraftKings (DKNG) from BofA. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every investor and trad...

"Extremely negative" market breadth is a key concern trading veteran Ted Weisberg points to in the current stock market environment. However, the incoming earnings season is something he sees as an opportunity to bolster breadth. Ted talks about the surge in municipal bond interest as the Fed begins a rate hiking cycle and points to what he calls a "pair trade" between crude oi...

Without a lot of economic data and key earnings poised to move markets this week, Kevin Hincks urges investors to keep an eye out for headlines that can rattle equities. He looks ahead to the incoming earnings season that will kick off with banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) among others. Kevin sees opportunity in the financial sector due to pullbacks in key...

A recent pullback in Seagate (STX) doesn't tell the full story of the stock, says Tom White. He shows how choppy price action comes following a massive year-long rally, pointing out that consolidation offers new support for Seagate. He turns to an example options trade for the AI memory giant. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Options invo...

"The tech sector is not a uniform trade," says Paul Sarama, warning investors in the sector to stay diligent as macro pressures grow. He sets up his explanation with his takeaways on the rise in Treasury yields and global volatility. Paul also gauges the health of the financial sector as the rally in yields and interest rates from the Fed will likely hit institutions. ======== Schwab Net...

Nic Puckrin offers his ket takeaways on Micron (MU) after the AI memory giant posted impressive earnings growth but didn't move the stock higher. Cyclicality of the memory trade is something Nic sees hanging over Micron and its peers. He explains how the company can navigate headwinds as a supply crunch persists. However, Nic tells investors to mind macro pressures as crude oil and Treasury yi...