AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images RSP is becoming the default equal weight proxy For those that have become leery of market P/E ratios on the major indexes ( SPY )( QQQ )( DIA ), going equal weight in the S&P 500 has been a popular theme to hedge risk. By equal weighting, this gets an investor equal exposure to all 500 names in the S&P 500 by buying an index fund like The Invesco S&P 500 Equal We...
AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images RSP is becoming the default equal weight proxy For those that have become leery of market P/E ratios on the major indexes ( SPY )( QQQ )( DIA ), going equal weight in the S&P 500 has been a popular theme to hedge risk. By equal weighting, this gets an investor equal exposure to all 500 names in the S&P 500 by buying an index fund like The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF ( RSP ). This is supposed to be a good way to catch the broadening out of the stock market returns as other sectors begin to be bought and catch up to tech. In today's article, I'll demonstrate a $1 million hypothetical portfolio that takes a different approach than RSP. In my opinion, it will end up being a superior method in achieving the goal of what RSP investors set out to do in the first place with just a little extra effort. The weighting of the equal index RSP Seeking Alpha Herein lies where the goal which is not achieved in my opinion. When an investor wants to tap into the "broadening out" of the market gains, they are not actually getting an equal weight exposure to sectors through RSP . What they end up getting here is roughly a .3% exposure to all names. The S&P 500 itself is not divided equally by sector. There are more in some sectors and less in others. Too much concentration on the wrong names On top of not being equally weighted by the sectors, you also get concentration in the wrong names in my opinion. For instance, if you are 15.33% weighted to tech, you are going to get an equal amount of each name, rather than a concentration in those with the highest market caps that normally have the best margins and momentum. Buying the sector ETFs gets you concentration in the best names Enter the sector select ETFs from State Street. Vanguard is another choice and there are others that provide passive sector index funds. These are going to be weighted in a similar fashion to how the S&P 500 is constructed [market cap weighted]. Therefore this strategy al...
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images CoreWeave’s ( CRWV ) stock has been on a wild ride since we last covered the company in December and argued that it is time to sell the shares. The stock rallied hard in the first months of the year, gave all of those gains back during the June selloff, and now trades around the same levels as at the time of our previous article. In our view, this roun...
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images CoreWeave’s ( CRWV ) stock has been on a wild ride since we last covered the company in December and argued that it is time to sell the shares. The stock rallied hard in the first months of the year, gave all of those gains back during the June selloff, and now trades around the same levels as at the time of our previous article. In our view, this round trip is the market slowly coming around to the risks that we highlighted back then. The company has taken on billions in new debt since our last article while its net loss got worse, and the insiders have been selling their shares the entire time. What also caught our attention is that Meta ( META ), which happens to be one of CoreWeave’s largest customers, is now reportedly getting ready to compete against the company in the neocloud market. Because of those and other risks that we will highlight in this article, we decided to stick with our Sell rating for CoreWeave. The Risks Keep Piling Up Last week, Bloomberg reported that Meta is building a cloud business to sell its excess AI computing capacity. Among the options that are reportedly being discussed is the renting out of raw compute, which is essentially CoreWeave’s whole business. The market’s reaction showed who the winners and losers of such a move would be, as Meta’s shares rose about 8% on the day of the report while CoreWeave’s stock lost around 13% of its value. Other AI infrastructure names also traded lower, since the appearance of a hyperscaler with spare capacity to sell would indicate that the supply of compute is finally starting to catch up with demand. The situation is even more painful when we consider that Meta is currently one of CoreWeave’s largest customers, as the two companies signed an expanded agreement worth about $21 billion back in April that runs all the way through December 2032. At the time, that deal looked like one of the biggest wins in CoreWeave’s history, but now the company that s...
US equity futures slump and oil extends gains as President Trump says a tentative ceasefire with Iran is over. The US had struck 80 sites in Iran ahead of the president's remarks at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey. Mark McCormick of BMO Capital Markets discusses the impact of fresh geopolitical tensions. (Source: Bloomberg)
US equity futures slump and oil extends gains as President Trump says a tentative ceasefire with Iran is over. The US had struck 80 sites in Iran ahead of the president's remarks at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey. Mark McCormick of BMO Capital Markets discusses the impact of fresh geopolitical tensions. (Source: Bloomberg)
Occidental Petroleum has underperformed in recent months, but is likely due for a bounce as investors reevaluate its fundamentals, according to Evercore ISI. The investment bank double upgraded the Houston-based oil and gas producer to outperform from underperform on Wednesday and raised its price target by 12%, to $65 from $58, implying 26% upside from Tuesday's close. "After a prolonged stretch ...
Occidental Petroleum has underperformed in recent months, but is likely due for a bounce as investors reevaluate its fundamentals, according to Evercore ISI. The investment bank double upgraded the Houston-based oil and gas producer to outperform from underperform on Wednesday and raised its price target by 12%, to $65 from $58, implying 26% upside from Tuesday's close. "After a prolonged stretch of underperformance versus both crude and the Large Cap [exploration and production] group, we think two developments now allow OXY to better reflect underlying commodity fundamentals: a materially de-levered balance sheet and a structural step-up in capital efficiency that together reshape the free-cash-flow profile and the path back to shareholder returns," analyst Stephen Richardson wrote in a 12-page report to clients. Shares of Occidental are down almost 14% in the past three months, underperforming the wider market, as oil prices cooled and the Iran war wound down. In the same span, West Texas Intermediate futures have fallen roughly 21%. Also on Wednesday, President Trump declared an end to the ceasefire with Iran following a series of renewed U.S. military strikes against the Islamic Republic. OXY 3M mountain OXY is down nearly 14% over the past three months. But Occidental is poised to rise again as it overhauls its capital structure, according to Evercore ISI. Led by CEO Richard Jackson, Occidental has lowered its well costs and adopted a strategically shallower base decline to reduce its maintenance capital — an effort that "flattens and lifts free cash flow and supports a restart of buybacks" in 2028, Richardson added. Evercore ISI's call goes against the Wall Street consensus, where 15 of 25 analysts covering Occidental Petroleum rate it no more than a hold, with nine buys and one underperform, LSEG data shows. Berkshire Hathaway owns 26.6% of Occidental common stock, and a notional $8.3 billion in preferred stock, according to FactSet data. "The Berkshire pref...
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) has been an incredibly popular stock to invest in over the past few months. So far in 2026, it's up around 225%, making it the second-best stock in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) this year. However, it has sold off over the past few days with general weakness in the AI sector, and is down nearly 20% from its all-time high. The same catalysts that existed a few months ago are sti...
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) has been an incredibly popular stock to invest in over the past few months. So far in 2026, it's up around 225%, making it the second-best stock in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) this year. However, it has sold off over the past few days with general weakness in the AI sector, and is down nearly 20% from its all-time high. The same catalysts that existed a few months ago are still present today, so this short-term sell-off looks like a great buying opportunity. In fact, many investors are wondering if Micron's stock is their ticket to becoming a millionaire. Is this possible? Or has it already come too far? Let's take a look. Image source: The Motley Fool. Continue reading
Shares of Alibaba Group ( BABA ) rose about 10% in premarket trading on Wednesday after investors responded positively to signs of improving profitability and growth in its artificial intelligence businesses. The move came after a briefing indicated that losses in Alibaba’s instant-commerce business narrowed significantly in the June quarter, while overall profitability remained steady. The update...
Shares of Alibaba Group ( BABA ) rose about 10% in premarket trading on Wednesday after investors responded positively to signs of improving profitability and growth in its artificial intelligence businesses. The move came after a briefing indicated that losses in Alibaba’s instant-commerce business narrowed significantly in the June quarter, while overall profitability remained steady. The update helped ease concerns over the company’s spending on its on-demand delivery expansion ahead of its August 28 earnings report. Investor sentiment was also boosted by reports that Alibaba Cloud’s AI-driven growth accelerated and that the company has consolidated its AI services under the Qwen brand. Separately, Stablestock said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that a Frost & Sullivan report showed Alibaba Cloud held a 40.1% share of China’s full-stack artificial intelligence cloud market. The post said Alibaba Cloud’s share was higher than the combined share of Baidu ( BIDU ), ByteDance’s ( BDNCE ) Volcano Engine, and SenseTime ( SNTMF ). The post also highlighted a legal development, saying a U.S. federal judge had temporarily paused the Pentagon’s ban on Alibaba ( BABA ) hiring U.S. lobbying firms while the company’s broader legal challenge proceeds. The gain comes amid a rally of Hong Kong-listed shares, with investors returning to the sector on improving expectations for AI growth and earnings. More on Alibaba Alibaba: Buybacks Overpower Anthropic Spat Alibaba: Time To Bet Against Wall Street (Rating Downgrade) Alibaba Group: Qwen-Robot Triggers Full-Stack Physical AI Inflection Point; Reiterate BUY Biggest stock movers Wednesday: FCEL, BABA, and more Google, Anthropic, OpenAI lead AI Safety Index; SpaceXAI receives F
We pick six of the best analysts to feature at the World Cup in North America on screens in the UK, US and Australia Joe Hart There’s long been a feeling that, when it comes to punditry, only goalkeepers should talk about goalkeepers given the unique nature of the role. That view will have been strengthened by Hart’s appearances during this World Cup. The former England No 1 has been an authoritat...
We pick six of the best analysts to feature at the World Cup in North America on screens in the UK, US and Australia Joe Hart There’s long been a feeling that, when it comes to punditry, only goalkeepers should talk about goalkeepers given the unique nature of the role. That view will have been strengthened by Hart’s appearances during this World Cup. The former England No 1 has been an authoritative voice on all things shot-stopping, providing the sort of insight and analysis only a man who has been there, done that and worn the gloves can. Highlights include his flagging of keepers getting a hand to long-range efforts but not being able to keep them out and how this definitely wasn’t normal, and how a subtle left-sided weight emphasis was the reason Jordan Pickford was done at his near post for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s goal against England in Atlanta. This sort of thing, allied to passionate yet crisp oratory, has made Hart a big asset for the BBC, whose decision to stay at home has meant it needs as much punch as it can get. Sachin Nakrani Continue reading...
Choosing between a traditional investment banking leader and a high-tech brokerage platform depends on your investment goals. Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) represent two very different ways to play the market. Goldman Sachs dominates the world of corporate advisory and institutional finance, while Interactive Brokers provides a sophisticated electronic t...
Choosing between a traditional investment banking leader and a high-tech brokerage platform depends on your investment goals. Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) represent two very different ways to play the market. Goldman Sachs dominates the world of corporate advisory and institutional finance, while Interactive Brokers provides a sophisticated electronic trading platform for professional and individual investors. Both companies benefit when market activity increases, but they rely on different combinations of human expertise and automated technology to generate their profits. Goldman Sachs operates as a premier institution in the financial stocks landscape, primarily serving corporations, financial institutions, and governments. The firm is organized into three main segments: global banking and markets, asset and wealth management, and platform solutions. Its wealth management business recently reported roughly $3.6 trillion in assets under supervision, catering to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Continue reading
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In early March, I published a neutral article on Palantir ( PLTR ) in which I explained why the war in Iran and the rally in defense stocks that came with it weren't a good enough reason to buy the company's shares. The stock is down around 10% since that article came out. This is not the first time that my caution about Palantir has paid off. When the ...
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In early March, I published a neutral article on Palantir ( PLTR ) in which I explained why the war in Iran and the rally in defense stocks that came with it weren't a good enough reason to buy the company's shares. The stock is down around 10% since that article came out. This is not the first time that my caution about Palantir has paid off. When the shares were trading at around $160 back in late November, I fully covered the remainder of my long position and explained why the valuation at those levels had lost all touch with reality. Given where the stock trades today, that call aged well. The selloff that we witnessed in recent months, however, has changed the math. My updated discounted cash flow model now points to a decent upside from the current price, and yet I'm still not repurchasing the shares. Too much is unsettled right now, from the shifting sentiment around AI and SaaS names to a Fed that might start hiking later this year to the international blowback that keeps piling up against the company. The Business Itself Keeps Delivering Let's start with the good news. The Q1 report, which was released in early May, showed that Palantir's revenue reached $1.63 billion, up 84.7% Y/Y and above the consensus by over $90 million, while the adjusted EPS of $0.33 beat the expectations by $0.05. The annual revenue guidance was also raised to a range of $7.65 billion to $7.66 billion, which implies a growth rate of around 70% Y/Y. The important thing is that the momentum hasn't slowed down after the report. At its AIPCon event last month, Palantir announced a partnership with Alphabet's ( GOOG )( GOOGL ) Google Cloud along with a number of major commercial deals. Then, at the end of June, the company struck a deal with Nvidia ( NVDA ) to run Nvidia's AI and Nemotron open models in sovereign environments by combining them with Palantir's own platforms. The announcement of that collaboration was one of the main reasons why...
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In early March, I published a neutral article on Palantir ( PLTR ) in which I explained why the war in Iran and the rally in defense stocks that came with it weren't a good enough reason to buy the company's shares. The stock is down around 10% since that article came out. This is not the first time that my caution about Palantir has paid off. When the ...
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In early March, I published a neutral article on Palantir ( PLTR ) in which I explained why the war in Iran and the rally in defense stocks that came with it weren't a good enough reason to buy the company's shares. The stock is down around 10% since that article came out. This is not the first time that my caution about Palantir has paid off. When the shares were trading at around $160 back in late November, I fully covered the remainder of my long position and explained why the valuation at those levels had lost all touch with reality. Given where the stock trades today, that call aged well. The selloff that we witnessed in recent months, however, has changed the math. My updated discounted cash flow model now points to a decent upside from the current price, and yet I'm still not repurchasing the shares. Too much is unsettled right now, from the shifting sentiment around AI and SaaS names to a Fed that might start hiking later this year to the international blowback that keeps piling up against the company. The Business Itself Keeps Delivering Let's start with the good news. The Q1 report, which was released in early May, showed that Palantir's revenue reached $1.63 billion, up 84.7% Y/Y and above the consensus by over $90 million, while the adjusted EPS of $0.33 beat the expectations by $0.05. The annual revenue guidance was also raised to a range of $7.65 billion to $7.66 billion, which implies a growth rate of around 70% Y/Y. The important thing is that the momentum hasn't slowed down after the report. At its AIPCon event last month, Palantir announced a partnership with Alphabet's ( GOOG )( GOOGL ) Google Cloud along with a number of major commercial deals. Then, at the end of June, the company struck a deal with Nvidia ( NVDA ) to run Nvidia's AI and Nemotron open models in sovereign environments by combining them with Palantir's own platforms. The announcement of that collaboration was one of the main reasons why...
After a steep slide, Netflix stock has landed on a price floor that has launched major rallies before, forcing investors to decide if the business is strong enough to make history rhyme.
After a steep slide, Netflix stock has landed on a price floor that has launched major rallies before, forcing investors to decide if the business is strong enough to make history rhyme.