The S&P 500 made a record last week and 10 of the market’s strongest stocks went nowhere. Each one opened the week and closed it at about the same price, after a wide swing in between. Buyers and sellers fought to a draw.
That’s what a leader looks like when it’s digesting a run. The best growth stocks rarely go straight up. They run, they rest, and the rest is where the next leg gets built. The job is to own the right ones before it starts, and to be picky about which ones. Of the 10, we’re keeping 5.
How we pick leaders
We built our own screen for this, and it reads in the same order we trade. Each name has to pass 5 checks, and the order matters. A great chart on a weak business is a trade we’ll skip.
The business. Revenue and profits growing for real, and margins holding. If the numbers don’t back the story, nothing else counts.
The theme. Where new money is heading before it’s crowded. This week that’s AI moving up the stack, a quiet healthcare rotation, and the physical build-out.
The chart. Already leading. Each name has beaten the S&P 500 by a wide margin over 3 months and sits near its high in a clean uptrend. Then the pause: a week that closed where it opened, and closed strong inside its range.
The crowd. Who’s still left to buy. We look at what the options market is pricing, where analysts sit against the price, and how the big funds are positioned. The best setups are the ones the crowd hasn’t caught up to.
The trade. Only now do we pick the structure. When options price less movement than the stock is making, we use call spreads. Otherwise we own shares.
And all of it sits under the index. The S&P is at a record and the trend is up, so leaders get the benefit of the doubt this week.
