Update-3 …7/19/26….A bit of a roller coaster week but ending on a positive note.Stocks come back strong after a brief Wednesday sell-off; market assumes worst is over with IRAN War and Crude is down leaving energy sector weak.
- Technology stocks are volatile but you have to stay overweight: XLK up 4.49% to a new all time high.
- Keep core positions in Financials and Industrials.
- SMID Biotech’s in a potential breakout mode with XBI up 8% to a new 5 year high; IWM up 1.78% to $295. Looking fora continuing strong market for SMID biotechs through JULY.
Update-2 .6/17/26…Warsh Wednesday
The much anticipated day is here with a new FED chair Kevin Warsh and the promise to take the FED in a new direction with communication tools and with the objective of stable prices. Some followers of the market who were expecting rate cuts may be disappointed hence a bit of sell-off. The soon to be made obsolete “dot- plot” , delivered a hawkish tone pushing yields higher. This is a very experienced and competent FED chairman who said he is looking for trends over months not days so we should wait at least a few months for making calls on his policies with the market.
The sell-off hit growth stocks in the NASDAQ hardest down 1.34% fresh off the SpaceX giddiness and. the massive number of chips within their compute cargo. The S&P 500 was down 1.21% and the DOW down 0.98%. Futures were still in the green and crude oil (WTI) was still down 1.07% but other commodity (softs) prices were up. Semiconductors remained strong with the SOXX up 1.44% with strength after hours.
The XBI stayed in its upward trajectory at $139.39 and but off its highs of the day. The IBB was positive up 1.17%. The XLV was down 1.47%.
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Update-1…6/16/26…Tempered Tuesday
A bit of rotation out of technology stocks which feels good knowing there is some broadening in the market. Some tempering in demand for “parabola” stocks and SPCX up 4.83% as option trades began today which should help balance things out. But with so much money around and thousands of newly minted millionaires some good must come it eh?
It will be more difficult to catch the rhythm of this euphoric market but today we are more earthbound with leadership in Financials (XLF) up 1.47% and Industrials (XLI) up 0.65%,as Technology (XLK) down 2.79% and Semiconductor (SOXX) down 5.9%, off the top, stocks sold off. Some help came from ongoing peace talks in Iran brought Brent crude oil down 5.9% to $79.34.
Both the Russell (IWM) and the S&P 500(SPY) were stable down a tad under 1%. The XBI was unable to break through to new highs down 0.78% at the $135 level but maybe late this week? 6/17..11:47 a XBI hits $139+.done! And at 11:16a EDT a green screen is developing in SMID Biotech: follow CYTK, NTRA and PTCT up over 7%.
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What to look for on Manic Monday 6/15/26?
- Momentum continues from SMID Biotech stocks. XBI up 9.73% YTD and IWM up 18.1% YTD.
- How the incredible SPCX IPO will disrupt the overall market and Sectors within technology.
- Will the market performance broaden and can weaker sectors of Healthcare recover?
Ok by now you have read all the great things that will come from the SpaceX IPO. We all have done well with technology and CHIP stocks over the past years and now the broader question which has arisen is whether the excess cash and immense wealth will broaden the market overall? Lately we have focused many of our articles on sector tracking and how specific technologies affect Life Science markets like Sequencing, CAR-T, Precision Oncology and of course AI.
With two weeks to go before the first half of 2026 ending in 2 weeks here is the SECTOR summary from State Street Sector SPDR ETFS:
Over the past week here is what happened : the leaders are Staples (XLP) up3.84%, Healthcare (XLV) up 1.34%, and Real Estate (XLRE) whereas the laggards are: Information Technology (XLK) down 5.16%, Energy (XLE) down 2.&7% and Communication Services ( XLC) down 0.88%.
Over the past six months(YTD) here is the Sector Performance :The Leaders are : Energy (XLE) up 27.76%, Information Technology (XLK) up 27.26%, Materials (XLB) up 12.94%, Industrials (XLI) up 12.91%. The S&P 500 was up 8.25% depending on upon which index you used. The QQQ Nasdaq-100 is up 17.4%. Rotation has been your friend.
Meanwhile back on planet Earth as people seek better healthcare……..
Healthcare (XLV) was virtually flat YTD down 0.64% YTD but up 5.46% over the last month. The IBB was up 1.1% YTD and down 0.94% over past month.So within healthcare we focus on SMID caps and Large Cap Biopharmaceuticals (see our last Review) but lately the sector performance has broadened slightly to include Providers like UNH and CVS and some notable laggards like BAX, CAH DXCM and MCK. The other sectors we track and trade are Diagnostics and Tools and US MedTECH . Stocks in the those sectors we hold small positions and will accumulate over the shorter term pending earnings trends are: ABT, GEHC, ILMN, ISRG, NTRA.
Focusing on UNH and Healthcare Providers (IHF) the sector is up 10.84% YTD a new high YTD, and flat 0.81% over 5 years lately thanks to improved performance by UNH, HUM, HCA and CVS.
The most challenged sector within healthcare over th past 5 years has been MedTECh with the U.S Medical Device (IHI) down 20.7% YTD and down 13.84% over 5 years and Fidelity Select Medical Technology (FSMEX) down 27.4% YTD and 42.4% over 5 Years!
Our favorite sector in 2026 has been SMID Cap Biotechs as tracked by the XBI up 9.73% YTD at $133.79, near its 5 year high of $134, and its bubble high of $152 in 2020.
iI’s MANIC MONDAY and you should see MOMENTUM like XBI go to new highs, more retail buyers come into SPCX and lagging metals like GLD,SLV and FCX take off. Then with a CONVERGENCE of a “Peace deal ” (Cease Fire with an MOU) with IRAN , and lower oil prices (WTI crude). NB: the Citigroup Market Sentiment Index has climbed to the EUPHORIC level. Next comes the hard part- “digestion of gains”, opening the Straits of Hormuz, and easing of inflation . In the meantime we will be looking for undiscovered stocks outside of TECHNOLOGY that have been left behind.