Today’s issue in preview:

• It’s practically raining money on this industry’s shareholders. Are you getting your share?

• Stocks for investing in a bull market with years to go

• Some of the world’s best investors are accumulating this high-quality stock for the long-term

• Our extraordinary track record gets even better: Our thematic trends in biotech, genomics, and oil deliver further gains.

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

It’s practically raining money on this industry’s shareholders. Are you getting your share?

Credit: Ridofranz

This morning, anyone who followed our recommendation to get long biotech, genomics, and healthcare in general received wonderful news.

An experimental personalized cancer vaccine from Merck (MRK) and Moderna (MRNA) showed encouraging results in its first late-stage trial, the companies announced Wednesday. The fresh results brought the firms a step closer to filing for approval of the treatment option.

The news sent Moderna shares skyrocketing more than 120% and Merck shares up 11%. It also gave the entire biotech/genomics/healthcare complex a big shot in the arm. The sector-wide power today is something to behold:

• The world’s largest healthcare stock ETF – the Health Care Select Sector Fund (XLV) leaped 3.6% to a new all-time high.

• The S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) jumped 4.3% to a new all-time high.

• The ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) jumped 6.7% to a new all-time high.

• The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) jumped 5.3% to a new all-time high.

• The Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP) jumped 2.7% to reach a new all-time high.

• Shares of GLP-1 drug giant Eli Lilly (LLY) jumped 5% to reach a new all-time high.

• The healthcare/biotech/genomics complex is dominating the new one-year highs list, with at least 33 stocks from this sector reaching new highs today.

For more than three years, I’ve made “Boomer health care” one of my highest conviction long-term investment themes. This means I’ve been bullish on biotech, genomics, and healthcare in general. Throughout more than 20 Money & Megatrends research notes over the past year, we’ve written very bullishly on the stocks and ETFs above.

Regular readers are familiar with the bull case here. More than 10,000 Americans reach retirement age every day. The U.S. population aged 80 and older is projected to roughly double, from 14.7 million in 2025 to 29.4 million by 2045.

This is the enormous Baby Boom generation entering the phase of life where health care and longevity spending skyrockets. For many boomers, a typical month involves going to see at least one doctor to have something looked at, removed, or treated.

This means many health care businesses are experiencing huge demand now – and will for at least the next decade. It means boom times ahead for many “ology” businesses, stocks, and careers. Dermatology. Cardiology. Radiology. Oncology. Anesthesiology. Ophthalmology. The list goes on.

Investing in many healthcare businesses over the next decade will be investing with a gale-force tailwind at your back. If you’re a parent and worried about your child getting a job, just point them to the booming healthcare industry.

The giant business, tech, and demographic trends that shape our world tend to play out in five or more years, not five months. This means the stock market trends they manifest play out over the same time periods.

With this trend truism in mind, I once again remind you that if you like money, keep it invested in health care.

Stocks for investing in a bull market with years to go

Credit: ssuaphoto

This week, the bull case we’ve been making for oil stocks got a lot stronger.

The boost came in the form of new all-time highs for the State Street Energy Select SPDR Fund (XLE).

XLE is not your standard under-the-radar ETF that few people follow.

Instead, XLE is very much “above the radar.”

You could even say that when it comes to oil stocks, this fund IS the radar.

XLE is the world’s largest and most widely traded ETF focused on the oil and gas industry. It has more assets under management than the next four U.S. listed oil equity ETFs combined. When Wall Street strategists and money managers talk oil and gas stocks with clients, the performance of XLE is often cited.

The fund’s holdings are a who’s who of oil and gas. Major components include ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), SLB (SLB, formerly Schlumberger), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), and Phillips 66 (PSX).

Last September, I made the case for going long the emerging uptrend in oil and gas stocks: As the global economy grows, oil demand will remain solid. However, importantly, U.S. shale oil production growth appears to be peaking.

Flatlining supply from this region would remove a critical and reliable source of production growth that has been in place for more than a decade. Plus, oil was very cheap relative to gold and other assets, indicating good value.

With all that in mind, we’ve written frequently and bullishly about owning Canadian oil giant Suncor (SU), ExxonMobil, and oilfield service stocks like those in the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES).

Both SU and XOM are up more than 40% since our September call. XES is up 68%.

As detailed earlier this week, when I recommended oil and started trading it from the long side, I did not factor in the potential bullish driver of the Iran War. That’s been a “bonus” driver of gains in oil stocks. Sometimes, the dice rolls in your favor.

Although positive news related to the Iran War could emerge at any time and trigger a short-term correction in oil and oil stocks, the long-term picture remains bullish. I see three reasons why this is the case.

One: Critical oil infrastructure in the Middle East has been damaged. Oil flows will not return to pre-war levels for possibly over a year. This supports oil prices north of $80 per barrel, which supports large cash flows for oil and gas firms.

Two: Most countries maintain substantial above-ground “buffer” supplies of oil and refined petroleum products in the event of market disruptions such as the Iran War. Over the past five months, much of these buffer supplies have been depleted to compensate for the loss of Middle Eastern flows. They must be replenished.

The coming restocking of buffer supplies will support oil prices north of $80 per barrel… which, again, supports large cash flows for oil and gas firms.

Three: Although oil stocks have enjoyed a large run since our September call, they aren’t up much over the past ten years. Adjusted for dollar debasement over the past decade, key oil and gas ETFs XLE and XES are down significantly. This is not an aging bull market that has attracted too many fans and too much capital. It is the opposite of that.

Avid Money & Megatrends readers know that I like to know both the bull and bear cases for any trend… but I care a lot more about what the market thinks of those cases than anything else. You can be bullish on an industry or theme all you like, but if the market is going against you, then your bullish thesis isn’t worth much.

As for the bull case for oil stocks, the market is enthusiastically supporting it. XLE just reached a new all-time high. North American industry leaders ExxonMobil, Chevron, Suncor, Cenovus (CVE), and Canadian Natural (CNQ) are all at or near all-time highs. Our guidance remains: Stay long oil stocks.

Some of the world’s best investors are accumulating this high-quality stock for the long-term

Credit: Wachiwit

Last week, 13F filings for the world’s largest money managers were made public. This means it is “13F analysis” season, a time of year that can lead to big investment returns. Here’s why…

The SEC likes to keep tabs on large money managers to ensure markets are reasonably stable and working reasonably well. In pursuit of those goals, the SEC requires large money managers to report their public-market positions via “13F filings.”

Those filings are made every quarter and are public. 13F filings essentially let you look over the shoulders of top investors, which is often useful for spotting trends and good stock ideas.

Top money managers typically spend fortunes on industry and stock research. They can hire teams of very smart analysts that work 80+ hours a week researching stocks. They can pay big bucks to hire industry experts and get specialized, insider knowledge. They can pull strings to get access to privileged information. They will go to the ends of the earth to get an information edge that helps them pick stocks.

After all, there are literally billions of dollars on the line. Spending $5 million to research an industry can yield a hedge fund $500 million or more in profit.

And through 13F filings, we can see exactly how all their hard work, time, and money invested is translating into stock positions. It’s like accessing millions of dollars of stock research for free.

This week, our 13F analysis turned up a handful of interesting stocks and market positions. There’s a lot of information and ideas here, so we will be publishing them in a series over the coming weeks.

We kicked off our series on Monday by detailing how the master “quality” investor Chris Hohn has accumulated stakes in construction aggregate giants Vulcan Materials (VMC) and Martin Marietta (MLM). In the past, I’ve highlighted how these two stocks are excellent “inflation defense” assets.

Quality investors like Hohn are cut from the same cloth as legendary investor Warren Buffett. They aim to invest in entrenched, dominant world-class businesses with rare attributes that make them very difficult to compete with. These attributes can take the form of excellent brands, economies of scale, intellectual property, network effects, and high switching costs.

Today, we highlight how a group of respected “quality” investors recently bought shares of entertainment streaming giant Netflix (NFLX).

On July 21, I looked at beaten-up Netflix shares and came away thinking the stock was about to enjoy a big “relief” rally.

My bullish stance wasn’t based on what I know about Netflix’s business. It was based on what I know about what other people know about the business.

Netflix is a growing, profitable business trading for around 22 times earnings. Plus, with a market cap of $294 billion, it is an enormous company. Thus, Netflix currently has a rare set of qualities that large money managers are constantly looking for: It’s a great business trading for a reasonable price, and very importantly, it is large enough for them to buy.

This combination of qualities is rare in the stock market. And so, I ended the analysis by saying I expect to hear news that some large investors piled into the beaten-up stock.

Well, it didn’t take long for that news to hit. Recent 13F filings show that respected quality investors Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, Terry Smith of Fundsmith, and the firm of Gardner Russo & Quinn all purchased Netflix shares during the second quarter. The approval of this group is a very bullish signal for the stock.

Ackman, in particular, made a big splash in the stock market. He disclosed a huge 13 million-share position worth over $900 million… and publicly praised the business’s position and its reasonable valuation. This news has helped propel NFLX shares 19% higher since our bullish note.

A gain of 19% in a month is good work when you can get it. And we bet this gain figure runs higher over the next six months.

Market Notes

• Travel and hospitality giant Airbnb (ABNB) reached a new one-year high today. The new high is indicative of a strong travel market and a strong consumer.

• Our recommendation to invest in Canada continues its winning ways. Canadian oil giant Cenovus (CVE) reached a new all-time high today.

• The bull market in Colombia continues. The country’s oil giant Ecopetrol (EC) reached a new all-time high today.

• Our recommendation to invest in the health care diagnostics megatrend remains a winner. Diagnostics giant Quest Diagnostics (DGX) reached a new all-time high today.

• The offshore drilling megatrend continues to create winners. Offshore drilling services provider Tidewater (TDW) reached a new all-time high today.

• The bull market in transportation, in general, and maritime transportation specifically, continues. The SonicShares Global Shipping ETF (BOAT) reached a new one-year high today.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

The unusual AI play that gave readers a shot at 670% gains

Ask people how to make money from AI, and they’ll say “buy Nvidia.” But Wall Street legend Larry Benedict does it in an entirely new way. He trades an unusual pattern that hits the markets every 90 days. In the last five years, it’s hit 23 times. Each time, Larry found his members winning trades. One run could have returned 670% in around seven weeks. The pattern hits again on September 16.

Here’s the ticker he’s recommending today.

The post It’s practically raining money on this industry’s shareholders. Are you getting your share? appeared first on MarketWise.

Today’s issue in preview:

• The strongest bull market you probably don’t own

• Two world-class inflation hedges you should know about

• This high-tech bull market is poised to reach new all-time highs.

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

Two world-class inflation hedges you should know about

Credit: f9photos

Our idea of owning Vulcan Materials (VMC) and Martin Marietta (MLM) just received a heck of an endorsement.

Last week, regulatory filings revealed that master investor Chris Hohn accumulated large stakes in both companies during the second quarter.

Chris Hohn isn’t a name you see much on CNBC or in the Wall Street Journal, but he’s one of the world’s most respected, most successful money managers. In 2025, Hohn’s TCI Fund Management generated $18.9 billion for clients. It’s believed to be the biggest annual dollar gain in hedge fund history.

Hohn is a long-term “quality” investor, cut from a similar cloth as Warren Buffett. Hohn looks to invest in world-class companies with giant competitive advantages that can reliably earn high returns on capital they invest in their businesses. He likes entrenched, dominant companies that are extremely difficult to compete with, like Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), and Alphabet (GOOG), all of which he holds.

Hohn is also ultra-selective. He’s very picky about what he buys and typically runs a concentrated portfolio of less than 15 stocks. And he’s been buying Vulcan and Martin Marietta.

Back in June, we detailed these two firms as “unique inflation hedges you’ve probably never considered.”

Vulcan and Martin Marietta are America’s two largest construction aggregate producers.

Together, Vulcan and Martin Marietta own and operate hundreds of mines across America that produce gravel, sand, and crushed stone – aka “construction aggregates.”

These raw materials are literally the foundation of highways, bridges, airports, offices, apartments, homes, and factories. You are virtually guaranteed to have driven on a road made possible by the construction aggregates produced by Vulcan or MM. They are the giants of the industry.

Importantly, many of Vulcan and MM’s mines are in coveted locations near America’s major metropolitan areas. This is key because construction aggregates are very heavy and therefore costly to transport over long distances. Transporting $5 million worth of gold and transporting $5 million worth of gravel are two very different things.

Vulcan and MM’s stranglehold on the country’s best aggregate mines near major metropolitan areas is a significant advantage over their competitors.

Given how difficult, expensive, and time-consuming it can be to permit and develop a large gravel mine, we can say both VMC and MLM own irreplaceable collections of scarce, in-demand resources. Importantly, these scarce resources cannot be printed or coded into existence.

Those attributes are key to playing inflation defense. They’ve allowed the market values of VMC and MLM to rise and outpace dollar debasement over the past seven years.

VMC and MLM are also enjoying the U.S. factory and data center building boom we’ve been investing in with great success. As America grows, VMC and MLM grow with it.

Owning a collection of gravel pits and sand mines isn’t as exciting as owning SpaceX or AI stocks. However, if you want to play inflation defense by owning irreplaceable collections of scarce, in-demand assets whose prices can rise along with the rate of money creation, consider VMC and MLM. Both stocks just received a blue ribbon endorsement from a world-class appraiser of asset quality.

The strongest bull market you probably don’t own

Credit: Kanoke_46

As of this morning, our Sept. 29, 2025, recommendation to own oil stocks has resulted in an extraordinary 68.2% gain, as measured by the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES).

Back then, we laid out a simple bull case for oil stocks: As the global economy grows, oil demand will remain solid. However, importantly, U.S. shale oil production growth appears to be peaking.

Flatlining supply from this region would remove a critical and reliable source of production growth that has been in place for more than a decade. Plus, oil was very cheap relative to gold and other assets, indicating good value.

With all that in mind, we’ve written frequently and bullishly about owning Canadian oil giant Suncor (SU), U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil (XOM), and XES. Both SU and XOM are up more than 40% since our September call. Both are close to breaking out to all-time highs.

When I recommended oil and started trading it from the long side, I did not factor in the potential bullish driver of the Iran War. That’s been a “bonus” driver of gains in oil stocks. Sometimes, the dice rolls in your favor.

Although positive news related to the Iran War could emerge at any time and trigger a short-term oil/oil stock correction, the long-term picture is bullish. I see three reasons why this is the case.

One: Critical oil infrastructure in the Middle East has been damaged. Oil flows will not return to pre-war levels for possibly over a year. This supports oil prices north of $80 per barrel, which supports large cash flows for oil and gas firms.

Two: Most countries maintain substantial above-ground “buffer” supplies of oil and refined petroleum products in the event of market disruptions such as the Iran War. Over the past five months, much of these buffer supplies have been depleted to compensate for the loss of Middle Eastern flows. They must be replenished.

The coming restocking of buffer supplies will support oil prices north of $80 per barrel… which, again, supports large cash flows for oil and gas firms.

Three: Although oil stocks have had a heck of a run since our September call, they aren’t up much over the past ten years. Adjusted for dollar debasement over the past decade, key oil and gas ETFs XES and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) are down significantly.

A continuation of the oil stock bull market should be particularly rewarding for the offshore drilling “subsector.”

This oil industry niche consists of companies that manufacture and operate offshore drilling ships, platforms, and related equipment & services.

As I’ve covered over the past few weeks, for many countries and businesses, the Iran War is a brutal reminder: If your survival or smooth operation depends on uninterrupted resource flows from the Middle East, you are in a dangerous, vulnerable position.

No politician, CEO, or major shareholder wants their business to be in that position. No citizen wants their country to be in that position. Many powerful and influential people are realizing this is a big risk that must be mitigated if humanly possible. Executives and politicians will get fired for not addressing it effectively.

This means building and buying as many forms of “not Middle Eastern” resource supply chains as possible economically… like those from safe, resource-rich Canada and Brazil. It means lots of oil exploration off the shores of South America, Africa, Mexico, and eventually the Arctic shelf.

Drilling offshore is one of the few areas in the world that still offers the potential for large new “company maker” oil field discoveries.

This means lots of money is flowing towards offshore drillers now and will continue to do so. This should drive continued gains in the offshore drilling theme.

Current market leaders here include drillship and platform operators Transocean (RIG), Valaris (VAL), Noble (NE), and Seadrill (SDRL). Well-positioned offshore equipment and service providers include Tidewater (TDW), Oceaneering (OII), and TechnipFMC (FTI).

Although oil stocks are up substantially since our original call, we believe they have a lot further to run. The fundamentals are strong. The public is largely indifferent towards this bull market. Still bullish!

This high-tech bull market is poised to reach new all-time highs.

Credit: Photofex-AT

After winning the presidency in 2024, one of Donald Trump’s first consequential acts was telling European countries they needed to start picking up more of the defense bill… that they couldn’t depend on U.S. military assistance as much as they had in the past.

Trump’s stance on how much the U.S. would act as the world’s “policeman” marked a significant departure from how the world had worked for decades.

In response to Trump’s stance and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the leaders of Germany, the UK, France, Poland, and Italy began ramping up their domestic spending on missiles, radar, satellites, airplanes, and drones. Overall, European military spending jumped 14% in 2025 alone. Spending in 2026 is expected to reach €454 billion, representing a 32% increase over 2024 levels.

This huge increase in already large budget line items drove a bull market in European defense stocks in 2025. The Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF (EUAD) gained 92% from Jan. 1, 2025, to October 2025.

This fund owns the “who’s who” of major publicly traded European defense contractors. Major holdings include Rolls-Royce (aircraft engines, naval propulsion), Safran (aerospace), Airbus (aerospace), BAE Systems (diversified), Leonardo S.p.A. (diversified), and Rheinmetall (vehicles, missiles, ammunition).

After such a big run, it was reasonable to expect the European defense theme to take a break and digest its large gains. As you can see in the chart below, that’s exactly what happened from October 2025 through July 2026. The fund moved in a long sideways consolidation period.

Recently, however, the strong trend of European defense spending propelled EUAD to within pennies of its all-time high. We think the fund is likely to trade past that all-time high soon.

We live in a deglobalizing world where the U.S. cannot be counted on to provide 24/7 protection for countries around the globe. Defense is becoming increasingly high-tech, which means today’s expensive bleeding-edge systems can quickly become yesterday’s obsolete junk and therefore must be upgraded or replaced frequently. Competition for scarce critical resources will provoke more conflict in the future.

Add it all up, and you get a bull market in European defense stocks. This is a trend breakout you want to pay attention to.

Market Notes

• Our recommendation to own healthcare stocks continues to pay off. Biotech royalty leader Roivant Sciences (ROIV) just hit a new yearly high.

• Mega bank Bank of America (BAC) reached a new all-time high today. This is indicative of a strong U.S. economy.

• Our recommendation to invest in resource-rich Canada continues to reward shareholders. The iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC) reached a new all-time high today.

• Oil refining giants Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Valero Energy (VLO) reached new all-time highs today. These firms benefit from the constriction of resource flows in the Middle East.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

New Patent Reveals Elon Musk’s Next Breakthrough: M.A.G.I.

This new form of AI could create so much wealth that Elon Musk calls it “an infinite money glitch.” The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, is on record predicting this will be “the next wave” of the AI boom… And that it will launch “the next multi-trillion-dollar industry.”

Which is why Jeff Brown is recommending this little-known Elon Musk supplier that’s at the center of this revolution.

The post The strongest bull market you probably don’t own appeared first on MarketWise.