By one measure, this is the best stock pickers market in over a decade. Market breadth has increased dramatically, both domestically and internationally. There’s even strong rotation within the technology sector itself. Market participants are beginning to push back on AI capex. Despite global economic momentum, the investment surge remains confined to technology, perhaps most concerningly in the U.S. Are the inmates running the asylum?
1. Relative calm at the index level has hidden major dispersion below the surface of global markets:
Source: Citadel Securities
2. The average S&P 500 stock is off to a strong start this year:
Source: @AugurInfinity
3. International equities have had their best start to the year, relative to U.S. equities, in at least 30 years:
Source: @MikeZaccardi
4. The spoils of AI have not accrued evenly within the technology sector:
Source: Bloomberg Markets Daily
5. The rotation looks even more dramatic when taking a long-term view:
Source: John Authers, Points of Return
6. Investors are well aware that “gold rush” dynamics, like we’re seeing with the AI boom, have historically led to overinvestment:
Source: @SamRo
7. The investment binge is transforming the near-term financial profile of the hyperscalers:
Source: Sherwood, @LJKawa via @ranimolla
8. Improving breadth in global equity markets has coincided with a broadening in economic momentum:
Source: Daniel von Ahlen, TS Lombard via the Daily Chartbook on 2/18/2026
9. But we’re still waiting to see a broadening of corporate investment:
Source: @WTCM3
10. Cyclical components of U.S. GDP have weakened at an alarming rate:
Source: @EPBResearch
11. How much influence do kids have over your spending decisions:
Source: Bloomberg Morning Briefing
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