Looking For Concrete Roses in Our Top 2026 Stock Picks
There are slivers of optimism to be found on Wall Street, even amid the wreckage
For the second-straight year and third time in five years, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq started off the calendar with quarterly losses. ‘Didn’t get off the bus,’ is the apt sports colloquial that comes to mind.
In 2022, this was a harbinger of a miserable year for equities. But last year, even when things looked especially bleak after April’s Liberation Day lows, Wall Street picked itself up, dusted itself off, and cruised to double-digit gains for 2025.
If you believe the U.S. will duck out of the Middle East with its tail between its legs, oil prices will come down, and the Fed will cut rates, then last year is your precedent If you believe the opposite, then 2022 should be the roadmap for hedging and cycling away from high risk growth names.
Our Top Stock Picks of 2026 so far has done a commendable job of threading the needle between exciting, high-beta growth stocks, and consumer discretionary staples that could withstand a sharp correction. There’s a something for everyone in the report, and its no surprise that the results are a mixed bag one quarter down.
Seven winners, six of which up double digits. Of the eight in the red, four are nursing deficits of 25% or more. A true feast or famine situation. 10 finished lower in March; this table would look a lot friendlier to bulls if it ended on Feb. 28.
Let’s crack open the tape and look at some notable setups.
Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM)
No surprise a gold miner stayed hot, amid *gestures. That nearly 20% gain comes even with AEM taking a 19.3% haircut in March as profit taking swept up safe-havens. AEM’s 160-day moving average was the saving grace.
Cameco (CCJ)
Get used to hearing this; a strong two-month lead only to give back a chunk of those gains and test technical support. What makes Cameco more fun than something like gold is the energy component of it all.
Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
Copy and paste with CL. Monitor that consolidating around $85 but also note the 160-day right below it. The days of testing $100 are probably far away, but if the stock can live between there and $85 the rest of the year, that’s a win.
DigitalOcean (DOCN)
Big hitter, the lama. Kudos to xx for the call, and the early clubhouse leader among the Top Stock Picks. There’s still short squeeze potential, its not even overbought, and a bull flag pattern forming off that April 2 peak at $91.53. While the rest of the broader market zigged, DOCN zagged, tagging a 53% win for March.
Dollar Tree (DLTR)
An April outperformer, historically. But also below that trendline from October lows. 6.4% SI/F is not nothin, and discount retailers could be in for a moment if the world heads in the direction its heading.
Velo3D (VELO)
File this one under a company that does something really cool, but doesn’t have a lot to show for it (call that folder the quantum computing folder.) VELO raced past $20 but has drifted lower since, but at least $10 looks like a stable floor. If broad market conditions approve, watch this space for a melt-up.
Tetra Technologies (TTI)
Another March swoon. But the trendline below has held after some weakness in the wake of a post-earnings bear gap of xx on xx.
Of the laggards, IONQ and QS are in the midst of brutal monthly losing streaks. It’s bleak for those names, but beyond that, I’d listen to a bull case on Baidu (BIDU) and Crispr (CRSP), among others.
If that list makes you feel a little queasy, here’s a snapshot of our Top Picks for 2025, roughly a year ago:
So, keep the faith, yah?
Market Madness—Road to the Final 4
The UConn basketball Huskies. Man. What a weekend. Please allow for this four-minute timeline cleanse:
I have no other words (yes I do, I could go on forever). On to our own Elite 8:
Delta Region
#5 VZ 0.00%↑ vs. #2 AMZN 0.00%↑
Verizon has a heavy put bias, is overdue for bull notes, and affordably-priced options. Both stocks are navigating consolidation chop right now. AMZN has a little more name-brand value given its Big Tech affiliation. Since this tournament started on 3/13 at the close, AMZN is slightly up, VZ slightly down.
The blue-chip wins out in a nail-biter.
Gamma Region
#4 RKLB 0.00%↑ vs. #2 AVGO 0.00%↑
Both stocks are lower and extending their downtrends in the last two weeks, but Rocket Lab tested and bounced from its 200-day moving average. If you really want to get granular, Thursday’s closes for both are the site of former highs from the fall. RKLB short sellers are starting to buy back in (3.8% SI/F worth monitoring). Broadcom options are cheaper. A back-and-forth game, but going with the cheaper options and less-risky sector (though is it?)
Theta Region
#9 PCG 0.00%↑ vs. #2 TSLA 0.00%↑
Neither stock has covered itself in glory this tournament. TSLA has chart support, cheaper options, some contrarian potential among analysts and options traders, and a little bit of insulation from any oil headwinds.
I’ve wanted to pick against Elon every single round, but you can’t fight the math.
Vega Region
#1 MSFT 0.00%↑ vs. #2 XOM 0.00%↑
In the last two weeks, these stocks have passed each other on the highway going different directions. Look at what happened to MSFT the last time it traded below $400. Its interesting that XOM has already worked off its “overbought” condition after this week’s 5.3% pullback.
But Citi’s $175 price target was considered lofty, and after this pullback its already below the level it started at on March 13.
Amazon.com, Broadcom, Tesla, and Microsoft. All chalk. Everyone loves a Cinderella until they play a frontline of 6’10, 6’11, and 7’0. I think the main thing I learned from this silly little exercise is that short squeezes and growth stocks look great until they’re stacked up with a heavy-hitter.
Also a factor: that March swoon put a lot of discount stickers on some usually pricy names. I don’t think I’m touching Microsoft or Tesla in the $500s.