Ideas
RBC's U.S. growth drives positive momentum.
RBC's U.S. business is a key growth engine as its second home market, with continued lending to U.S. mid-corporates and a top-five high-net-worth platform; the bank has strong momentum entering the year and is positive about the future.
Gap turnaround gains consumer traction.
Gap's turnaround is resonating with consumers, with seven consecutive quarters of growth led by the namesake Gap brand, up 6%, and Banana Republic improving; product, value, storytelling, and tariff mitigation support continued momentum.
Chinese tech offers discounted AI growth.
Chinese internet and AI equities are a discounted, under-owned growth area; Alibaba and Tencent have rerated but still lag U.S. counterparts, Chinese engineers are competitive in AI even with chip restrictions, and rising global frustration with U.S. tech dominance should benefit Chinese AI companies.
Public software is overly punished.
Fear that AI will destroy software is overdone; software companies have distribution, customer service, and product moats, and mid-cap public software names with high retention are trading at very cheap multiples after the selloff, making them attractive.
Asset owners quietly diversify from U.S. bonds.
Global asset owners are quietly diversifying away from U.S. bonds due to overexposure, high debt, and policy uncertainty, while global fixed income diversification is attractive for the first time in years; this is a slow structural move rather than a dramatic sell.
Buy Japan bonds on dislocation.
Japanese government bond yields have risen to their highest levels in years, creating an attractive relative-value opportunity; TCW was underweight Japan and used the dislocation to step into the Japanese market and close 80% of that underweight.
Power demand growth favors utilities.
The power transformation supporting AI is a major multi-year opportunity; U.S. power demand is shifting from decades of no growth to doubling by 2050, driven by AI, electrification, and supply constraints; invest through utilities and the power ETF focused on generation, transmission, and storage.
Copper demand rises as supply tightens.
Copper demand is rising across the economy, especially from AI data centers and electrification, while supply is getting harder to find as deposits shrink; this supports the metal's strong price environment.
BHP copper growth and balance sheet.
BHP has grown copper volumes 30% over the past three years, has four projects ahead including a large U.S. copper project, and maintains capital discipline and a strong balance sheet, positioning it well for the cycle.
GE Vernova backlog doubles on demand.
GE Vernova's order book is exploding as gas turbine demand from hyperscalers and power generators grows; contracted future deliveries rose from 46 GW to 80 GW, doubling backlog, with hyperscalers potentially 25% of orders in 2026.
Gas is key power growth fuel.
Natural gas is a force multiplier for economic growth and power generation; the world will need more electrons and gas is a key enabling fuel even as other technologies are built.
Wind orders are soft.
Wind is the softest part of GE Vernova's portfolio, with a significantly weaker order book than other technologies and less policy support, though the company still builds wind where resources and land are suitable.
Nuclear SMR momentum builds.
Nuclear is gaining momentum, with commercial discussions on small modular reactors at unprecedented levels, including in Europe, and GE Vernova expects progress in 2026.
U.S. growth case remains strong.
The 2026 U.S.-led growth case is hard to argue against: corporate health and the high-end consumer are excellent, earnings could accelerate to mid-teens, the Fed may cut further, regulation is a tailwind, and capital markets are strong.
Morgan Stanley benefits from U.S. growth.
Morgan Stanley should benefit from a strong U.S. growth and capital markets environment; as nominal GDP grows, its wealth and investment banking businesses should perform well.
Watch Japan bond fiscal vulnerability.
The long-end move in Japan is a warning sign for highly indebted sovereigns with poor demographics; markets should watch for potential Liz Truss-style pockets of vulnerability, while differentiating them from the U.S. Treasury market.
U.S. assets remain core allocation.
The data does not show a broad move away from U.S. assets; with solid U.S. growth, stimulus, and the deepest, most liquid bond market, reallocating away from the U.S. is probably not the smartest choice, though portfolios should remain diversified.
BNY records show transformation works.
BNY's three-year transformation has produced record 2025 revenue, pretax income, and EPS growth, with the market rewarding improved client delivery; the company is a unified financial services platform with momentum.
This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 21, 2026,
features Dave McKay, Richard Dickson, Mitchell Green, Katie Koch, Mike Henry, Scott Strazik, Ted Pick, Robin Vince
discussing RY, GAP, BABA, TCEHY, IGV, Mid-cap software, TLT, Japanese government bonds, UTILITIES, Power infrastructure, COPPER, BHP, GEV, UNG, FAN, URA, Small modular reactors, SPY, MS, BNY.
18 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Dave McKay,
Richard Dickson,
Mitchell Green,
Katie Koch,
Mike Henry,
Scott Strazik,
Ted Pick,
Robin Vince
· Tickers:
RY,
GAP,
BABA,
TCEHY,
IGV,
Mid-cap software,
TLT,
Japanese government bonds,
UTILITIES,
Power infrastructure,
COPPER,
BHP,
GEV,
UNG,
FAN,
URA,
Small modular reactors,
SPY,
MS,
BNY
