Ideas
Rotate into beaten-down small/mid-caps.
Kong sees a rotation out of the mega-cap winners that dominated for an extended period and into small-caps, mid-caps and the other 493 S&P 500 names. Those areas had been beaten down and offer better relative value, so the rotation is not surprising and appears to have conviction.
Favor developed international and European equities.
U.S. policy and fiscal uncertainty are sparking a rotation out of U.S. stocks toward international equities. Kong prefers developed markets, especially Europe, where fiscal spending is increasing, and says investors are naturally gravitating offshore to hedge and diversify.
U.S. equity rally has further room.
Clients ask whether the rally is over, and Kong does not think so. She expects periodic interruptions but sees earnings power, supportive Fed policy and fiscal policy as tailwinds; she expects mega-cap earnings to grow about 22% over the next 12 months and the other 493 names about 10%.
Intel upgrade on product demand.
Goldberg upgraded Intel this week because it now has products customers want to buy, PC makers HP and Dell like what they see, and chip demand looks the best in years. He wants to see revenue and gross margins, but thinks Intel can participate in the AI buildout through CPUs, has more upside to numbers, and can bring operating leverage over the next few years.
Huntington growth via Texas expansion.
Steinour says Huntington's Veritex and Cadence deals position it strongly in Texas and the South and add well-run banks and executive teams. He expects organic growth to continue, with equipment finance, reshoring, robotics, automation and 15 specialty verticals driving a diversified portfolio.
Favor Treasury curve belly.
Laipply says the belly of the Treasury curve is a reasonable place to balance income versus duration. He is cautious on the long end because of term-premium and fiscal concerns, and says income will dominate fixed-income returns.
Keep some inflation protection.
Even though inflation-protection flows have died down, Laipply says a multisector fixed-income portfolio should still retain some inflation protection; he notes a new multisector fund includes inflation-linked exposure and bank loans.
U.S. consumer discretionary opportunity.
Amoroso sees the U.S. consumer as a sustainable theme, especially housing and disposable income. Cash being returned to consumers should propel discretionary spending, making consumer discretionary a sector to look at.
Defense spending opportunity not fully priced.
Defense is a global phenomenon with Europe, the U.S. and Asia increasing spending. NATO may need over $1 trillion in additional defense spending over 10 years, and despite public defense stocks rising 18-19% YTD, Amoroso does not think the full opportunity is priced in.
Watch private defense supply chain.
In private markets, Amoroso is not investing yet but is looking at mission-critical defense supply-chain components and equipment that have both military and civilian applications. That mix could give those businesses a more sustained profile.
Avoid oil sector production risk.
Amoroso says the oil sector is a tough place to be because if production is successfully boosted, it would ultimately depress domestic oil prices. She is not leaning into oil.
Natural gas powers data centers.
Amoroso is looking at natural gas and lower-carbon fuels because they are required to produce electricity to power data centers.
Oil services benefit from infrastructure buildout.
Amoroso says investors are honing in on oil services companies that will be involved in building out infrastructure, particularly around Venezuela.
Refiners benefit from cheap heavy crude.
Refiners that could access cheaper Venezuelan heavy crude over time are also of interest as a public-market trade.
Intel on fence, execution unproven.
Bryson is on the fence on Intel. He sees difficult 18A yields and no clear path to the earnings power needed to justify valuation, while PC demand and memory cost pressures add risk. The U.S. government stake and potential foundry customers are supportive, but execution is unproven.
Capital One: Brex upside, rate-cap overhang.
Biggar says Capital One had a slight miss with higher loss provisions and tepid loan growth, and the Brex deal adds corporate-card, business-banking and spend-management opportunity but also integration uncertainty after Discover. The proposed 10% credit card rate cap is a significant overhang that has hit the stock and could reduce credit availability if implemented.
Networks face interchange competition risk.
Dean warns that the Credit Card Competition Act would increase competition among card networks, pressuring Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Trump has embraced the issue, it has a bigger chance of success, and he is telling clients to be careful.
Private markets retail access expanding.
Caplan argues private markets resemble the early days of online investing: expanding retail access, better education, and goal-based diversified portfolios through vehicles like Willow 360. He sees real demand for both funds and single-asset deals.
This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 23, 2026,
features Amy Kong, Jay Goldberg, Stephen Steinour, Steve Laipply, Anastasia Amoroso, Matt Bryson, Stephen Biggar, Nathan Dean, Mitch Caplan
discussing IWM, Developed International Equities, VGK, SPY, INTC, HBAN, Intermediate U.S. Treasuries, TIP, XLY, ITA, Private defense supply chain, XLE, UNG, OIH, CRAK, COF, V, MA, AXP, Private markets.
18 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Amy Kong,
Jay Goldberg,
Stephen Steinour,
Steve Laipply,
Anastasia Amoroso,
Matt Bryson,
Stephen Biggar,
Nathan Dean,
Mitch Caplan
· Tickers:
IWM,
Developed International Equities,
VGK,
SPY,
INTC,
HBAN,
Intermediate U.S. Treasuries,
TIP,
XLY,
ITA,
Private defense supply chain,
XLE,
UNG,
OIH,
CRAK,
COF,
V,
MA,
AXP,
Private markets
