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Bulls Get What They Needed: Tech Leadership Returns as Markets Hit New Highs

MarketDash Editorial Team
21 hours ago
Last week delivered textbook bullish action with tech reasserting dominance and major indices hitting record highs. From NextEra Energy's AI power play to GeneDx's genomics breakthrough, here's what's working in this market—plus why the new macro regime under Hassett and Bessent could change everything.

Market Overview: Bulls Finally Get Their Confirmation

Last week gave us exactly what bulls needed to see. Technology reasserted itself into the leadership position, and the Nasdaq led the charge higher with a 0.91% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at its highest weekly level in history with a 0.50% rally. The S&P 500 also notched a weekly record, climbing 0.31%.

As bullish as the stock market looks right now, crypto is still wrestling with some issues. But let's see if Powell's expected rate cut this week can give the bulls what they need. It looks like Santa Claus might be coming to town after all—though remember, he doesn't technically arrive for stocks until after Christmas.

Three Stocks Worth Watching

NextEra Energy: Playing the AI Power Game (44% Return Potential)

What's Happening

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) is a leading clean energy company and the world's largest electric utility holding company by market capitalization. The company generates, transmits, and distributes power through renewables like wind and solar, nuclear, and natural gas, offering investors exposure to the rapidly growing sustainable energy and infrastructure sector with a focus on innovative, low-carbon solutions and grid reliability.

The last quarter delivered $7.97 billion in revenue and $2.35 billion in earnings. The valuation on NEE looks solid. The P/E ratio sits at 26.88, Price-to-Sales is at 6.64, and EV to EBITDA is at 18.64.

From a technical standpoint, NEE is consolidating nicely within a rectangle formation. This structure opens the door for another leg higher.

Why It's Happening

NextEra Energy is capitalizing on the AI-driven electricity surge in a major way. Hyperscalers like Google are signing long-term deals for carbon-free power to fuel data centers and cloud operations. As U.S. power consumption hits record highs in 2025-2026, NextEra's renewables and nuclear assets position it as the premier supplier in this multi-trillion-dollar energy transition, unlocking explosive demand from tech giants and creating a narrative of indispensable infrastructure growth.

Rapid expansion of the renewable energy pipeline drives NextEra's long-term dominance. The company added 3.2 gigawatts of new renewables and storage to its backlog in Q2 2025 alone, including over 1 gigawatt specifically for hyperscalers. The company is scaling wind, solar, and battery assets to meet escalating clean energy needs, reinforcing its story as the world's largest generator of renewable power with a fortified position in the global shift to sustainable electricity.

A strong capital investment blueprint fuels NextEra's growth engine through 2029. Committing nearly $74.6 billion to infrastructure upgrades, clean generation additions, and battery storage, the company is enhancing grid reliability and efficiency. This builds a resilient platform that captures value from electrification trends and positions it for sustained earnings expansion in a sector ripe for modernization.

Attractive dividend growth and financial resilience appeal to income investors. With a 3.05% yield and a commitment to 10% annual increases through at least 2026, alongside Q3 2025 core FFO growth of 13%, NextEra balances shareholder returns with operational strength. This creates a compelling defensive growth story that outperforms peers amid economic cycles.

Analyst ratings include a Buy from Citigroup and UBS, while Barclays maintains an Equal-Weight rating.

My Action Plan (44% Return Potential)

I am bullish on NEE above $73.00-$74.00. My upside target is $120.00-$122.00.

Hecla Mining: Riding the Silver Wave (24% Return Potential)

What's Happening

Hecla Mining Company (HL) is a leading silver and gold mining company operating in North America. The company produces precious metals including silver, gold, lead, and zinc from flagship assets like the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, offering investors exposure to the rapidly growing precious metals and mining sector with a focus on sustainable production and resource expansion.

The previous quarterly report showed revenue of $409.54 million but no earnings. Valuation is steep on HL. The P/E ratio stands at 55.16, Price-to-Sales is at 8.98, and EV to EBITDA is at 21.96.

From a technical perspective, HL just broke out from an ascending triangle formation. These are continuation patterns, which creates a tailwind for prices to continue climbing.

Why It's Happening

Hecla Mining Company is leveraging the surging demand for silver as a critical mineral. Silver was newly added to the U.S. critical minerals list in November 2025, which elevates its strategic importance for national security and industrial applications like solar panels and electronics. This recognition, alongside global moves by India and Russia to monetize and reserve silver, positions Hecla—as the largest primary silver producer in the U.S.—to capitalize on heightened government initiatives and market demand, driving long-term revenue growth in a sector projected to boom through 2030.

Record-breaking Q3 2025 performance underscores Hecla's operational excellence and financial momentum. Delivering EPS of $0.15—66.67% above expectations—and robust revenue that beat forecasts, the company showcased resilient production from key assets like Greens Creek and Lucky Friday. This reflects disciplined execution and a strong balance sheet with leaner debt ratios that build investor confidence in its ability to thrive amid precious metals uptrends.

Strategic exploration approvals expand Hecla's high-potential resource base. The recent regulatory nod for the Polaris Project in Nevada, set to kick off in 2026, unlocks promising gold and silver prospects with significant upside for resource growth. This complements its diversified portfolio across U.S. and Canadian mines and reinforces a narrative of proactive expansion in undervalued districts ripe for discovery.

Robust production guidance and cost efficiencies highlight Hecla's path to sustained profitability. Maintaining silver output targets while slightly lifting gold guidance for 2025, coupled with operational improvements post-Lucky Friday's 2023 resumption, positions the company to benefit from favorable metal prices and margin expansion. This creates a compelling story of resilience and value creation in the mining sector's recovery.

Analyst ratings include a Neutral from CIBC, a Buy from HC Wainwright, and a Market Perform from BMO Capital.

My Action Plan (24% Return Potential)

I am bullish on HL above $14.00-$14.50. My upside target is $21.00-$22.00.

GeneDx: The Genomics Revolution (76% Return Potential)

What's Happening

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (WGS) is a leading genomics company providing advanced genetic testing services focused on pediatric and rare disease diagnostics through whole exome and genome sequencing, as well as AI-powered data analysis and interpretation platforms. The company offers investors exposure to the rapidly growing precision medicine and biotechnology sector with a focus on innovative diagnostics for hereditary risks, cancer, and newborn screening.

The last quarterly report had revenue of $116.74 million and earnings of $14.73 million. Valuation on WGS is astronomical. The P/E ratio is at 1480, Price-to-Sales is at 11.52, and EV to EBITDA is at 138.41.

From a charting point of view, WGS recently broke out from an ascending triangle formation. So it's no surprise to see prices making new highs again.

Why It's Happening

GeneDx Holdings Corp. is revolutionizing pediatric and rare disease diagnostics through its exome and genome sequencing leadership, delivering transformative insights that empower faster, more accurate diagnoses for underserved patients. With nearly 1 million exomes/genomes analyzed via its proprietary GeneDx Infinity™ dataset, the company is building an unmatched repository of genomic intelligence. This positions it as a mission-driven pioneer in the $20 billion+ precision medicine market amid rising demand for personalized healthcare solutions.

Explosive revenue acceleration underscores GeneDx's execution momentum. Q3 2025 revenues surged 52% year-over-year to $116.7 million and exome/genome volumes grew 33% to exceed prior concerns about ramp-up. This robust performance, coupled with raised full-year guidance to $400-415 million, reflects a maturing business model shifting toward sustainable profitability—its fifth consecutive quarter of adjusted net income at $14.7 million. This creates a flywheel of growth in neonatal and pediatric testing.

FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for ExomeDx™ and GenomeDx™ validates GeneDx's clinical superiority and accelerates market access. This prestigious recognition highlights the platforms' potential to address critical gaps in rare disease detection, opening doors to enhanced payer reimbursements and health system partnerships while reinforcing the narrative of GeneDx as an innovator driving equitable genomic care for millions worldwide.

Strategic expansions into newborn screening unlock vast untapped opportunities in preventive genomics. Launching BEACONS—the nation's first multi-state genomic newborn screening initiative—and joining Florida's Sunshine Genetics program positions GeneDx to scale early detection for treatable conditions. This taps into a multi-billion-dollar public health imperative and builds recurring revenue streams as adoption grows across state Medicaid programs, now covering 36 states including California's Medi-Cal.

Analyst ratings include an Equal-Weight from Wells Fargo, and Buy ratings from both Canaccord Genuity and Guggenheim.

My Action Plan (76% Return Potential)

I am bullish on WGS above $143.00-$144.00. My upside target is $280.00-$285.00.

Market-Moving Catalysts for the Week Ahead

A New Macro Regime Takes Shape

It looks like Kevin Hassett is all but a lock as the next Fed Chair. This appointment marks a historic reversal of the post-2008 monetary regime, and shifts the Federal Reserve from an independent inflation hawk to a liquidity tool coordinated with the executive branch, while restoring the Treasury as the ideological center of economic policy—echoing the 1940s–1950s era of financial repression.

Alongside Scott Bessent, this setup would prioritize nominal growth over austerity, accepting higher controlled inflation and deficits to outgrow or inflate away massive debt, engineering lower real rates, soft yield caps, and implicit QE to support risk assets, industry, and national strength.

Markets may initially act confused, but this growth-first, politically aligned framework—hostile to savers and cash yet bullish for equities, Bitcoin, and real assets—ends "higher for longer" rates and represents an ideological break from Powell's post-GFC orthodoxy. We are preparing accordingly.

Treasury Buybacks Hit Record Levels

Under Scott Bessent's leadership, the U.S. Treasury has aggressively expanded its buyback program—culminating in a record $12.5 billion repurchase of older, off-the-run securities on December 3, 2025—to inject liquidity into the banking system amid surging debt and market volatility, boosting bond prices, and easing inventory pressures on primary dealers.

This move is a classic example of the regime inversion toward Treasury-Fed coordination, transforming buybacks from mere cash management tools into proactive liquidity engineering that softens yields, supports asset inflation, and enables outgrowing the $28 trillion debt load without austerity or balance sheet normalization.

As Kevin Hassett emerges as the frontrunner for Fed Chair, these operations signal a new "political Fed" era where lower real rates and implicit QE-like structures align fiscal-monetary policy for growth-first priorities.

Sector & Industry Strength: Growth is Back in Fashion

Coming out of that late-November low, stocks responded exactly as they should have. Technology has retaken its place as the top-performing sector going back to the start of Q3, which is a strong sign of healthy risk appetite.

We've also seen consumer discretionary and communications storm back and climb into the top four spots in the sector performance rankings, which is very bullish since these are highly growth-oriented sectors.

Meanwhile, defensive-oriented utilities have been slipping, and consumer staples remains in dead-last. Of course, we can't ignore healthcare in second-place, but if you look deeper into it, you'll see that biotech is leading a major charge in that sector too.

Looking at sector performance across different timeframes, technology leads over 1 week and 26 weeks, communications leads over 3 weeks, and healthcare leads over 13 weeks. The message for bulls is crystal clear: get long.

Risk Assets Still Leading the Way

This is perhaps one of the most classical risk indicators when it comes to the stock market. We're looking at the ratio between the S&P 500 and long-term Treasuries. This ratio tells us whether to overweight stocks or bonds, which is key to building wealth in the long-term.

The ratio has been in an uptrend for years. It started well before the QE of the 2010s, and even continued during the bear market of 2022. As long as it keeps making higher-highs and higher-lows, bonds should only be used for tactical reasons within one's portfolio.

The issue with bonds now is on the long-end, specifically in long-term Treasuries. With long-term inflation staying elevated, the appeal of holding a bond for 30 years just isn't there. Stocks are likely to benefit as a result, which is why this ratio keeps climbing.

The Key Ratio for Crypto: Bitcoin Needs to Step Up

Cryptocurrencies are an important sector to help measure the market's appetite for risk. It's been the best sector to grow wealth over the past decade or so, save for a few select stocks. But since October, the sector has had a rough go.

I'm looking at the ratio between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 here. Bitcoin outperformed the S&P by a wide margin from the November 2022 low. But its underperformance actually began back in July of this year, and it's worsened ever since.

We're grappling with a potential false breakout from the saucer formation on this chart. It's not a good sign that it took out that low from March. However, if this ends up being the low and Bitcoin starts to outperform again, it wouldn't be that hard to restore the integrity of the uptrend. Bitcoin bulls need to step up here and now.

The Inflation Limbo: What Happens Next Week Matters

The Fed is going to be cutting rates again next week, and as I've stated before, this is creating the backdrop for the next round of inflation. It's a good time to check back on the ratio between Treasury Inflation Protected Securities against 7-10 Year Treasuries.

This ratio has been consolidating over the past couple of years after exploding to the upside during the inflationary wave of 2020-2022. As a rule, consolidations tend to resolve in the direction of the underlying trend, which is up.

Plus, there's the symmetrical triangle formation on this ratio chart. This is a continuation pattern specifically, but it can only be confirmed if and when we close above the upper trendline of the formation.

My Take on the Inflation Picture

When Treasury Inflation Protected Securities outperform regular Treasuries, it signals that the bond market sees inflationary pressures climbing. When it's sideways or dropping, it means that inflationary pressures are under control. This may be the most important ratio to watch when the Fed cuts rates next week.

The Fed's playing with inflationary fire here, and if anything, Powell's prudence over the past year may be vindicated. I think his mistake was in the first half of the year, but over the past 5 months, the inflation situation has been stable compared to the labor market.

Cryptocurrency: Ethereum Shows Signs of Life

Ethereum staged a solid bounce this past week, and it actually signaled a potentially key momentum shift in this market. After a sharp selloff at the beginning of last week, Ethereum quickly rebounded and formed a higher-low.

Then, a few days later, prices rallied to exceed the high of the previous week. Although this occurred in a very short time frame, it's the first time we've seen any sort of higher-high and higher-low in months.

It held support wonderfully in the 2600-2800 range, but now, it needs to clear resistance at 3200-3300. If it does, then we should see a test of the upper trendline of the descending channel. We won't be able to give the "all clear" until it closes back above 4000-4200, however.

The Bottom Line

The market is giving us textbook bullish behavior. Technology is back in the driver's seat, major indices are hitting records, and growth-oriented sectors are outperforming defensive plays. The macro backdrop is shifting in a major way with potential Fed leadership changes and aggressive Treasury operations signaling a new era of coordinated fiscal-monetary policy.

For investors, the opportunity set looks compelling across clean energy infrastructure with NextEra Energy, precious metals with Hecla Mining, and genomics innovation with GeneDx. The key is staying aligned with where the market is showing strength—and right now, that's squarely in risk assets and growth-oriented plays.

As we head into next week's expected Fed rate cut, keep a close eye on inflation indicators and crypto's ability to regain its footing. The setup is there for continued strength, but as always, the market will have the final say.

Back to News

Bulls Get What They Needed: Tech Leadership Returns as Markets Hit New Highs

MarketDash Editorial Team
21 hours ago
Last week delivered textbook bullish action with tech reasserting dominance and major indices hitting record highs. From NextEra Energy's AI power play to GeneDx's genomics breakthrough, here's what's working in this market—plus why the new macro regime under Hassett and Bessent could change everything.

Market Overview: Bulls Finally Get Their Confirmation

Last week gave us exactly what bulls needed to see. Technology reasserted itself into the leadership position, and the Nasdaq led the charge higher with a 0.91% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at its highest weekly level in history with a 0.50% rally. The S&P 500 also notched a weekly record, climbing 0.31%.

As bullish as the stock market looks right now, crypto is still wrestling with some issues. But let's see if Powell's expected rate cut this week can give the bulls what they need. It looks like Santa Claus might be coming to town after all—though remember, he doesn't technically arrive for stocks until after Christmas.

Three Stocks Worth Watching

NextEra Energy: Playing the AI Power Game (44% Return Potential)

What's Happening

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) is a leading clean energy company and the world's largest electric utility holding company by market capitalization. The company generates, transmits, and distributes power through renewables like wind and solar, nuclear, and natural gas, offering investors exposure to the rapidly growing sustainable energy and infrastructure sector with a focus on innovative, low-carbon solutions and grid reliability.

The last quarter delivered $7.97 billion in revenue and $2.35 billion in earnings. The valuation on NEE looks solid. The P/E ratio sits at 26.88, Price-to-Sales is at 6.64, and EV to EBITDA is at 18.64.

From a technical standpoint, NEE is consolidating nicely within a rectangle formation. This structure opens the door for another leg higher.

Why It's Happening

NextEra Energy is capitalizing on the AI-driven electricity surge in a major way. Hyperscalers like Google are signing long-term deals for carbon-free power to fuel data centers and cloud operations. As U.S. power consumption hits record highs in 2025-2026, NextEra's renewables and nuclear assets position it as the premier supplier in this multi-trillion-dollar energy transition, unlocking explosive demand from tech giants and creating a narrative of indispensable infrastructure growth.

Rapid expansion of the renewable energy pipeline drives NextEra's long-term dominance. The company added 3.2 gigawatts of new renewables and storage to its backlog in Q2 2025 alone, including over 1 gigawatt specifically for hyperscalers. The company is scaling wind, solar, and battery assets to meet escalating clean energy needs, reinforcing its story as the world's largest generator of renewable power with a fortified position in the global shift to sustainable electricity.

A strong capital investment blueprint fuels NextEra's growth engine through 2029. Committing nearly $74.6 billion to infrastructure upgrades, clean generation additions, and battery storage, the company is enhancing grid reliability and efficiency. This builds a resilient platform that captures value from electrification trends and positions it for sustained earnings expansion in a sector ripe for modernization.

Attractive dividend growth and financial resilience appeal to income investors. With a 3.05% yield and a commitment to 10% annual increases through at least 2026, alongside Q3 2025 core FFO growth of 13%, NextEra balances shareholder returns with operational strength. This creates a compelling defensive growth story that outperforms peers amid economic cycles.

Analyst ratings include a Buy from Citigroup and UBS, while Barclays maintains an Equal-Weight rating.

My Action Plan (44% Return Potential)

I am bullish on NEE above $73.00-$74.00. My upside target is $120.00-$122.00.

Hecla Mining: Riding the Silver Wave (24% Return Potential)

What's Happening

Hecla Mining Company (HL) is a leading silver and gold mining company operating in North America. The company produces precious metals including silver, gold, lead, and zinc from flagship assets like the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, offering investors exposure to the rapidly growing precious metals and mining sector with a focus on sustainable production and resource expansion.

The previous quarterly report showed revenue of $409.54 million but no earnings. Valuation is steep on HL. The P/E ratio stands at 55.16, Price-to-Sales is at 8.98, and EV to EBITDA is at 21.96.

From a technical perspective, HL just broke out from an ascending triangle formation. These are continuation patterns, which creates a tailwind for prices to continue climbing.

Why It's Happening

Hecla Mining Company is leveraging the surging demand for silver as a critical mineral. Silver was newly added to the U.S. critical minerals list in November 2025, which elevates its strategic importance for national security and industrial applications like solar panels and electronics. This recognition, alongside global moves by India and Russia to monetize and reserve silver, positions Hecla—as the largest primary silver producer in the U.S.—to capitalize on heightened government initiatives and market demand, driving long-term revenue growth in a sector projected to boom through 2030.

Record-breaking Q3 2025 performance underscores Hecla's operational excellence and financial momentum. Delivering EPS of $0.15—66.67% above expectations—and robust revenue that beat forecasts, the company showcased resilient production from key assets like Greens Creek and Lucky Friday. This reflects disciplined execution and a strong balance sheet with leaner debt ratios that build investor confidence in its ability to thrive amid precious metals uptrends.

Strategic exploration approvals expand Hecla's high-potential resource base. The recent regulatory nod for the Polaris Project in Nevada, set to kick off in 2026, unlocks promising gold and silver prospects with significant upside for resource growth. This complements its diversified portfolio across U.S. and Canadian mines and reinforces a narrative of proactive expansion in undervalued districts ripe for discovery.

Robust production guidance and cost efficiencies highlight Hecla's path to sustained profitability. Maintaining silver output targets while slightly lifting gold guidance for 2025, coupled with operational improvements post-Lucky Friday's 2023 resumption, positions the company to benefit from favorable metal prices and margin expansion. This creates a compelling story of resilience and value creation in the mining sector's recovery.

Analyst ratings include a Neutral from CIBC, a Buy from HC Wainwright, and a Market Perform from BMO Capital.

My Action Plan (24% Return Potential)

I am bullish on HL above $14.00-$14.50. My upside target is $21.00-$22.00.

GeneDx: The Genomics Revolution (76% Return Potential)

What's Happening

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (WGS) is a leading genomics company providing advanced genetic testing services focused on pediatric and rare disease diagnostics through whole exome and genome sequencing, as well as AI-powered data analysis and interpretation platforms. The company offers investors exposure to the rapidly growing precision medicine and biotechnology sector with a focus on innovative diagnostics for hereditary risks, cancer, and newborn screening.

The last quarterly report had revenue of $116.74 million and earnings of $14.73 million. Valuation on WGS is astronomical. The P/E ratio is at 1480, Price-to-Sales is at 11.52, and EV to EBITDA is at 138.41.

From a charting point of view, WGS recently broke out from an ascending triangle formation. So it's no surprise to see prices making new highs again.

Why It's Happening

GeneDx Holdings Corp. is revolutionizing pediatric and rare disease diagnostics through its exome and genome sequencing leadership, delivering transformative insights that empower faster, more accurate diagnoses for underserved patients. With nearly 1 million exomes/genomes analyzed via its proprietary GeneDx Infinity™ dataset, the company is building an unmatched repository of genomic intelligence. This positions it as a mission-driven pioneer in the $20 billion+ precision medicine market amid rising demand for personalized healthcare solutions.

Explosive revenue acceleration underscores GeneDx's execution momentum. Q3 2025 revenues surged 52% year-over-year to $116.7 million and exome/genome volumes grew 33% to exceed prior concerns about ramp-up. This robust performance, coupled with raised full-year guidance to $400-415 million, reflects a maturing business model shifting toward sustainable profitability—its fifth consecutive quarter of adjusted net income at $14.7 million. This creates a flywheel of growth in neonatal and pediatric testing.

FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for ExomeDx™ and GenomeDx™ validates GeneDx's clinical superiority and accelerates market access. This prestigious recognition highlights the platforms' potential to address critical gaps in rare disease detection, opening doors to enhanced payer reimbursements and health system partnerships while reinforcing the narrative of GeneDx as an innovator driving equitable genomic care for millions worldwide.

Strategic expansions into newborn screening unlock vast untapped opportunities in preventive genomics. Launching BEACONS—the nation's first multi-state genomic newborn screening initiative—and joining Florida's Sunshine Genetics program positions GeneDx to scale early detection for treatable conditions. This taps into a multi-billion-dollar public health imperative and builds recurring revenue streams as adoption grows across state Medicaid programs, now covering 36 states including California's Medi-Cal.

Analyst ratings include an Equal-Weight from Wells Fargo, and Buy ratings from both Canaccord Genuity and Guggenheim.

My Action Plan (76% Return Potential)

I am bullish on WGS above $143.00-$144.00. My upside target is $280.00-$285.00.

Market-Moving Catalysts for the Week Ahead

A New Macro Regime Takes Shape

It looks like Kevin Hassett is all but a lock as the next Fed Chair. This appointment marks a historic reversal of the post-2008 monetary regime, and shifts the Federal Reserve from an independent inflation hawk to a liquidity tool coordinated with the executive branch, while restoring the Treasury as the ideological center of economic policy—echoing the 1940s–1950s era of financial repression.

Alongside Scott Bessent, this setup would prioritize nominal growth over austerity, accepting higher controlled inflation and deficits to outgrow or inflate away massive debt, engineering lower real rates, soft yield caps, and implicit QE to support risk assets, industry, and national strength.

Markets may initially act confused, but this growth-first, politically aligned framework—hostile to savers and cash yet bullish for equities, Bitcoin, and real assets—ends "higher for longer" rates and represents an ideological break from Powell's post-GFC orthodoxy. We are preparing accordingly.

Treasury Buybacks Hit Record Levels

Under Scott Bessent's leadership, the U.S. Treasury has aggressively expanded its buyback program—culminating in a record $12.5 billion repurchase of older, off-the-run securities on December 3, 2025—to inject liquidity into the banking system amid surging debt and market volatility, boosting bond prices, and easing inventory pressures on primary dealers.

This move is a classic example of the regime inversion toward Treasury-Fed coordination, transforming buybacks from mere cash management tools into proactive liquidity engineering that softens yields, supports asset inflation, and enables outgrowing the $28 trillion debt load without austerity or balance sheet normalization.

As Kevin Hassett emerges as the frontrunner for Fed Chair, these operations signal a new "political Fed" era where lower real rates and implicit QE-like structures align fiscal-monetary policy for growth-first priorities.

Sector & Industry Strength: Growth is Back in Fashion

Coming out of that late-November low, stocks responded exactly as they should have. Technology has retaken its place as the top-performing sector going back to the start of Q3, which is a strong sign of healthy risk appetite.

We've also seen consumer discretionary and communications storm back and climb into the top four spots in the sector performance rankings, which is very bullish since these are highly growth-oriented sectors.

Meanwhile, defensive-oriented utilities have been slipping, and consumer staples remains in dead-last. Of course, we can't ignore healthcare in second-place, but if you look deeper into it, you'll see that biotech is leading a major charge in that sector too.

Looking at sector performance across different timeframes, technology leads over 1 week and 26 weeks, communications leads over 3 weeks, and healthcare leads over 13 weeks. The message for bulls is crystal clear: get long.

Risk Assets Still Leading the Way

This is perhaps one of the most classical risk indicators when it comes to the stock market. We're looking at the ratio between the S&P 500 and long-term Treasuries. This ratio tells us whether to overweight stocks or bonds, which is key to building wealth in the long-term.

The ratio has been in an uptrend for years. It started well before the QE of the 2010s, and even continued during the bear market of 2022. As long as it keeps making higher-highs and higher-lows, bonds should only be used for tactical reasons within one's portfolio.

The issue with bonds now is on the long-end, specifically in long-term Treasuries. With long-term inflation staying elevated, the appeal of holding a bond for 30 years just isn't there. Stocks are likely to benefit as a result, which is why this ratio keeps climbing.

The Key Ratio for Crypto: Bitcoin Needs to Step Up

Cryptocurrencies are an important sector to help measure the market's appetite for risk. It's been the best sector to grow wealth over the past decade or so, save for a few select stocks. But since October, the sector has had a rough go.

I'm looking at the ratio between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 here. Bitcoin outperformed the S&P by a wide margin from the November 2022 low. But its underperformance actually began back in July of this year, and it's worsened ever since.

We're grappling with a potential false breakout from the saucer formation on this chart. It's not a good sign that it took out that low from March. However, if this ends up being the low and Bitcoin starts to outperform again, it wouldn't be that hard to restore the integrity of the uptrend. Bitcoin bulls need to step up here and now.

The Inflation Limbo: What Happens Next Week Matters

The Fed is going to be cutting rates again next week, and as I've stated before, this is creating the backdrop for the next round of inflation. It's a good time to check back on the ratio between Treasury Inflation Protected Securities against 7-10 Year Treasuries.

This ratio has been consolidating over the past couple of years after exploding to the upside during the inflationary wave of 2020-2022. As a rule, consolidations tend to resolve in the direction of the underlying trend, which is up.

Plus, there's the symmetrical triangle formation on this ratio chart. This is a continuation pattern specifically, but it can only be confirmed if and when we close above the upper trendline of the formation.

My Take on the Inflation Picture

When Treasury Inflation Protected Securities outperform regular Treasuries, it signals that the bond market sees inflationary pressures climbing. When it's sideways or dropping, it means that inflationary pressures are under control. This may be the most important ratio to watch when the Fed cuts rates next week.

The Fed's playing with inflationary fire here, and if anything, Powell's prudence over the past year may be vindicated. I think his mistake was in the first half of the year, but over the past 5 months, the inflation situation has been stable compared to the labor market.

Cryptocurrency: Ethereum Shows Signs of Life

Ethereum staged a solid bounce this past week, and it actually signaled a potentially key momentum shift in this market. After a sharp selloff at the beginning of last week, Ethereum quickly rebounded and formed a higher-low.

Then, a few days later, prices rallied to exceed the high of the previous week. Although this occurred in a very short time frame, it's the first time we've seen any sort of higher-high and higher-low in months.

It held support wonderfully in the 2600-2800 range, but now, it needs to clear resistance at 3200-3300. If it does, then we should see a test of the upper trendline of the descending channel. We won't be able to give the "all clear" until it closes back above 4000-4200, however.

The Bottom Line

The market is giving us textbook bullish behavior. Technology is back in the driver's seat, major indices are hitting records, and growth-oriented sectors are outperforming defensive plays. The macro backdrop is shifting in a major way with potential Fed leadership changes and aggressive Treasury operations signaling a new era of coordinated fiscal-monetary policy.

For investors, the opportunity set looks compelling across clean energy infrastructure with NextEra Energy, precious metals with Hecla Mining, and genomics innovation with GeneDx. The key is staying aligned with where the market is showing strength—and right now, that's squarely in risk assets and growth-oriented plays.

As we head into next week's expected Fed rate cut, keep a close eye on inflation indicators and crypto's ability to regain its footing. The setup is there for continued strength, but as always, the market will have the final say.

    Bulls Get What They Needed: Tech Leadership Returns as Markets Hit New Highs - MarketDash News