28 Stocks Are Carrying the Market

+ Citadel, Goldman Sachs, PIMCO, Deutsche Bank & More

Author

The Idea Farm
May 17, 2026

Sponsored by

“I have the ability to imagine configurations of the world different from today and really believe it can happen.”

— Bruce Kovner

Research

Scott Rubner examines why the S&P 500’s 13% rally since March 31 has been powerful but narrow. Earnings, buybacks, and retail flows have helped, yet only 28 of 503 names account for more than half of recent returns.

Goldman Sachs - The Path to 2075: The Positive Story of Global Aging (21 pages)

Goldman Sachs argues that global aging may be less of a demographic crisis than many assume, with longer working lives already offsetting weaker working age ratios.

StepStone Group examines how AI is changing venture capital by accelerating company formation, widening return dispersion, and concentrating value in a small set of dominant private companies. VC NAV rose from about $500 billion in 2015 to over $3 trillion by mid 2025, while the top 10 private venture backed companies now carry about $3.1 trillion of reported value.

Deutsche Bank - The Great 2026 Reset... (46 pages)

Jim Reid examines how the 2026 oil shock, Iran conflict, inflation pressure, stronger earnings, and higher rates are resetting markets.

Owen Lamont argues that deglobalization could make global diversification more valuable, not less.

Bonus Content

The real risk with the war in Iran may not be a single spike in oil prices, but 1) the length of the disruption and 2) whether a confluence of shocks will collectively overcome the economy’s resilience. Link

Gain published a report on the state of US private equity. Link

The May edition of the Schroders Equity Lens has 50 slides of charts covering global markets. Link 

PIMCO explains that increasing the frequency of private credit marks does little to improve transparency or accuracy when prices are not anchored to observable, market-based transactions. Link

Paul Kedrosky looks at the coming mega-IPO flow & funding problem of 2026. Link

When portfolios get messy, change can feel impossible

Over time, portfolios can become difficult to manage. Overlapping positions, embedded gains, and tax constraints often make change feel out of reach.

A Section 351 exchange may offer a different path. It may allow investors to consolidate their qualifying holdings into a single ETF and access professional management services, all without triggering capital gains at the time of exchange, if specific rules and tests are met.

Alpha Architect has supported multiple 351 exchange launches and worked with advisors navigating these exact challenges. That experience is now available through the Alpha Architect 351 Education Center, a dedicated hub featuring short videos, visual walkthroughs, and practical resources designed to help investors stay informed on the latest 351 exchange insights.

To learn more about 351 exchanges and their various portfolio applications, visit funds.alphaarchitect.com/351educationcenter.

Investments in securities entail risks, including possible loss of principal and are not suitable for all investors.

Podcasts

5/8/2026 - 14 minutes

Rob Arnott discusses growth-focused indexing, market-cap weighting and how portfolio construction changes when companies are ranked by growth.

4/13/2026 - 64 minutes

Stephen Witt discusses Jensen Huang’s rise, Nvidia’s AI bet, and the leadership choices behind its dominance.

Meb’s Corner

5/15/2026 - 44 minutes

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee discusses his 2025 market outlook, the coming wave of mega-IPOs, and Granny Shots ETF.