While Wall Street went wild this week, this bull market barely budged

Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).

Today’s issue in preview:

• While Wall Street went wild this week, this bull market barely budged

• Quality dividend payers are delivering stability in a volatile market

• This sector has extraordinary upside potential. How to trade it from here.

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

While Wall Street went wild this week, this bull market barely budged

Credit: Ridofranz

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a famous book of short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

One of the stories is “Silver Blaze,” a mystery about the disappearance of a racehorse and the murder of the horse’s trainer. Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery in part by noticing that none of the people he questioned reported hearing the watchdog bark during the night.

The dog’s failure to bark during the theft led Holmes to an important conclusion: The thief was not a stranger, but someone the dog recognized and therefore had no reason to bark at. Holmes solved the mystery by drawing a conclusion from what did not happen rather than what did.

As I write you, I have the image of the “dog that didn’t bark” in mind while analyzing this week’s price action of America’s leading senior living and nursing home-related stocks, a list that includes industry supergiant Welltower (WELL) and fellow major players Ventas (VTR), Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), and American Healthcare REIT (AHR).

Over the past year, I’ve cited the bull market in these firms as evidence that the Boomer healthcare investment megatrend is alive and well and regularly rewarding shareholders. These firms are enjoying a huge business tailwind as the enormous Baby Boomer generation enters the phase of life when extra care is needed… often “on demand.”

Thanks to the seismic political shift the big Democratic Party win produced this week, most industries and individual stocks have experienced extreme volatility. Many major stocks and equity ETFs soared higher the day after the election and then plunged lower the day after that. It was a rare and extraordinary level of “whipsaw” trading action.

However, by and large, stocks operating inside the U.S. senior living theme went about their business as if nothing unusual was happening in the world. The stocks barely registered the global stock-price earthquake shaking the world around them.

This unique and powerful theme was “the dog that didn’t bark.”

Industry supergiant Welltower – which is larger than all the other publicly traded senior living and nursing home companies combined – enjoyed a 2.8% bump on Wednesday and declined 1% on Thursday and is on track to close more than 4% higher this week. The stock is very close to its all-time high, registered in July.

This anomalous strength and stability during one of the wildest weeks in recent market history is indicative of the Boomer healthcare megatrend’s powerful long-term bullish fundamental drivers. It’s also indicative that this bull market is a “bipartisan” affair.

More than 10,000 Americans reach retirement age every day. The U.S. population aged 80 and older is projected to roughly double, from 14.7 million in 2025 to 29.4 million by 2045.

This is the enormous Baby Boom generation entering the phase of life where health care and longevity spending skyrocket. For many boomers, a typical month involves going to see at least one doctor to have something looked at, removed, or treated.

This means many health care businesses are experiencing huge demand now – and will for at least the next decade. It means boom times ahead for many “ology” businesses, stocks, and careers, such as dermatology, cardiology, radiology, oncology, anesthesiology, and ophthalmology. The list goes on.

Investing in many health care businesses over the next decade will be investing with a gale-force tailwind at your back. If you’re a parent and worried about your child getting a job, just point them to the booming health care industry.

The giant business, tech, and demographic trends that shape our world tend to play out in five or more years, not five months. This means the stock market trends they manifest play out over the same time periods. With this trend truism in mind, I recommend staying bullish on Boomer health care.

Quality dividend payers are delivering stability in a volatile market

Credit: tiero

Speaking of stocks that served as a port in a storm this week – and ones that deserve inclusion in any portfolio that desires safety and stability – let’s talk Dividend Aristocrats.

Specifically, let’s discuss this week’s price action in the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL).

As the big Democratic win produced seismic waves and tremendous volatility across Wall Street this week, this fund focused on dividend payers – like the senior living stocks detailed above – went about its business this week as if nothing unusual was happening in the world.

NOBL barely registered the global stock-price earthquake shaking the world around it. As you read this, the fund is less than 2% from its all-time closing high.

NOBL is a unique fund that invests exclusively in high-quality dividend-paying stocks. A dividend is a payment a company makes to its shareholders, typically distributed from its profits. Dividends are typically paid by companies on the larger, more stable side of the stock market spectrum.

In the world of dividend payers, there is an elite class of firms that have raised their dividends for 10 consecutive years. These elite, high-quality firms are called Dividend Achievers.

Some of these firms have increased their dividends not for “just” 10 years in a row, but for at least 25 consecutive years and are called “Dividend Aristocrats.” Only the strongest, most entrenched companies with durable competitive advantages can increase their dividends for 25, 40, or even 50 consecutive years and qualify for membership in this club.

Some legendarily great businesses that are members of the exclusive Dividend Aristocrats include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), PepsiCo (PEP), 3M (MMM), Walmart (WMT), Procter & Gamble (PG), Coca-Cola (KO), Chevron (CVX), and ExxonMobil (XOM).

These businesses have paid and increased their dividends through recessions, bear markets, and a global pandemic. In terms of consistency, these firms rank just behind the rising sun. NOBL is a fund designed specifically to own such firms.

In the world of investing, there are various ways to succeed. You can win with high-growth technology stocks or cyclical natural resource stocks. You can win with conventional index funds. You can win with real estate.

If you’re the type that likes to win by owning stable businesses that generate steady cash flow and return it to shareholders, it’s good to know NOBL served as a port in this week’s market storm. For many people, stability, quality, and regular cash income never go out of style… no matter the political flavor of the month.

This sector has extraordinary upside potential. How to trade it from here.

Credit: aapsky

We’ve covered stability in senior living stocks.

We’ve covered stability in dividend-paying stocks.

Now let’s go to the other end of the spectrum and analyze the “anything but stable” Drone Theme.

This high-tech trend has the potential to stage huge moves… both to the upside and the downside.

In late 2024, I urged colleagues to invest in drone stocks for one simple reason: After years of progress and innovation, military and surveillance drone makers can now produce large amounts of effective drones at low cost.

Many drone applications now have very high “cost-to-damage inflicted” ratios. Plus, they allow militaries to conduct strikes and surveillance without risking human lives.

This is why drones have played a significant role in the Russia/Ukraine war and the Iran war.

The now pervasive use of drones in warfare means we are in what military experts call a “Revolution in Military Affairs.”

A Revolution in Military Affairs is a fundamental change in how wars are fought, typically driven by technological innovation. For example, the introduction of mechanized warfare in the form of tanks, battleships, and airplanes drastically changed the battlefield. Airplanes, in particular, introduced a whole new dimension to war.

I’m anti-war and anti-surveillance, so I’d rather see drones used just for peaceful activities like delivering pizza and Amazon packages. However, I don’t make the rules. Governments around the world are buying drones like crazy. The Pentagon’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget includes $53.6 billion for its Drone Dominance initiative, covering unmanned systems, counter-drone defenses, autonomous technology, and related capabilities.

Soon after my 2024 note, leading drone maker and satellite defense firm Kratos Defense (KTOS) took off like a rocket. It advanced 380% in just over a year. Other key drone firms AeroVironment (AVAV), Elbit Systems (ESLT), and Ondas Holdings (ONDS) have also staged gigantic rallies over the past two years.

However, 2026 has been much more “bust” than “boom” for this volatile sector. Big moves in 2025 left many drone stocks very richly valued and therefore vulnerable to big declines. The sector has suffered further as investors began anticipating a big Democratic midterm win, which would likely result in Congress pushing back on many defense programs, even drones. Both AVAV and KTOS have declined 50%+ from their highs.

The 2026 bear market in drone stocks went from very bad to horrendous this week thanks to the midterm election results.

The big Democratic win this week has produced what might be a final “puke out” for drone stocks. Both AVAV and KTOS have plunged more than 17% this week on high trading volume.

Now that drone stocks have had the kitchen sink hit them several times on the head, perhaps the worst is priced in. Perhaps the last seller has finally said “to hell with it” and cut bait on this disaster of a stock theme. I’m keeping a close eye on this sector.

Although things look incredibly bleak for it right now, spending on drones is set to skyrocket over the next decade. And these firms will get a portion of that spending. I need to see this sector digest its enormous losses, pick itself up, and begin moving higher before saying its worthy of a long position. Updates to follow…

Market Notes

• Our Oct. 27, 2025 recommendation to go long biotech is still producing winners. Oncology leader BeOne Medicines (ONC), Xeris Biopharma (XERS), and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (AMPH) all reached new one-year highs today.

• Software leaders like ad-tech platform Unity Software (U) and healthcare data firm Consensus Cloud Solutions (CCSI) reached new highs today.

• Our Oct. 8 recommendation to go long medtech leader TransMedics (TMDX) is off to a good start. TMDX is up 21% today after reporting strong earnings.

• Indian banking giant ICICI Bank (IBN) reached a new one-year high today.

• Space economy leader AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) reached a new one-year low today.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

This Building Holds the Keys to Elon’s Kingdom

See this building in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania? You’ll never guess what’s inside… It’s not a data center… Supercomputer… Or any type of new technology. It’s tied to something far more mysterious – we call it a “shadow trust”… Tied to Elon Musk and his trillion-dollar empire. It has already paid out $100 million in income in just the past few weeks.

See how it lets you target an average of $12,000 a MONTH in income here.