Halftime Report · Oct 8, 2026 · 18m · 8m saved
With Josh Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management · Jenny Harrington, CEO of Gilman Hill Asset Management · Malcolm Ethridge, Managing Partner at Capital Area Planning Group · Shannon Saccocia, Chief Investment Officer, Wealth, at Neuberger Berman
Since June 1, 89% of the stocks in the S&P 500 have had a 10% drop from a high, Jenny Harrington said, citing a Morgan Stanley report. The host noted the index had closed above 7,800 a couple of days earlier.
UBS and the Wells Fargo Investment Institute told clients this week to stay in large-cap stocks despite rising yields. Josh Brown said that holds for the index, not for the stocks most exposed to interest rates.
"I think those stocks will remain on the mat. Doesn't mean we can't have a good finish to the year. Doesn't mean the S&P can't gallop higher in December." — Josh Brown
Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, on CNBC's Halftime Report, sat on the show's Investment Committee with three other money managers: Harrington of Gilman Hill Asset Management, which runs an income-focused strategy, Malcolm Ethridge of Capital Area Planning Group and Shannon Saccocia, who sets investment strategy for Neuberger Berman's wealth business.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it. 18 minutes of audio, 10 minutes of reading.
Here are the 8 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Good earnings will not rescue the most rate-sensitive sectors, Brown said
Industrials fell on rate fears, not on their fundamentals
The S&P 500's calm hides weak breadth: 5 companies make up about 28% of the index, Harrington said
Stock volatility is down about 30% since February while bond volatility is up about 30%, Ethridge said
The average Fed hiking cycle is 300bps, so Saccocia sees bond yields as attractive if a long cycle does not come
The XLE is having its third-best year in its 28-year history, and Brown does not think the rally is done
Brown and Harrington split on whether AI is behind the energy rally: oil and diesel, he said; power for data centers, she said
Williams-Sonoma's AI shopping assistants are lifting some orders to 9 times the old average, Brown said
1. Haves and Have-Nots
The host opened with yields rising again, mostly at the short end, after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he anticipates additional rate hikes to bring inflation back to the 2% goal sooner. Oil was surging and the dollar was at an 18-month high, the host said, and earnings season could offset rising rates.
Earnings will be good, but the reactions will split, Brown said
"So I think this is going to be an earnings season of haves and have nots and not in terms of the results." — Josh Brown
Brown expects results to be good across the board. He does not think good reports will be enough to lift the sectors most exposed to interest rates, and he said a return of the broadening trade, in which more of the market joins the rally, is harder.
The worst-performing sectors and industry groups have rate sensitivity in common, he said. Some of those businesses need to borrow heavily. Others competed with high rates because investors bought them for the dividend. Investors with a longer time horizon still have opportunities there, he said, but the fast money will not be in those areas.
The industrials sell-off was about rates, he said
Industrials had something like a two-standard-deviation fall in one day the day before, Brown said.
"There's nothing wrong with the industrials in terms of their fundamentals. This is purely about people looking and saying I don't want the rate risk right now." — Josh Brown
