Money Life with Chuck Jaffe · Oct 9, 2026
With Brandon Thurber, Chief Market Strategist at Regions Asset Management
Only two of the Magnificent 7 stocks have beaten the S&P 500 this year, Brandon Thurber said, and he counts that as evidence the market still has room to rise.
Rising Treasury yields usually get the blame when investors turn cautious on stocks. Thurber said the reason yields are rising matters more than the level, and that a 10-year yield of 5.50% driven by faster growth would still be good for stocks.
"So we think there's a lot of room into year end, even if interest rates stay high, to continue to push the market higher into what has historically been a pretty seasonally strong pocket of the calendar." — Brandon Thurber
Brandon Thurber, Chief Market Strategist at Regions Asset Management, on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe, also directs the bank's Multi-Asset Solutions group, which researches markets and reviews outside fund managers for Regions' wealth clients. He holds the CFA and CAIA charters, and his firm was starting work on its 2027 outlook when he spoke.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 10 calls that matter.
Key Takeaways
The market can keep rising into year end even with narrow leadership and high interest rates
Only two of the Magnificent 7 have outperformed the S&P 500 this year
Third-quarter earnings estimates have barely risen, which leaves room for upward revisions
The 2027 question is when bonds start pulling money out of stocks, with the equity risk premium negative again
AI capital spending is projected to grow about 50% next year, to $1.1 trillion to $1.2 trillion
The rise in yields is fine if faster growth is causing it, even with the 10-year at 5.50%
Regions gets its commodity exposure through managed futures funds, which follow price trends, rather than taking views on individual commodities
Overweighting emerging markets magnifies a bet on the S&P 500, because the index leans so heavily on South Korea and Taiwan
At 18.5 times 2027 earnings, the S&P 500 is not expensive, he said, and he expects the multiple to hold
Regions' early 2027 call is a 5% to 10% gain on 14% to 15% earnings growth
1. Room to Run Into Year End
The host asked whether a market that keeps climbing a wall of worry eventually finds that people worried for good reason. Thurber said his base case is that the climb continues.
Leadership is narrow, but he thinks the broad market is on firm footing
Technology stocks led the gains, followed to a lesser degree by communication services and the Magnificent 7.
"So while leadership has been very narrow, we still think the market broadly speaking remains on relatively firm footing." — Brandon Thurber
"And if you think about the Magnificent 7 as a holistic kind of group of stocks, there's only two of those names that have actually outperformed the S&P 500 year to date." — Brandon Thurber
The midterm elections could clear one of the worries in early November
After the vote, November, December and January have historically been strong months, and he said that seasonal pattern could support stocks.
"I think we're looking at the midterm elections as being one of those components of the potential wall of worry and potentially a clearing event in early November." — Brandon Thurber
