Chris Versace
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CIO & Thematic Strategist @TematicaRsrch; PM for @TheStreetPro Portfolio; Podcast host, model & index builder, author, and dog lover.
Articles by Chris Versace
We’re Tracking 28 Signals Across 8 of the Portfolio’s Investment Themes
More Americans are entering retirement age, which could strain state governments. Google is boosting ways users can plan and book trips through AI Mode. Higher gas and food prices are furthering the divide between the haves — who are splurging — and the have-hots — who are trading down. These are just a few of the 28 signals we’re spotted this week — many of which are related to AI and cybersecurity — that speak to our Pro Portfolio investments.
Weekly Roundup: Maintaining Our Lead With a Telling Week Ahead
Normally, we share some comprehensive comments in the Weekly Roundup, but coming off of Monday’s August Monthly Roundup, we’ll keep our comments on the shorter side this time around. What we will say is that after dissecting the week’s economic data, we head into the weekend with the market expecting the Fed to hike rates on September 16.
Broadcom Update Keeps Eyes on the Prize
As we move toward the holiday weekend, the moves we made on Thursday with the shares of Paccar (PCAR) and Applied Materials (AMAT) have contributing nicely. Now, let’s turn and discuss the quarterly earnings and guidance from Broadcom (AVGO). On Thursday, we shared some of what we heard, which was enough of run to maintain our One rating and multi-year $525 price target, in more detail. After that, we’ll wrap the day with the Weekly Roundup, allowing you to get an early jump on the holiday weekend.
New Jobs Report Surprises in a Big Way: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Friday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a mixed market open as we close out the trading week. 1. The August Employment Report surprised to the upside in a big way on Friday, showing 162,000 jobs were created during the month, well ahead of the 53,000 expected by the market.
Buying More of This Semi-Cap Play on Tightening Industry Capacity
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio AMAT Buy 56 435.81 451 3.1 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will buy 56 shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) at or near $436. Following the trade, we will own 451 AMAT shares, accounting for roughly 3.15% of the Pro Portfolio’s assets. The catalyst behind our decision to load up on more AMAT are comments made by Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) at semi-cap industry event, Semiconductor Taiwan.
We’re Adding to This Position and Upgrading Our Rating
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio PCAR Buy 255 123.32 1,335 2.6 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will buy 255 Paccar (PCAR) shares at or near $123.50. Following the trade, we will own 1,335 PCAR shares, accounting for roughly 2.65% of the Pro Portfolio’s assets. One of the leading industry indicators we track for our position in heavy and medium-duty truck company Paccar is monthly heavy truck orders.
ISM Services PMI Points to Greater Inflation Pressure
We now have ISM’s take on the Service sector in August, and while the activity level in that part of the economy improved compared to July, the findings on inflation point to those pressures increasing during the month, hitting the highest level since mid-2022. Meanwhile, employment in the Service sector improved modestly compared to July, but with a reading of 47.8, August was another month of contraction.
Costco’s August Sales Bring Many Reasons to Remain Bullish
Last night Costco (COST) delivered its August net sales report, which showed sales for the month rose 9.9% year over year, and its August-quarter sales climbed 11.3% to $93.9 billion. Before we move on and discuss the closely tracked adjusted comp sales figures, let’s point out two things relating to the net sales number for the August quarter. First, management estimates the later Labor Day this year impacted total August sales and comp sales by a little less than 75 basis points.
Broadcom Shares Robust Multi-Year Outlook: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Thursday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a mixed market open later this morning. 1.
We’re Picking Up More Shares of This Defense Player
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio BA Buy 63 208.90 888 3.0 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will buy 63 Boeing (BA) shares at or near $209.25. Following the trade, the Portfolio will own 888 BA shares, roughly 3.0% of its assets.
De-Flocking Has Hit This Portfolio Holding
So far this year, more than 50 cities and counties have canceled or deactivated automated license plate-recognition (ALPR) cameras of the type manufactured by private company Flock Safety. Indeed, yesterday Bloomberg reported Florida banned Flock cameras and license plate readers from state roads. According to several reports, more than 135,000 automated license plate-recognition cameras have been identified nationwide, and four of every five of those are made by Flock Safety.
Dell’s Big AI Boost: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Wednesday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Wednesday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a mixed market open. 1.
Boeing Gets Union Update as We Eye Adding More Shares
On Monday, we shared that we were waiting to hear about developments between Boeing (BA) and union representatives for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA). Word from the union is that the two will resume contract talks on September 8. Granted, that is not much of a development, but now we have an established timeline to track that could remove this particular overhang from BA shares.
Boeing Gets Union Update as We Eye Adding More Shares
On Monday, we shared that we were waiting to hear about developments between Boeing (BA) and union representatives for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA). Word from the union is that the two will resume contract talks on September 8. Granted, that is not much of a development, but now we have an established timeline to track that could remove this particular overhang from BA shares.
Latest Manufacturing Data Offers Insight for 2 Holdings
When we exited the Portfolio’s position in Builders FirstSource (BLDR) earlier on Tuesday, we shared that ISM’s Manufacturing PMI Price component for August was unchanged at 71.1 with July’s figure. Paired with the renewed upswing in oil and related prices, and Treasury yields that cemented our decision to exit BLDR shares given the growing likelihood for a Fed rate hike later this month.
VIDEO: Kicking Off September With the Schwab Network
VIDEO As we begin September, Chris Versace sits down with Nicole Petallides at the Schwab Network to discuss what the Pro Portfolio sees ahead. From this week’s big data read-through to the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting to Apple’s (AAPL) “Surprise and Shine” event next week, he lays out what the Portfolio is watching for.
We’re Exiting This Position. Here’s Why.
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio BLDR Sell 900 64.92 0 0.0 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will close out its position in Builders FirstSource (BLDR) selling all 900 shares at or near $65 for a loss of ~8.3%. With bond yields and oil prices moving higher yet again this morning, we are exiting our position in BLDR to prevent a modest loss from becoming a larger one.
Bond Yields Make for a Not So Nice Start to September: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Tuesday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Tuesday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a lower market open. 1.
August Monthly Roundup: Maintaining Our Lead Through the Ups and Downs
August was a positive month for the market, but the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Pro Portfolio closed the month off their mid-August highs. Market strength in the first half of the month reflected favorable economic data, which included declines in July CPI and PPI figures, even though the Iran war proceeded while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained subdued compared to historical levels.
VIDEO: Looming Updates That Could Move 3 Key Positions
As August closes and September begins, market attention is turning to a fresh wave of inflation data, employment figures and a Federal Reserve meeting that could reshape rate expectations heading into the fall.
Our Game Plan for This Housing Play
With oil prices moving higher Monday, renewed uncertainties about the duration of the Iran war and more hawkish than not comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Friday, the Pro Portfolio’s position in Builders FirstSource (BLDR) is on our mind. Let’s review and lay out our likely course of action subject to potential developments this week.
Trump’s Venezuela Oil Announcement Won’t Save the Price: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Monday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to weak start for the final trading day in August. 1.
We’re Accumulating More Shares of This Oversold Holding
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio TJX Buy 183 134.55 1,605 3.4 After you receive this alert, the Portfolio will buy 183 shares of TJX Companies (TJX) at or near $134.50. Following the trade, we will own 1,605 TJX shares, accounting for roughly 3.4% of the Pro Portfolio’s assets.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Will Tackle Inflation
The Institute for Supply Management will release the Chicago PMI on Friday morning. Nobody cares, except for maybe a few folks running businesses in and around Chicago. The University of Michigan will revise its August surveys for consumer sentiment and inflation expectations at 10 a.m. ET. Most folks bearing an IQ higher than their body temperature will have their attention focused elsewhere, though.
Snapshot of July 2026 Retailer Comp Sales Confirms Our Positioning
We’ve spent some time collecting July 2026 quarter comp sales figures from retailers that have reported results for that three month period. Entering this earning season shift to retailers, we called out the 6.6% year-over-year increase in Retail only sales for the three months ending July 2026. That tells us that companies with comp sales above that 6.6% figure are taking consumer wallet share from those that are below that level.
New Nvidia Price Target After ‘Compelling’ Data on AI Infrastructure Complex
We are seeing multiple price target increases for Nvidia (NVDA) across Wall Street Thursday morning stemming from the company’s revenue and margin guidance shared during last night’s earnings call. We will join in that effort, taking our price target to $300 from $280. Even at that new target, NVDA shares are still cheap on a price-to-earnings/growth (PEG) ratio basis.
Adding to This Semi-Cap Equipment Holding After Connecting the Dots
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio AMAT Buy 77 481.94 395 3.0 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will buy 77 shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) at or near $489. Following the trade, we will own 395 AMAT shares, accounting for roughly 3.0% of the Pro Portfolio’s assets.
Nvidia Guidance Eases Concerns: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Thursday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a mixed market open later this morning. 1. Qatar’s prime minister will visit Tehran on Thursday in a bid to relaunch diplomacy after the U.S. and Iran traded recriminations over Washington’s promise to increase economic pressure on Tehran by targeting its trade partners for sanctions.
Video: Sticky Inflation, AI Chips and Apple’s Foldable
Markets are pulling back as investors digest sticky inflation data and look ahead to several potentially important catalysts. Those catalysts include Nvidia (NVDA) earnings after Wednesday’s market close, quarterly results from Marvell (MRVL) on Thursday night, comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and Apple’s (AAPL) September event. There are also developments in custom AI chips that should have investors listening in to comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even more so than usual.
Upgrading Our Meta Rating as Settlement News Removes Overhang
In our opening comments we discussed reports Meta (META) was in settlement talks with state attorney generals in a teen social media addiction case, but now headlines are hitting that Meta has settled with a coalition of state AGs. Per those reports, Meta agreed to pay a maximum of $17.1 billion to resolve claims brought by states, which is a far, far smaller figure than those banded about in the financial press.
Intuit Spooks Software Stocks: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Wednesday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Wednesday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a mixed market open. With the July PCE Price Index being published at 8:30 AM ET, you’ll want to recheck those futures once the market has had time to digest that report and its implications. See item 2 below for more on what the market is expecting. 1.
VIDEO: Drone Market Opportunity With Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos
VIDEO In this episode, we explore the rapidly evolving drone market, its applications in healthcare, delivery and public safety, and the regulatory landscape shaping its future. Andreas Raptopoulos, CEO of Matternet, shared insights on autonomous drone networks, industry opportunities and the evolving regulatory framework. Founded by Raptopoulos in 2011, Matternet designs and builds drone delivery platforms and is currently the only FAA type-certified drone delivery platform in the world.
Selling Palantir at a Big Profit to Increase Our Cash on Hand
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio PLTR Sell 190 173.66 1,130 3.1 After you receive this alert, the Portfolio will sell 190 Palantir (PLTR) shares at or near $174. Following the trade, the Portfolio will own 1,130 PLTR shares, roughly 3.1% of its assets. The Portfolio is up around 63% on its the slug of Palantir shares we purchased in late June near $107, and we are going to lock that in by exiting the 120 shares we added back then and then some.
We’re Picking Up More Shares of This Holding
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio WM Buy 83 225.22 878 3.1 After you receive this alert, the Pro Portfolio will buy 83 shares of Waste Management (WM) at or near $226.50. Following the trade, we will own 878 WM shares, accounting for roughly 3.15% of the Pro Portfolio’s assets. This morning’s WM buy follows the discussion we had last week that laid out conditions that would lead us to pick up additional shares for the Portfolio.
China and Iran Push Back on Bessent: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Tuesday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a positive market open later this morning. 1. Beijing has warned the US that it will retaliate if Chinese companies are included in any significant expansion of the Trump administration’s new secondary sanctions relating to Iran.
We’re Tracking 23 New Signals Across Our Investing Themes
Germany shows the financial impact of an aging population, travelers adopt AI faster than destination marketers, U.K. spending on AI is set to rise further and another week was filled with cyberattacks —these are just some of the data points we collected over the last few days, which bring an added layer of support for the Portfolio’s strategies and holdings, during what could be a potentially volatile week in the market.
New Disney Price Target After Morgan Stanley Update
Funny story: About a week ago, I was trying to teach my “significant other” some rudimentary technical analysis. I showed her a chart of Disney (DIS). She named the stock. I was not looking to get long Disney, but I did that day. Thank goodness. When trying to spread the good word of financial survival to folks who really had not been very exposed to living life in the markets prior, I always start with technical analysis. Mastering TA is not easy.
What’s Our Potential Pick-Up Point for Boeing?
After sharing levels we’re watching for several holdings last week, we were asked by more than a few members about a potential pick-up point for Boeing (BA) shares. Following that question, BA shares headed lower on news we discussed this morning, Boeing engineers and technical workers rejecting a four-year contract offer. The same members represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) also voted to declare a strike when the contract expires on October 6.
Bessent Today, Warsh Friday: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Monday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Monday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a weak start to the trading week. 1.
Weekly Roundup: Geopolitics Wins Out, But Portfolio Continues to Outperform
It was a down week for the market, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Pro Portfolio giving back some of the gains built up over the prior few weeks. It was one of those weeks where geopolitics, the bond market, and retail earnings were all fighting for headline space, and by Friday it was pretty clear geopolitics won.
VIDEO: Explaining Our Broadcom, Costco Moves
VIDEO Chris Versace sat down with TipRanks’ Julie Gillespie to unpack the Pro Portfolio’s latest moves, the Flash August PMI report and what’s on tap next week. Chris explained why the Portfolio bought the dip on Broadcom (AVGO), used an overreaction to Marvell’s (MRVL) Google (GOOGL) warrant deal to its advantage and added to its Costco (COST) position. He broke down the data points that led to that Costco decision, including that comp sales figure reported by Ross Stores (ROST).
Flash August PMI Data Contained Some Nice Surprises
The Flash August PMI from S&P Global is out and those preliminary finds point to a pick up in the economy with job growth accelerating to levels not seen since the start of last year. On the inflation front, price pressure moderated, especially in selling price inflation. Input costs remained elevated during to higher energy cost, but the Flash August findings point to fewer incidents of having to pass through higher fuel and energy prices.
We’re Scooping Up Shares of a Chip Company and a Well Positioned Retailer
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio AVGO Buy 33 364.03 588 3.4 COST Buy 15 933.51 230 3.4 After you receive this alert and when the market opens, the Portfolio will make the following trades: Buy 33 shares of Broadcom (AVGO) at or near $369. Following the trade, the Portfolio will own 588 AVGO shares, roughly 3.43% of its assets. Buy 15 shares of Costco (COST) at or near $935.
Broadcom Strikes Back: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Friday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Friday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a positive start to the final day of trading for the week. 1. Iran said on Friday that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership.
Key Levels for 9 Holdings in a Stressed Market
In our comments earlier on Thursday, we shared the pressure resulting from the fall in Walmart (WMT) shares has dragged TJX (TJX) shares into an oversold condition. As we pointed that out to you, it also triggered a thought that we should show where other holdings in the Portfolio are coming up on potential support levels. We’ve touched on some of this in the last few days, noting that shares of Builders FirstSource (BLDR) have bottomed near $65 in mid-May and aging in late July.
2 Charts That Sum Up the Current State of Consumer
While Walmart’s (WMT) earnings call wraps up, we’ll have more in-depth comments to share, but one that stood out to us was about the consumer and gas prices. According to Walmart, it is seeing some incremental pressure on the consumer relative to the beginning of the year with higher fuel prices, calling out gas above $4 per gallon. Data from AAA put gas prices back at $4.00 a month ago and we’ve seen that level creep higher to the current $4.10 per gallon.
Walmart Miss Sends a Message on Costco: 8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Thursday
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to mixed market open later this morning. 1.
We’re Picking Up More Shares of This Discount Retailer
SymbolTransaction Type# Shares TradedRecent Price $Shares Owned After Trade% Portfolio TJX Buy 100 146.34 1,422 3.3 After you receive this alert, the Portfolio will buy 100 shares of TJX Corp (TJX) at or near $147. Following the trade, the Portfolio will own 1,422 TJX shares, roughly 3.25% of it assets. We are using the market’s post earnings reaction to TJX’s July 2026 quarterly results and guidance to pick up some additional shares for the Portfolio.
Avoiding These Bullpen Candidates as Commodity Prices Surge
We and others have talked about the renewed climb in oil and other petrochemical prices, but we are also seeing upward trajectories in other commodities compared to levels in the first half of this year.
A Potential Tell as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
Chips stocks are down Tuesday, and that is weighing on the Pro Portfolio’s individual cap holdings and related ones in the EPS All-Stars basket. Looking at the recent performance of the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which counts Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and Intel (INTC) as its top-five holdings, collectively those stocks account for ~40% of the index that powers the ETF.
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