- Quant Weekly – Up over 57% since June 2025
- Quant 30 – Up over 58% since June 2025
- Legacy – Up over 300% since April 2023
- Education – What is going on in private credit? A memo from Howard Marks 4/6/26
USA Stock market week ending 05/01/26
Major Index Performance (Weekly)
- SPY (S&P 500) +1.0% — Broad market continued its steady climb, posting another week of gains.
- DIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) +0.6% — Blue chips advanced modestly, trailing the broader market.
- ^IXIC (Nasdaq Composite) +1.2% — Tech remained the leader, delivering the strongest performance of the week.
- IWM (Russell 2000) +1.0% — Small caps matched the broader market, showing balanced strength.
Takeaways
- All major indexes finished higher, maintaining positive momentum
- Leadership remained slightly tilted toward tech-heavy Nasdaq
- Market performance stayed steady and broadly supported across segments
Market Drivers this Week (05/04/26 – 05/08/26)
- Monday — PLTR kicks it off, Iran still the wildcard
- Tuesday — Big macro + AMD = market mover combo
- Services PMI = real read on the economy
- AMD earnings = tells you if the AI trade is still real
- Wednesday — jobs preview
- ADP jobs + ARM earnings = early signals on growth + AI demand
- Thursday — AI + consumer
- CoreWeave = AI infrastructure reality check
- ABNB, COIN, AFRM = consumer + risk appetite read
- Friday — Jobs report = everything hinges on this
The CNN Fear and Greed Index ends the week at Greed 66. This is the third week in row at the Greed setting. This follows nine straight weeks at the Fear or Extreme Fear setting. Risk-on is certainly in the drivers seat and the market reflects this.
The Quant 30, Quant Weekly and Quant Legacy Model Portfolios all made all time highs this week. Quant Weekly and Quant 30 have been higher for six weeks in a row. Risk On is fully in control and we have just the high quality momentum stocks needed to ride this wave up.
Note: You are enjoying the free subscriber newsletter. Paid subscribers enjoy instant access to weekly Model Portfolio updates upon release and a Top Quant Stocks list. Free subscribers get access to Portfolio updates after a three-week delay but no Top Quant Stocks list. Want timely access to the new Adds/Removes and Top Quant Stocks list? Subscribe at $20 a month or $119 a year.
Model Portfolio Quant Alpha Weekly
Any newly added stock is being released to Paid Subscribers today. Below are the updates from three weeks ago. This Portfolio continues to significantly outperform its benchmark, 57% versus 18%. It has 24 members.
Top five Quant stocks in the Portfolio (Paid subscribers only).
One change to the Portfolio this week
Add (04/10/26) : NESR (National Energy Services Reunited)
Remove (04/10/26) : None
Outperformers: SSRM (SSR Mining) up over 80%, MU (Micron Technology) up over 240%, VISN (Vistance Networks) up over +170%
Click here for the Quant Alpha Weekly details
Model Portfolio Quant 30
This week’s new update, if any, is being released to the paid subscribers. Shown below is the update made three weeks ago. This Portfolio continues to beat its benchmark by a wide margin, 58% to 18%. It has 30 members in it.
Top five Quant stocks in the Portfolio (Paid subscribers only).
No changes to the Portfolio this week
Add (04/10/26): None
Remove (04/10/26): None
Outperformers: MU (Micron Technology) up over 340%, GFI (Gold Fields) up over 70%, LITE (Lumentum Holdings) up over 290% and TTMI (TTM Technologies) up over 120%
Click here for the Quant 30 details
Model Portfolio Quant Alpha’s – Legacy
The portfolio is up over +300% since it began in 2023. It has around 18 stocks in it. Powell industries is now a 14 bagger. Celestica is now a 16 bagger.
Top five Quant stocks in the Portfolio (Paid subscribers only).
Remove (04/10/26): None
Outperformers: AGX (Argan) up over 900%, STRL (Sterling Infrastructure) up over 800%, POWL (Powell Industries) up over 1400% and CLS (Celestica) is up over 1600%
Click here for the Quant Alpha’s – Legacy details
Performance to 05-01-2026
Click here for the Live Quant scorecard
Top 10 Quant Stocks for this week – Paid subscribers only feature
What is going on in private credit? A memo from Howard Marks 4/6/26
Full Article Breakdown
- Credit changed the whole game
Back in the day, it was just stocks and bonds—real simple. Now credit is everywhere and it’s driving most of the action. - High-yield bonds opened the floodgates
Once risky companies could borrow, everything changed. Higher risk, higher return—that became the playbook. - Private equity got supercharged
Cheap debt let smaller players buy bigger companies. That’s how PE went from niche to powerhouse. - LBOs went mainstream
Borrow big, buy big—that was the move. And it worked… until it didn’t. - Structured credit added rocket fuel
Packaging debt into tranches made it easier to sell risk. Wall Street turned complexity into a business. - Leveraged loans scaled the system
Loans weren’t just for banks anymore. Institutions piled in and the market exploded. - Dot-com crash shifted investor behavior
Stocks burned people, so they looked elsewhere. That’s when “alternatives” became the hot ticket. - Private equity became the new favorite
Big funds, big promises, big inflows. Everyone wanted in on the next big thing. - CLOs increased demand for loans
More buyers meant more loans needed. That kept the whole machine running. - Bad lending led to the GFC
Loose standards caught up fast. When reality hit, everything broke at once. - Banks pulled back after 2008
They got burned and tightened up. That left a big gap in lending. - Private credit filled the vacuum
Non-bank lenders stepped in fast. And they weren’t exactly conservative.
- Direct lending took off
Faster deals, fewer rules, big yields. It became the go-to for private equity deals. - Too much money lowered standards
When everyone’s chasing deals, discipline slips. That’s when problems start brewing. - “Low volatility” was misleading
Just because prices don’t move doesn’t mean risk isn’t there. It just means nobody’s marking it daily. - Cracks are starting to show
Defaults, liquidity issues, weird valuations—it’s all popping up now. Early warning signs. - Software lending got overheated
Big multiples, lots of leverage, easy assumptions. Looked great—until things got questioned. - AI changed the narrative fast
Suddenly software isn’t untouchable. That spooked investors real quick. - Investor psychology flipped
From “can’t lose” to “get me out.” Same cycle, different decade. - Liquidity + leverage = real risk
People didn’t think about getting stuck. Now they’re finding out the hard way.
Bottom Line
Same movie, new cast:
Money floods in → standards drop → risk builds → reality hits → panic follows.
Disclaimer: This is a simplified summary—review the full material and do your own research before making investment decisions.
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