Investments
Earnings Check-In: The Banks Came Out Swinging
This series is built weekly from FactSet’s Earnings Insight report (John Butters, VP, Senior Earnings Analyst with FactSet), with index weights and market caps sourced from YCharts, and aggregation performed in-house. We tie every figure to FactSet’s published numbers, then add Carson’s perspective on top of that. We publish our Earnings Check-In weekly during earnings …
Harry McDonald
July 21, 2026
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
“Don’t worry, be happy. In every life we have trouble, but when you worry you make it double.” Bobby McFerin from his hit song Don’t Worry, Be Happy Ok, now that you have that song in your head, let’s talk about some good news. We get it, the news and headlines are constantly bad. This …
Ryan Detrick
July 21, 2026
Charts of the Week: July 13-17
Thanks for reading this week’s Charts of the Week This week’s charts cover all the new data on inflation, earnings estimates, capex, and how these are changing the landscape between software and semiconductors. We’ll keep publishing Charts of the Week every Monday. To view this week’s Charts of the Week, click here: Charts of the Week: …
Carson Research
July 20, 2026
Three Things I’m Watching This Earnings Season
We just released our Midyear 2026 Outlook: Still Riding the Wave, raising our estimate for the S&P 500’s full-year return from 12-15% to 15-18%. This is on the back of an AI wave that continues to roll, though the water is choppier than it looked at the start of the year. While the labor market …
Sonu Varghese
July 20, 2026
Still Riding the Wave: Our 2026 Midyear Outlook in Charts
Our theme heading into 2026 was riding the wave, and halfway through the year, that wave is still rolling. The S&P 500 returned 10.2% in the first half, and what matters most is that those gains came from fundamentals. Record earnings, expanding margins, and a still-accelerating AI investment boom did the heavy lifting. The ride …
Carson Research
July 15, 2026
Here’s Our Midyear Outlook 2026 (FvF Ep. 196)
In this midyear outlook episode of Facts vs Feelings, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, Chief Macro Strategist at Carson Group, revisit their 2026 forecast and explain why they’ve raised their S&P 500 target from 12-15% to 15-18% for the year, while holding bonds steady at 3-5%. They walk through …
Ryan Detrick
July 15, 2026
Earnings Check-In: Earnings Season Is Back with a Q2 Preview
Q2 reporting kicks off this week, and expectations are high. Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to grow about 23.6% from a year ago, and because companies usually beat, FactSet notes the final number will likely land higher, closer to 29%, which would be the strongest growth since 2021. Only about 4% of companies have reported …
Harry McDonald
July 14, 2026
2026 Midyear Outlook: Still Riding The Wave Is Here!
We are so proud to release our 2026 Midyear Outlook, “Still Riding the Wave.” We’ve been bullish for years, and we think the second half of this year should still see nice gains, thanks to the combination of accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) investment, strong corporate earnings, fiscal expansion, and a Federal Reserve expected to look …
Ryan Detrick
July 14, 2026
Charts of the Week: July 6-10
Thanks for reading this week’s Charts of the Week This week’s charts cover the job market, the consumer, Carson’s Proprietary LEI, and some of the biggest themes of the past couple of years and their changes. We’ll keep publishing Charts of the Week every Monday. To view this week’s Charts of the Week, click here: Charts …
Carson Research
July 13, 2026
Technology Earnings Preview
Technology earnings season for the second quarter is fast approaching. Investors are facing the most divergent performance among sector constituents in recent history, with semiconductors having surged in performance while software continues to struggle. Capital expenditures and revenue growth are likely to be under scrutiny this earnings season as companies try to show they’re on …
Blake Anderson
July 13, 2026
Our Favorite Charts From the First Half of 2026
What a first half it’s been. We had a war, an oil spike, a 9% pullback, a furious rally, a bull market that keeps getting called old, and an AI trade that keeps getting even more interesting (and confusing). Altogether, 6 months felt like 6 years. So to mark the halfway point, the Carson Investment …
Harry McDonald
July 10, 2026
The AI Wave Is Everywhere, Even in Small Caps
You would think AI is a growth story, but it’s showing up in more places than in the obvious “large cap growth” stocks. In a recent blog I noted how even so called “value” stocks have seen returns driven by the AI wave. Looking at style box returns for the first half of the year, …
Sonu Varghese
July 8, 2026