The Portfolio That's Beating The S&P By 16% This Year

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

As we head into the end of Q2, I wanted to give subscribers a quick update on where things stand with my 26 Stocks to Watch for 2026. Measured on an average, equal-weighted basis, the list is now estimated to be up +23.8% year-to-date, beating the S&P 500 by roughly +16.3% so far in 2026.

This comes after the blog’s 25 Stocks To Watch For 2025 absolutely smashed the S&P 500, beating the index by more than 50% last year.

That doesn’t mean every name has worked. It doesn’t mean there hasn’t been volatility. And it definitely doesn’t mean I’m taking a victory lap halfway through the year. But it does mean the framework is working: identifying asymmetric setups, ignoring consensus comfort, and looking where the mainstream financial press usually refuses to look until it’s too late.

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That’s what this blog has always been about. Not momentum-chasing. Not pretending the market is a clean, rational weighing machine. And not repeating whatever stale narrative Wall Street or financial television happens to be selling this week. It’s about finding opportunities where the market’s assumptions are lazy, distorted, or just flat-out wrong. This week’s writing was a good snapshot of exactly that.

In “Gold Is Plunging For All The Wrong Reasons,” I argued that the market is once again buying into a fantasy: that the Fed is somehow going to thread the needle with higher rates, no emergency intervention, no QE, and no real breakage in a debt-saturated system. I don’t buy it. As gold and silver get hit on dollar strength and hawkish posturing, I’m growing more interested.

Gold Is Plunging For All The Wrong Reasons

I also spent a lot of time this week writing about the structural rot underneath the surface of markets. In “How Wall Street Launders Dogshit Into Retirement Funds,” I laid out how speculative, options-fueled excess and index inclusion have turned passive investing into a conveyor belt for overvalued garbage.

How Wall Street Launders Dogshit Into Retirement Funds

In “Private Panic” I looked at the growing stress in private credit and the broader extend-and-pretend economy — the kind of hidden fragility that markets can ignore right up until they can’t. These are exactly the kinds of distortions I’m trying to identify before they become consensus.

Private Panic

And in “This Is Why I Write,” I stepped back and explained why this blog exists in the first place: because from Covid to capital markets, the mainstream narrative has repeatedly failed, and there’s value in being willing to look at the “fringe” when the fringe keeps turning out to be right.

This Is Why I Write

The goal here remains the same as it’s always been: find the blind spots, call bullshit where it needs to be called, and look for investments where the risk/reward could be badly mispriced by a complacent crowd.

The 26 Stocks to Watch for 2026 list is off to a strong start. We’ll see what the second half brings. If you’re a subscriber, thank you for reading and supporting my work. If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, now’s a good time to dive in — because the themes I’ve been writing about this week are the same ones that are shaping where I’m looking next.

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions.

As of May 20, 2026 I personally no longer actively trade (read my story here). My investing/saving is done by recurring contributions mostly to sector ETFs and a few select equities, trusted third parties who oversee my accounts, and advisors. Such advisors or funds, through individual equities, options, index funds, mutual funds, ETFs, or other securities, may have positions in, exposure to, or holdings of names mentioned herein that I know nothing about. Basically, via index funds, ETFs and individual equities it is possible I could own, have exposure to, or not own anything at any point. As of the same date, May 20, 2026, in an attempt to lead a healthier lifestyle, I’ve also excluded myself from fantasy sports, sports betting, online and in-person casinos and prediction markets.

And all positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.