(This is The Best Stocks in the Market, brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Even in the second-worst performing sector year-to-date, there are still winning stocks worth riding. That’s today’s big lesson. A list of the best stocks in the market is not about concentrating everything on one sector and hoping for the best results. We’re expanding our bets and looking for ideas in places you wouldn’t expect to find them. As Sean shares, the S&P’s financial sector is down 5% this year, weighed down by concerns about AI eating into profit margins, moderately high interest rates stressing consumers, rising inflation expectations, and other things that make smart people rave about their days. But hidden within that underperformance is a small corner of the market that is on fire. It’s the exchanges and brokers that make money every time someone trades, regardless of direction or outcome. The more chaotic the tape, the more money you make. This week we look at two of the financial sector’s best-performing banks this year and one of the most important banks in the world. Let Sean explain the basics and then I’ll go back to the chart. But first! Let’s take a look at the list from 30,000 feet… As of May 11, there are 185 names on the Market’s Best Stocks list. Top Sector Rankings: Top Industries: Top 5 Blue Chips by Relative Strength: Sectors to Watch: Capital Markets This year has been a strange market environment. While energy stocks have soared since the start of the year, semiconductor stocks led the rise in tech stocks. At the same time, software has bounced along the bottom and consumer-exposed sectors are asleep at the wheel. As of the end of last Friday, the financial industry was down 5% year-to-date, making it the second-worst sector and one of four sectors underperforming the index. Several factors are at play here. AI is expected to erode financial sector profits, and there are constant concerns about whether moderately high interest rates and rising inflation expectations will allow consumers to continue borrowing. Further complicating the situation is the seemingly relentless appetite for trade that directly benefits a small corner of the financial sector. Two of the best-performing stocks in the financial sector, Cboe Global Markets and Interactive Brokers, happen to be heavily tied to these explosive trading volumes. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE): Sean — We wrote about CBOE in July, and as you can see from the price chart, CBOE has been consistently rising. In the first quarter of this year, CBOE reported record revenue up 29% year over year and record EPS up 48% year over year. Cboe makes money by charging a small fee every time someone trades on its exchange. The more transactions you make, the more your profits will increase. The company’s most valuable products are index options (such as SPX options and VIX options), which control about 98% of the market and earn much higher fees per trade than its competitors. Most of Cboe’s costs are fixed, so any spike in trading volumes flows almost entirely into revenue, and the price indicates that those trading volumes will increase. Josh — I sold this for $245 in July and it’s been on fire ever since. More importantly, CBOE has never broken its 200-day moving average and has remained on the list ever since. These are the trades we make for a living. My exact comment was, “If this were heaven instead of earth, all stock charts would look like this, and we would buy them all.” Traders and investors alike should keep an eye on the $299 50-day period. This level has been the line all along, tested repeatedly over the past year, and defended every time. Check back at the end of every Friday to give your daytime breathing room. (Disclosure: We currently own CBOE stock for clients of Porterhouse Strategies.) Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR): Sean — While Cboe makes money by hosting trades on its exchange, Interactive Brokers makes money from clients who place trades. IBKR earns a small fee every time someone trades, plus interest on cash and margin loans that are on the platform. First-quarter fee revenue rose 19% to $613 million, driven by the same market conditions that propelled Cboe, with customer accounts up 31% year-over-year to 4.75 million and daily transactions up 24%. Both companies are highly leveraged in market activity, and 2026 has been a great environment for both companies so far. The next test is the IPO pipeline, which includes SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Josh — We’ve loved this stock in this column for a while and have covered it several times since last summer. When we last looked at Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) in late October, the stock was in the low $60s, up nearly 40% from its original August call, before returning to a new entry point. Buyers said it came exactly where it needed to be. They did. Since then, the company has done what blue-chip stocks do in volatile markets. That is, it consolidated, held key levels, and pushed to new highs. The thesis has not changed. The company makes more money with each tape disruption, and 2026 has given the company a lot of disruption. My RSI is 65 and I am healthy and improving with no signs of fatigue. The stock has room to rise before momentum becomes a concern, and that view is consistent with stocks trending rather than surging. Traders can use the $75 area as a line in the sand. In this area, the price found support on two separate occasions during a long consolidation phase. That level is tested and respected. For investors long since we first covered this name, 200 days at $69 is where the nature of the trade changes. The exit is just below it. I’m going to remain biased towards holding, so check the stops every Friday on a weekly closing price basis. If you get down to the levels shown here, try to get past the whiplash during the day. (Disclosure: We currently own shares of IBKR for clients of Porterhouse Strategies.) Goldman Sachs Group (GS): Sean — Goldman is more than just a trading platform, but their business is still classified as capital markets. Goldman is primarily engaged in markets and banking activities, with 74% of its revenue coming from its Global Banking & Markets segment, which is driven by M&A activity, capital markets volumes, and trading. Stocks (particularly prime brokerage) and investment banking fees are the biggest factors. At the top of the list is the ever-growing asset and wealth management sector, with $3.65 trillion in assets generating management fees, which has received increasing attention recently. Goldman was a great stock. It has increased by 71% in the past year, dwarfing the big banks. GS has returned an annualized 23% over five years, outperforming the likes of Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. The investment bank reported that IPO and sponsorship activity is likely to recover in the second half of 2026 as market conditions stabilize, with both the banking and trading sectors likely to strengthen. Josh — I believe whether Goldman Sachs (GS) makes a new winter high could be a referendum on how deeply investors believe in the tech bull market. GS plans to invest most of its growth capital in AI capex themes, raise that capital, and take the winners to an IPO. If the stock price falls below its January high, it would signal a significant change in sentiment across the capital markets activities in which Goldman is involved. Goldman closed Friday at $936, well within those all-time highs after a sharp recovery from a 200-day test in February. The $950-$960 zone is currently the upper limit for the stock price twice, and it is the line that needs to be broken. If it passes that, there is a chance of $1,000, and Deutsche Bank has set a price target there. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is 58, which includes a notable caveat. When Goldman was testing these same price levels in January, the RSI was well above 70, but now the stock is back around the same, with much less momentum. This divergence at the double resistance level is a yellow flag rather than a red flag, but it does indicate that the recovery is not as convincing as the initial run. This is why it’s my least favorite of the three names we wrote today. The other two companies are in full bull markets, but GS faces slowing momentum and a potential crisis point. Traders should keep an eye on the first floor below the current price, $900, where the stock has found support twice during its recovery. For investors, a closing price below 200 days of $837 would be a sell. All opinions expressed by CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, its parent or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated on television, radio, the Internet, or another medium. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice or a recommendation to purchase any securities or other financial assets. The content is general in nature and does not reflect your unique personal circumstances. The above may not be appropriate for your particular situation. 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