ETF Power Rankings Archives Articles

We’re here to make money.

That means we naturally focus on the strongest areas of the market. But there’s also valuable information—and opportunity—in watching the weakest.

When even the worst-performing groups can’t hold their breakdowns, it tells us market conditions might not be so bad after all.

Take the NexGen Economy ETF ($BLCN), for example.

It’s off to a rough start this year, down 22% YTD.

But here’s the kicker: it failed to hold its latest breakdown.

So what does it say when even the weakest thematic ETFs can’t break down?

Maybe the bears are losing their grip.

Technology just printed its first green box in nearly three months.

Yesterday, I touched on the Growth vs. Value ratio and how Growth looks ready to regain leadership as markets recover from recent losses.

Adding fuel to that view, Technology — a cornerstone of the Growth trade — has reversed its breakdown relative to the broader market. That’s a failed move worth paying attention to.

You cannot miss this chart.

The setup is now in place: after a sluggish start to the year, Tech looks ready to step back into a leadership role.

Given its heavy weighting in U.S. indexes, this could be the tailwind needed to push the market toward fresh highs.

Steve Strazza caught this rotation in real time — flipping from puts to calls and riding the bounce with six trades that have already doubled.

Join us...

Large-cap stocks continue to dominate the U.S. equity markets, and this trend looks poised to persist in the near future.

Growth $IWF has just broken to new relative highs relative to Value $IWD, signaling a shift in the underlying trend.

Despite the considerable headwinds faced by the U.S. markets and growth stocks in particular throughout this year, it seems that growth is far from surrendering.

In fact, it appears that growth stocks are positioning themselves for a potential rebound, showing resilience and the capacity to deliver returns despite their recent weakness.

If there’s one word to describe the Trump administration over the past month, it’s “backfire.”

Just this past week, we’ve seen Australia ($EWA) and Canada ($EWC) rally following their respective elections—both countries opting for left-of-center governments in a clear rebuke of Trump-style politics. Their conservative leaders, caught mimicking Trump’s aggressive rhetoric amid a looming global trade war, were swiftly voted out.

Meanwhile, in a move that further underscores the unintended consequences, China ($FXI) has been quietly outperforming the United States ($SPY), even as tensions rise.

Talk about a backfire.

Since 2024, $FXI has been steadily trending higher relative to $SPY, and there’s no sign of that trend reversing anytime soon.

Strip away the politics, and the rotation out of U.S. equities starts to make perfect sense.

Valuations may not matter—until they suddenly do. U.S. stocks are commanding a premium that investors seem increasingly unwilling to pay in this environment. On the other hand, China offers both attractive valuations and strong momentum—a high-conviction setup...

Precious metal miners have topped the rankings for a long time - and it's no surprise because it's a raging Gold bull market.

These companies trade very closely to the price of Gold, so when it's trending higher they have an immense tailwind.

But what happens if the price of Gold stops going up? The mining stocks will do the same...

Gold has hit our second long-term target, which is the second Fibonacci extension level from the entire 2010s bear market. This would be a logical place for Gold to digest its gains and for the miners to do the same.

And then on the contrary, a group that looks ready to break higher is Aerospace & Defense $ITA.

This ETF has been trading sideways since the election, but now it looks ready to break higher.

While the broader market is still stabilizing after a volatile beginning to the year, there could be noticeable rotation taking place beneath the surface, with new leaders arising.

I think Aerospace & Defense is a great example of that.

While precious metal miners might be taking a breather, and new leadership emerges in places like...

The market has clearly stabilized after what’s been a rocky start to the year. But the real question now is whether we’re setting the stage for a full-blown rally in equities—or just grinding sideways for a while.

A good barometer here is speculative growth.

We saw an epic failed breakout. Now, we’re knocking on that same level for the second time. If ARKK can rip through it cleanly, there’s a strong case to be made that we’ve carved out a v-bottom—and it’s game on.

That said, after corrections like this and with volatility still elevated, markets often chop around in messy, sideways action before resolving directionally.

It’s in these moments, when the market is caught between two narratives, that relative strength becomes critical. The leaders will start to separate from the noise. Keep an eye on which names hold their ground, build tight bases, and push to new highs even when the indexes don’t. That’s where the next leg higher will come from - whether the market rips immediately or grinds through more indecision first.

We're seeing leadership broaden across sectors, with technology starting to take a back seat. This shift comes as many of the dominant trends from the past decade begin to show signs of fatigue.

International stocks are now outpacing their U.S. counterparts.

The dollar weakened alongside equities during the most recent correction.

And value is starting to challenge growth in a meaningful way.

In the sector space, this theme continues—technology is struggling to gain relative traction against financials, classic proxies for growth and value, respectively.

We could be entering a new leadership regime — and that’s exactly the kind of shift Kenny’s VWAP setup thrives on.

In the chaos of earnings season, Kenny’s not just keeping up — he’s locking in monster trades using one simple VWAP signal. If you missed the live session, no worries — the full playbook is still available, but only until Wednesday.

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We continue to see small caps stuck deep in the red, while large caps remain firmly in the green.

This isn’t surprising — it’s part of a well-established secular trend — but it’s worth highlighting again.

Small Caps ($IWM) look terrible, and there's little hope for a turnaround anytime soon. Just look at how brutally the small-cap ratio has been crushed.

Even with money flowing out of growth stocks — the very names that drive the large-cap indexes — small caps are still breaking to new lows.

If they couldn’t outperform when tech was getting hit, what are the odds they’ll ever outperform?

It's a bleak outlook for America's small stocks.

The S&P 500 keeps falling in our power rankings as global markets have shown resiliency.

The longer-term picture for international is becoming more apparent; favorable valuations, diversification away from growth, and momentum that's capturing the attention of traders.

In 2025, international has smoked the U.S. The ratio below tracks Vanguard's All World Ex US ETF $VEU relative to the U.S. - when it's moving higher it shows that international is outperforming.

There is an argument to be made that this trend is extended in the near-term and we could see a temporary rotation back into U.S. growth as markets find their footing following the tariff fiasco.

But the bigger picture is that evidence is mounting we're in the early stages of a reversal in U.S. dominance that's been present for the last 15 years.

Shall we expect more red from the U.S. moving forward in our rankings?

We think it'd be wise to start thinking seriously about this outcome.

We’re seeing an increase in risk-on behavior as markets begin to stabilize from the recent correction. This shift is especially evident on the international stage. And while the U.S. has been more of a laggard in comparison, there are still compelling opportunities emerging.

Gold miners, for example, continue to show relative strength — as confirmed by the latest power rankings.

At the same time, certain pockets of growth that were hit hardest are showing signs of life. Cybersecurity ($HACK), for instance, has successfully retested its 2021 highs — much like the major U.S. indices — and is beginning to set up constructively.

This signals a broader transition from risk aversion to opportunity-seeking. As more corners of the market find their footing, we expect leadership to broaden.

Risk-on themes continue to rank high on our power rankings, with funds like China Technology ($CQQQ), Momentum ($MTUM), and Robotics ($ARKQ) all showing notable relative strength.

But the standout performer remains the VanEck Video Gaming ETF ($ESPO), which has held the top spot for some time now.

Just look at the consistency—this fund has been delivering strong performance week after week.

A closer look at its components reveals some incredibly strong charts that are driving this impressive trend.

Consumer Staples $XLP has found its way to the top of our sector list, with Utilities $XLU right behind. This type of action is standard when stock prices are falling, because these groups are the least volatile sectors.

As such, we would like to see these sectors stop outperforming for stock prices to start going higher again.

But as it looks right now, XLP just completed a massive breakout relative to the S&P 500. This is not good news.

If you're positioned for stock prices to go higher, in all likelihood, you need to see this ratio fail to hold this breakout and begin working lower again.