Happy Friday! Everything investors think they know about midterm years and weakness is being challenged by this rare signal with a perfect historical track record. Read on for all the details and what it means for your portfolio.

And another important signal is flashing across five stocks with heavy CFO buying. See the data and the names behind this rare insider activity.

Plus, if you’re looking for a compelling pre-IPO opportunity with Big Tech partnerships, check out today’s sponsor.

In Today's Edition

• MARKET RECAP

• MARKET HEATMAP

• FIVE ZINGERS

BENZINGA TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Four prizes are up for grabs this week and your time is almost up.

Earn points and stay in the race for a Benzinga PRO or Edge subscription. Take the quiz and start climbing the leaderboard.

Missed yesterday’s quiz? Catch up here. Remember, scores are cumulative — the more you play, the higher your score, and the greater your chances of winning. To play previous quizzes this week, please see previous newsletters.

This 100% Win Rate Is Flipping The Midterm Script

What if the market’s most feared year is actually its most misunderstood?

While midterm cycles have a track record of turbulence and sharp swings, Wall Street analyst Ryan Detrick points to a lesser-known presidential pattern that has a 100% win rate and delivered strong gains — suggesting 2026 may not play out the way investors expect.

Read on for the full breakdown and what it means for your portfolio.

🚀 Samsung, Qualcomm, & Meta Partnered With This Pre-IPO XR Startup

As tech reshapes how people work, a $250B+ opportunity is up for grabs. With the help of partners like Meta, Qualcomm, and Samsung, Immersed is perfectly positioned to seize it.

Immersed combined the world’s most-used remote work XR software ($127B by 2030), AR/VR hardware ($100B+ by 2026), and AI productivity tools ($36B) to create a productive, communal, and helpful virtual workspace. That’s why 1.5M+ professionals, including Fortune 500 teams, already use it.

Now, Immersed is preparing to scale mass production for its productivity-designed Visor headset. 75,000+ already waitlisted, representing $71M in projected first-year sales. No wonder leaders at Intel and Meta have already invested.

Invest Before the Pre-IPO Round Closes

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Yesterday: U.S. indexes finished lower Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touching new intraday highs before closing at the lows. The Nasdaq — while down less than 1%, still posted its sharpest daily decline in nearly a month. Semiconductor stocks continued to outperform, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) extending its winning streak to 17 sessions, while shares of Intel surged 20% in after-hours trading following better-than-expected earnings and a strong outlook. So far this year, major indexes remain higher, with the S&P 500 up about 4% and the Nasdaq up 5%. Sector performance has been mixed, with energy, materials, and industrials leading the way — all up more than 10% — while financials and health care have lagged, each down 5% this year.

On Our Radar: Analysts will be paying attention to today’s latest consumer sentiment report for early indications of how households are responding to the current economic backdrop. On the earnings front, all eyes will be on Verizon (VZ) which will report earnings before the market opens on Monday.

Thursday brought some huge price swings with United Rentals (URI), Texas Instruments (TXN), and ON Semiconductor (ON) soaring, while Avis Budget Group (CAR), ServiceNow (NOW), and Lululemon (LULU) got crushed and among the top laggards on the day. But those weren’t the only companies making big moves. Here’s a look at some of the biggest winners and losers on Thursday.

Discover how the market is moving with our interactive heatmap. Filter by market cap, or click on any box to explore specific sectors or assets in more detail.

Musk Reality: SpaceX is quietly dialing back the hype in its IPO filings, flagging Elon Musk’s most futuristic bets. Here’s all the details.

More Intel, More Gains: Intel just rebooted Wall Street’s expectations with a huge earnings beat and strong outlook which sent shares surging. Get the full breakdown and ‘Intel’ now.

Big Gains: These six S&P 500 stocks have stolen the spotlight and are up more than 100% so far this year. Read on to see how high they could go.

$50 Billion: Tesla’s robotaxi bet is turning into a high-stakes balancing act. Discover all the details and what it will take to pull it off.

Stock Of The Day: Micron is starting to break out. Here’s what traders are watching and how high shares could go.

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