Smart Investor: Stocks Leading the Rotation, Could Tariffs Rise Again, and the New Alts Manager Stock Meltdown

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In this week’s newsletter:

• Weekly Market Update: Stocks Gain 1.03% as Communication Services Rise and Consumer Defensives Fall
• Could Tariffs Go Still Higher Despite Supreme Court Ruling?
• Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs—What It Means for Markets
• Don’t Overreact: Tariffs Overturned, but Fundamentals Still Rule 6 Stocks Driving the 2026 Stock Market Rotation
• Energy and Industrial Stocks Are the New Market Leaders. Here’s What to Know
• Blue Owl Disclosure Drives Down Share Prices of Alternative Asset Managers

The Supreme Court’s tariff ruling on Friday capped an otherwise-quiet week–the first it seems in quite some time when one corner or another of the market was not trounced by concerns about the artificial intelligence wave upending business models.

The court’s decision to spike President Donald Trump’s emergency power tariffs was largely expected, and the markets showed little reaction. While Trump was also expected to seek another avenue to levy tariffs on imported goods, the degree of his pushback might still be surprising. As Morningstar senior US economist Preston Caldwell writes, the battle over Trump’s tariffs isn’t over yet. In fact, there’s a scenario in which the world ends up with even higher levies than before Friday. Meanwhile, Morningstar’s chief US market strategist Dave Sekera explains how investors should (and shouldn’t) view the tariff news from the vantage point of the stock market.

Aside from tariffs, the focus continues to be on the stock market’s rotation away from the technology-focused names that have led over the last three years. This week, we took a closer look at this change of leadership. First, we dig into the performance gap between tech stocks and the recent group of top performers, energy and industrials. And Sarah Hansen drilled into some of the new market leaders, highlighting six stocks in the vanguard.

Lastly this week, we’ve been looking at the private credit market, where the vibes have recently turned negative. The big news is that Blue Owl, one of the major players in this space, will stop taking redemption requests for a high-profile fund and instead gradually return capital to investors over a period of what Morningstar analysts say could last years. This news sent the already-battered stocks of alternative strategy managers further into a tailspin. Morningstar senior equity analyst Greggory Warren explains why this development is a warning for the industry.

As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our full weekly calendar of key upcoming data and events.