Paid Subscriber – Quant Portfolios rally – New Quant Dividend & Growth 25 Portfolio is now live – Update 09/28/26

Rising Treasury Yields Raise Market Concerns

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• Quant Alpha’s II – Up over 76 since June 2025

• Quant 30 – Up over 73% since June 2025

• Legacy – Up over 320% since April 2023

• Changes to the main Quant Portfolios

• Top Quant Stocks – Top three Sectors, Top stock in each

• Education – Rising Treasury Yields Raise Market Concerns

• New Quant Dividend and Growth 25 Model Portfolio is launched on September 28, 2026.

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This week, a new “Quant Dividend and Growth 25” Model Portfolio will be added to the Quant lineup. It will be for Paid subscribers. This will be a Growth and Income type of portfolio. It will have 25 stocks in it and will be reviewed and updated as needed each week in this newsletter. Each stock in the portfolio will pay a dividend and be highly ranked in both the Quant Factors and the Quant Dividend metrics. A separate email was sent last Friday with the criteria for this new Model Portfolio. A link to the criteria as at the end of this newsletter.

USA Stock market week ending 09/18/26

• SPY (S&P 500): +1.3% — The S&P 500 posted a solid gain for the week from the close of September 21 through the close of September 25.

• ^IXIC (Nasdaq Composite): +2.1% — The Nasdaq outperformed the broader market, gaining 2.1% for the week.

• DIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average): +0.3% — The Dow posted a modest weekly gain of 0.3%.

• IWM (Russell 2000): -0.7% — Small-cap stocks declined 0.7%, lagging the major large-cap indexes.

• SPMO (Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF): +2.7% — Momentum stocks led the major benchmarks, with SPMO gaining 2.7% for the week.

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Market Drivers this Week (09/21/26 – 09/25/26)

• Tuesday, 9/29 — Labor Market:JOLTS Job Openings for August is due at 10:00 AM ET, providing another look at labor-market demand ahead of Friday’s employment report.

• Wednesday, 9/30 — Q2 GDP Third Estimate and August Personal Income & Outlays, including the PCE price index, are scheduled for 8:30 AM ET. Micron (MU) reports fiscal Q4 results after the market close, making its outlook for AI-driven memory demand a key focus for investors.

• Thursday, 10/1 — ISM Manufacturing PMI for September and weekly initial jobless claims will provide fresh readings on economic and labor-market conditions.

• Friday, 10/2 — The September Employment Situation report, including nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate, arrives at 8:30 AM ET and will be the week’s major economic release.

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The CNN Fear & Greed Index

The CNN Fear & Greed Index remained firmly in Fear territory, ending the week of September 25 at 37, up from 29 the previous week. Sentiment has stayed cautious for several weeks, with readings of 33 on 9/11, 42 on 9/4, and 54 on 8/28, after briefly reaching 65 (Greed) on 8/14 and 64 (Greed) on 8/7. Overall, the readings show a notable shift from Greed in mid-August to persistent Fear through September, suggesting investor sentiment has cooled considerably even as the stock market remains near elevated levels.

• 9/25/26 – 37 Fear

• 9/18/26 – 29 Fear

• 9/11/26 – 33 Fear

• 9/4/26 – 42 Fear

• 8/28/26 – 54 Neutral

• 8/21/26 – 55 Neutral

• 8/14/26 – 65 Greed

• 8/7/26 – 64 Greed

• 7/31/26 – 42 Fear

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The Quant Model Portfolios had a good week. Quant Alpha’s II increased from +73% to +76%, Quant 30 increased from +70% to 73% and Quant Legacy increased from +318% to +323%. The addition of the new Quant Dividend and Growth 25 portfolio for paid subscribers expands coverage to the Growth and Income area of the market.