These capital markets names on Josh Brown's list have been big winners. Where they're going next

(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Even in a sector that sits as the second-worst performer year to date, there are still winning stocks worth riding. That’s today’s big lesson. The Best Stocks in the Market list is not about concentrating everything into one sector and hoping for the best. We are spreading our bets and looking for ideas in places you may not expect to find them. As Sean will show you, the S & P financials sector is down 5% this year, weighed by concerns over AI eating into profit margins, a consumer stretched by moderately high rates, rising inflation expectations and all the other things the smart people spend their days blathering on about. But tucked inside that underperformance is a small corner of the market that has been on fire: the exchanges and brokers that make their money every single time someone trades, regardless of direction, regardless of outcome. The more chaotic the tape, the more revenue they generate. This week, we’re highlighting the two best-performing names in the financial sector this year, plus one of the most important banks in the world. I’ll hand it off to Sean to take you through the fundamentals and then I will be back with the charts. But first! A look at the list from 30,000 feet… As of May 11, there are 185 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Capital markets This has been an odd market environment this year. Energy ripped higher to start the year, while Semiconductor stocks have dragged tech higher. Simultaneously, Software has been bouncing along the bottom and the consumer-exposed sectors have been asleep at the wheel. As of the end of Friday last week, financials were down 5% YTD, making it the second-worst sector and one of four sectors underperforming the index. There are a few factors at play here: AI is expected to eat into the finance sector’s profits and there’s constant worry about whether the consumer can continue to borrow with moderately high rates and rising inflation expectations. What further complicates the picture is a seemingly relentless appetite for trading, which directly benefits a small corner of the financial sector. The two best-performing stocks in the financial sector happen to be heavily tied to these explosive trading volumes: Cboe Global Markets and Interactive Brokers . Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE): Sean — We wrote about CBOE in July, and as you can see from the price chart, it’s been a consistent grind higher. In the first quarter of this year, CBOE reported record revenues 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 one of its exchanges — the more trades, the greater its revenue. Its most valuable product is index options (like SPX and VIX options), where it controls roughly 98% of the market and earns far higher fees per trade than competitors. Because most of Cboe’s costs are fixed, a surge in trading volume flows almost entirely to the bottom line, and price is indicating that those volumes go higher. Josh — We nailed this one back in July at $245 , and it’s made an explosive move since. More importantly, CBOE has never violated its 200-day moving average and has stayed on the list ever since. These are the trades we live for. My exact comment was: “If this were heaven, and not earth, this is what every stock chart would look like and we would just buy them all.” Traders and investors alike should keep their eyes on the 50-day at $299. That level has been the line all along, tested repeatedly over the past year and defended every single time. Check it every Friday close and give it room to breathe on the intraday moves. ( Disclosure: We currently own shares of CBOE for clients in our Porterhouse strategy. ) Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Sean — While Cboe profits from hosting trades on its exchanges, Interactive Brokers profits from its clients making the trades. IBKR earns a small commission every time someone trades, plus interest on cash and margin loans sitting on the platform. In Q1, commission revenue grew 19% to $613 million, fueled by the same market environment that boosted Cboe, with client accounts up 31% year on year to 4.75 million and daily trades up 24%. Both companies are highly leveraged to market activity, and so far 2026 has been a great environment for the pair. The next test will be the IPO pipeline, with SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic headed to the party. Josh — We have loved this stock for a while now in this column, having talked about it several times since last summer. When we last highlighted Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) in late October , the stock was pulling back to a new entry point after running nearly 40% from our original August call in the low $60s. We told you the buyers came in exactly where they had to. They did. Since then it has done what good stocks do in volatile markets: consolidated, held its key levels, and pushed to new highs. The thesis hasn’t changed. This is a company that prints more revenue every time the tape gets chaotic, and 2026 has given it plenty of chaos to work with. RSI is at 65, healthy and building without any sign of exhaustion. The stock has room to run before momentum becomes a concern, and that reading is consistent with a name that is trending rather than spiking. Traders can use the $75 area as their line in the sand, where price found support on two separate occasions during the long consolidation phase. That level has been tested and respected. For investors who have been long since we first highlighted this name, the 200-day at $69 is where the character of the trade would change. A close below it is your exit. I would keep a bias toward staying with it, so check your stops on a weekly closing basis each Friday - try to fight through the intraday whipsaws if we go down to the levels we’re showing you here. ( Disclosure: We currently own shares of IBKR for clients in our Porterhouse strategy. ) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Sean — Although Goldman is not solely a trading platform, their business is still classified as Capital Markets. Goldman is primarily a markets and banking business, with 74% of revenues coming from Global Banking & Markets — a segment driven by M & A activity, capital markets volumes, and trading. Equities (especially prime brokerage) and investment banking fees are the biggest drivers there. Layered on top is a growing Asset & Wealth Management segment, where $3.65 trillion in assets generates management fees, which has been an increasing focus as of late. Goldman has been an incredible stock. It’s up 71% the past year, trouncing the largest banks out there. Over five years, GS has seen annualized returns of 23%, again beating the likes of Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. The investment bank reported that IPO and sponsor activity are likely to rebound later in 2026 as market conditions stabilize, which could bolster both their banking and trading segments. Josh — I’m of the belief that whether Goldman Sachs (GS) takes out the winter high could be a referendum on how deeply investors believe in the tech bull market. GS is making most of its growth money trading the AI capex theme, raising money for it and IPOing its winners. Another failure for the stock below the January high would represent a notable change in sentiment around all of the capital market activities they’re involved in. Goldman closed Friday at $936, within striking distance of those all-time highs after recovering sharply from a February test of the 200-day. The $950 to $960 zone has capped the stock twice now, and that is the line that needs to break. Getting through it puts $1,000 in play, which is where Deutsche Bank has their price target. Relative strength (RSI) is at 58, and that number carries a warning worth noting. When Goldman was testing these same price levels back in January, RSI was running well above 70. Now, with the stock back in the same neighborhood, momentum is meaningfully lower. That kind of divergence at a double-resistance level is a yellow flag, not a red one, but it tells you the rally back has been less convincing than the original run. That’s why this is my least favorite of the three names we’ve written about today. The other two are in clean bull markets while GS is facing slowing momentum and a potential moment of truth. Traders should watch $900 as the first floor below current price, where the stock found support twice during the recovery. For investors, a close below the 200-day at $837 is a sell. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, 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 BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. 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