The stock market hit another record high this week. It’s good news, but it isn’t the whole story.

Think of a basketball team that wins the game while two players score most of the points. The scoreboard says “victory.” It doesn’t say the rest of the team mostly watched from the bench.

That’s the market right now. The S&P 500 tracks 500 companies. The bigger the company, the more it moves the index. Today, most of the giants are tech companies riding the AI boom, and energy stocks have climbed along with oil prices. Put those two together, and you’ve found most of this year’s gains.

The rest of the market has had a quieter year. Retailers, restaurants, utilities, and, lately, many smaller companies have lagged, and some are lower than when the year began.

This is still a record worth celebrating. It’s just a record that rests on fewer shoulders than the headlines might suggest.

You might be wondering: the news is cheering a record, so why isn’t my account doing the same? A record for the market doesn’t mean a record for every part of it. Today’s leaders also tend not to stay on top for long and energy has had plenty of up and downs.  Just one quarter ago, energy was the worst-performing part of the market, and now it’s one of the best.

That’s the case for owning a little of everything. It’s not as exciting as betting on this year’s star players, but it means you’re not depending on just two of them.

As for me, I’ll keep diversifying and keep the whole team on the court. You never know who will score or who will be the next injured player. The goal is stay strong over a long season. 

Curious how your portfolio is spread across the market? I’m happy to walk you through it. Just give me a call.

Plan well,
Barbara

October 11, 2026
 

Sources:

https://www.marketplace.org/episode/2026/10/07/hows-the-stock-market-doing-minus-ai
https://www.ftportfolios.com/blogs/MarketBlog/2026/10/8/the-only-constant-is-change
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/usa/how-major-us-stock-indexes-fared-tuesday-1062026-nid06102026/

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