Editor’s Note: Please see this message from our friend, tech legend Jeff Brown, founder of Brownstone Research. He says his colleague – Wall Street insider Jason Bodner – made a shocking discovery about the stock market that could send certain stocks soaring beginning August 14. Details below.

Hi, Jeff Brown here.

On Wednesday, July 29, at 8 p.m. ET, my colleague Jason Bodner is going on camera for a special briefing: The Nasdaq “Glitch.”

I urge you to attend.

Register here for free with a single click.
Clicking the link above will opt you into emails from Brownstone Research and The Opportunistic Trader, including The Bleeding Edge daily E-letter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please view our Privacy Policy for more details.

You see, Jason is a quantitative analyst, a former Wall Street insider, and one of the main people I rely on for market insights.

He’s spent 25 years inside the Wall Street machine, where he discovered a strange market anomaly that can detect big stock moves weeks in advance.

Jason calls it the Nasdaq “glitch”…

The last few times this glitch appeared, certain stocks shot up 825%… 2,105%… and even 4,496% in a very short time.

And right now, it’s flashing green on a new set of stocks – all of which could start soaring as soon as August 14.

When you join Jason next Wednesday, you’ll discover:

● What this “glitch” is – and why it’s possible to detect big stock moves weeks in advance.
● Why it’s especially effective on AI stocks.
● The name and ticker of Jason’s #1 stock – one he believes could start climbing as soon as August 14 – for free.
● And much, much more.

If you’re looking for the chance to potentially capture triple or even quadruple-digit gains in a matter of weeks and months, this event is for you.

Register instantly here.
Clicking the link above will opt you into emails from Brownstone Research and The Opportunistic Trader, including The Bleeding Edge daily E-letter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please view our Privacy Policy for more details.

Sincerely,

Jeff Brown
Founder & CEO, Brownstone Research

P.S. Jason spent years inside the Wall Street machine, where he placed trades as big as $1 billion for hedge funds and big banks.

He saw up close what happens right before a stock takes off. In fact, he helped cause some of the biggest moves.

That’s how he discovered this glitch – and built a one-of-a-kind system to detect it, so everyday folks can get ahead of these moves, too.

Using it, you could have turned every $10,000 into $92,500… $220,500… or even $459,000.

No options. No high-risk penny stocks.

Just buying and selling stocks through your existing brokerage account.

You’ll get the details when you register here.
Clicking the link above will opt you into emails from Brownstone Research and The Opportunistic Trader, including The Bleeding Edge daily E-letter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please view our Privacy Policy for more details.

3 Dividend Stocks with Growth on Tap for the Second Half

By Chris Markoch. Article Posted: 7/13/2026.

In the 30 days ending July 8, the S&P 500 made a directional move of 1% or more four times. Some analysts may dismiss that as a consequence of large numbers. The S&P 500 is now above 7,500 points, compared with around 4,300 five years ago and approximately 2,100 10 years ago.

But investors perceive those moves as volatility, leading many to seek safety outside the volatile artificial intelligence trade. It’s hard to fault that strategy. Investors, who are also consumers, are dealing with sticky inflation, which affects the outlook for interest rates and consumer sentiment.

They proved it worked in '76. Then buried it. (Ad)

In 1976, Chevron tapped an energy source with no fuel costs, no carbon, and no supply chain - then killed the project. Unocal and Texaco did the same. All three buried the results because it threatened their core business.

Now one company has spent sixty years developing what Big Oil refused to touch. Google locked in a 15-year contract, Bill Gates wrote a $100 million check, and on August 18th the government hands it a competitive edge no other energy source receives.

Discover the company that spent 60 years proving this technology works

That would be enough, but investors must also consider a tense geopolitical environment in the Middle East and Europe. This suggests there may be many more directional moves of 1% or more in the S&P 500 during the remainder of 2026.

Dividend Stocks Balance Safety With Growth

Despite the market gyrations, many investors sleep well at night. Their investment strategies include dividend-paying stocks, allowing their portfolios to generate regular, passive income.

Many investors dismiss dividend stocks as too boring. It’s true that many of the best dividend stocks will not outperform the S&P 500. That math doesn’t work for growth-oriented investors.

But for investors seeking safety in a turbulent market, dividend stocks offer an attractive balance of growth and a safe, growing dividend. Whether investors reinvest the dividends or use the cash as supplemental income, these stocks do what they’re designed to do. Here are three names with an attractive total-return outlook for the second half of 2026.

IBM Delivers Dividend Growth Alongside AI Innovation

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has successfully pivoted from its hardware roots to become a major player in cloud computing.

The company’s 2025 acquisition of Confluent is pushing it into the application layer of the AI stack. This gives IBM a direct role in how enterprises feed live, real-time data into their AI models instead of simply supplying the infrastructure underneath them.

IBM is also one of the large-cap names staking its claim in the quantum computing space. Not every company in this space will succeed, but with its reputation and balance sheet, IBM shouldn’t be counted out.

Over the last five years, IBM has delivered stock price growth of more than 100%. Its total return, which includes its dividend, is more than 170%. IBM increased its dividend for the 30th consecutive year in April 2026.

For investors seeking a growth and value play in the technology sector, IBM is a name to consider.

Kinder Morgan Offers Reliable Income Despite Energy Price Volatility

The U.S. conflict with Iran caused oil prices to move from above $100 to around $60 during the first half of the year. That kind of movement in the underlying commodity has made some energy stocks as volatile as tech stocks.

That’s why investors may want to consider Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI). The company is a midstream operator responsible for transporting oil and natural gas through its extensive pipeline network. Its business is largely agnostic to oil and natural gas prices. The work is contracted and predictable, which is good for its customers as well as its investors.

KMI is up approximately 17% in 2026 and has delivered a total return of more than 150% over the last five years. It’s trading within about 7% of its consensus price target of $34.71. However, UBS Group recently reiterated its $43 price target for the stock.

Plus, Kinder Morgan’s dividend yields 3.7% as of this writing, and the company has increased its dividend for nine consecutive years.

Templeton Emerging Markets Fund Adds Global Growth and Dividend Income

The Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (NYSE: EMF) offers a different avenue for investors seeking to balance growth and safety. Heading into 2026, emerging markets were seen as a place to seek outsized performance. EMF is up about 34% in 2026.

Investing in emerging markets is important for a diversified portfolio. However, investing in companies outside the United States requires a different level of due diligence.

The Emerging Markets Fund uses a bottom-up, fundamental research approach to identify undervalued opportunities across local stock exchanges. The fund’s holdings span a range of industries, reducing the risk associated with any one country or sector.

EMF pays a quarterly dividend that currently amounts to 90 cents per share on an annual basis.

However, the fund recently increased its dividend to 24 cents per share in May. With a share price of around $22 as of this writing, investors have time to build a sizable position.

Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings

By Ryan Hasson. Article Posted: 7/15/2026.

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is set to report its Q2 2026 results after the market close on Wednesday, July 22, and the setup heading into the report is compelling. The stock closed Tuesday, July 14, up nearly 14% year to date but still roughly 12% below its 52-week high of $408.61 after weeks of consolidation.

With a beat streak on the line, a nearly half-trillion-dollar cloud backlog converting to revenue, and the market still debating the company's spending plans, this is one of the most important reports of the entire earnings season.

The Headline Numbers

They proved it worked in '76. Then buried it. (Ad)

In 1976, Chevron tapped an energy source with no fuel costs, no carbon, and no supply chain - then killed the project. Unocal and Texaco did the same. All three buried the results because it threatened their core business.

Now one company has spent sixty years developing what Big Oil refused to touch. Google locked in a 15-year contract, Bill Gates wrote a $100 million check, and on August 18th the government hands it a competitive edge no other energy source receives.

Discover the company that spent 60 years proving this technology works

Wall Street expects earnings per share (EPS) of $2.87, up nearly 24% from $2.31 a year ago, and revenue of roughly $116.5 billion, up nearly 21% year over year.

The bar is high, but Alphabet has consistently cleared it, beating consensus earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters. That includes Q1, when EPS of $5.11 crushed expectations and revenue growth of 22% marked the company's fastest pace since 2022.

Worth noting: management guided to a currency tailwind of only about 1 percentage point this quarter, down from 3 points in Q1. As a result, reported growth will receive less foreign-exchange support than it did last time.

Google Cloud Is the Main Event

Nothing matters more to this report than Google Cloud. The segment grew 63% year over year in Q1 to $20.03 billion, crossing the $20 billion quarterly threshold for the first time, while its backlog nearly doubled sequentially to $462 billion. Management stated that just over half of that backlog should convert to revenue over the next 24 months, making the Q2 Cloud growth rate the clearest read on whether that conversion is on schedule.

Investors should also listen for two Cloud-specific items flagged on the last call. First, the Wiz acquisition, now reported within Google Cloud, is expected to create a low-single-digit percentage-point headwind to the segment's operating margin for the remainder of 2026. Second, Alphabet will begin recognizing a small amount of TPU hardware revenue later this year as it starts delivering chips directly to select customer data centers, with the majority of that revenue expected in 2027. Any early commentary on TPU demand could move the stock.

Search, Advertising, and the AI Question

Google Search grew 19% in Q1 to $60.4 billion, with queries at all-time highs. That put to rest, at least for one quarter, fears that AI would cannibalize the core business. Q2 needs to confirm that resilience. Investors should watch for updated commentary on AI Overviews monetization, Gemini engagement, and advertising demand trends. The comparable quarter a year ago produced $96.43 billion in total revenue, so the roughly 21% growth consensus implies broad-based strength across Services, not just Cloud.

The CapEx Watch

The other side of the AI story is spending. Alphabet raised its full-year 2026 capital expenditure (CapEx) guidance to $180 billion to $190 billion last quarter and told investors that 2027 CapEx will rise significantly from there. The market has been sensitive to spending headlines all year, as the reaction to the $80 billion stock offering in June demonstrated. Any further increase to the CapEx range or sharper detail on 2027 could swing sentiment in either direction. The bull case is simple: management continues to say that demand for compute exceeds supply, and the backlog supports that view.

The Technical Picture

Shifting to the technical picture, the trend remains bullish, in line with the fundamentals. The stock is in a healthy, higher-timeframe bull trend despite its multi-month drift lower. As long as the stock remains above June's recent pivot low near $330 a share, the bulls will likely feel comfortable holding it. For upside momentum to build, investors will want to see the near-term downtrend break, with $375 to $380 serving as the all-important momentum-shifting area.

The Setup Into the Print

The consensus among 54 analysts on MarketBeat is Moderate Buy, with a price target of $413.73, implying just over 15% upside from current levels.

At a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 25, Alphabet remains one of the more reasonably valued names in the mega-cap complex, particularly for a company that analysts project will grow full-year EPS by more than 32% this year.

The pieces are in place. A Cloud result that holds anywhere near recent growth rates, a steady Search print, and no negative CapEx surprise would likely be enough to send the stock back toward its highs.

Anything less, and the consolidation could continue. Either way, July 22 will set the tone for the stock's second half.