(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Today I want to talk about a phenomenon that most long-term market observers you speak with will ratify, even if it’s hard to prove with actual data or statistics. Talk to a real trader and make the following statement and they’ll nod their head: Good things happen to good charts. I want to tell you first what this statement doesn’t mean before any kneejerk contrarianism kicks in and you look to poke holes in it. What I am not saying is that stocks that are going up are going to go up forever. I am also not saying that things can’t change and good charts can’t become bad ones. As a matter of fact, the very premise that delicious chart setups can sour is why we write this column in the first place. If it were as easy as buying stocks that go up and not worrying at all about them, there would be no ancillary discussion of stop loss orders, support levels, relative strength indicators, valuation or anything else. My Best Stocks list would be a single-decision proposition. But it’s not. Stocks move on and off the Best Stocks in the Market list as easily as Major League Baseball teams move in and out of playoff contention. So our work focuses on stocks that have something fundamental driving a “confirmation” of strong technicals. This is where our brand of technical analysis diverges from the purists who focus on price only. Sean and I need to understand the “why.” If we can’t understand it, and this causes us to overlook a huge technical breakout, so be it. This is the price, sometimes, of having discipline. Now that I’ve told you what we’re not saying, here is what we actually mean when we say “Good things happen to good charts.” We are saying that if there is going to be a fundamental surprise for a company, oftentimes that will be in the prevailing direction of its stock price. So, positive surprises for stocks that are already trending in a positive direction and negative surprises for stocks that are headed in a negative direction. That’s not always the case, of course. There are always exceptions. But as far as market generalities are concerned, this is a pretty good one to bring into your own repertoire as an investor. There are people who would argue that markets are too random or complex for this to be mostly true. I understand what they mean — and I would agree with them — but then we’d both be wrong. And nobody wants that. So, if you think about stocks in uptrends as being more likely to have good things happen for them on a forward-looking continuing basis, you’ll be a step ahead of the folks who are constantly looking for turning points, tops, “inflection points” and guessing at catalysts. We don’t do that here. We respect trend and believe in the wisdom of crowds. And when the crowd turns out to be wrong, there’s risk management waiting in the wings to mitigate the downside. Today, Sean and I update you on some good charts that had good things happen to them since we brought these stocks to your attention. Sector leaderboard As of Oct. 6, there are 213 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) , on the list since Aug. 5, 2025: Sean — We wrote about EA on Sept. 4. Last week, news broke that the company would be taken private in what would be the largest leveraged buyout in history. EA was taken out on an all-cash take private deal worth $55 billion. Stockholders will receive $210 per share, assuming the deal closes. That would be about a 19% return since we wrote about it about a month ago. The acquiring group includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. The PIF actually had an existing 9.9% stake, and according to a Financial Times article, Silver Lake’s co-CEO Egon Durban has wanted to buy EA for more than a decade and attempted a deal in 2011. The board of directors has unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. If and when the deal is approved, shareholders can expect the stock to be delisted and cash to show up in their accounts — we hope to bring you more ideas on how to put that cash to work. Josh — I have nothing more to add here other than to tell you that I personally took a profit on this stock last week after the news of the buyout was announced. The full premium won’t be given to EA shareholders until the deal closes in the spring, but I’ve already made most of the money that’s going to be made here, no sense hanging around for an extra couple of bucks. LRCX: On the list since July 16, 2025 Sean — Since the stock broke above its 200-day moving average in May, LRCX is the 19th-best-performing stock in the Russell 1000, up 94%. During that time, the company has delivered strong fundamentals. June 2025’s quarter revenue reached $5.17 billion, at the upper end of guidance, with record gross margin exceeding 50% and record EPS. Operating margin for the quarter was 34.4%, a record in both dollar and percentage terms. That performance reflects Lam Research’s advanced wafer-fabrication and etch technology businesses, which are critical for building the high-performance chips that enable AI computing. Josh — This is a great example of a stock we nailed for the Best Stocks column for you but that I personally traded terribly. I bought shortly after we wrote the stock up on a down day for the semi stocks but I set a stop that was too tight after a bounce. I ended up getting my principle back when that stop was triggered and then the stock ran 50% higher without me. “Why didn’t you buy it back ever, Josh?” I don’t have a good answer. I’m trying to run a wealth management firm with 80 employees and 4,000 clients, a portfolio of dozens of individual stock positions, balance a recurring role on a television show, co-host the biggest podcast on Wall Street, run a YouTube channel and, somehow, stay married. I’m not going to perfectly capitalize on every opportunity and neither will you. We’re human, don’t get all worked up about it. Some of the Best Stocks that Sean and I write up for you will be amazing home runs that we don’t make any money from ourselves. It’s okay. If you took this trade, the mature thing to do is to roll up your stop to the $125 area and let it continue. If you’re long since the high $90’s, you’re playing with the house’s money here. KLAC, on the list since June 10, 2025: Sean — Similar to LRCX, KLAC is reporting record fundamentals while the stock continues to climb. Revenue for the previous quarter reached $3.2 billion, up 24% year over year, with EPS of $9.06 — both above guidance. The company also generated record free cash flow exceeding $1 billion amid the surge in AI-related spending. KLA’s process-control and inspection systems are essential for improving chip yields and reliability, making them a key player in the semi market. Josh — KLAC worked for the same reason Lam Research worked. There’s no AI revolution without chips and there’s no chip bull market that doesn’t result in a massive amount of purchasing of testing and production capital equipment. Here’s another example of good things happening to good charts. There was a massive gap up on September 18th and the stock has been running ever since. I would roll my stop up to the bottom of that gap (give or take $1020). You’re risking a hundred bucks to remain in one of the largest players in one of the most powerful sectors in the entire market. I’d stay put. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE 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. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. INVESTING INVOLVES RISK. EXAMPLES OF ANALYSIS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY OR POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC. JOSH BROWN IS THE CEO OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT AND MAY MAINTAIN A SECURITY POSITION IN THE SECURITIES DISCUSSED. ASSUMPTIONS MADE WITHIN THE ANALYSIS ARE NOT REFLECTIVE OF THE POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC” TO THE END OF OR OUR DISCLOSURE. Click here for the full disclaimer.
