There is a special type of fever around a men’s soccer World Cup. And the 2026 edition of the tournament is causing even more excitement, with 48 teams instead of the usual 32, and three host nations instead of the usual one.

Matches will stretch from Vancouver to Mexico City from June 11 to July 19, marking the first time the games are being hosted in North America since 1994.

There will be winners and losers on and off the pitch. Goldman Sachs predicts the main sector beneficiaries will include European and U.S. consumer staples, U.S. retail, and hospitality firms. But the investment bank also warns that “while the World Cup is undoubtedly a major commercial event, it does not necessarily follow that the macroeconomic impact on the host nations will be substantial or long-lasting.”

The World Cup could boost these equity sectors, according to Deutsche and Goldman

Deutsche Bank analysts believe sports betting platforms also stand to benefit. But a battle could be brewing between the traditional bookmakers and the ever-growing prediction markets. This is the first World Cup where Polymarket and Kalshi are now significant forces in the sports betting space.

While billions are expected to tune into the matches, it’s not just soccer that’s kicking off next week…

Investors will be carefully watching AI stocks after a volatile set of trading days. U.S. semiconductor giant Broadcom sparked a sell-off across the global chip space after issuing a disappointing forecast for its AI chip sales.

Expect more headlines from London Tech Week, which gets underway on Monday. Anthropic’s announcement of its highly anticipated IPO, as well as any updates from OpenAI on its plans to go public, will top the agenda.

Passive investing through exchange-traded funds may be losing its appeal.

Tidal Financial Group Chief Revenue Officer Gavin Filmore finds many of his clients are no longer satisfied with buying popular ETFs tied to market indexes.

 “I think investors are looking beyond just the let’s call it the ‘VOO and chill approach’ where you just buy the index in an ETF, which is a great approach but they’re looking for diversification,” Filmore told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.” “And they’re not finding it within the product or within the index, so they have to look beyond that.” 

Filmore refers to the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which tracks the S&P 500‘s performance. Both are up almost 16% so far this year.

Meanwhile, Strategas Securities’ Todd Sohn contends investors are losing diversification by using the S&P 500 as a benchmark.

“Imbalance is the perfect word,” said the firm’s senior ETF & technical strategist in the same interview. He added technology now accounts for more than 35% of the index, a record high.

Meanwhile, defensive sectors including consumer staples, health care, energy and utilities are at an all-time low weight of 19% in the S&P 500, according to FactSet.

So, where are traders turning? Sohn is seeing renewed interest in small-cap stocks.

The Russell 2000, which tracks the group, hit an all-time high on Wednesday and just saw its best week since August. It’s now up more than 28% over the past six months — outperforming the S&P 500. Earlier this month, the Russell 2000 topped 2,500 for the first time ever.

“I wonder if you’re seeing this broadening happen outside the large cap space where investors are comfortable with their tech and AI exposure and seeking other routes,” Sohn said.

While there is a growing chorus of voices throwing support behind the small caps, the heavy hitters will take center stage on Wall Street next week. That’s when five of the seven so-called “Magnificent 7” — Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon — are due to report their latest earnings.

Over President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, the S&P 500 lost more than 7% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 11%.

On a sector basis, consumer staples is the biggest gainer in that time period, up 5%. Consumer discretionary lost the most value, off 13%.

We asked the “Fast Money” traders to share which market areas should see the most promise — and problems — over the next 100 days.

No. 1: Karen Finerman

Most promise: Big cap pharma. She’s bullish because the group is “way oversold,” and it’s largely out of the tariff crossfire.

Most problems: Container space. It’s likely seeing benefits right now from a big pull forward in demand. If the tariff fight takes a while to get resolved, expect to see fewer containers and a reduction in full containers overall, making for a “very sad income statement.”

No. 2: Tim Seymour

Most promise: Semiconductors and international investing. In the case of semis, they’re the “ultimate cyclicals” and should be a buying opportunity built off of beaten-down valuations. He predicts supply and demand dynamics will “rage again” in the year’s second half.

Seymour is also bullish on international investing. His name for it: MIGA, an acronym for “Make International Great Again.”

He highlights Germany’s DAX index outperforming the S&P 500 since late November. According to Seymour, it’s a trade that should still work over at least the next 100 days because tariffs are both a wake-up call and tailwind.

He lists relative valuation attractiveness and “Magnificent Seven” exhaustion among other key upside drivers.

The Mag 7 index, which is comprised of Apple, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla, is down almost 16% over President Trump’s first 100 days.

Most problems: Companies exposed to consumer credit and discretionary spending. Seymour expects U.S. consumers to tighten their belts due to high prices and a deteriorating jobs market.

No. 3: Dan Nathan

Most promise: “Cash will be king.”

Nathan sees little working. He notes defensive groups including utilities, consumer staples and U.S. Treasurys, which historically benefit during economic distress, will eventually slump. According to Nathan, the headwinds produced by a tariff-induced recession will punish them.

Most problems: Planes, trains and automobiles. His base case scenario is a “protracted trade war” with China and possibly other key nations that will choke demand. Nathan advises consumers to “fasten their seatbelts for unexpected turbulence and bumps in the road.

No. 4: Guy Adami

Most promise: Retail. Most problems: Retail.

He thinks retail is in an odd spot. According to Adami, there’s “no way to game this out, but they seemingly have the most at stake.”

He told “Fast Money” on Tuesday that the unemployment rate will likely surprise to the upside.

“When you have an economy…

Katie Stockton thinks she has a viable option for investors trying to withstand wild market swings.

She manages the Fairlead Tactical Sector ETF (TACK), which is designed to be nimble in times of market stress. It’s not tied to an index.

“What we try to do is help investors leverage the upside through sector rotation, but also minimize drawdowns,” the Fairlead Strategies founder told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “That’s obviously a big advantage longer term when you can just go into a less deep hole to climb out of.”

According to Stockton, her ETF is particularly nimble in this environment because it uses multiple strategies — not just one. Since President Donald Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2, the ETF has fallen just over 4%, while the S&P 500 has lost 6.9%.

Stockton’s ETF rotates monthly between all 11 S&P 500 sectors.

“We don’t own technology anymore,” Stockton said. “Some of the sectors that we like to invest in have fallen out of favor.”

As of April 16, the fund’s top sector holdings included consumer staples, utilities and real estate, according to Fairlead Strategies. 

As of Thursday’s close, the Fairlead Tactical Sector ETF is down 4% so far this year.

Meanwhile, ETFs that are centered around specific sectors or strategies are largely under pressure. For example, the Invesco Top QQQ Trust (QBIG), which tracks the top 45% of companies in the Nasdaq-100 index, is down 22% in 2025.

The GraniteShares YieldBoost TSLA ETF (TSYY) is off 48% since the beginning of the year.

BTIG’s Troy Donohue, the firm’s head of Americas portfolio trading, thinks Stockton’s ETF employs a sound strategy – particularly during the recent “dramatic pullback.”

“TACK is a great example of how you can be nimble during these market times,” Donohue said. “It’s great to see it in an ETF product that has performed really well during this recent drawdown.”