The major market averages could struggle in the short term as the momentum trade fades, and tactical traders may want to look elsewhere for winners, according to Fairlead Strategies founder Katie Stockton. Appearing Thursday on CNBC’s ” Power Lunch ,” Stockton said her team was looking at “countertrend exposure” because of an expected short-term decline for the market as a whole. “We think that the odds are best in stocks that honestly look a little bit different than the S & P 500,” Stockton said. The S & P 500 and other market-cap weighted indexes have become increasingly concentrated in just a handful of tech stocks in recent years. The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks accounted for more than 32% of the SPDR S & P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) as of Wednesday’s market close. Instead of buying more tech, the smarter move could be to look to more under-the-radar sectors for stocks with interesting profiles. “What we’re kind of interested in from a technical perspective are stocks that actually have been in downcycles and seem to be emerging from them. That would be more common right now in defensive sectors like health care, consumer staples also, even some REITs are starting to perk up after downdrafts,” Stockton said. REIT is an abbreviation of real estate investment trust, a sector favored by some income investors for its cash payouts. One name that Stockton highlighted in the health-care sector was Regeneron Pharmaceuticals . Stockton said the stock recently broke above its 50-day moving average, a move that some technical analysts believe can signal an upcoming breakout. REGN 3M mountain Regeneron’s start is on an upswing in February. On a more long-term basis, Stockton pointed to Lululemon as a stock she is interested in, but cautioned it may be smart to wait for a pullback instead of jumping in at this price.
