{"id":28155,"date":"2026-03-20T12:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T04:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syfe.com\/magazine\/?p=28155"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:30:01","slug":"what-is-halo-wall-street-favourite-trade-trading-investing-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syfe.com\/magazine\/what-is-halo-wall-street-favourite-trade-trading-investing-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"What is HALO, Wall Street’s Favourite Trade Right Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Investors seeking value in a volatile market are piling into a new trade: HALO, a basket of \u201cboring\u201d businesses that are hard to replace despite technological and economic disruptions. Here\u2019s our take on what it means for markets and your money.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is HALO?<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

HALO stands for \u201cH<\/strong>eavy A<\/strong>ssets, L<\/strong>ow O<\/strong>bsolescence\u201d stocks. These are businesses that have been considered \u201cboring\u201d by investors for their lack of change over the years. They include companies holding real assets, building everything from logistics networks to roads and bridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These \u201cboring\u201d businesses have turned out to be exciting stocks in the era of artificial intelligence. AI is forcing a historic build-out in infrastructure, including data centres and energy grids, while increasingly capable AI agents are disrupting software business models, automating white-collar tasks. Against this backdrop, heavy-asset businesses look less fungible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see this phenomenon playing out in the chart below, which focuses on Europe. \u201cCapital-intensive\u201d stocks (i.e. businesses that require lots of investment upfront) have clearly done better than their \u201ccapital-light\u201d counterparts over the last 15 months or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: FactSet, Datastream, Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it (really) means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

HALO may be a new acronym, but it represents an old idea: the rotation from \u201cgrowth\u201d <\/strong>(rapidly expanding, often innovative companies) to \u201cvalue\u201d<\/strong> stocks (more stable, profitable businesses that tend to return more cash to shareholders). This rotation typically happens when investors seek shelter from inflated valuations and shifting economic tides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HALO also reflects the shift towards industries <\/strong>in the global economy. Trillions of state capital is being poured into heavy industries as national and economic security move up the policy agenda, especially in strategic areas like energy and semiconductors. This effectively means governments globally are underwriting long-term capital inflows into heavy-asset sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are the hottest HALO trades?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In our view, there are several sectors (and some countries) that stand out for their strong HALO characteristics. Read to the end to curate your own HALO trade on Syfe!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n