These names on Josh Brown’s list showed strength during last week’s volatility
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — This week, a massive snowstorm blanketed a big swath of the country and, unsurprisingly, midstream companies in the natural gas space got a little attention from stock market investors. This is because, in colder winters, natural gas demand rises, which means a better operating environment for the pipeline players that move gas from one place to another — provided nothing freezes or blows up in the process. Here’s what happened to natural gas prices ahead of the storm as suppliers and traders prepared: We don’t trade commodities or have any particular view about whether there will be another spike like this in February. The point is, when things like this happen to any commodity price, it’s a reminder to investors that there are probably some underappreciated assets in the equity markets that deserve another look. Targa Resources (TRGP) is a good example. This is a natural gas transmission company doing well fundamentally with a share price now challenging 52-week (and all-time) highs. Targa was once an MLP (remember those nightmare K-1’s?) but converted to a regular C-corp 10 years ago. It is now on our list and we’ll tell you why in a moment. If you’re paying close attention to the work Sean and I do here at The Best Stocks in the Market, then you know we’re not sitting around crying about busted trades in sectors that have gone out of favor. There are probably plenty of opportunities in the SaaS space, for example, for long-term patient investors. But right now, they are decidedly not the best in the market. They are falling knives. Someday they will stop going down. The consensus will have become overly pessimistic. The results will prove to have been less bad than feared. And they will rise again. At least, some of them will. But we don’t know the answer to these two important questions: When? From what price? Which is why we’ll leave the knife-catching to others and focus on what’s working now — and how we can manage the risk of each trade setup. Sean wanted to take a look at some of the strongest stocks on the list amidst all the bombs being detonated last week from gold and silver to the software sector. If they’re selling those stocks, where’s the money going? We have some charts of interest showing relative strength for you today along with the usual high level data… Sector leaderboard As of Feb 2. , there are 216 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Sean — Last week was a wild one. Software officially slipped into bear-market territory, while gold and silver experienced historic moves in both directions — capped by silver’s worst single-day decline on record, with daily data going back to 1968. Leadership during periods like this can be telling. At the end of last week, we saw strength emerge in select areas of the market, with companies tied to energy, agriculture and industrials earning new spots on our list. Let’s take a look at these four stocks, who were all added on Thursday of last week. Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP): Targa Resources is a leading midstream energy company that provides critical infrastructure services for natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Their assets include pipelines, processing plants, and storage facilities primarily in high-growth regions like the Permian Basin. TRGP cut its dividend to zero in 2021, but has been steadily increasing it since then; it now yields about 2% annually. In their most recent quarter (Q3 2025), Targa reported record adjusted EBITDA of $1.27 billion, up 19% year over year and net income of $478.4 million. Earnings grew 23% year over year, as net income increased from $387.4 million in Q3 2024 to $478.4 million in Q3 2025. Josh — Okay, here’s the situation. Targa broke out in late October into early November by reclaiming the 200-day moving average and holding above it. That ended a six month consolidation period and we’ve seen an uptrend ever since. A retest of the rising 50-day at the start of this year in the 170’s is a nice clue that the hippos are getting hungrier. The stock is now extended after its recent run through $200 and RSI above 70 tells you that. I think you’re ultimately going to get a breakout to new 52-week highs (and all-time highs) but there may be a better entry coming soon. $160 has to hold on a closing weekly basis. That was the low end of that long consolidation period before the October breakout. I would eyeball it and check in every Friday. Traders can use $169, the 50-day, and roll it up as the stock price (hopefully) rises. Devon Energy Corp. (DVN): Sean — Devon Energy is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company. For Q3 2025, Devon averaged 390,000 barrels of oil production per day, reaching the top end of guidance. The company generated $1.7 billion in operating cash flow and $820 million in free cash flow, representing a 9% increase in operating cash flow versus the prior quarter. There has been recent news that Devon has been in talks with Coterra Energy (CTRA) to merge, creating a $57B independent U.S. shale producer. Josh — You can’t see it on the chart above, but Devon has been a downtrend since May of 2022, and it’s only now beginning to snap that long-term decline. I like set-ups like this because they allow me to imagine an extended run. Sellers are likely exhausted of supply and there’s plenty of room for new investors to discover (or rediscover) the stock after so many years in a bear market. When the 50-day crossed above the 200-day in late summer, that was a clue that something may have been changing here. In November, she reclaimed her 200-day (sorry, I knew a girl named Devon once. Nothing happened.) and managed to hold it on pullbacks. Mid-60’s RSI makes this a less extended chart than Targa, I like this one right here and now. My line in the sand would be $35 which gives us plenty of room to see if this new uptrend’s got legs. High lows on the red days will be your tell that the trend is intact. W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW): Sean — W.W. Grainger is a leading distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and services. In simpler terms, they sell tools, equipment, and supplies that businesses need to keep their operations running smoothly. Everything from safety gear and hand tools to cleaning supplies and lighting. They serve over 4.5 million customers worldwide through both high-touch service and online platforms. In Q3 2025, Grainger delivered net sales of $4.66 billion, up 6.1% year-over-year. On a reported basis, net earnings declined 39.5% to $294 million due to asset impairment charges related to their planned exit from the U.K. market, but on an adjusted basis, net earnings grew 0.8% to $490 million year over year. Josh — I’m seeing a “golden cross” in progress here which means the short-term momentum in the stock is starting to become the primary trend, not just noise. It’s a solid set-up with meaningful overhead resistance at both $1100 (seen above from the spring) and $1200 from late 2024. The 200-day has flattened and turned slightly higher. The 200-day was respected on the most recent pullback at year-end, which was probably the result of tax loss selling. Let’s call it $1000 and make that our off-ramp for both trades and investments. The 50-day has been rising steadily, not snapping up vertically, and an RSI of 63 confirms the uptrend. This is a cool, calm, nascent bull run. Corteva, Inc. (CTVA): Sean — Corteva is a pure-play agriculture company that develops and sells seeds and crop protection products. They provide farmers with corn and soybean seeds (including genetically improved seeds), as well as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides to protect crops. The company combines seed innovation with crop protection chemicals to help farmers maximize productivity. Corteva is in the process of splitting these two segments into two separate, publicly-traded businesses, but for now they report both segments as one. The company raised its full-year 2025 guidance with EBITDA expected to be $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion, representing 14% growth, while full-year 2026 growth is expected to come in at 6% year over year. Josh — Another materials name, sure why not. Corteva’s already had a nice run from its September swoon and the rise has been orderly. The key shift came in late November when price reclaimed the 200-day moving average around $68 and held it on subsequent pullbacks. Since then, the stock has built a series of higher lows, with the 50-day now rising and tracking price higher rather than acting as resistance. Trend is being confirmed by momentum with an RSI in the mid-60’s. Traders should stalk Corteva and wait for the trigger of a decisive move above $75 on good volume. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. 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