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One of the market's hottest stock themes is buying everything AI can't replace

Cnbc · · 631 words · By Krysta Escobar
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What to know about One of the market's hottest stock themes is buying everything AI can't replace

As investors worry about all of the companies that AI will wipe out, they are rotating into the ones that AI will have a harder time disrupting.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

As investors worry about all of the companies that AI will wipe out, they are rotating into the ones that AI will have a harder time disrupting.

Why it matters

And the HALO trade, as it is called, is working.

Common ground

HALO, which stands for "heavy assets, low obsolescence," was coined by Josh Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, in February, premised on the idea that an era of rapid AI disruption requires a search by investors for companies that are…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/17/ai-stock-market-trade-halo-investing.html

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 3
schedule Pending 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “HALO, which stands for "heavy assets, low obsolescence," was coined by Josh Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, in February”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources confirm that Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, coined the term HALO (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence) in February 2026.
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web search NEUTRAL — Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and the coiner of HALO, says the recent market rotation is more than an anti-AI play; it marks a simple yet significant shift in the characteristics inves…
https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-rotation-halo-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — The term HALO (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence) was first popularized in early February 2026 by Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, as a framework for navigating an increasingly volatile mar…
https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/marketmi…
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web search NEUTRAL — With investors dumping shares, some of the money has flowed to so-called heavy assets, low obsolescence (“HALO”) stocks. HALO stocks, a term coined by Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, in…
https://www.valens-research.com/investor-essentials-daily/th…
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Claim 2: “Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments, whose firm launched an ET based on the HALO theme last week”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Dave Mazza is the CEO of Roundhill Investments and that the firm launched an ETF based on the HALO theme.
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill Investments offers investors and traders alike strategic investment products for their portfolios — from thematic to options-based income ETFs and more.
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill Launches New ETFs in 2025, 2026: Here's What Comes Next. Mazza told Benzinga that Roundhill launched around 30 ETFs in 2025, which covered various thematic launches and income-focused ETFs.
https://www.benzinga.com/etfs/specialty-etfs/26/01/50253367/…
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill Investments CEO Dave Mazza discusses the record-breaking performance of the DRAM ETF and the A.I.-driven demand boosting memory stocks on 'Making Money.'Dark Mode. Reduce eye strain and focu…
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6395595261112
help
Claim 3: “Adobe, ServiceNow, and Salesforce have drifted to 52-week lows”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim.
verified
Claim 4: “The Roundhill Halo ETF (LOHA) launched on Thursday”
VERIFIED
The existence of the Roundhill HALO ETF with the ticker LOHA is confirmed by the official Roundhill Investments site and Benzinga.
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web search NEUTRAL — Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments, joins CNBC's "Halftime Report" to highlight the launch of their new "HALO" ETF coined by our very own Josh Brown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH5-UDvJuVA
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web search NEUTRAL — LOHA Roundhill HALO ETF. The Fund operates as an index fund and is not actively managed by the Adviser. The Index seeks to measure the performance of equity securities issued by U.S. companies classif…
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/loha/
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill Investments has launched the Roundhill HALO ETF (NYSE: LOHA), a new ETF focused on companies considered less vulnerable to disruption from artificial intelligence.
https://www.benzinga.com/etfs/new-etfs/26/05/52573696/roundh…
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Claim 5: “Some of the top holdings in the LOHA ETF include Cummins, AutoZone, TFI International, CSX, JB Hunt, and Lennox”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim.
info
Claim 6: “FedEx and ExxonMobil are both up close to 30% since the beginning of the year”
SINGLE SOURCE
While search results provide general stock price pages for ExxonMobil, they do not provide the specific percentage increase since the beginning of the year for both FedEx and ExxonMobil to verify the 'close to 30%' claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — View today's Exxon Mobil Corp stock price and latest XOM news and analysis. Create real-time notifications to follow any changes in the live stock price.
https://www.investing.com/equities/exxon-mobil
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web search NEUTRAL — ExxonMobil's excess cash flow supports consistent buybacks and dividend raises. ExxonMobil has increased its dividend for 43 consecutive years, noting that fewer than 5% of S&P 500 companies have achi…
https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/05/12/exxonmobil-salesfo…
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web search NEUTRAL — XOM | Complete Exxon Mobil Corp. stock news by MarketWatch. View real-time stock prices and stock quotes for a full financial overview.
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/xom
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Claim 7: “Roundhill recently had a huge hit with the launch of its Memory ETF (DRAM) on April 2”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 8: “Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have both incorporated HALO into their investment research in 2026”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley consists of general company descriptions and unrelated YouTube videos; there is no mention of the HALO investment theme in the search results.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs
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web search NEUTRAL — Do you watch YouTube? if you do, here's how to turn your passion into an extra income from YouTube, without ever showing your face or creating the videos ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-dVnHrmPA0
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web search NEUTRAL — Begin your career with a Goldman Sachs internship and get access to the best support network, events, and opportunities to thrive. We have a wide range of programs for diverse, curious minds.
https://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/students/programs-and-i…
schedule
Claim 9: “according to VettaFi, hit $9.8 billion in assets in 43 days, the fastest-ever for an ETF”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 10: “The fund is up 85% since its launch”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 11: “Coca-Cola is up close to 17%”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results for 'Coca' returned information about the plant, a linguistic corpus, and the company's homepage, but no specific stock price performance data for the current year.
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web search NEUTRAL — Coca refers to any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. It is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca
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web search NEUTRAL — [Davies] 1.1 billion word corpus of American English, 1990-2010. Compare to the BNC and ANC. Large, balanced, up-to-date, and freely-available online.
https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/
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web search NEUTRAL — We are here to refresh the world and make a difference. Learn more about The Coca-Cola Company, our brands and our purpose.
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/
info
Claim 12: “Brown... joined Roundhill on a limited advisory basis”
SINGLE SOURCE
While Josh Brown's involvement with the HALO theme and his appearances on CNBC are documented, the specific detail that he joined Roundhill on a 'limited advisory basis' is not explicitly corroborated across multiple independent sources in the provided evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — Josh Brown joins 'Halftime Report' with his analysis of the tech sector and whether investors should think about selling their shares.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAKhKyb-nQ0
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web search NEUTRAL — Follow us on social media. Roundhill Investments offers innovative ETFs designed for today’s investors. Thematic. WeeklyPay™.
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill Investments is an SEC-registered investment advisor focused on offering innovative ETFs.$5 billion in AUM. What started as a high-conviction idea about memory has quickly become one of the s…
https://www.linkedin.com/company/roundhill
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Claim 13: “The fund tracks an index that screens the largest listed U.S. companies for businesses whose value is focused in physical assets and infrastructure AI can not replace”
CORROBORATED
Both Benzinga and the official Roundhill Investments site describe the LOHA ETF as tracking companies with heavy assets and stable cash flows that are less vulnerable to AI disruption.
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill's New LOHA ETF Targets 'AI-Proof' Companies With Heavy Assets And Stable Cash Flows. The "HALO" concept — short for "heavy assets, low obsolescence" — was coined by Josh Brown, CEO of Rithol…
https://www.benzinga.com/etfs/new-etfs/26/05/52573696/roundh…
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web search NEUTRAL — Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) tracks Heavy Asset, Low Obsolescence companies built to outlast rapid tech cycles.Asset intensity refers to how much a company must invest in physical or total assets to gene…
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/loha/
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web search NEUTRAL — Webull offers a wide range of information on ROUNDHILL ETF TRUST LOHA ETFs including, but not limited to real-time quotes, pricing, charts, technical analysis, historical data, and news to help you wi…
https://www.webull.com/quote/bats-loha
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.