The Palantir Effect: Momentum Stocks Are Making A Killing Like Never Before

Momentum traders are enjoying their best stretch in over a decade, with the strategy's flagship fund outpacing the broader U.S. market by the widest margin since records began, and it's a selective basket of stocks, led by Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), doing all the heavy lifting.

Momentum Strategy Crushes S&P 500

The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (NYSE:MTUM) is up 11.4% year-to-date through June, versus a modest 2% gain for the S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY).

That nine percentage point lead marks the largest six-month outperformance since MTUM's launch in 2013.

While the absolute performance is below the first half of 2024, when the AI-fueled rally sent momentum stocks soaring 25%, the relative ...