Higher yields are a problem for a lot of the market. They pressure valuations, slow housing, and make expensive growth stocks explain themselves. But some businesses actually get more useful when rates and volatility start throwing elbows.
Growth Watch (Sponsored)
After analyzing thousands of companies, our analysts pinpointed the 5 Stocks Set to Double based on accelerating performance, improving fundamentals, and strong technical signals.
This newly released report explains why these five could be positioned for major moves in the year ahead.
While results aren’t guaranteed, previous reports uncovered gains as high as +175%, +498%, and +673%.
Access the free report before midnight.
See the 5 Stocks Set to Double
*Results may not represent all stock picks and may reflect partially closed positions. Investing involves risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. This is not financial advice.
Theme: Higher-Rate Beneficiaries and Market Infrastructure
This setup works because investors do not need to predict the exact next move in yields. They just need to understand who benefits when the rate tape gets jumpier. Exchanges, brokers, and trading platforms sit in the plumbing of the market. When clients hedge more, trade more, manage cash more actively, or shift fixed-income exposure, these companies get pulled into the action.
What’s Driving It
The numbers are already pointing in the right direction. CME reported Q1 2026 average daily volume of 36.2 million contracts, up 22%, with record revenue, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted EPS. ICE reported Q1 2026 consolidated net revenues of $3.0 billion, including $1.8 billion from exchanges and $657 million from fixed income and data services.
Schwab’s Q1 2026 client assets rose 19% year over year to $11.77 trillion, with 1.3 million new brokerage account openings. Interactive Brokers reported Q1 2026 adjusted net revenues of $1.68 billion, adjusted EPS of $0.60, and customer accounts up 31% to 4.75 million. MarketAxess reported Q1 2026 revenue up 12% to a record $233 million.
Here is the chain reaction:
Yields rise → investors hedge and reposition
Markets get jumpier → exchange volume increases
Cash earns more → brokers get more balance-sheet tailwind
Bond trading gets more active → fixed-income platforms gain relevance
Volatility stays elevated → market infrastructure becomes more valuable
What’s Working
What is working now is activity. CME is seeing record volume across asset classes. ICE has the exchange business plus fixed-income data and mortgage technology. Schwab has asset scale and improving revenue guidance, with recent investor-day commentary pointing to expected 2026 revenue growth of 14% to 15%. Interactive Brokers keeps adding accounts and benefits from active traders. MarketAxess is getting demand from global fixed-income clients, with portfolio trading average daily volume up 51% to a record $1.9 billion.
What to Watch
You should watch volume quality, not just volume. One chaotic week can create trading activity, but the better setup is sustained hedging, steady client growth, and improving monetization. For the brokers, watch net interest margin and client cash behavior. For the exchanges, watch whether volatility keeps feeding rate, commodity, equity, and credit trading activity.
CME Group (CME)
What it does: Futures and options exchange across interest rates, equity indexes, commodities, FX, agriculture, and metals.
Why it fits: CME is the cleanest volatility-and-rates name in the basket. Q1 2026 average daily volume reached a quarterly record 36.2 million contracts, up 22% from a year earlier. Non-U.S. ADV hit a record 11.4 million contracts, up 30%, and the company delivered record revenue, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted EPS.
What stands out:
This is the stock you buy when you want a business that gets more useful when uncertainty rises. CME does not need to guess where rates go. It needs clients to keep hedging where rates might go.
What to watch:
Watch interest-rate ADV and commodity activity. If yields stay volatile and oil remains jumpy, CME stays directly in the flow.
The Takeaway: Buy this first if you want the cleanest higher-rate and volatility infrastructure stock.
The risk is that volatility fades quickly and trading volumes normalize before the stock gets another leg higher.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
What it does: Exchanges, clearing, fixed-income data, mortgage technology, and market infrastructure.
Why it fits: ICE gives you a broader infrastructure model than CME. Q1 2026 consolidated net revenues were $3.0 billion, with exchange net revenues of $1.8 billion, fixed income and data services revenue of $657 million, and mortgage technology revenue of $539 million. Operating margin was 56%, and the company returned $848 million to shareholders, including more than $550 million in share repurchases.
What stands out:
You are getting trading infrastructure, data, clearing, and mortgage technology in one name. That diversification matters when higher yields hit different parts of the market in different ways.
What to watch:
Watch exchange revenue, data-services growth, and whether mortgage technology stabilizes. ICE works best when the market gives it credit for being more than a trading-volume story.
The Takeaway: Buy this if you want a diversified market-infrastructure compounder with rates, data, and exchange exposure.
The risk is that mortgage-market weakness keeps dragging on the broader rerating.
Policy Impact (Sponsored)
The U.S. government pumped more than $1 billion into Intel.
The stock popped 128%. It pumped $400 million into MP Materials.
The stock popped 200%. It bought 10% of Trilogy Metals.
The stock popped 500%. And now, Trump has chosen this AI stock for a $1 billion payday.
Click here for the full story and stock pick (free).
*This ad is sent on behalf of InvestorPlace Media at 1125 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. If you're not interested in this opportunity, please click here.
Charles Schwab (SCHW)
What it does: Brokerage, banking, wealth management, retirement accounts, and retail-investor infrastructure.
Why it fits: Schwab gives you the client-cash and brokerage angle. Q1 2026 total client assets rose 19% year over year to $11.77 trillion, core net new assets were $140.0 billion, and new brokerage account openings reached 1.3 million. By April 30, client assets were up to $12.61 trillion, with 39.3 million active brokerage accounts.
What stands out:
Schwab benefits when clients are active, assets are growing, and cash still earns something. Recent investor-day commentary also raised 2026 revenue growth guidance to 14% to 15%, which is a strong signal that management sees momentum continuing.
What to watch:
Watch client cash sorting, net interest margin, and net new assets. Schwab works when higher rates help revenue without pushing clients too aggressively into lower-margin cash alternatives.
The Takeaway: Buy this if you want the best retail-brokerage and client-asset scale play in a higher-rate market.
The risk is that cash sorting or slower net new assets caps the benefit from higher rates.
Interactive Brokers (IBKR)
What it does: Global electronic brokerage platform for active traders and institutions.
Why it fits: Interactive Brokers is the active-trader name in the basket. Q1 2026 adjusted net revenues were $1.68 billion, adjusted EPS was $0.60, and customer accounts increased 31% to 4.75 million. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.0875.
What stands out:
This is the broker you buy when market activity stays high and sophisticated clients keep trading across global markets. It is more direct trading leverage than Schwab, and the customer account growth is strong.
What to watch:
Watch daily average revenue trades, margin loans, and client account growth. IBKR works when activity stays elevated without credit risk becoming the story.
The Takeaway: Buy this if you want the highest activity-leverage broker in the basket.
The risk is that trading volumes cool and the stock loses its momentum premium fast.
SpaceX Opportunity (Sponsored)
Right now, one company is quietly supporting essential operations across the U.S. military. That company is SpaceX.
But the bigger story could be what comes next. There’s increasing speculation that Elon Musk may eventually take SpaceX public.
Moments like this are rare — and when they happen, timing is everything. Some believe this could rank among the biggest investment opportunities of the decade.
Learn how to get positioned early
Which sector do you think is the most structurally important investment theme for the next 5 years?
MarketAxess (MKTX)
What it does: Electronic trading platform for institutional fixed-income markets, especially credit.
Why it fits: MarketAxess gives you the fixed-income electronification angle. Q1 2026 revenue rose 12% to a record $233 million, helped by 20% revenue growth outside U.S. credit products. Block trading ADV rose 35%, and portfolio trading ADV rose 51% to a record $1.9 billion.
What stands out:
This is the more specialized bet. If higher yields keep fixed-income markets active and institutions keep shifting more trading onto electronic platforms, MarketAxess has a clear role.
What to watch:
Watch credit volume, portfolio trading growth, and market share. This stock needs stronger activity to translate into a cleaner rerating.
The Takeaway: Buy this if you want the most direct fixed-income trading-platform recovery name.
The risk is that competition and weak credit-market share keep the stock from getting full credit for better volume.
Elite Trade Club Insider
More Than $800 Million Just Headed For The Exit
A major holder sold nearly $496 million worth of stock in a cloud software name after a 410% one-year run, while another asset management stock saw more than $320 million in insider-linked selling near its 52-week high.
This may only look like two big sales to you, but Elite Trade Club Insider readers will see where major holders are using strong markets to cash out after the easy money has already been made.
You’re reading the free version. Here’s what we held back.
Every day, insiders and institutions move millions before the market catches on. We surface the data behind those moves before the rest of the market sees it.
A subscription gets you:
The insider buys, options bets, and dark pool moves the free edition can't show you. Unlocked every weekday.
A Sunday Deep Dive that tells you where to look before Monday's bell rings.
The Friday Smart Money Brief: who bought, who sold, where the big options bets landed, and where institutions are hiding volume. Three data layers. One email.
A Monthly Insider Scorecard so you always know whether smart money is buying or selling the market.
Every past Insider edition, unlocked, on elitetrade.club. Go back and see what you missed.
$25/mo or $250/yr. 30-day money back guarantee. Cancel anytime. Founding member pricing: lock in $25/mo before we raise it.
This theme is not about cheering for higher yields. Higher yields create real problems for the market. The point is that some companies sit in the infrastructure that investors use when those problems show up.
CME and ICE are the cleanest market-plumbing plays. Schwab and IBKR give you brokerage leverage. MarketAxess gives you the fixed-income trading angle. If yields stay jumpy, this basket stays relevant.
Best Regards,
— Adam Garcia
Elite Trade Club
Click here to get our daily newsletter straight to your cell for free.
P.S. Just like this newsletter, it's 100% free*, and you can stop at any time by replying STOP.
