Scallop (SCA) Surge

Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat and manager of the Granny Shots fund, argues "scarcity" is the core investment theme for 2026. His thesis states companies selling "scarce assets"—products or services with structurally constrained supply and explosively growing demand—are dominating the market due to strong pricing power. He identifies three key scarcity areas: 1) AI compute (e.g., NVIDIA, AMD), limited by advanced chip manufacturing capacity; 2) AI memory/HBM (e.g., Micron), facing complex production challenges; and 3) energy infrastructure (e.g., GE Vernova), with long lead times for equipment needed to power booming data centers. Lee provides a macro trading framework: peaking oil prices signal lower inflation and potential Fed rate cuts, which benefit growth assets like the S&P 500 and Magnificent 7 stocks. Despite the S&P reaching his initial 7300 target, he sees a potential "feel-like-a-bear-market" mid-year pullback as a buying opportunity, raising his year-end target to 7700. Investment themes are prioritized as: 1) Global labor scarcity + AI automation, 2) Cybersecurity + energy security. The conclusion is that identifying companies benefiting from fundamental supply-demand imbalances, not just chasing rallies, is the path to outperformance in 2026.