Marci McGregor said earnings revision ratios are now above one globally, at all-time highs in Japan and five-year highs in the United States — more estimates going up than down — and that the market's reaction to higher oil and higher yields has been muted because of it.
The caution case that day was straightforward: West Texas Intermediate crude above $102, Brent pushing $109, and Treasury yields rising. Her answer was to treat it as noise against a fundamental picture that has not deteriorated.
"That tells me a story that the fundamentals are intact."
McGregor is Head of Portfolio Strategy at Bank of America Private Bank, where she sets the positioning guidance the bank's advisers give clients.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 3 calls that matter.
👤 Guest: Marci McGregor, Head of Portfolio Strategy at Bank of America Private Bank
🎙️ Host: Scott Wapner, a co-anchor of CNBC's Closing Bell
📰 Published: 10 September 2026 on CNBC's Closing Bell
🟣 Apple Podcasts | 🔗 Episode page | ⏱️ 2 min
Key Takeaways
Earnings revision ratios are above one globally, at all-time highs in Japan and five-year highs in the US
Her conclusion from that: fade the noise rather than the trend
She would buy September weakness, and points to market strength after midterms and over the following 6 and 12 months
Her two answers to concentration are emerging markets outside the US and dividend payers inside it
1. Fade The Noise
Scott Wapner asked whether crude above $102, Brent near $109 and rising yields were a reason to turn cautious.
McGregor expects weak September seasonality in equities and says the reaction so far has been contained. Her evidence is the revision data: "earnings revision ratios are now above one globally, all time highs in Japan, five year highs in the U.S." — a ratio above one means analysts are raising more estimates than they are cutting
That is the basis for her whole position. "That tells me a story that the fundamentals are intact. So I would fade some of the noise."
Her formulation for it is a house line. "We keep saying follow the trend lines, not the headlines, because that's what really matters here."
2. Buy The September Dip
Asked whether that makes her a dip buyer, she said yes without qualification.
She reads the pullback as rotation rather than deterioration. "I just think this is a little bit of a loss of momentum and a rotational market more than anything."
September's reputation is priced in, on her account, and she was direct about the action: "I would be a buyer here."
Her seasonal argument runs past the election. "Once you get through midterms you tend to get market strength into the end of the year." She added that the same holds historically over the following six and twelve months
3. EM, Dividends, Financials
Her positioning answer was framed as a correction to whatever the client already owns too much of.
She likes US equities, including small caps, which she said have held up pretty well despite the loss of momentum, the last couple of days aside
For portfolios concentrated in the US, the answer is emerging markets; for portfolios concentrated in technology, it is dividend-paying stocks
Two sectors she named outright. "I like financials for deregulation, loan growth, NII growth, and I like health care." — net interest income growth being the gap between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits
McGregor's bottom line is that the September setup is a rotation to buy rather than a signal to sell, because the earnings estimates underneath it are still being revised up.
Bonus Insights
The specific levels behind the caution question were Wapner's: West Texas Intermediate above $102 and Brent pushing $109, with Treasury yields higher on the day
Her one qualification on small caps was recent. They have held up pretty well despite the loss of momentum, she said — "not in the last couple of days, but have held up pretty well"
The hour's earlier reporting had already put an energy-price frame on the market, which is the noise she was asked about and the noise she said to fade
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