McCullough: Still Holding the Bag 7? That’s Where the Real Recession Is

03/27/25 02:20PM EDT

Hedgeye CEO Keith McCullough has a critical question for your portfolio: Why are you still holding the “Bag 7”?

On a recent client tour in Texas, McCullough was surprised by what he heard from some institutional investors.

“I couldn’t go a meeting without talking about the ‘Bag 7,’” he says. “The surprise? They still own it—and their [clients] do too.”

Despite market volatility, many investors are still heavily exposed to last cycle’s mega-cap names—NVDA, TSLA, MSFT, GOOGL, and more. At the same time, recession fears and tariff uncertainty remain top of mind.

But Keith is clear: slowing ≠ recession.

“Now we’re slowing again, but we’re still not seeing a recession,” he says. “Clients keep asking about it, and I like that—because when everyone’s panicking, I’m usually standing over here.”

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