Although the specific Bloomberg article titled "People Trying Hard To 'Outfox' S&P 500: Cutright" could not be retrieved, broader financial news from late August 2026 indicates a significant shift in market sentiment and investment strategies away from heavily concentrated, AI-driven components of the S&P 500. Goldman Sachs launched an S&P 500 ex-AI index (SPXXAI) in February 2026, which has outperformed the standard S&P 500 since late June. This index excludes companies enabling the AI boom, which represent about 45% of the S&P 500's total market capitalization. Before its launch, the full S&P 500 returned 76% over three years, compared to just 32% for the ex-AI version.
This outperformance by non-AI stocks is driven by investments in sectors like biotech, regional banks, and consumer entertainment. By July 2026, the correlation between Goldman's US Broad AI Index and the S&P 500 ex-AI Index dropped to between -0.53 and -0.60, indicating an actively inverse movement. Goldman strategist Ben Snider highlighted three themes driving this trend: consumer experience stocks (which returned 17% year-to-date by July 2026, outperforming the broader consumer discretionary sector by 17 percentage points), "compounders" with consistent earnings growth, and potential M&A candidates. This shift may reflect investors trying to "outfox" the S&P 500 by diversifying away from its most dominant components.
Further evidence of this trend is seen in recent S&P 500 daily movements. While the S&P 500 edged down 0.2% on a recent trading day, individual stock performance showed wide divergence. Workday (WDAY) gained 5.8% for the day and a strong 29.5% over the past month, signaling a sustained move. Conversely, heavily-weighted AI-related stocks or those with high market concentration, such as Marvell Technology (MRVL), which was down 10.3%, experienced significant declines. This indicates a market where investors are actively seeking opportunities outside the traditionally top-performing, large-cap growth names that have dominated the S&P 500 for years.
The S&P 500 itself is facing increasing concentration risk, with the top ten stocks now accounting for 40% of the entire index. Three major passive fund operators—BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street—are the largest shareholders in 88% of S&P 500 companies, holding a combined approximate $2.9 trillion in the top 10 alone. This concentration has led some strategists, like Bank of America's Savita Subramanian, to maintain a cautious stance, favoring large-cap value stocks, particularly in energy and financial sectors, and setting the lowest S&P 500 year-end target in a Bloomberg survey due to concerns over elevated AI infrastructure leverage and compressed credit spreads. These factors suggest a growing impetus for investors to look beyond the immediate S&P 500 index for returns.
