6 stocks and ETFs rallying to record highs as U.S. tech reels

Weeks like this make you pause and ask what’s actually been working in your portfolio and whether it’s as resilient as you thought.

When growth shares are getting pummelled, the first instinct is to check how far your favourites have fallen and decide whether the dip is worth buying... or selling out late in the game.

Take a look at the other side of the ledger first. What’s holding up? What’s actually going up? And did you own enough of it for the gains to make a difference?

Selling in chipmakers and other companies tied to the AI data-centre buildout has pushed the Nasdaq-100 into correction territory. If you’ve been holding the likes of Nvidia, Micron or Nebius, it’s been especially painful.

But there were attractive gains to be made from several corners of the market. Cash-rich conglomerates found buyers, healthcare regained its charm after years in the market’s shadow, and a high-conviction fund had a cracking week.

Here, I look at six stocks and ETFs making 52-week highs in a week when plenty of investors were busy checking how far their favourites had fallen.

Note: Price returns for the investments discussed in this article were recorded at 3 pm AEST on 6 November 2026. The list is not intended to be comprehensive. It highlights stocks and ETFs that moved differently from the broader U.S. sharemarket during the recent sell-off.

#1 & 2 - Berkshire Hathaway and Soul Patts, the ultimate conglomerates

Berkshire Hathaway (NASDAQ: BRK/B) is up about 5% for the week, nearly 15% over a month and close to 20% for the year.

Some investors wondered what they were buying once Warren Buffett handed the chief executive role to Greg Abel in January. Then Abel pledged to spend his entire after-tax salary buying Berkshire shares every year he runs the company.

“My entire salary, as long as I am the CEO … I hope it’s 20 years, I will write the [Berkshire annual letter] and invest my entire $15.3 million of after-tax dollars [into Berkshire],” he told CNBC.

“I believe in Berkshire … I’m going to do this every year, it’s best just to tell the world and over time it will be hundreds of millions of after-tax dollars.”

With more than US$300 billion at Berkshire’s disposal, the market is starting to warm to the man who gets to decide where it goes. In hindsight, that was a smoking buy signal too many of us missed. The boat has since moved a fair way from the dock.

Closer to home, Soul Patts (ASX: SOL) gained 3.53% for the week and 4% over a month, taking its 2026 gain to 27.09%. In September, Soul Patts had about 20% of its $16 billion portfolio in cash. Some might call that a lazy balance sheet. Yet, these days, lazy pays.

With Australian 10-year government bond yields above 5% at the time, Soul Patts CEO Todd Barlow told Livewire that the bar for taking risk had risen. He was happy to get paid while he waited for something worth buying.

“We're now getting paid for riskless cash, and whatever risk that we're taking on top of that, we need to get paid for and we need to make sure that we're appropriately compensated for taking the risk.”

Asset Allocation

Soul Patts has 20% in cash. Todd Barlow says everything else has to earn its place

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#3 - Aoris International Fund (Class D) (Hedged) Active ETF

Weeks like this are a test of what you’re paying a high-conviction fundie to do. A concentrated portfolio can look brilliantly selective when its biggest positions are all riding the same trade. The interesting bit comes when that trade goes against you.

Stephen Arnold's currency-hedged Aoris International Fund (ASX: DAOR) gained 4.55% for the week and 10.40% over a month. It’s up just over 5% this year.

Earlier this year, Arnold made the case for buying quality companies that can “control their own destiny” and waiting until the price is right. Microsoft, Visa and Cintas are three names he’s highlighted. Software and cloud services, card payments and work uniforms are three quite different ways to earn a dollar.

We’ll reach out to Arnold to find out which holdings did the heavy lifting and whether the sell-off has brought anything on his watchlist down to a price he’s willing to pay.

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#4 - VanEck Global Healthcare Leaders ETF

Healthcare spent years in the market’s shadow. This week, it gave investors a reminder of why they own it. The VanEck Global Healthcare Leaders ETF (ASX: HLTH) gained 3.67% for the week and 8.55% over a month. It’s up 3.42% in 2026 and 5.83% over 12 months.

I went to Costco this week and couldn’t believe the queue at the pharmacy. Then at the gym, my personal trainer told me all her clients were on GLP-1s to fast-track getting thin. I’d gone in to train for rowing and somehow got a healthcare sector update between sets!

GLP-1s might be the talk of the gym, but healthcare has a longer-running story. As populations age, more people need drugs, X-rays, operations and ongoing care. And from AI-assisted scans to less invasive surgery, technology is changing how doctors spot problems and treat them, helping people live longer and stay healthier along the way.

Some healthcare names have offered a place to hide as markets get jumpier heading into year-end. By the November 4 close, Johnson & Johnson was up about 34% for 2026 and Eli Lilly was up more than 25%.

VanEck’s Cameron McCormack made the case for healthcare last year, when the sector was still out of favour. He pointed to solid earnings, more clarity on U.S. drug pricing policy and a pipeline of new treatments that could give the sector a lift.

“We believe that the healthcare sector is an attractive diversifier in the current environment ... the sector's long-term growth is driven by consistent consumer demand for new medications and treatments, which remains relatively steady even during recessions,” he said.

Investment Theme

Healthcare gets a shot in the arm

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#5 - Betashares FTSE 100 ETF

The British have long known the value of dry humour. The FTSE 100 has pulled off something similar. Just as Wall Street was discovering how exciting growth stocks can be on the way down, a basket of supposedly boring British blue chips went up.

The Betashares FTSE 100 ETF (ASX: F100) gained 2.70% for the week. The fund is up nearly 4% over a month, 3.04% in 2026 and 5.48% over 12 months. With dividends, the one-year performance bumps up to 9.50%. 

The London-listed heavyweights include banks, energy producers and consumer staples companies. Many earn their money overseas, so the British label tells you only so much about where their profits come from.

The bigger difference is what drives those profits. Lending margins, oil prices and what people put in their shopping baskets give FTSE 100 investors a different set of numbers to worry about. This week, there was something to be said for that.

#6 - Woolworths Group

Woolworths (ASX: WOW) is winning the wallets of both shoppers and investors alike, with its share price cracking a record high at the time of writing.

 The shares gained 7% for the week and 10.36% over a month, taking their rise to almost 43.79% in 2026 and 49.91% over 12 months. Add in the 2.30% fully-franked yield and you've made a very handsome return on investment on a the grocery giant.

Weeks like this also show why essential businesses are finding buyers. Households can put off buying a new sofa or get another year out of the car. The weekly grocery shop comes around all the same.

That dependable demand gives Woolworths something to build on, and the turnaround hinges on winning a bigger share of the grocery spending that’s already happening. The next result will give investors a chance to see how much of that is translating into stronger earnings.

FNArena's Rudi Filapek-Vandyck had called it out as one of his top all-weather ASX stocks.

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What’s doing the diversifying?

The lesson for me this week was to get a better handle on the shock absorbers I’d put in my portfolio.

I’ll admit I went a bit too heavy on growth. I had the chance to pick up a few defensive names when they were unloved by the market, and I missed it. Thankfully, cash, fixed income and Canadian banks held up relatively well. But it would’ve been nice to see a few of my stocks hit record highs while one of my biggest bets was getting pummelled.

Hopefully, a week like this gives you a clearer picture of how your holdings behave under pressure and gets you thinking about what you might change as markets - and the hottest themes - inevitably hit stormy seas.