Each new year brings a mix of known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

As we start 2026, we know there will be changes to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets interest rates. Jerome Powell will step down from his role as Federal Reserve chairman in May. We don’t know if he will serve out the remainder of his term as a Fed governor, which lasts until 2028.

In addition to the Fed chairman position opening, Stephen Miran’s term as a Fed governor will expire at the end of January, and Atlanta Federal Reserve president Raphael Bostic will retire in February. These changes make it more difficult to determine what will happen with interest rates over the course of 2026.

Switching to corporate earnings, analysts anticipate strong growth. As of December 12, 2025, the LSEG I/B/E/S consensus forecast called for S&P 500 index earnings to rise 14.7% in 2026, fueled by a projected 27.2% rise in technology company profits. These projections are very much subject to change.

Will earnings growth and changes at the Fed lead to another strong year for stocks? I’ll leave those predictions to the prognosticators who never want you to look at their past incorrect predictions.

What I can tell you is that there are always opportunities to find attractive investments, including through the use of stock screens. Stock screens are quantitative filters that find stocks with certain traits. They often identify attractive stocks that aren’t making headlines.

Last year’s top-performing AAII Stock Screen, the Wanger Revised screen, is based on former Acorn Fund manager Ralph Wanger’s contrarian investing philosophy. According to Wanger, like a zebra that strays from the herd to find the freshest grass, investors benefit when they look for ideas that others have missed.

AAII president John Bajkowski shares more insights into Wanger’s approach in his article. Our annual AAII Stock Screens review is featured in this issue. Like our tax guide, we’ve reformatted this screening recap to make it easier to find the information you want in the online version of the article.

While you are visiting AAII.com, be sure to check out the brand new AAII Investor Hub. Not only will you find all of our screens on the Investor Hub, but you can also access our completely rebuilt My Portfolio, our brand-new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, James—trained on AAII’s knowledge base—and other great enhancements. For a full preview of the Investor Hub, see my article in this month’s issue.

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026!