While the market chases AI stocks and IPOs at 90x sales, Simon Erickson is looking in the opposite direction, at CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a business that doesn't care if markets go up or down. It just needs them to move. CME Group sits at the center of global derivatives trading across six asset classes, interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agriculture, and metals, capturing the bid-ask spread on every contract that clears through its platform. Q1 2026 delivered all-time records in both revenue (up 14% to nearly $2 billion) and average daily volume (36.2 million contracts/day, up 22%), with record volumes across all six product lines simultaneously.0:00 - Introduction and Overview of CME Group as a business3:31 - Review of CME's six product classes 6:41 - Review of Q1 2026 Results (from our 7investing Community Forum)8:42 - Why Kevin Warsh as the new Fed Chair will be important for CME Group10:48 - New Retail product lines: Crypto, e-mini futures, and even compute pricing14:18 - A look at CME Group's current valuation and why the stock has been selling off16:19 - Why we recently upgraded CME Group to a "Strong Buy" conviction rating 18:32 - Q&A with audience questions + a review of CME Group's capital allocation policiesThe business model is exceptional: near-zero variable costs as volumes scale, massive network effects, and a 70% operating margin in Q1 2026, up 250 basis points year over year. With geopolitical uncertainty (Iran oil prices, Russia/Eastern Europe conflict, China tariff tensions) and a brand new Federal Reserve Chairman in Kevin Walsh navigating rate policy, Simon believes 2026 and 2027 will bring more volatility, not less. That's directly in CME Group's favor. The company is also launching new products including Bitcoin volatility futures, e-mini S&P 500 and NASDAQ options at one-tenth standard contract size (opening the door to retail investors), and a first-of-its-kind AI compute futures product in partnership with Silicon Data Partner.CME Group is also returning serious capital to shareholders: a longstanding variable dividend policy that pays out 50% of annual earnings, plus a $3 billion share repurchase authorization, $500 million of which was deployed just last quarter, with $2.5 billion still available. CEO Terry Duffy is transitioning out after a decade at the helm, handing off to 20-year company veteran Lynn Fitzpatrick (currently President and CFO), in what Simon views as seamless succession planning. This is a company that knows exactly what it is and executes flawlessly.7investing upgraded CME Group to strong buy conviction in November 2024, the stock returned 51% by March 2026, nearly tripling the S&P 500 return over the same period. They've just upgraded it to strong buy again in June 2026. The stock has pulled back significantly from its March highs, and valuation multiples on price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, and price-to-free-cash-flow are all at five-year lows. If you want a stock that hedges against market chaos rather than suffering through it, CME Group is worth a serious look.Discuss CME Group with us in our 7investing Community Forum! https://discord.com/invite/PT9ZQqdXXSStocks & Companies Mentioned:CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) — teased for upcoming Friday episodeKalshi — private (prediction markets competitor)FMX Exchange — private (interest rate futures competitor)FanDuel — private (CME prediction markets partner)Silicon Data Partner — private (CME compute futures partner)#CMEGroup #CME #StockAnalysis #ValueInvesting #DividendStocks #HiddenGems #MarketVolatility #DerivativesTrading #InterestRates #Bitcoin #CryptoFutures #InvestingIn2026 #UndervaluedStocks #GrowthStocks #7investing #Simonerickson
