The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that a few months back, a handful of big tech companies -- the Magnificent Seven -- dominated investors' thoughts and driving the market higher. The Globe's Ian McGugan writes that is no longer the case. The Magnificent Seven have diverged, with three of them producing ho-hum recent results. Tesla shares have lost money for investors so far this year, while returns at Alphabet and Microsoft have lagged the overall market. Investors are growing increasingly fond of more humdrum and predictable sectors. In a remarkable shift, U.S. consumer staples stocks have performed better than U.S. information technology shares over the past three months. Even boring old utilities have been outpacing the U.S. tech sector this quarter. So should investors count on these trends continuing? A lot depends on what you think is driving the market's change of heart. Optimists will tell you the new affection for consumer staples, banks and utilities reflects growing confidence the U.S. will avoid a recession. Pessimists take the opposite view. They see the market shift as an indication investors are willing to pay a premium for defensive stocks amid recession fears and a U.S. election.