Good Morning,
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! An extra cup of coffee might be on my agenda this morning J
Markets closed higher last week with the S&P 500 up ~1.7%, notching a fresh all-time high. The unemployment rate for June fell slightly to 4.1% (from 4.2%) which provided additional investor conviction on the resilience of the economy. This week brings the end of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs set to expire this Wednesday, July 9th. It will be interesting to see if this is extended or if tariff rates will revert to April 2nd levels. With the signing of the “Big Beautiful Bill” and Q2 earnings set to begin reporting next week, I get the feeling that markets are looking past the upcoming trade deadline. To quote directly from today’s report, “At the end of the day, it is revenue and earnings growth that determine the direction the markets will take..” We continue to have a lot of headline news events that influence near-term market momentum but corporate earnings will ultimately drive stocks in the long-term. I think we will see stocks grind back and forth the next few days leading up to earnings and the June CPI report next Tuesday.
Attached, please find this week’s Market Strategy Radar Screen Report from John Stoltzfus, Chief Investment Strategist of Oppenheimer Asset Management. A review of our S&P 500 price target and “where we stand”, are among the topics.
Have a great week!