The S&P 500 had fireworks going off this week as it closed at a record high of 5,567 on Friday. Monday, the first trading day of July, kicked off on a positive note as the S&P gapped up at the open, rebounding from last Fridays sell off and closing at session highs. On Tuesday Fed Chair Powell applauded recent inflation data, noting cooling price growth and suggesting "that we are getting back on a disinflationary path." The bull liked those comments and the S&P 500 hit its first record high of the second half of the year. With the markets closing early on Wednesday, that bullish feeling continued into the close with the S&P 500 having its second record high of the week. Everybody celebrated Independence Day on Thursday, but the fireworks continued into Friday. Before the open, Junes job report showed 206K jobs added with the unemployment rate rising to 4.1%, the highest level since November 2021. Sparking hopes of the Fed easing rates, the bull was strong into the final stretch, as the S&P 500 made it three in a row new record highs. Highlighting the holiday week was TESLA (TSLA), gaining roughly 27% in just FOUR days. From a technical perspective lets look back over the last 30 days. On 5 June the S&P 500 had a daily gain of over 1% and hit a new record closing high at 5,354. Since then, we have NOT had a daily move of over 1%, and its been a steady climb with the S&P 500 hitting nine more new record closing highs. As such the Bollinger Band Index (BBI), which measures volatility, remains tame and about where it was on 5 June. For next week Fed Chair Powell will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we get the CPI and PPI inflation numbers on Thursday and Friday. Friday also starts the beginning of earnings season. And on the last day of July, we get the Feds rate decision. For TSP TIPS, the C fund remains at the top of the Performance Ranking (PR) leaderboard with three new record highs this week. In the middle of the pack, both the I and F funds have had improving Composite Scores. And rounding it out at the PR bottom is the S fund, which was down this week and last 30 days. As such, we recommend the following changes to our investment mix.<br>Placeholder: On 9 July at 1700 ET we will be having a 2024 Mid-Year Review and Outlook Zoom meeting. Link to follow.
The S&P 500 had fireworks going off this week as it closed at a record high of 5,567 on Friday. Monday, the first trading day of July, kicked off on a positive note as the S&P gapped up at the open, rebounding from last Fridays sell off and closing at session highs. On Tuesday Fed Chair Powell applauded recent inflation data, noting cooling price growth and suggesting "that we are getting back on a disinflationary path." The bull liked those comments and the S&P 500 hit its first record high of the second half of the year. With the markets closing early on Wednesday, that bullish feeling continued into the close with the S&P 500 having its second record high of the week. Everybody celebrated Independence Day on Thursday, but the fireworks continued into Friday. Before the open, Junes job report showed 206K jobs added with the unemployment rate rising to 4.1%, the highest level since November 2021. Sparking hopes of the Fed easing rates, the bull was strong into the final stretch, as the S&P 500 made it three in a row new record highs. Highlighting the holiday week was TESLA (TSLA), gaining roughly 27% in just FOUR days. From a technical perspective lets look back over the last 30 days. On 5 June the S&P 500 had a daily gain of over 1% and hit a new record closing high at 5,354. Since then, we have NOT had a daily move of over 1%, and its been a steady climb with the S&P 500 hitting nine more new record closing highs. As such the Bollinger Band Index (BBI), which measures volatility, remains tame and about where it was on 5 June. For next week Fed Chair Powell will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we get the CPI and PPI inflation numbers on Thursday and Friday. Friday also starts the beginning of earnings season. And on the last day of July, we get the Feds rate decision. For TSP TIPS, the C fund remains at the top of the Performance Ranking (PR) leaderboard with three new record highs this week. In the middle of the pack, both the I and F funds have had improving Composite Scores. And rounding it out at the PR bottom is the S fund, which was down this week and last 30 days. As such, we recommend the following changes to our investment mix.<br>Placeholder: On 9 July at 1700 ET we will be having a 2024 Mid-Year Review and Outlook Zoom meeting. Link to follow.