Although it was only a gain of 0.09%, the S&P 500 did make it back-to-back weekly gains as it closed Friday at 7,718. Stocks fell slightly on Monday after the U.S. and Iran traded fire for the first time in a month. It also marked the end of August with the S&P 500 scoring a winning month, breaking a two-month losing streak. Tuesday was Apple (AAPL) Turnover day as John Ternus officially took over as Apple CEO from Tim Cook, who transitioned to executive chairman after nearly 15 years leading the company. Treasury yields also continued their climb, putting pressure on the S&P 500 and resulting in three consecutive losing sessions. And those yields continued to climb as the 2-year Treasury yield hit 4.41%, the highest level since January 2025, while the 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 4.818%, the highest mark since November 2023. However, those yields ended the day off their highs, as the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow all snapped three-day losing streaks. On Thursday stocks caught a tailwind as Treasury yields pulled back after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would be inclined to support holding rates at their current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the central banks Sept. 15-16 meeting. As such the S&P 500 has its best day of the week with a daily gain of greater than 1%. Before Fridays open, the August nonfarm payrolls report showed a gain of 162,000, much more than the expected 53,000, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. As such, Treasury yields rose following the report with the 2-year yield again hitting new highs which dragged the S&P 500 into negative territory for the day, but still up for the week. From a technical perspective the S&P 500 hit three new record highs in August, the last being on 13 August at 7,798. Since then, weve consolidated but still remain within striking distance of a new record closing high of 7,800. Next week will be short with Mondays holiday, but then we have inflation numbers on Thursday and Friday. For TSP TIPS the I fund stays at the top of both the Composite Score and Performance Ranking leaderboards, having made new record highs on both Thursday and Friday. As such we recommend no changes to our current investment mix.
Although it was only a gain of 0.09%, the S&P 500 did make it back-to-back weekly gains as it closed Friday at 7,718. Stocks fell slightly on Monday after the U.S. and Iran traded fire for the first time in a month. It also marked the end of August with the S&P 500 scoring a winning month, breaking a two-month losing streak. Tuesday was Apple (AAPL) Turnover day as John Ternus officially took over as Apple CEO from Tim Cook, who transitioned to executive chairman after nearly 15 years leading the company. Treasury yields also continued their climb, putting pressure on the S&P 500 and resulting in three consecutive losing sessions. And those yields continued to climb as the 2-year Treasury yield hit 4.41%, the highest level since January 2025, while the 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 4.818%, the highest mark since November 2023. However, those yields ended the day off their highs, as the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow all snapped three-day losing streaks. On Thursday stocks caught a tailwind as Treasury yields pulled back after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would be inclined to support holding rates at their current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the central banks Sept. 15-16 meeting. As such the S&P 500 has its best day of the week with a daily gain of greater than 1%. Before Fridays open, the August nonfarm payrolls report showed a gain of 162,000, much more than the expected 53,000, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. As such, Treasury yields rose following the report with the 2-year yield again hitting new highs which dragged the S&P 500 into negative territory for the day, but still up for the week. From a technical perspective the S&P 500 hit three new record highs in August, the last being on 13 August at 7,798. Since then, weve consolidated but still remain within striking distance of a new record closing high of 7,800. Next week will be short with Mondays holiday, but then we have inflation numbers on Thursday and Friday. For TSP TIPS the I fund stays at the top of both the Composite Score and Performance Ranking leaderboards, having made new record highs on both Thursday and Friday. As such we recommend no changes to our current investment mix.