Renewed concerns over the ultimate profitability of the massive spending on AI drove the S&P 500 to a loss, led by the selloff in technology stocks. By contrast, more traditional stocks tied the rest of the economy rose. The economic news showed a continuing rebound in manufacturing and a still steady services sector. Overseas, the economic news showed a sluggish Eurozone and steady growth in Japan and Emerging Markets. The S&P 500 ended the week at -1.95% with Foreign Developed at -1.29% and Emerging Markets at -4.44%, the latter reflecting the AI selloff. In the US, Value was positive against losses in Growth and Small Caps outperformed Large Caps. Treasury Bond yields declined along with the decline in oil prices, resulting in a fractional gain for..... (click for more)

The real economic news showed the economy was still in steady growth mode including solid job hirings. Treasury Bond yields declined for the month which affirmed that oil price inflation is indeed transient. The chaos in the headlines really had more to do with concerns over the profitability of the massive AI buildout and trying to support the last two months S&P 500 rally on the back of the AI trade. Overseas, despite the earlier concerns over oil and supply line disruptions associated with the Iran War, business activity surveys for May and June remained unchanged at mostly moderate to strong levels. The S&P 500 ended the month at -1.06% with Foreign Developed at 0.06% and Emerging Markets at -1.41%. In the US, Small Caps substantially outperformed..... (click for more)