The Bull Market's New Leaders Aren't So Flashy

By Corey McLaughlin

The "S&P 493" is back in the lead...

The so-called "magnificent" stocks have been – finally – underperforming the rest of their peers.

We can track the performance of the "Mag 7" stocks using the Roundhill Magnificent Seven Fund (MAGS). This tracks Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META), Nvidia (NVDA), and Tesla (TSLA), and equally weights them in an exchange-traded fund.

Since July 10, MAGS is down around 12%. The S&P 500 is just about even. The popular mega-cap tech stocks are heavily weighted in the S&P 500 and account for about 30% of the benchmark index... So this means the rest of the market is outperforming the headliners.

A Period of Great Uncertainty – Martin Armstrong

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Almost everything you see and hear with the Lying Legacy Media and the government is a lie. Just this past week, the Biden Administration backtracked about employment as it was widely reported, “US economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than first reported in year that ended in March.” A huge miss or a huge lie–take your pick. Other big lies we have been told in recent years: “Trump is colluding with Russia,” “Hunter Biden’s laptop is Russian disinformation,

and the “CV19 vax injections are “safe and effective.” That is just scratching the surface of the lies we are told on a daily basis. The lies, which people realize are becoming preposterous, are adding to the public’s lack of confidence in everything, including the economy. Martin Armstrong says, “We are in a period of great uncertainty. . .. When people are uncertain, they don’t spend. They save. That’s what happens in a depression and a recession. . .. So, if you have no confidence in the future because of all this crazy stuff going on, what do you do? You don’t borrow, and you pull back and say let me see what is going to happen.”

The Rate Cuts Powell Dangled in Front of Markets May Slam into Inflationary Fiscal & Economic Policies of Whoever Is in the White House Next Year

By Wolf Richter

Powell re-confirmed at his Jackson Hole speech on Friday that rate cuts are coming but didn’t mention “September.” He said, “The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear…”

But “the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

Powell presented a balanced message. There was no panic. The two sides of the Fed’s dual mandate (low inflation and full employment) have come roughly into balance.

The Fed has been talking about rate cuts since its December 2023 meeting when it put three rate cuts on the table for 2024, which markets instantly turned this into six rate cuts. Now it’s August 2024, and we’re still waiting for our rate cuts. But we’re getting closer.

New Study Says the Fed Is Captured by Congress and White House — Not the Megabanks that Own the Fed Banks and Get Trillions in Bailouts

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 15, 2024 ~

A fascinating new academic paper has been released. Its title is “The Myth of Fed Political Independence.” Its premise is this: “The much-vaunted independence of the Federal Reserve is a myth. The Fed is not the bastion of sound monetary policy. Rather, it is just another politically coopted agency of the federal government.”

The study asserts further that “Something like the Stockholm syndrome seems to describe the institutional relationship that exists between the U.S. Congress and the White House (the captors), and the Federal Reserve (the captives).

Whacked by a Financial Two-by-Four

By James Howard Knustler

The stock market has stabilized after Monday’s major stumble — for now. Don’t sound the all-clear signal just yet.

Yes, the U.S. markets look temporarily stabilized… while the Bank of Japan suffered a major anxiety attack, declaring it would turn around the very modest 25 basis point interest rate lift that crashed their markets for three days by 20% — and also stated they would no longer even try to raise interest rates again.

That means the yen gonna crash — big inflation for Japanese people — so sayonara purchasing power. But it doesn’t just affect Japan. The bigger picture suggests that a gigantic armature of derivative bets rests on the yen carry trade.

The whole thing is a setup for an even worse bout of global financial instability. And just remember: The American on-the-ground economy is sinking rapidly. That’s real business and real paychecks and real trouble.

No Matter Who's in the White House, Stock Investors Win

By Sean Michael Cummings

My grandmother was on the phone, giving me her "stock market tip" of the week...

"I think this is going to be a big deal for stocks," she told me. "Kamala Harris just raised $200 million in her first week of fundraising."

Harris is now the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024 presidential campaign. Her campaign shattered fundraising records after the announcement.

Now, my grandmother is sharp for her age. But she absorbs the same amount of information as just about anyone else. And she's holding on to a classic misconception about the stock market...

We've already debunked this myth in DailyWealth. As I've shared a few times this year, the electoral horse race simply doesn't drive stock market performance.