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This week’s highlights:
There was lots of news this week, but you wouldn’t know it from the stock market. Equities continue to grind mostly higher, but without much momentum. Stocks may be up 5% over the last month and up nearly 8% in the year to date, but since the beginning of July, the market has been essentially flat, with a small gain in the past week.
We’re finally starting to see the impact of tariffs in the real economy, particularly through inflation. With the June Consumer Price Index report, the trend of good news on inflation appears to be over, and you can thank the parts of the economy that are most sensitive to the costs of imported goods.
Meanwhile, the latest drama in Washington concerns the fate of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with President Donald Trump telling Republicans in Congress that he was ready to fire Powell. While Trump walked that sentiment back, it sent a shiver though the markets. With this news, we revisit our article from April about why the Fed’s independence matters to your portfolio and wallet.
One big prediction for 2025 was that the extreme concentration in the stock market seen in 2023 and for most of 2024 would evolve into a much broader rally. How well has that worked out? Bella Abrecht looked under the hood of 2025’s rally to highlight what has and hasn’t played out.
An overly concentrated rally also likely means there are good opportunities for long-term investors in the parts of the market being left behind. Dan Lefkovitz digs into mid-cap stocks, which at first seem like they could be in a sweet spot. But how should investors play this space? Check out the article here.
Last week, we rolled out a new feature: a dive into Morningstar’s database to find six stocks with moat rating changes during the second quarter. This week, we screened for stocks with changes in their Uncertainty Ratings. This is a critical aspect of setting our fair value estimates. Thanks in part to the uncertainty injected into the global economy by Trump’s tariffs, we saw many stocks with Uncertainty Rating changes in the second quarter. Frank Lee highlights the five largest stocks with Uncertainty Rating changes.
Lastly, Susan Dziubinski has updated her list of the 10 top dividend stocks to buy now. Dividend stocks have been among those generally left in the dust lately, and her screen includes a handful of energy names and some consumer staples.
As always, be sure to visit ourMarkets pagefor our latest coverage and live stock market updates along with our fullweekly calendarof key upcoming data and events.
