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This week’s highlights:
Stocks kicked off the second half of 2026 with a holiday-shortened week and a move higher, thanks in part to a June jobs report that appeared to take some of the pressure off the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this year. Still, while hiring came in a touch softer than expected, economists say it doesn’t significantly alter the outlook.
The quarter we left behind was big for the AI trade. It’s hard to believe that three years into the AI stock market boom, the second quarter of 2026 was actually the strongest quarter yet for stocks caught up in the wave. And as Morningstar Index’s Dan Lefkovitz writes, with valuations on certain industries particularly stretched, investors have some decisions to make.
There are skeptics, however. As we highlighted last week, money management firm GQG is firmly in the camp that AI is a bubble. But while GQG are not permabears, there is one well-known money manager who proudly wears that badge: Jeremy Grantham. Check out the latest episode of the Long View podcast for Amy Arnott’s conversation with this investing legend.
Much has already happened in the world in the first half of the year, and the US midterm elections in November could bring a new round of volatility. Leslie Norton spoke with Dan Clifton, who heads Washington research for Strategas, about what factors could shape the elections. He also outlined a basket of stocks that could move up or down based on the outcome.
Lastly this week, we’ve updated our quarterly stock performance screens. We look at the best- and worst-performing stocks for the last three months, as well as the top-performing dividend stocks for the period. This quarter’s list of winning income payers includes a pair of fund companies and a major automaker.
As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our full weekly calendar of key upcoming data and ev
