Stocks Up On Friday, For The Week, And For The Month  Image: Bigstock Stocks rallied again on Friday with the Dow up 0.97%, the S&P up 1.42%, and the Nasdaq up 1.88%. Friday marked the end of the week, and the end of the month. For the week, all of the indexes were up for the second week in a row. The Dow gained 2.96%, the S&P gained 4.26%, and the Nasdaq gained 4.70%. For the month, the gains were even more impressive with the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq up 6.73%, 9.11% and 12.35% respectively. It was the S&P's best monthly gain since November 2020. Lastly, since the markets bottomed in June, they have soared with the big three indexes up by 9.75%, 12.64% and 16.39%. Let me also include the small-cap Russell 2000 as they've put in a stellar 14.27% gain since bottoming in June. Better than expected earnings and upbeat guidance, especially from big tech last week, including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, gave investors something to cheer about. It's been a fantastic earnings season so far. And that continues with another 1,826 companies reporting this week. And then another 1,602 companies on deck for next week. Last Wednesday's FOMC Announcement, when the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points, was received well by the market. While the Fed suggested they will keep raising rates through the rest of the year, they essentially said they would look at the data before their next meeting in September before deciding how big to go. There was also a feeling that with the economy slowing as it has, the Fed may not need to be as aggressive as some had feared earlier in the year. In fact, there's growing speculation that the Fed may even need to lower rates next year, once inflation makes a noticeable downturn. That idea was reflected in the 10-year Treasury yield which fell to 2.642% from their mid-June high of 3.483%. Underscoring the slowdown, and perhaps a less aggressive Fed, was Thursday's Q2 GDP report, which came in at -0.9% (following Q1's -1.6%), confirming that the economy fell into a recession in the first half of the year. But traders shrugged off the news as this was already priced in. While some will argue that we aren't in a recession (because of the strong labor market), while others will argue we are in a recession (based on the typical definition of one), there's no denying the economy slowed, and contracted, in the first half of the year. Semantics aside, what investors care about now is what happens next. The market sold off in the first half on fears of a recession, which we got. If the market now anticipates an economic rebound, then stocks should follow suit. With the Fed still forecasting positive GDP growth for the full-year, it looks like the worst-case scenario that traders had been pricing in when stocks were at their lowest, is way overdone. And that appears to be why we are rallying It's been a great couple of weeks, and a great month. In fact, it's been a great 6 weeks, as stocks have remained well above their June lows made 6 weeks ago. And traders will be trying to extend that rally this week. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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