Speculative Surge Lifts Stocks In July; Bonds Dump As Dollar & Crypto Jump

US equities are trading lower today (despite last night's epic earnings from META and MSFT) but are on pace for a ~3% gain for the month of July (for the S&P 500) and better for Nasdaq as investors continue to reassess just how damaging the US Trade War will be (or not be) to the US economy, how likely the Fed is to lower rates providing a technical tailwind for risk assets, and how sustained the 'retail investor' rally can be in a market which appears to have returned to its post-pandemic echo-boom 'normal' after a period of elevated angst earlier this year.

As a reminder, the budget bill was passed at the beginning of the month, providing some greater clarity around corporate taxes, government spending initiatives, and other factors that were built into the bill.