The S&P 500 finished Monday up 0.3% following another back-and-forth session.
Another day went and not much changed. We are transitioning into the slower summer months and shouldn’t expect big fireworks. Rate hikes are paused, inflation is inching lower, employment remains robust, and the economy is slowing in a constructive, soft landing kind of way.
The debt-ceiling debate is ramping up, but in a divided government, this is standard operating procedure. Anyone expecting a deal before the deadline doesn’t understand how negotiations work.
If this is like all of the other contested debt ceiling standoffs, it will get pushed to the edge, and it will get ugly, but ultimately, something will get passed.
The consequences are too great for this to end any other way. US debt got downgraded in 2011 when Republicans threatened default, and the shockwaves that were created won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Without a doubt, our politicians can screw this up, but it will get resolved eventually because there is no other choice.
So from that perspective, as a trader, I would love to see stocks crash over the near term because buying irrational discounts is the easiest way to make lots of money very quickly.
At the same time, most stock owners know this too, so I doubt many will hit the panic button and sell their favorite stocks at steep discounts no matter how cantankerous this debt ceiling standoff gets.
If we could only be so lucky to see a big selloff, unfortunately, I don’t think we will be that fortunate. Until something changes, I’m sticking with what is working, and that is waiting for the index to rally up to and through 4,200 resistance.
The market is taking its time, but as I’ve been saying for a while, something that refuses to go down will eventually go up.
Stocks climb a wall of worry, and so far, everything is still pointing higher.