Big, fat bill, questionable trade deals, Fed bets... not your standard recipe for record highs

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit fresh records, while small-caps join the party. And that’s despite jobs data that killed July Federal Reserve (Fed) rate-cut hopes—odds dropped from 27% to just 5%! Yields spiked, the dollar jumped... but stocks still climbed. Why? Digging deeper, the jobs data wasn’t as strong as it looked. Job gains came from public education, and unemployment fell only because people left the labour force. Wages slowed—good for the Fed—but now it’s tariffs fueling inflation fears. Trump’s new deal with Vietnam hints at double-digit tariffs. Add his $3.3 trillion ‘reverse Robin Hood’ tax bill, and debt fears are back. Gold is rising. Futures are down. And the market? Priced for perfection. How long can this rally last? Listen to find out more!