Margin Debt Balances – YoY % Change NYSE margin debt now exceeds $1.4 trillion, a 54% jump from a year ago and accelerating rapidly toward record territory. History shows that when leverage grows faster than the market, the cycle is usually in its later stages. Image: Real Investment Advice
S&P 500 Performance During Trump Years After a weak first quarter, the S&P 500 is tracking the familiar Trump-era playbook, with a rally still very much in play for the rest of the year. For now, bulls have little to complain about. Image: Carson Investment Research
Bloomberg U.S. Financial Conditions Index The Bloomberg U.S. Financial Conditions Index is at one of its most accommodative levels in years, a friendly setup for borrowing, fund-raising and broader risk appetite. Image: Deutsche Bank
Semiconductor Earnings vs. Hyperscaler Free Cash Flows Semiconductor earnings are riding the AI capex wave, but hyperscaler free cash flow is taking a hit as spending on chips, data centers, and networking accelerates. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Valuation – S&P 500 CAPE Ratio Valuations don’t matter until they do. Across 150 years of market history, stretched valuations have been a reliable warning sign, with each of the past three peaks followed by a decade of negative real returns. Image: Deutsche Bank
S&P 500 Trailing 4-Quarter Net Profit Margin (Ex. Financials) With S&P 500 profit margins holding near 13% and rates still low, equity valuations have more room to breathe. Goldman Sachs now expects 7% annual returns over the coming decade, lifting its long‑term call from 3% back in 2024. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Valuation – Russell 2000 Forward 12-Month P/E The Russell 2000 is full of unprofitable companies, which makes its forward 12-month P/E look pricey at 33x. Strip out the loss-makers, and it falls to 16x. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Positions in S&P 500 Equity Futures by Asset Managers Equity positioning looks stretched. Asset managers have pushed long exposure in U.S. stock futures to its highest level, showing stronger risk appetite but also leaving the market more vulnerable if something goes wrong. Image: Bloomberg
S&P 500 Return During July July has been kind to U.S. stocks, rising for 11 straight years and delivering an average gain of 3.2%. Can the streak continue? Image: Carson Investment Research
Revision to Consensus Hyperscaler Year/Year Capex Growth 2027 capex is still a moving target for hyperscalers. They look more likely to overshoot than undershoot on AI spending, which could keep AI-driven inflation stickier for longer. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
S&P 500 vs. Russell 2000 – YTD Change in Price, Earnings, and Valuation The S&P 500’s year-to-date total return has been driven entirely by earnings growth, while the Russell 2000’s advance has come roughly half from multiple expansion and half from earnings growth. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research