Uncertainty About Fed, Tariffs and War Drives Unpleasant Market Session

The market performed poorly during the Friday session following the Juneteenth holiday. Uncertainty about the Israel-Iran situation kept investors on the sidelines in front of the holiday, but a couple of Fed speakers offered some hope about potential rate cuts.

Technical conditions have been deteriorating for a while as upside momentum fizzles, and there have been some lower lows in the indices. The S&P 500 suffered its lowest close since June 5, with a loss of 0.5%. The Magnificent Seven MAGS lagged with a drop of about 1%.

It isn’t a terrible action, but it is not attracting much interest, and there is no fear of missing out. There is fear of a negative reaction should the U.S. take aggressive action against Iran, and there hasn’t been any news of progress on trade. We are quickly moving to Trump’s tariff deadline, and the promised deals are not materializing as promised.

Next week, following the June option expiration, is typically a little soft, and then on Friday, there will be a huge surge in volume when the Russell indices are rebalanced. Soon after that, we start to move into earnings season.

Next week, we will also have a parade of Fed speakers. There has been a notable split recently between the doves and hawks, but policy still is more hawkish than many folks, including President Trump, would like to see.

There is a lot of poor action in individual stocks currently, but there are also some good opportunities developing. Some patience is required as the market deals with trade, tariffs, the Fed and war.

Have a great weekend. I will see you on Monday.

At the time of publication, DePorre had no positions in any securities mentioned.