Resilient.
That’s the word I’d use to describe U.S. stock markets nine months into the second Trump administration.
Trump critics warned of market doom under his agenda. So far, they’ve been wrong.
Last week, the markets hit all-time highs. On Friday, the markets closed higher than ever:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%, or over 450 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2%, up 263.07.
Those were all all-time highs.
The Dow closed over 47,000 for the first time. Will we see a 50,000 Dow by the end of 2026? Or by the mid-term elections of November 2026?
Whenever something positive is achieved, Trump critics tend to say, “It won’t last. That is just a one-day thing.”
Well, guess what? Monday saw all-time highs for a second day in a row.
All three major U.S. averages finished the day Monday at record-high levels.
- S&P 500: Increased by 1.2% to close at 6,875.16.
- Nasdaq Composite: Jumped 1.9% to finish at 23,637.46, with chipmaker Qualcomm leading the advance on AI chip news.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: Rose 0.7% to end at 47,544.59.
It is unusual for all markets to hit record highs on the same day. To do so two days in a row “trumps” most recent records.
The remarkable thing to me about the Trump markets is not just the all-time highs, it is that this stellar performance is occurring during a time of mixed news – the good, the bad, and the ugly. It would be easy to expect highs when everything is coming up roses, but it takes a solidly resilient market to hit the highs despite mixed news.
Last week’s mixed news:
The negative – the Consumer Price Index rose an annualized 3%, the highest level since May. The positive – that rise was slightly less than predicted (3.1%). Up go the markets. The CPI data had been a week late because of the Schumer shutdown of the federal government.
The negative — the month-to-month price index rose 0.3%. The positive is that it was a slight cooling and below expectations.
Could it be that so-called experts who tend to be negative toward Trump have slightly negative market expectations, and then pro-Trump small businesses, stockholders and consumers prove them wrong?
One specific example of the wrongness of the Trump critics is the oft-heard complaint that Trump’s use of tariffs would spark inflation. The CPI figures indicate no particular inflation from tariffs, or from anything else.
The Trump agenda has trumped inflation.
The market performance appears to point toward a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week and then, maybe just maybe, another cut in December. If those cuts take place, it could further push the markets upward.
The markets all shrugged off news and uncertainty on the political front. Trump announced the cessation of trade talks with Canada. Apparently, the markets thought maybe the talks needed to be cut off.
The markets ignored continued attacks on narcoterrorist ships and hints of U.S. attacks on drug operations on shore. Maybe those things need to be done. Maybe they will help the U.S. and its markets.
The markets seemed to take no umbrage of a trip by Trump to Asia for meeting with China’s Xi Jinping and other Asian leaders.
The markets have not (yet) been shaken by the continued federal government shutdown and the appearance of little or no effort by Democrat leaders to pass a clean CR and stop the shutdown.
Talk about mixed news, and the resilient markets continue to push upward.
Jim Zig Zeigler is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News. His beat includes the positive and colorful about Alabama – her people, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor and Public Service Commissioner. You can reach him at [email protected]
