00:00 Speaker A
we didn't get the jobs report and so, uh, Steve, I'll start with you. So what are we trading on then? If not that economic data, what is the current driver of what we've been seeing?
00:12 Speaker B
Good morning, Julie. Vibes. Just, you know, the market has been so enamored with positive vibes. Um in a in a podcast we take I take internally on Friday on Wednesday, rather, I called it the Spider-Man market in regards to the Wall of Worry, uh which is clamoring up there. you know, there's a certain amount of nihilism actually almost that just all news is good news and no news matters. And so, uh you can argue that by not getting this piece of news, that's one less impediment in the market, uh in the market's relentless rise. Whether whether you like that explanation or not, that that does seem to be the vibe right now.
00:44 Speaker A
Yeah, it definitely feels like momentum is winning the day, Brian. Um, you know, how do you think about the fundamentals at this point behind that momentum? You've been pretty bullish when we've talked.
00:55 Speaker C
Yeah, I I don't think it's necessarily nihilism. I think it would be more like existential dread. I mean that's really what causes that wall of worry, right? And it is that wall of worry about is the labor market slowing down too much where we're going to get a recession. Have we already had a recession? I think that's an important thing to remember is that the labor market data that a lot of people have been ringing their hands over is a lagging economic indicator where often times you're going to see the economic numbers, the real activity improve. We saw some improvement in consumer spending, second quarter GDP numbers were better than expected. and really, when it comes down to it, it's the earnings that ultimately matter for the markets. And we've had a few reports already that have looked honestly, fairly good. So I think that as much as I'd love to look at the economic data, I'd like to look at the markets more about what is it telling me about what to expect with the economic data. And so it suggests to me that once some of these data releases are unembargoed or whatever they're going to do with them, that maybe it's going to show a bit of stability and slight improvement as we go into the end of the year.
