Market Moves & Money Moves: What We Learned This Week and What’s Next

Tariff twists, earnings sparks, and what’s on deck next.

What a week it’s been on Wall Street, think record highs, tariff theatrics, and a taste of earnings-season jitters. Here’s a quick, no-fluff rundown of what happened, what it taught us, and what’s on deck for next week.

This Week’s Market Moves in a Nutshell

• Pullbacks after peaks
  On Friday, July 11, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 6,259.75, the Dow Jones fell 0.6% to 44,371.51, and the Nasdaq dipped 0.2% to 20,585.53, giving back a bit of the all-time highs we saw on Thursday.

• Weekly declines, but not a crash
  By week’s end, the Dow led losses at -1.0%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were off about 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Still, year-to-date, the S&P is up 6.4%, the Nasdaq 6.6%, and the Dow about 4.3%, so the long-term uptrend remains intact.

• Tariffs in the headlines
  President Trump announced fresh levies 35% on Canadian goods, 50% on Brazilian imports, plus warnings for Japan and South Korea starting August 1. Surprisingly, markets barely flinched: investors reckon some of these threats will soften or get renegotiated before they bite hard.

• Sector highlights

  • Energy: Crude oil futures jumped about 3%, lifting names like Halliburton (+4.2%) and Baker Hughes (+2.5%).

  • Consumer goods: Levi Strauss soared 11.3% after a blowout quarter and a raised full-year forecast.

  • Tech & airlines: PayPal sold off 5.7% amid data-sharing cost concerns; United Airlines dropped over 4% on regulatory worries around its JetBlue tie-up. Delta Airlines also made headlines. Check out our latest post for the breakdown.

What We Learned

1. Resilience trumps rhetoric
   Volatility spiked on tariff headlines, but since these measures kick in weeks or months out, traders stayed calm. Lesson: markets focus on tomorrow’s profits, not just today’s tweets.

2. Earnings still rule
   Even with politics swirling, it was strong corporate numbers (hello, Levi Strauss!) that kept the tape afloat. In other words, top-line growth and margin beats matter most.

3. Diversification works
   While big-caps sagged slightly, small-caps (Russell 2000) had a bigger pullback (-1.3%), highlighting the value of spreading bets across sectors and sizes.

Eyes on Next Week

1. Earnings season officially kicks off

   • Tuesday, July 15 (pre-market): JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo report Q2 results. Analysts expect solid trading revenues, collectively over $26 billion, thanks to all that tariff-driven volatility.

   • Wednesday, July 16 (after close): Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley follow suit, capping the first banking-heavy stretch.

2. Inflation data
   The June Consumer Price Index lands Wednesday, July 16. With Fed officials dialing down rate-hike talk lately, any upside surprise could roil bond yields and equity leadership.

3. Fed speak & global cues
   No Fed meeting next week, but keep an ear out for commentary from Fed governors, every hint on the pace of future rate moves will matter. Overseas, China’s Q2 GDP on Thursday could shift risk appetite.

Bottom Line & Takeaways

• Stay nimble. We’ve got big news (earnings + CPI) back-to-back: carve out some time to adjust positions if you trade actively.

• Look beyond the noise. Trade-war headlines make for good drama, but balance them against the lagged economics, real tariffs still take a while to bite.

• Keep a long view. Slips of 0.2–1.0% aren’t a signal to panic; they’re opportunities to reassess your mix and maybe grab some quality names at a slight discount.

That’s it for now,thanks for reading! If you found this helpful, hit reply with your thoughts or questions. Let’s navigate next week together.