There hasn’t been much time for investors to think about a summer break it seems. There’s been a lot going on just here in the U.S. between the stock market, politics and the economy just to name a few things. Our Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank, is here to add some perspective.

1. The recent better-than-expected inflation reading seemed to have had investors pricing in a higher chance of a Fed rate cut in September. What do you think?

2. The stock market’s move higher has been largely about AI and related tech stocks. But now we’re seeing a rotation trade away from the Big Tech winners. What areas of the market do you see benefitting from this?

3. What story do you see Q2 earnings of the Big Tech stocks telling?

4. Is it time for investors to take some profits from their Big Tech stocks?

5. How is this stock rotation influenced by the economy, especially with signs of cooler inflation?

6. Inflation and higher rates have tested the resilience of households and consumers. But June retail sales were flat after Wall Street was expecting a slight decline. Also May sales were revised higher. Does this along with the recently reported better-than-expected inflation data help support those Fed rate cut expectations for September?

7. With politics being a large focus and given what’s taken place during the last week or two, has the market priced in a victory for either side?

8. Let’s look at a few Strong Buy stocks, namely Micron Technology (MU Quick QuoteMU - Free Report) , Arista Networks (ANET Quick QuoteANET - Free Report) and Shopify (SHOP Quick QuoteSHOP - Free Report) .

Our Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank, on stocks, the economy and any potential political impact on the market. With John, I’m Terry Ruffolo.