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Wall Street is starting to turn cautious on stocks heading into the final months of the year, with a key investor survey and a new S&P 500 price target suggesting stocks are in for a rough autumn patch due to surging bond yields and soaring energy prices. The new set of outlooks, while not signaling an outright bearish take on stocks as they head toward the four-year anniversary of the current bull market in mid-October, nonetheless highlight a host of issues that have already have stalled performance over the past three months—and raise noticeable red flags for the near-term. Similarly, Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC, argued earlier this week that “risks of a garden-variety pullback of 5% to 10% have grown” ahead of the midterm elections.

One S&P 500-based ETF has quietly been outpacing both the SPY and the QQQ year after year, and the structural reason behind its edge suggests the run is far from over.

The modern stock market has effectively ceased to function as a venue for individual security selection. Investing being business as usual? No ma’am, not in the least bit. This is a whole new world. One that requires a different mentality before we can even begin to operate successfully in it....

A historic split challenges the market's most powerful leadership trade

Stocks rallied during Thursday's session, nearing record levels, with some help from the Magnificent Seven. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF was up 2.7% to $70.58, just a stone's throw from its record closing price of $70.94. The Nasdaq was up 1.4% while the S&P 500 rose 1%.

Investors’ intense focus on AI is at times adding to the might of a small club of Big Tech stocks with mega market values to potentially make or break a single trading session for the S 500.

The rest of tech just helped the Nasdaq overcome a chip stock slump. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was back up 0.6% after turning lower earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 422 points, or 0.8%.

The equal-weighted S&P 500 is outperforming the main index as the Mag 7 struggle. That trend should continue, offsetting any concerns about fund fees.

The fund that was supposed to track the market's most powerful stocks is getting beaten by a fund built specifically to avoid them, and the reason comes down to how MAGS actually works under the hood.

Bob Ross, perhaps America’s most prolific artist, created more than 30,000 portraits over his long career in television through simple techniques, a narrow array of colors, and a gentle mannerism. A similar approach to financial markets this summer, however, would be terribly difficult to replicate. Stocks are flying off the shelves, bonds are warning of massive economic and inflation risks while simultaneously discounting Federal Reserve rate hikes, and volatility readings are at the lowest levels of the year despite myriad geopolitical risks.

Economist Torsten Sløk points out that the AI capex boom is lifting profit margins for the Mag Seven, but not other companies.

Software and chip stocks were stuck in a tug-of-war for the Nasdaq on Monday, and chips were winning. With the Nasdaq Composite down 0.4%, the iShares Semiconductor ETF was off 1.4%. On the flip side, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF was up 2.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average weathered a slide in a handful of key stocks on Wednesday to notch its third closing high in a row. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.8%. While the S&P pulled back from its previous closing high, the Dow marked its 24th of the year and third in as many days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a fresh record for the third day in a row. The Dow rose 0.5% or 263 points while the S&P 500 dropped 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%. The divergence in index performance came after some of the market's biggest tech names took a turn during the session, erasing earlier gains.

The in fact, has powered more than 3.3% higher since the end of July, running a four-day winning streak and reaching a record high of 7736. The gains are mainly tied in part to 7.7% gain for the and more modest 4.3% bump for an index of the tech giants. All three of the market’s major sectors that include the biggest tech stocks, in fact, are pacing gains for the week, with consumer discretionary leaping 6.6%, communications services rising 3.4%, and information technology rising 2.1%.

Investors are expressing positive vibes about U.S. equities, despite ongoing concerns that the market is overvalued. The report shows that 47% of retail clients are bullish on the U.S. stock market. A separate report from The CFP Board also suggests that clients are more optimistic about their financial outlook this summer than they were three months ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7%, or 906 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2% as the tech rally raged on. Both indexes are on pace for their best four-day stretches in more than a year, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The tech stock rally continued, extending yesterday's gains, but today's rise looks a little different. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1%. The tech sector led the S&P 500, up 3.1%. Unlike yesterday, it wasn't the Magnificent Seven stocks doing the heavy lifting.

REVIEW PREVIEW NEWSLETTER Fresh Record. Markets kicked off the first trading day of August on a strong note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a new high on Monday. The pullback in oil prices held despite Iran’s denial of any peace talks taking place, allowing markets to look through the latest geopolitical back-and-forth and focus on a Magnificent 7 rally.

<p>MAGS, MGK and QQQ are the three ETFs that hold all seven Magnificent 7 stocks. Compare their weights, fees and 2026 returns to find the right fit.</p>

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday at a fresh record, and the S&P 500 wasn't too far off its a record of its own. The Dow rose 1.3% or 693 points, setting a fresh record close. The Magnificent Seven were pulling their weight, shaking off recent underperformance.

In fact, the PHLX Semiconductor Index saw its worst monthly performance since 2008 in July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw its worst July since 2006. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF also fell, with positive post-earnings moves unable to offset losses.

Meta could deliver a record quarter for its core advertising business. But Wall Street will look past that for the latest on the company’s AI spending.

Buying all seven tech giants together made investors rich during the AI boom, but the basket trade has quietly become a drag on portfolios. Some of these companies are pulling ahead while others face serious questions about whether AI will ever pay off for them.

Rising Treasury yields are weighing on equities as the S&P 500 breaks key technical levels, while charts suggest the 10-year yield could climb back toward 5%.

Rising Treasury yields are weighing on equities as the S&P 500 breaks key technical levels, while charts suggest the 10-year yield could climb back toward 5%.

$888.2 billion That's how much the Mag Seven tech stocks have collectively lost in market value today, as of midday trading. It's the biggest one-day market cap decline for those names since the tariff turmoil of April 2025.

The start to Magnificent Seven earnings season has been disastrous for tech investors. The Mag 7 is collectively down $888.2 billion in market capitalization, which would be the second-largest decline in value for the group on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Alphabet and Tesla reported earnings last night and Wall Street was less than impressed. Alphabet and Tesla both boosted their already hefty capital expenditure forecasts. "The market's reacting to not just the capex spend, but the free cash flow issue, and that spans across all the tech names," Laffer Tengler Investment's Nancy Tengler wrote.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF has crushed the broad market since its launch, but equal-weighting seven mega-cap giants cuts both ways, and 2026 is exposing exactly how badly that math can unravel when the group stops moving together.