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&P 500.
Options bets and volatility are sending buy signals, which sets up the stock market for a potential upside breakout.
If the market can safely negotiate this week's three major clearing events, the S&P 500 benchmark should rally toward the 7,900 to 8,000 level, one closely followed strategist says.
These are three of the 11 stocks among the S&P 500 that passed a screen, trading below their long-term average price/sales ratios, with estimates for very strong revenue growth through 2028.
“A net 56% of fund managers polled in the bank's latest industry survey are overweight equities, the highest level since November 2021, a team of BofA strategists led by Hartnett said.
Leopold Aschenbrenner entered July as one of Wall Street's most celebrated AI investors. His hedge fund, Situational Awareness, had returned 439% in the first half of 2026, powered by concentrated bets on the infrastructure behind the artificial intelligence boom.
The S&P 500 wrapped up the week with a loss of 1.4%, snapping a three-week winning streak. Key Takeaways The S&P 500 posted a 1.4% weekly loss, its worst weekly showing since mid-July.
The S&P 500 Index has wavered this week as investors started focusing on the bond market, which has become highly volatile. After peaking at 7,820 last week, the SPX has dropped to 7,640.
Goldman says hedge funds suffered worst underperformance vs S&P 500 in July in more than 20 years of data. July "marked one of the sharpest hedge fund de-grossing episodes of the past decade," Goldman said.
The S&P 500 is set up for a great year, and there are still gains to come. Seasonally, Q4 is the strongest of the year, typically rising 80% of the time, and there are other factors in play suggesting this year will follow suit.
On CNBC's Investment Committee, Joe Terranova (who is the Senior Managing Director for Virtus Investment Partners) said, “I think you get to 10,000 in the next 18 months.
The S&P 500 remains within striking distance of a record even as a key measure of US borrowing costs has climbed to levels last seen before the global financial crisis. The index closed Monday at 7,745.06, down 0.52% for the session and roughly 0.7% below its August 13 record close of 7,798.99.