StockCharts' de Kempenaer; Don't jump in front of this 'freight train' of a market

Needham's Retzler: A.I.'s 'industrial revolution' won't end with a bubble

Chris Retzler, portfolio manager for the Needham Funds [https://needhamfunds.com], says that the stock market is benefitting from an artificial-intelligence powered industrial revolution "that we haven't seen the likes of in a very long time," but he says that this will not end the way the Internet bubble did because the players have strong balance sheets and prospects. Retzler thinks there is a strong fundamental story that can lead the market higher from here, and that the small-cap rally that has powered recent gains is a long-term shift that should bring smaller companies back to their traditional role of providing a higher-risk, higher-reward investment option. He worries about the potential impact of inflation and the timing and magnitude of any interest rate hikes, but he says the base case is for current conditions to remain in place and largely unchanged for several months. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi [https://vettafi.com], makes JPMorgan Core Plus Bond [https://etfdb.com/etf/JCPB/#etf-ticker-profile] his ETF of the Week, noting that the fund has seen strong inflows to match its recent strong performance, citing low fees for active management and a yield of roughly 5% as other key factors to consider. Plus, Stanford University professor Tina Seelig discusses her book "What I Wish I Knew About Luck: A Crash Course on Turning Aspirations into Achievements [https://tinaseeligauthor.com]," noting the significant difference between having good fortune and true good luck, and how individuals can make their own luck, often through small habits that amount to little more than common courtesy and good manners.

Card issuers are cutting credit limits; here's what to do if they cut yours

Credit expert Gerri Detweiler [https://gerridetweiler.com] discusses a trend where card issuers have been re-assessing risk and reducing the credit limits for consumers — even those with good credit scores — and why those moves are a symptom of the economy and the appetite for risk, rather than a reflection of you and your financial habits. Detweiler — who recently wrote about this issue for CardRates.com [https://cardrates.com/advice/credit-limit-decrease-reasons/] — says that limit cuts don't just reduce financing options, but it can impact credit scores and drop them, even if the consumer is not considered high-risk. Consumers get notices about limit cuts, but Detweiler says they are often missed; she discusses the moves consumers can make to avoid, forestall or minimize the issue, and how best to handle the situation. Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of WorkMoney [https://workmoney.org], discusses her new book, "The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money - No Matter How Much You Have [https://thejoyofmoney.com]," and how people confuse the math of money and the number they need to reach, rather than recognizing that it's how they feel about the money, choices and financial security that determine if they feel truly wealthy. She notes that most people struggle to get out of their own way when it comes to finances, blocking their own path to happiness because they are judging it on the scale of neighbors or riches, rather than on the quality of life and the control they have over their choices. Plus, Chuck talks about his long-time habit of writing down the reasons why he is buying an investment before making a purchase, and what he was thinking when he reviewed some of that paperwork during a recent clean-out of some files. It's a reminder that investments can do their job but that doesn't always make them right when your needs and time horizons change, and then how you decide whether to stay the course or change things up.

The mistake you make planning for retirement like your parents did

Personal finance journalist Brian O'Connor discusses his recent New York Times article "You're About to Retire. What Are You Doing for the Next 20 or 30 Years? [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/business/retirement-plan.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zVA.DgX0.r4yIlaMw53_y&smid=url-share]" and explores how retirement planning is pivoting from a focus on the numbers to an emphasis on the lifestyle you want, noting that too many people miss out by putting the math first. O'Connor discusses how and why financial planning has changed, noting that previous generations were so focused on taking over responsibility for their retirement savings as pensions were phased out that they didn't consider what retirement meant beyond having no active paycheck. Allison Hadley, an analyst at Digital Third Coast, discusses a survey she did for American Home Shield [https://ahs.com] looking at cost-of-living concerns for homeowners, which found that nearly half are primarily "enjoying their mortgage" this summer [https://ahs.com/home-matters/cost-savers/summer-budget-statistics/], cutting back on travel and socializing to deal with rising costs for gas, groceries and electricity. More than half of the homeowners surveyed worry that inflation is ruining their summer. Plus, in The Book Interview, Jack Schwager discusses his recent addition to his long-running "Market Wizards" series, discussing "Market Wizards: The Next Generation: The World's Top Young Traders Reveal How They Beat The Market [https://panmacmillan.com/authors/jack-d-schwager/market-wizards-the-next-generation/9781804093641]."

Mark Hamrick: The hallmarks of a recession aren't here ... yet

Mark Hamrick, chief economic analyst at The Hamrick Brief [https://thehamrickbrief.substack.com], says that the current affordability crisis has the potential to trigger a recession, if it gets to where there's a slowdown in spending that spills over to impact employment levels. That said, Hamrick says current conditions aren't yet deserving of the label of "economic crisis," even if it feels that way for some individuals and households, effectively the bottom portion of the k-shaped recovery. Still, Hamrick says the remarkable facet of the U.S. economy is that it has been able to avoid recession for this long. Vijay Marolia [https://vijaymarolia.com], chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital [https://regalpointcapital.com], says "Mr. Market is a manic depressive," and is showing those tendencies by getting so excited by positive guidance and potential that the reaction to strong earnings reports has been horrible stock action. He expects that to potentially continue this week, when the focus of earnings season shifts to A.I.-driven companies like Alphabet, Intel and Tesla. Marolia says the market's earnings swings have contributed to an ongoing downturn for tech stocks, though he believes it's more of a buying opportunity than the start of a correction. Plus, with June's inflation reading being partly positive (better than May) mixed with negative (worse than when conflict started with Iran), "Captain Inflation" gives his take on how to best read and cope with the numbers. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs [https://newconstructs.com], says that while fans may believe Jersey Mike's is "a sub above," the company's initial public offering is a deal from below. While the IPO's launch date hasn't been determined, Trainer says the expected $12 billion valuation is at least double what he thinks the numbers justify, and that the deal — particularly at that level — mostly benefits the private-equity firm that took control of Jersey Mike's in 2025.

Annex Wealth's Jacobsen: Economic expansion will drive growth at least into '27

Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist for Annex Wealth Management [https://annexwealth.com], says there are signs of a broad-based economic expansion, which gives him a "fairly constructive outlook for the economy over the next six to 12 months," though he is concerned about policy shocks that could unsettle things. Jacobsen warns that investors should not be too excited about situations where the general feeling is "It could have been worse," such as recent inflation numbers or the impact of the war in Iran, but they should take some positivity from the Federal Reserve and its new chairman Kevin Warsh, who Jacobsen says doesn't really want "to pump the brakes on this economy" any time soon. Scott Brown, chief strategist at Brown Technical Insights [https://browninsights.com], says that the stock market just lived through the best second quarter ever for a midterm election year, which is a bullish sign for the rest of the year and getting through the standard troubles that come in midterm years. Brown says there is upside potential "but you want to be careful about where you are looking for it," warning that semiconductor names are correcting and that there is more downside risk there. Instead, he is looking at industrials, health care and financials as areas with positive potential. In The NAVigator, Ray DiBernardo, portfolio manager for the XAI Madison Equity Premium Income [https://xainvestments.com/mcn/] fund, says the stock market's high valuation levels have increased downside risk, making it that nervous investors should consider covered-call strategies, which trade some of the market's potential upside for downside protection. For nervous investors, DiBernardo says the options strategy acts like portfolio insurance, but that it is particularly attractive in the closed-end fund wrapper where covered-call funds generally are at a discount with the market near highs; that discount helps to make up for the upside potential investors surrender when choosing the strategy. In the Market Call, Brian Frank, manager of the Frank Value Fund [https://frankfunds.com], talks about absolute-value investing, noting that "nothing in the tech sector really is cheap" on an absolute basis, which has him looking more towards consumer staples and other areas that he says are trading at a discount. he also discusses the important of not just buying stocks on the cheap but having a potential catalyst to unlock that value.