Summertime is often a quiet time for the market and stock traders. But so far this month we’ve seen at least one record high in the Dow and the market also posted some intraday highs. Let’s take a closer look now with our Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank.

1. Against that backdrop and even with the excitement surrounding the SpaceX IPO and with the market’s ups and downs lately, trading seems very orderly this month. Are we going to see that play out for the rest of the summer?

2. How do the underlying U.S. market fundamentals look?

3. Zacks estimates on S&P500 stocks offer solid 2026 EPS growth across all quarters. I’m sensing that’s also supporting the market?

4. You’ve written that three strong S&P500 sectors lift this stock market’s fundamentals. Which are they?

5. Did Energy surprise you? Given the Iran story, and considering that sector is oil shock related?

6. Will those three sectors be enough to sustain this bull market?

7. The last FOMC meeting was the first one that the new Fed chair presided over. He indicated the likelihood of rate hikes going forward. Any indication of how the market perceives this new Fed chairman?

8. Has the stock market already priced in rate hikes for this year?

9. Next are three Zacks #1 (STRONG BUY) large cap stocks, benefitting from fresh covering analyst earnings upgrades. Micron (MU Quick QuoteMU - Free Report) , Caterpillar (CAT Quick QuoteCAT - Free Report) and Sandisk (SNDK Quick QuoteSNDK - Free Report) .

Our Chief Equity Strategist & Economist, John Blank, on the summertime stock market. With John, I’m Terry Ruffolo.