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Hundreds of investing and finance newsletters hit my (and maybe your) inbox every week. This is the best of the best of policy from the past week. Every Wednesday, we’ll wrap up finance, and every Friday, we’ll take on tech.

This week, we’ve got…

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In partnership with Pacaso

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Wall Street threw itself a party late last week, with the S&P 500 hitting another record high on the back of weak jobs data, but some are starting to question how bad the hangover might be. Investors are betting the Fed will finally cut rates this month, and stocks are pricing in a soft landing like it’s already guaranteed.

The problem is that inflation is still ticking higher, and the President’s pressure campaign on the Fed is only adding to the circus. His nominee, Stephen Miran, insists he’s “not at all” a puppet, but markets know politics is creeping into rate decisions. Meanwhile, Powell is trying to balance a slowing labor market against tariffs that keep costs sticky.

Banks are caught in the middle. The Fed is hiking capital requirements for giants like Morgan Stanley, even as Trump’s regulators roll back supervision elsewhere. While most are betting on a September farewell to arms, financials could stay volatile while the broader market keeps chasing rate-cut relief.

A lot of people think we’re in a tech bubble and that it may pop soon, but congressman Cleo Fields is all in on tech stocks. According to AltIndex, he posted 23 tech stock buys in August alone, with zero sells.

See the full stock list here →

On Main Street, the mood is sour. Only 25% of Americans now believe hard work improves living standards, the lowest confidence since 1987. Rising costs are the culprit, and companies that once shielded consumers from tariffs are now passing the bill straight to the checkout line.

Walmart says costs are climbing weekly, Smucker is hiking coffee prices thanks to a 50% tariff, and meatpacking plants are short 10–20% of their workforce after immigration cuts. That squeeze is hitting grocery bills just as beef prices sit at record highs. Even higher-income shoppers are “trading down” to Dollar General.

By the way, if you’re looking for investing ideas to keep up with inflation, here are AltIndex’s top stock picks ranked by how strong their buy signal is.

The issues aren’t just domestic, either: America’s global favorability has also flipped negative, dragging down sales for brands like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Tesla abroad. Yet there’s a counterweight: South Korea’s $350 billion pledge to invest in US industries like chips, batteries, and AI. That means consumer staples and discount retailers may weather the storm, while tech and industrials could see fresh capital inflows.

Elected officials have had a tremendous amount of success in the market recently.

I want to keep you updated on what they’re trading and when—so you can leverage that intel as you plan out your own portfolio.

Data provided by ​AltIndex.com.

Remember to always DYOR.

That’s all for today. Write us and let us know your thoughts on the market, the newsletter, or the weather—we’d just love to hear from you.

Till next time,
— Brandon and Blake with Invested Inc.