{"id":783190,"date":"2026-07-25T05:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/783190\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T05:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:38:23","slug":"word-on-wall-street-a-positive-start-to-earnings-season-while-jobless-claims-hit-wyncote-wealth-management-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/783190\/","title":{"rendered":"Word on Wall Street:\u00a0A Positive Start to Earnings Season While Jobless Claims Hit | Wyncote Wealth Management Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

MICHAEL J. HALLORAN, CFA | Equity Strategist of Janney Montgomery Scott
Wyncote Wealth Management Group<\/a><\/p>\n

Highlights for this week include:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Consumer spending closed out the first half of 2026 on solid footing with retail sales rising 0.2 percent in June and up 6.7 percent versus a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 June industrial production (IP) disappointed but still set a cycle high. IP grew at an annual rate of 4.0\u00a0 percent in the second quarter, as capital expenditures and manufacturing continue to drive economic\u00a0 activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Profit growth provides the fundamental support for stocks, and the second quarter earnings season is\u00a0 off to another positive start after strong first quarter results. Given the ongoing massive AI buildout\u00a0 and healthy economic readings, we expect further positive news from earnings season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 While acknowledging the risks posed by the fluid and uncertain Iranian conflict, we continue to\u00a0 expect stocks to be supported by further economic growth and robust profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Retail Sales Continue to Signal a Resilient Consumer\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consumer spending closed out the first half of 2026 on solid footing with retail sales rising 0.2 percent in\u00a0 June, matching consensus expectations, and up 6.7 percent versus a year ago. Gains were broad-based with\u00a0 seven out of the thirteen major sales categories rising.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Core sales, which strip out the volatile categories for autos and gas stations and are important for estimating overall economic growth, rose 0.4 percent in June and were running at a 9.1 percent annualized growth rate\u00a0 in the second quarter versus the first quarter average \u2013 the fastest quarterly growth rate in three years. Sales\u00a0 at non-store retailers (internet and mail-order) have been the standout within the core grouping, up 1.9\u00a0percent in the month and rising at an 18.2 percent annualized rate in the second quarter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consumer spending is being supported by a healthy labor market, higher tax refunds, and stock market\u00a0 gains.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Industrial Production Disappoints but Still Hits a Cycle High\u00a0<\/p>\n

June industrial production (IP) disappointed but still set a cycle high. IP ticked up just 0.1 percent m\/m, but\u00a0 it\u2019s been rising for the past 2 years and grew at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the second quarter, as capital\u00a0 expenditures and manufacturing continue to drive economic activity. The largest positive contributions came\u00a0 from mining and utilities, which both rose 0.4 percent. Gains in mining output were driven by oil and gas\u00a0 activity. Mining output is up at a rapid 12.1 percent annualized rate in the last three months, a positive signal that US energy companies are ramping up output as supply disruptions continue in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, utilities output (which is volatile and largely dependent on weather from month to month) has\u00a0 been on an upward trend since 2023, following nearly twenty years of stagnation, as power-hungry data\u00a0 centers have boosted demand for US power generation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the manufacturing sector stalled for the first time this year, underlying strength remains. Production in\u00a0 high-tech equipment, which is benefiting from investment in AI as well as the reshoring of semiconductor\u00a0 production, increased 0.4 percent in June. High-tech manufacturing is up 11.1 percent in the past year (the\u00a0 fastest rate of any series) and up at an even faster 15.5 percent annualized rate in the past three months. In\u00a0 addition, manufacturing of business equipment was up 5.5 percent in the past year, outpacing the 1.1 percent gain in overall industrial production and signaling a broader reindustrialization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since 1969, Consistent with a Healthy Labor Market\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initial jobless claims fell 22,000 to 187,000, the lowest since 1969 when the labor force was much smaller.\u00a0 Initial jobless claims are an actual count of the number of people signing up for benefits and are not revised\u00a0 significantly. Consequently, claims are considered an accurate and timely indicator of the labor market and\u00a0 economy. They\u2019ve been trending lower all year and are down almost 9 percent y\/y \u2013 consistent with a healthy\u00a0 labor market and economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earnings Season Off to Another Positive Start\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second quarter (Q2) of 2026 earnings season is off to another positive start after a strong first quarter.\u00a0 About 26 percent of the S&P 500\u2019s market capitalization has reported so far, and expectations are now for 2Q\u00a0 earnings to grow an impressive 25 percent. Technology (AI beneficiaries) and Energy are leading earnings\u00a0 growth. Earnings are beating estimates by 42 percent on aggregate so far, with 80 percent of companies\u00a0 topping projections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remaining Positive on the Market\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While acknowledging the Iranian conflict continues to pose a risk for the economy and stocks, we remain\u00a0 encouraged by the underlying market dynamics. Economically sensitive sectors like Financials and Industrials\u00a0 continue to perform well. Small-cap stocks, another economically sensitive group, are also performing well. We continue to expect stocks to be supported by further economic growth and robust profits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disclaimer\u00a0<\/p>\n

This report is provided for informational and educational purposes only and shall in no event be construed as an offer to sell or a\u00a0 solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation for any strategy or to buy, sell, or hold any product. Opinions\u00a0 expressed are subject to change without notice and do not take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situation,\u00a0 or needs of individual investors. Employees of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC or its affiliates may, at times, release written or oral\u00a0 commentary, technical analysis, or trading strategies that differ from the opinions expressed here. The information described herein\u00a0 is taken from sources which we believe to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed by\u00a0 us. The opinions expressed herein may be given only such weight as opinions warrant. This Firm, its officers, directors, employees, or\u00a0 members of their families may have positions in the securities mentioned and may make purchases or sales of such securities from\u00a0 time to time in the open market or otherwise and may sell to or buy from customers such securities on a principal basis. This report\u00a0 is the intellectual property of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney) and may not be reproduced, distributed, or published by any\u00a0 person for any purpose without Janney\u2019s prior written consent. This presentation has been prepared by Janney Investment Strategy\u00a0 Group (ISG) and is to be used for informational purposes only. In no event should it be construed as a solicitation or offer to\u00a0 purchase or sell a security. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance and future returns are not guaranteed. There\u00a0 are risks associated with investing in stocks such as a loss of original capital or a decrease in the value of your investment. For\u00a0 additional information or questions, please consult with your Financial Advisor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MICHAEL J. HALLORAN, CFA | Equity Strategist of Janney Montgomery ScottWyncote Wealth Management Group Highlights for this week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101,14409],"class_list":["post-783190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-sponsored"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}