Stock Market Outlook: July's Highs Mask A Dangerous August Twist

U.S. stocks just wrapped up another strong month of gains with record-breaking levels, but history warns that August could quickly flip the script on this summer rally.

The MAGS ETF is trading at new record highs. See the chart here.

The S&P 500, tracked by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO), rose for a fourth straight month in July, marking the 14th positive July in the last 15 years.

The Nasdaq 100 matched the trend, notching its 17th gain in the last 18 Julys, driven by surging tech giants and investor enthusiasm around AI.

Fueling the optimism, the combined market capitalization of the Magnificent Seven—which includes Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT), Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Tesla Inc. ...