00:00 Host

It is time now for today’s strategy session. US stocks poised for their best May since 1990, but could the rally be running out of steam? June marks a historically muted month for stocks, and investors await a Fed decision and more trade volatility. Joining us now, we’ve got Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ridged Wealth Management, which oversees $5.6 billion in assets under management. Great to have you here with us, Callie. So, just take us into the setup going into June and where there are pockets that investors should either be leaning into or leaning away from.

00:51 Callie Cox

Well, hey, I can’t say I’m, I’m any happier than what we’ve seen in May. You said it, we’ve seen the strongest May in 35 years. And, you know, if anybody was sitting there in mid-April, uh, you know, predicting this, I’d probably call them out on it. So what we’re looking at, Brad, right now is, you know, a strong market, uh, fueled by a sentiment rebound, uh, fueled by a rebound in tech stocks and consumer stocks as, uh, tariff fears have abated a little bit. But, you know, as we’ve seen this morning with the Truth Social posts that came out, tariffs aren’t completely out of the headlines yet. I mean, yesterday was another good example of that as well. So I think heading into this summer, especially after such a strong bounce, it makes a lot of sense to be cautious.

01:55 Host

But Callie, uh, great to speak with you as always. I was just talking about how the stock market is up about 4% since April 2nd. Have investors moved past any tariff risks that could still be present in this market? And if so, how offside might investors be caught if these tariffs do end up being stickier than they’re currently pricing for?

02:31 Callie Cox

I would say yes there. I think that markets have moved pretty far past the tariff fears, um, especially because we’ve gotten a lot of economic data showing that number one, companies haven’t passed these prices along, and number two, uh, you know, these tariffs have hit spending, but not as hard as some people feared, uh, especially that I feared in the middle of April. Uh, I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet, and when I say, you know, to head, to be cautious heading into this next month, I think it’s a good setup for long-term investors. I think many setups are good for long-term investors, but to, to expect, uh, you know, markets to drift higher through this month full of news, I think is a little, is a little optimistic.