Summary

The S&P 500 is off to a positive start through the first half of 2025, with the S&P 500 up about 5% year to date. It may sound like we are in a normal year, but we are not. The first half of the year included a sharp sell-off in the Information Technology sector due to AI competition from Japan, as well as near trip into a bear market as investors hit the sell button as tariff talk began. But tariff talk turned out to be largely just that (more talk than actual tariffs, at least thus far) and investors have refocused on the positive fundamentals of a growing economy, expanding earnings, and declining interest rates. Drilling down to sectors, breadth has improved in 2025, with groups like Industrials, Utilities, Consumer Staples, Financial, and Energy all performing in line with or bet