DC Lite #156

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1. Redbook. Strength in same-store retail sales continued in the week ending July 6, rising 6.3% YoY.

2. NFIB (II). There remains a wide gap between the Small Business Optimism Index’s hard and soft components.

3. Client flows. "5th largest week of equity inflows since ‘08 ... Clients bought stocks across all sectors except Energy, led by Tech (for a fifth week in a row) and Discretionary (largest weekly inflow in our data history since ’08)."

4. Margin debt. "Whenever US margin debt increases we hear calls of a bubble forming in equity markets. However, unlike in previous bubble episodes (including 2020-21), margin debt is growing less than the equity market capitalization."

5. SPX vs. equal weight. "The six-month performance spread between the S&P 500 and S&P 500 Equalweight index has only been higher than it is now during a small number of days in March 2000."