Utilities Keep Flipping the Breadth Switch
The Utilities sector of the S&P 500 slid 0.98% yesterday, making it the index’s worst-performing sector. Just 5 of 31 member stocks finished higher as the percentage of stocks trading above their 50-DMAs sank from 93.5% to 67.7%, a one-day drop of 25.8 percentage points.
Through July 15th, the Utilities sector has recorded 6 one-day declines of at least 25 percentage points in the percentage of stocks above their 50-DMAs this year. That ties 2010 for the second-most such declines on record through this point last year. Only 2020 and 2025 had more, with 7 days each.
In contrast, swings of the same magnitude in the other direction have occurred just 3 times so far this year. Since the turn of the century, the Utilities sector has averaged two daily improvements and three daily declines of at least 25 percentage points YTD through July 15th. In other words, although sharp breadth improvements have been more common than usual this year, they have still been outnumbered two to one by equally sharp deteriorations, which have been nearly as common as ever.
This type of breadth volatility has become a defining feature of Utilities in recent years since the AI boom. In each of the last three years, the sector has either led or tied all other S&P 500 sectors in the number of daily moves of at least 25 percentage points in either direction through July 15th. Energy tied Utilities with eight such moves last year, but no other sector has matched it over that span.
Most sectors outside of Utilities, Energy, Real Estate, and Materials have had at least one year since 2024 with no moves of that magnitude through July 15th. Health Care and Industrials have had none in any of the last three years, compared with 26 combined for Utilities. One partial driver for the high and low frequency of moves among sectors is the number of components in each. Utilities, Energy, and Real Estate all rank in the bottom five in terms of the number of components in each sector.
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Chart of the Day: IPO Fever
Bespoke’s Morning Lineup – 7/16/26- Yeah, But
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Paul Hickey appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street yesterday to discuss markets and inflation. To view the segment, click on the image below.
Futures were modestly weaker early this morning, but things have taken a turn for the worse as the morning goes on. S&P 500 futures are currently down 0.3% while the Nasdaq is indicated to open nearly 1% lower as investors question the durability of the AI trade. Treasury yields are moving higher, with the 10-year yield up 4 basis points to 4.59%, and crude oil is fractionally higher, trading right around $80 per barrel as President Trump threatens to escalate attacks on Iran. Gold and Bitcoin are both lower by about 1%.
It was a tough night in Asia as the Nikkei plunged nearly 3% and South Korea tanked over 6%. The weakness in South Korea comes as regulators look to crack down on levered ETFs, which have been driving much of the volatility on both the way up and the way down.
European stocks are also lower again this morning, with the STOXX 600 down 0.5% while Germany trades down by nearly a full percent. UK GDP came in modestly better than expected, while Industrial Production and Construction Output both dropped more than expected.
It’s a busy day for data in the US this morning, and just about all of it was better than expected. Initial and continuing jobless claims both came in slightly lower than expected, while Retail Sales were mostly in line with expectations, although May’s numbers were revised slightly higher. The real showstopper of the morning, though, was the Philly Fed report, which came in much better than expected as the headline index surged to 41.4 (highest since November 2021) versus forecasts for a reading of 12.5,
No matter how good the news gets, you can always count on skeptics to show up with a barrage of “buts”. This week’s inflation data from the June CPI and PPI reports both came in lower than expected, easing concerns over the troubling inflation levels from May’s numbers. Before investors could even digest the reports, though, you didn’t have to look far for the rebuttals. Yes, these numbers were good, they said, but with the war in Iran reigniting in the last couple of weeks, oil prices have rallied more than 15% from the early July low, so next month’s numbers will erase the improvement we saw in June.
Inflation is about more than just the price of oil, but since that was the focus of the loudest of the “buts,” let’s look at the trend in prices. During May, crude oil prices averaged $98.51 per barrel. In June, which is the month this week’s data was based on, prices averaged $81.79 per barrel. This morning, after oil prices have “surged” off the July lows, WTI is trading at $79.45 per barrel. That’s still nearly 3% lower than the average price from June, and the average price of $73.62 this month is 10% less than the average price in June. If oil were the only determinant of CPI, we’d be set up for another negative print!
The point here isn’t to diminish the fact that elevated inflation is a long-term issue. We’ll be the last ones to get complacent about the market and inflation, but at current levels, oil prices don’t appear to be a threat to unwind the improvement in CPI that we saw in this week’s data. If the oil price rises back up towards $90 per barrel? Yes, that would be a problem.
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Bespoke’s Wealth Management Report – July 2026
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The Closer – PPI, Beige Book Boom, Low Inventories – 7/15/26
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- After a weaker-than-expected CPI reading yesterday, PPI also came in below estimates in June.
- The Beige Book saw generally stronger commentary regarding the US economy as mentions of war and uncertainty have subsided.
- Including strategic reserves US crude oil inventories are now at their lowest level since the early 1980s.
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Daily Sector Snapshot — 7/15/26
Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call Recaps: JPMorgan (JPM)
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers JPMorgan’s (JPM) Q2 2026 earnings call.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is the largest US bank by assets. The bank reported $16.9 billion of net income and $6.14 of EPS, with revenue excluding significant items up 15% as markets, investment banking, asset-management fees, deposits, and loans strengthened. Consumers remained resilient despite inflation and higher fuel costs. Spending was robust across income groups, delinquencies were better than expected, and the card charge-off outlook improved to roughly 3.2%. Capital markets were exceptionally active: investment-banking fees rose 30%, equities revenue surged 86%, and management described markets as healthy, exuberant, and difficult to forecast. Higher deposits and rates lifted the net-interest-income outlook, though management warned that persistently high rates could eventually intensify competition for deposits. AI now spans nearly 1,000 use cases, with major applications in fraud, risk, marketing, document analysis, and productivity, while data-center financing, weakening underwriting standards, and proposed bank-capital rules remain important watch areas. JPM shares rallied 2.5% on 7/14 after posting better-than-expected results…
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Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call Recaps: Bank of America (BAC)
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers Bank of America’s (BAC) Q2 2026 earnings call.
Bank of America (BAC) is one of the largest US financial institutions, serving consumers, small businesses, corporations, institutions, and wealthy clients through banking, lending, payments, wealth management, investment banking, and trading. Bank of America reported a strong second quarter, with revenue up 15% to $31.6 billion, net income up 27% to $9.1 billion, and EPS up 34% to $1.21. Consumer spending grew more than 6% year-over-year, card spending rose 9%, and credit remained stable. Average loans increased 8%, led by 11% commercial-loan growth, while deposits rose 2.5%. Investment-banking fees jumped 50%, equities revenue rose 70%, and FICC delivered its best quarter in more than a decade. Management expects full-year net interest income growth near the top of its 6%–8% range and operating leverage of 300–400 basis points. AI is contributing both externally through infrastructure financing and internally through more than 300 approved use cases, although management noted that the Iran war could disrupt IPOs and market sentiment. On better-than-expected results, BAC shares rose 1.85% on 7/14…
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