The stock market has been in rally mode. The S&P 500 is up 16% from its June 16 closing low of 3,666.77.

Was June 16 the bottom and are we in the midst of a new bull market?

We’ll only know in hindsight. (Though, we can be reasonably confident that stocks will be higher years from now.)

However, it appears that traders are betting that the Fed will soon ease up on monetary as the economy slows, supply chains improve, and inflation shows signs of cooling. Expectations for S&P 500 earnings have been coming down but continue to reflect growth. And the resilience in stock prices suggest markets were expecting worse.

With that in mind, below are some recent market observations that caught my eye.