Ol’ Jebidiah, The Hillbilly Sage
July Porch Talk: What the Market Got Into in June
Howdy folks,
Pull up a rocking chair and let me pour you a glass of ice-cold sweet tea. It’s Ol’ Jebidiah here, looking out over the North Carolina Mountains, ready to give you the plain truth about what the markets got into this past June. No fancy Wall Street jargon, no sales pitch, and no pressure—just straight talk, the way it ought to be.
June 2026 was a bit like a humid summer afternoon—it started out hot, but then we got a little rain to cool things off.
The Big Dogs Took a Breather
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about those giant technology companies—the ones building all these “Artificial Intelligence” contraptions. Well, they’ve been running like a prized hound after a rabbit all year. But in June, they finally had to stop and catch their breath.
The S&P 500 dipped just a hair—about 1.3%—ending the month right around 7,499. Some of those big tech stocks dropped over 10%. Why? Folks started realizing that building all these computer brains costs a heap of money, and investors wanted to know when that cash is gonna come back home. It’s just the market’s way of asking for the receipts.
The Little Guys Had Their Day
Now, here is the honest-to-goodness good news. While the big dogs were resting, the smaller pups were running wild. Small-cap stocks—the everyday businesses that keep the gears turning—actually went up over 3% in June.
We call that a “broadening market.” It means it ain’t just a handful of giants carrying the load anymore; the wealth is spreading out to the rest of the pack, which is exactly what you want to see for a healthy economy.
Oil Cooled Down and Rockets Went Up
Remember back in April when oil was sky-high and everyone was sweating at the gas pump because of the mess over in the Middle East? Well, a fragile ceasefire helped oil prices cool back down to the $70s. That gave our wallets—and the broader markets—a much-needed sigh of relief.
Oh, and I can’t forget—SpaceX finally hit the public market with the biggest IPO in history. Seems folks are mighty eager to aim for the stars with their money.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for the truth of the matter, June was a healthy month. It’s never good when a market only goes straight up on the backs of a few companies. A little pullback, a rotation into smaller businesses, and a cooling off in energy prices—that’s a recipe for a sturdy foundation.
You don’t need to go making any sudden moves. The sun is still shining, the market is still strong, and a good financial plan is built to weather these little summer showers.
If you ever want to sit down and chew the fat over what this means for your own accounts, you know where to find those fellows down there in the foothills. No pressure, no obligations—just an open door and an honest conversation.
