Does the stock market know something we don’t? by Rogé Karma
Today’s must-read: Despite tariff turmoil and high interest rates, the stock market keeps soaring—and no one knows why.
 

One Story to Read Today highlights a single newly published—or newly relevant—Atlantic story that’s worth your time.

The uncomfortable fact about the stock market’s historic run is that no one is sure why it’s happening—or what could bring it to an end, Rogé Karma writes.

(Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic)

 

Can anything stop the stock market? The U.S. economy recently weathered the worst pandemic in 100 years, the worst inflation in 40 years, and the highest interest rates in 20 years. Yet from 2019 through 2024, the S&P 500 grew by an average of nearly 20 percent a year, about double its historical average rate. Despite President Donald Trump’s erratic economic policies, which include the highest tariffs since the 19th century, the market is already up by about 8 percent in 2025.

As the stock market soars ever higher, the theories of why it rises have suffered the opposite fate. One by one, every favored explanation of what could be going on has been undermined by world events. The uncomfortable fact about the historic stock-market run is that no one really knows why it’s happening—or what could bring it to an end.

Previous One Story picks:

Sign up for This Week, our editors’ Sunday-evening selection of stories that are sparking conversation right now.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here. For full access to our journalism, subscribe to The Atlantic.

Join Arthur C. Brooks and Jeffrey Goldberg for a subscriber-only event

 

Want to learn more about leading a life that feels full and meaningful? Join Arthur C. Brooks and The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on Monday, August 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET as they discuss Brooks’s new book, The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life. Add the event to your calendar today.

Register Today

This email was sent to npsge3tx@nie.podam.pl
You've signed up to receive newsletters from The Atlantic.

If you wish to unsubscribe from The Atlantic newsletters, click here.

To update your email preferences, click here.

The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC · 610 Water Street, SW · Washington, DC 20024