Today's Scoop:

Hey friends - hope you’re enjoying the start of July. There will be no scoops tomorrow, with markets closed for July 4th.

Catch up with our latest Weekly Scoop.

Here’s what you need to know today…

1. Student loans will not be forgiven.

2. Consumer spending has been slowing.

3. Living costs are still on the rise.

S&P 500: 4,455.59
1Mo: +4% | 1Yr: +16% | 5Yr: +61%

The market didn't do much today, closing early ahead of the 4th of July holiday.

Consumer spending has been slowing. On Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported personal consumption expenditures rose only 0.1% in May. When considering inflation, personal spending hasn’t grown much in the past four months. Shoppers have been keeping a tighter grip on their wallets, not opting for unnecessary purchases.

Living costs are still rising. Policymakers’ preferred inflation gauge, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, rose 0.3% in May. Overall, price tags are only 3.8% higher than a year ago, but core living costs are still rising faster than normal each month.

Student loans will not be forgiven. The Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on Friday, invalidating the program as unconstitutional. Tens of millions of student loan borrowers will expect to restart payments in October. President Biden vowed to produce a new plan to provide relief to borrowers.

Click to dig in & vote your reaction, see how others feel

• Disney sued for paying men more

• AMC Theaters clashes with investor community over stock plans

• Tyson Foods goes back to antibiotics in its chicken

• UPS makes progress to avoid massive worker strike

• Nike sales slow as shoppers cut back

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Summer Trading

Summer can often bring more market volatility because of a substantial decline in trading volume. As much as it seems like the stock market is a big machine, it's still run by people. As portfolio managers and analysts head to the Hamptons and more people take a moment to unplug, trading volumes can decline.

There can be wider swings in prices in a market with fewer participants. If you had a thousand people guess what they think a toaster costs, you would likely see many of the same guesses or slight differences in the middle of the range of price guesses. But, the more people you take away, the fewer overlapping opinions and wider the gaps in price estimates. That's what happens in the stock market.

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