It has been a pleasant start to the quarter – a welcome change of pace from Q1 and Q2. So far, the major indices have all rallied, yields and commodities have been stable, and volatility has meaningfully dissipated.

Violent swings within the stock market have become familiar and ordinary. After Notes was last published, the S&P 500 experienced its worst week since March of 2020 before following it up with one of its finest post-COVID rallies.

June started slowly as the market found respite in a summer calm. In fact, for the first week the S&P traded in a fairly tight 100-point range. That changed on a dime though as stocks took another leg lower last week.

The major U.S. equity indices moved lower once more last week – though they regained roughly half of their losses in Friday’s session to cap the volatile week. The S&P 500 has now dropped for six straight weeks, its longest losing streak since 2011.

It has been a little over a month since Notes was last published and what a month it was. The Nasdaq’s 13.3% decline was its worst since the depths of the financial crisis in October 2008.