Week 34: Bond Yields Steal the Show as Markets Pull Back
Rising long-term Treasury yields, a Walmart-shaped consumer warning, and surging Bitcoin combined for a volatile week, but the combined portfolio again beat a falling market. →
Week 31: Fed Holds, Microsoft Surges, Markets Recover
A volatile week of central bank signals, hawkish bond moves and swinging tech earnings resolved in a positive weekly close and three of four portfolios beat the S&P 500.
Weekly Summary
Week 31 (27–31 July) delivered everything at once: a Fed decision, a historic bond yield spike, a 15% single-day surge from Microsoft, Meta's earnings stumble, Amazon's recovery, and oil whipsawing on ceasefire hopes and fresh Middle East escalation. By Friday's close, the S&P 500 had managed a gain of 1.0% on the week and now stands +9.2% year-to-date — a resilient outcome given the noise. July as a whole was a more sobering month: the index finished -0.13% for the month, weighed down by the two consecutive weeks of losses in weeks 29 and 30.
For the Rivativ model portfolios, the week was a strong one. The combined portfolio gained +1.16%, outperforming the S&P 500's +1.05% weekly return. More meaningfully, the combined portfolio finished July +1.35% month-to-date against the index's -0.13% — an outperformance of nearly 1.5 percentage points over the full month, demonstrating the value of systematic volatility strategies when directional equity markets struggle.
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