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8,000 is no longer a distant number. The S&P 500 traded above 7,800 for the first time on Aug 13 and closed at a record 7,798.99, up 0.7%. The index is now up 13.9% this year. July PPI provided the latest push: · Headline PPI was flat MoM and slowed from 5.5% to 4.7% YoY · Final demand goods fell 0.7%, led by a 3.1% drop in energy · Services still rose 0.2%, showing that inflation pressure has not disappeared The details were less uniformly soft. PPI excluding food, energy and trade services rose 0.4% MoM and 4.7% YoY. Portfolio management prices jumped 6.5%, and that category feeds into the Fed's preferred PCE inflation measure. The labor signal was also mixed. Initial jobless claims rose to 209,000, above the 205,000 forecast, but the four-week average remained at 199,000. The labor market is cooling, yet layoffs are still historically low. Treasury yields eased as the data softened market pressure for a September hike. That gave equities another boost, but markets are increasingly pricing cooling inflation and strong earnings at the same time. Citi's published year-end target of 8,100 is now less than 4% above Thursday's close. Its forecast is supported by $350 in 2026 S&P 500 EPS, although Citi has questioned how long AI-driven growth can persist beyond 2027. The earnings structure also matters. Goldman Sachs estimates AI infrastructure beneficiaries could deliver roughly half of the S&P 500's earnings growth this year, while warning that market breadth has narrowed and momentum has risen. The next major policy signal may come from Jackson Hole, beginning Aug 27. Any shift in the Fed's inflation assessment could quickly reset yields, equity valuations and risk appetite. For crypto, softer inflation can support liquidity expectations and risk appetite. But elevated equity valuations also make markets more sensitive to the next inflation surprise, earnings miss or change in rate expectations. Will BTC keep following equities if inflation cools, or start trading on crypto-native catalysts again? #SP500Nears8000 #CPIPPIEaseFedSplit $SPY $XSPY