Dow Jones Soars 200 Points as Retail Sales Surge—Netflix Steals the Spotlight

Wall Street’s bull run gets a caffeine hit.

### Retail Resilience Fuels Rally

The Dow Jones Industrial Average punched 200 points higher today—proof that Main Street’s shopping bags still pack a market-moving punch. Forget recession fears; consumers are swiping credit cards like they’re going out of style (which, let’s be honest, they might be).

### Streaming Giant Plays Lead Actor

Netflix flexed its algorithmic muscles, outpacing peers as if binge-watching became a GDP metric. Because nothing says ‘economic recovery’ like half the planet glued to K-dramas.

### The Cynic’s Corner

Meanwhile, traditional bankers are scrambling to justify their fees—turns out ‘strong fundamentals’ is code for ‘we didn’t see this coming either.’

Inflation fears eat into consumer confidence

Still, these figures are not adjusted for inflation, which rose significantly in June. Notably, after factoring in price increases, consumer spending rose just 0.3%, far short of the 0.9% May price drop. For this reason, traders will be closely monitoring the situation with the Fed, which has been under fire from the WHITE House.

“Fed independence is very important, and it’s something we should fight to preserve,” Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon said in a Wednesday interview. Echoing him were the executives from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other banking giants.