Together with Public
Happy Thursday,
Thanks so much for all the kind words and positive reactions to our last few episodes. The Rich Habits Podcast has been doing record numbers to start the summer — so we’re giving you more of it!
Beginning August 1st — we’ll begin posting episodes every Monday, Thursday, and now… FRIDAY!
Every Friday we’ll be walking you all through the most consequential, market moving, headlines and happenings. We want this new episode to become your go-to weekly summary of the stock market, economic news, and headlines that matter the most to you and your money.
The Q&A section of these new Friday episodes will address questions regarding side hustlers, solopreneurs, small business owners, and anyone else out there trying to earn more money!
Make sure you’re subscribed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, or wherever else you tune in.
A quick breakdown — in case you don’t have the time.
⭐ There are BIG expectations for the market in July.
⭐ We broke down how rich people buy back their time.
⭐ Cracks are forming in the U.S. labor market.
⭐ America lags the world in interest rate cuts.
⭐ Tesla officially launched its Robotaxi service in Austin.
Market Overview
As of market open, 6/26/25
Chart of the Week
There are BIG expectations for the market in July.
There is a growing number of investors that now expect a strong summer rally as their base case for the markets. July has been the strongest month in post-election years over the past two decades — and it ranks as the second-best performing month over the last 10 years (nearly +4% on average for the S&P 500).
Those of you that are in the Rich Habits Network know we’ve had a lot of winning positions over the last few weeks, and we remain bullish overall. But we’d like to caution you to not be worried if we don’t see a big summer pump.
Bitcoin is hovering around all-time highs, the Nasdaq-100 made a new all-time high this week, and sentiment is improving. However — Middle East tensions, Fed inaction, Congressional drama, and bad economic prints can still be negative catalysts. All we’re saying is it’s a bit unsettling how many people are calling for an imminent rally…
Trust the process and let’s hope we get this widely-expected summer surge. If not — don’t freak out and zoom out! The market has proven to be very resilient in 2025.
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In Case You Missed It…
In this week’s Monday-morning episode of the Rich Habits Podcast (linked here) — Austin and Robert broke down how rich people actually buy back their time, giving themselves more freedom to live life on their terms.
Contrary to popular belief, the wealthy aren’t just working 100-hour weeks or micromanaging every dollar. They’re using money as a tool to reduce stress, increase joy, and reclaim their most valuable asset: time.
Here’s how they do it…
Understand the Hourly ROI of Your Time — If you could make $500 from five hours of focused work, that’s $100/hour. So if you’re mowing your lawn or running errands instead of doing that higher-value work, you’re losing money. Rich people know what their time is worth — and only handle tasks personally when it’s worth it to them emotionally or strategically. Start thinking about how you spend your hours through this same lens.
Buy Expertise, Not Just Advice — Want to fast-track results? Learn from people who’ve already made (and survived) the mistakes. Austin and Robert shared how mentorship from seasoned investors, operators, or specialists can help you avoid pitfalls and compound your progress faster — sometimes saving you thousands (or more) in the process. You’re not just learning what to do, you’re learning what not to do.
Make Money While You Sleep — Passive income isn’t a myth, it just takes planning. The guys laid out three simple moves to start generating “mailbox money”: using a high-yield cash account on Public, investing in yield-generating ETFs like NEOS Funds, and investing into real estate via platforms like Fundrise. Compound returns, portfolio income, and business ownership — these are the wealth-growing strategies that rich people prioritize while doing other things they love.
Master the Art of Saying No — Time is precious, and distractions are everywhere. One of the most powerful rich habits? Knowing when to not say yes. Robert shared hard-earned lessons around avoiding “shiny object syndrome” and focusing on what’s already working. Real wealth often comes from consistency and compounding, not chasing every new idea that comes your way.
Wealthy people use money to buy time — not just things. The more intentional you are about how you spend your hours, the more fulfilling (and financially fruitful) your life can become.
👉 Click here to listen to the full episode. It’s a must-listen if you’re ready to work smarter and start living on your terms.
Here’s a link to the Q&A episode that was posted this morning.
We answered questions from: James, Yoselin, Ryan, Nick, Conor, & Kaanthi.
You can submit questions for these episodes by asking them inside of the Rich Habits Network, replying to this email, or sending us a DM on Instagram.
The Rich Habits Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, YouTube, and wherever else you get your content!
Robert’s Callout
Cracks are forming in the U.S. labor market.
Beneath the surface of headline job reports, the U.S. labor market is showing signs of stress. The Kansas City Fed’s Labor Market Conditions Index — which tracks labor market health using 24 key indicators — dropped to just 0.26 points in May, its lowest level since April 2021.
This marks the third straight year of decline for the index — a notable trend, as this measure has historically been a leading signal of rising unemployment in past economic cycles.
While layoffs aren’t surging just yet, the steady deterioration in this index points to growing vulnerability in the job market. If history repeats, we could start to see a more noticeable rise in job losses in the coming months.
Bottom line: the labor market isn’t collapsing, but it’s quietly softening — and that’s worth watching.
We’ve been saying it for months — inflation should steadily improve, but the performance of the labor market will be watched by more investors in 2025. We haven’t seen the unemployment rate rise, but data like this reminds me to keep watching for potential negative catalysts. I’m bullish — but keep your heads on a swivel!!
Austin’s Callout
America lags the world in interest rate cuts.
The chart above does a great job comparing the heightened level of U.S. interest rates with the rest of the world. As a reminder, the Fed cut rates by a total of 1% in 2024 — 50 bps in September, 25 bps in November, and 25 bps in December. Since then? Nothing.
Many people (including Trump’s administration) believe that the lack of rate cuts is politically motivated. All that aside — the Fed Presidents maintain that uncertainty from tariffs is the key reason why they can’t cut interest rates.
Below shows an interesting perspective from Tom Lee of Fundstrat:
Tom Lee is essentially arguing that tariffs are not inflation. Rather, tariffs are a tax. And “taxes” do not create inflation. This argument has been there from the beginning, but the Fed continues to hold firm.
I share all of this because interest rates are becoming more important to the market with each passing day. Our government wants to refinance debt at lower rates. Business owners want to get loans at lower rates. People want to change homes but are scared to lock in a higher rate on their mortgage.
I believe this will become increasingly critical to the market over the summer. We’ll be watching closely and hopefully there are cuts soon!
The Rich Habits Radar
👉 President Trump criticized Israel and Iran amid a fragile ceasefire.
👉 Hims & Hers stock plunged after ending its partnership with Novo Nordisk.
👉 Micron topped all analyst estimates in its latest earnings report.
👉 Waymo and Uber expanded their autonomous service into Atlanta.
👉 Powell warned Congress that tariffs could reignite inflation.
👉 T-Mobile partnered with Starlink to launch satellite service in July.
👉 Mastercard announced a new partnership with Chainlink.
👉 Apple held talks to potentially acquire AI search startup Perplexity.
👉 Tesla officially launched its Robotaxi service in Austin.
👉 Tensions rose between OpenAI & Microsoft over AGI.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or a recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
Public Disclosures: All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. Alpha is an AI research tool powered by GPT-4. Output from Alpha is not investment advice and should be verified for accuracy.
*A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. The 6.85% yield is the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across all ten bonds in the Bond Account, before fees, as of 6/26/2025. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See Bond Account Disclosures to learn more.
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