Stock Market Noise vs. Real Catalysts: What Actually Moves the Market?

In this Market Mondays clip, hosts Troy Millings, Ian Dunlap, and Rashad Bilal break down what really drives the stock market and what’s just background noise. With stock futures drifting higher ahead of a high-profile meeting, the team explores whether political events and global tensions have any lasting impact on your portfolio.

Ian Dunlap dives into why the much-talked-about meeting is likely more “noise” than a true catalyst for the market, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between real market movers and distractions. The discussion turns to the futures market, commodity shifts (especially in wheat from Ukraine), and how geopolitical events rarely cause significant market upticks.

The conversation heats up in anticipation of a big market-moving moment: Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech. Troy and Ian agree that Powell’s comments on interest rates have way more power to shake up Wall Street than any international meeting. Will Powell bow to presidential pressure for a rate cut, or will he hold firm? The hosts analyze possibilities—including the chance of a half-point rate cut—and what each scenario could mean for stocks.

Throughout the clip, the Market Mondays team stresses long-term investing over knee-jerk reactions. Learn why holding your investments through the noise—and recognizing real catalysts—can set you apart as a savvy investor.

Key topics in this clip:

• The difference between market “noise” and real catalysts
• Impact (or lack thereof) of geopolitical meetings on stock futures
• Why Jerome Powell’s interest rate decisions are the real game changer
• Long-term investment strategy versus short-term speculation
• How to prepare for both market pullbacks and bullish runs

Don’t miss Troy, Ian, and Rashad's insight into how top investors filter out distractions and keep their focus on what truly drives the market. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, this clip will help you navigate a market flooded with headlines—and invest with confidence.

*Subscribe to Market Mondays for weekly financial insights, actionable strategies, and unfiltered market commentary.*

#StockMarket #MarketMondays #Investing #JeromePowell #InterestRates #Geopolitics #FinanceClip #FinancialEducation #BullMarket #LongTermInvesting

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Remember to like, comment, and share if you found this clip helpful! Let us know your thoughts in the comments: What do you consider a true catalyst for the market?

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 3 (01:51):
Stock futures drift higher ahead of Velenski's visit kind of
flat now as far as for the day, but this
there's some anticipation that that could lead to some level
of breakthrough potentially. So what if any will this have

(02:12):
on the stock market, I.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
Think very little as far as the futures market. Expiration
was just Friday, so you usually have a twenty five
to twenty eight day window to get all your trades done.
But there's a hard deadline on which was to cut off,
and the fifteenth was that usually after expiration happens the
first two days or a little bit flat or slower.
Do I think this would be enough of a blockbuster

(02:40):
meeting to move the market one way or another.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
No.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
One of the biggest things that I'm going to be
talking about on Sunday is to understand what's a real
catalyst versus what is noise. Do I think the meeting
would be great or tensions ease, Yes, but it's more
noise than actual catalyst. So yeah, should drop back to
sixty three ninety five at some point this month, But

(03:04):
this meeting won't be the reason why nowhere that close
to it. You know, more noise than catalysts, for sure.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
I'm with you.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Even when I looked at the question, I thought more
so for the future's market than anything. When you're talking
about commodities, we obviously being something that's huge that comes
from Ukraine.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
I think it affects those markets.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
I don't see it overall affecting the entire market we've
I mean, it feels like there's always some geopolitical tension somewhere,
and so the talks we might see something positive, but
I don't expect to see any type of large uptick.
I think that the big day on our calendar this
week is Friday, when Jerome Powell will be speaking.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
That's going to have way more impact and it's going
to send more floods into the market for sure.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Right, a couple of things could happen, right, I mean,
it feels like he's not.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Going to succumb to the pressure of the president.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
But you know, all analysts appointing that there will be
a rate cut here in September. It ually started at
a quarter point, but now they're talking that potentially it
could be half a point, which would send the market
up or right at the end verse he could say, hey,
things are not going where we expected. Evaluations are out
of control, and he says, you know what, we'reou cutting

(04:17):
rates at all. And then that mid to late summer
pullback that we talked.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
About, it's still right there to the right in line.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
So I circle in Friday as the day I know
he met with Putin last week SYSK.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Today, I'm waiting for Jerome Powell.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's the guy that I need, that's a catalyst, that's
the guy I need.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
Yes, if they move the market or they don't do
anything with the rates, it could have an impact. But
if he decides, like you said, two basis points or
zero point five, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Will fly to the up side. For sure, We're gonna go.
It's gonna be a nice run. It's gonna be a
nice run. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
I mean I do you think he comes to the
pressure or do you feel like he even feels the
pressure from the president?

Speaker 4 (05:04):
I think he feels it, but I think he knows
he can't succumb to it. And it's a great lesson
I think all of us can talk about and at
a time to a part of our conversation with Tabitha.
When being a leader, you can't give into the pressure
of the noise, like linear your focus on and I
know this week for all of us, it's extreme focus
on what the mission is. Mission is to make sure

(05:26):
it's the best one that we've ever had at the
best fest. No outside noise matters, noise versus catalyst. There
can be a lot of noise and conjecture online and
in public spaces, but at the end of the day,
does it really make anyone's lives better?

Speaker 1 (05:42):
No?

Speaker 4 (05:45):
So true catalysts, power, speaking, interest, rate, environment, true geopolitical
threat Like if that Putin and Trump meeting didn't go well,
it would have been some friction in the market. He
made sure to roll out the proverbial red carpet to
make sure even though he flew that jet over Putin's head,
stealth bomber so separate put In chat catalysts versus noise.

(06:11):
Catalyst is what's going to have impact on the market
in your life, not the noise at all.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, I'm happy either way.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
If we have a little pullback here, great, we got
reserves ready to go. And if we're going on this
bull run that goes through September, and some people might
say maybe it's been baked in already, we'll see, but yeah,
it's gonna be important.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
The more importantly, just hold your money in the market.
Stop looking for every little palpitation in the market to
determine if you're going to get in and out. The
real game is to just hold forever. Just hold, You'll
be fine.

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