Happy Friday, investors. Stocks are negative to start the month because the labor market is deteriorating, traders are getting jitters on AI, and tariffs are in legal turmoil.

And yet, somehow, the fundamental story remains supportive of asset prices.

The stock market is off to a bumpy start in November but the underlying fundamentals remain too strong for investors to take valuations fears seriously.

The Nasdaq fell 1.9% on Thursday, with AI stocks including Nvidia and Microsoft dragging the index lower. Still, the pullback does little to change the broader picture:

What looks like an overheated tech trade is, in reality, a reflection of strong profits, durable growth and a deeper shift in how value is generated across the economy.

The forces behind it — innovation, rising productivity, accommodative monetary policy — underscore the structural bull run.

“The S&P 500’s current multiple of 23x is not just a function of recent developments like strong Q1 – Q3 2025 earnings growth or the AI trade,” wrote DataTrek Research co-founders Jessica Rabe and Nicholas Colas wrote in a note.

“Rather, it has its foundations in the last 15 years of generally good economic growth and aggressive monetary and fiscal policy when things go wrong.”

In effect, the data suggest asset prices are climbing because the macro backdrop continues to prove its resilience, not because investors recklessly speculating.

After more than a decade of steady growth, repeated policy backstops and an onslaught of new technologies like AI, higher earnings power are driving higher valuations.

And the recent strength isn’t reserved for tech stocks.

Analysts have been revising their 2026 profit forecasts for sectors including industrials, materials and healthcare.

“There is no doubt that equity valuations are above average, but stocks rarely fall simply because valuations are high,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities for UBS Global Wealth Management.

“Instead, declines are more likely when corporate profit growth disappoints.”

Ryan Detrick, chief strategist of Carson Group, told me on Full Signal that despite the favorable tailwinds for asset prices and a still-resilient economy, sentiment remains unusually depressed. 

“It’s shocking how quickly people turn bearish,” Detrick said. “Bears have outnumbered bulls most of the year, yet the market’s up double digits.”

Ryan Detrick, chief strategist for Carson Group, joined me for the second episode of FULL SIGNAL to discuss the data driving asset prices higher, why this is the “most hated” bull market, dot-com fears, and the outlook for Fed policy and stocks into 2026.

👉 Tune in on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.

🚗 Tesla shareholders approved Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package. As expected, the company announced that the decision passed with over 75% approval. Shares of Tesla rose overnight after the news. (Yahoo Finance)

📉Job cuts hit highest monthly level in 22 years. That’s according to new data from Challenger, which found that layoffs in October totaled 153,074, marking a 183% increase from September and the worst month since 2003. (CNBC)

🏦 Scott Bessent is optimistic about tariffs in the Supreme Court. After Wednesday’s hearing, the Treasury Secretary said he came away “very optimistic.” Meanwhile, President Trump said he has a Plan B if things don’t go his way. (Yahoo Finance)

🍻Want more financial news, but after the closing bell? Thousands of readers trust Brew Markets for their end-of-day analysis. I’ll handle your morning dispatch, and you can wrap up your afternoons with Brew Markets from Morning Brew — sign up free.

🗓November 7, 2013: Twitter debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and finished its first trading day up more than 70% from its IPO price, implying a market value of roughly $24 billion.

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📰 I’m Phil Rosen, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Opening Bell Daily. I’ve published books, lived on three continents, and won awards for my journalism, which has appeared in Business Insider, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg and Inc. Magazine.

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