Your Fourth of July Grill Out May Be Pricier This Year – Beef remains a Fourth of July staple, but this year’s cookout may cost a little more. Ground beef prices were up 13% through May, while ground beef and steak cuts were both about 14% higher than a year ago, according to Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute.1 The reason is mostly supply. Drought conditions, higher feed and labor costs, and years of herd reductions have left the U.S. cattle herd at its smallest level since 1951. Rebuilding herds takes time, since calves need roughly two to three years to reach the market. As such, that means tighter beef supply may remain part of the food-price picture for a while. Even still, higher beef prices don’t need to dampen the holiday. Wells Fargo estimates the average barbecue for 10 people will cost about $161 this year, or roughly $16 per person. Chicken, hot dogs, pork shoulder, and ribs are rising more slowly than beef, giving shoppers plenty of ways to keep the grill full without relying only on burgers and steaks. For investors, the story is also a reminder that inflation is not always broad-based. Sometimes it comes from very specific supply constraints. For families, the takeaway is simpler: celebrate the holiday, enjoy the grill, and shop strategically.
Worried Today’s Inflation Will Create a Gap in Your Retirement Income?
Markets have weathered inflation before—but this kind of inflation can take years to unwind, and the effects on retirement income are worth planning around. Our free guide, How Solid Is Your Retirement Strategy?, looks at exactly this kind of long-term risk and what you can do about it.
To stay prepared, download our free guide to learn:
- The importance of flexible portfolio allocation
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A World Cup Boost for the Job Market? – For soccer fans out there, it may be nice to know that the June jobs report may get a small lift from the World Cup. Goldman Sachs estimates the tournament could add roughly 40,000 jobs to payroll growth, with the impact most likely concentrated in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, trade, and transportation.4 Private payroll data from ADP, which has already been released for June, showed 98,000 new jobs added, with nearly half the growth coming from education and health services. What we continue to see, in our view, is not a booming or a busting labor market, which is consistent with our forecast for modest but positive GDP growth in 2025. From an investment perspective, remember that jobs data are important but also backward-looking. Markets tend to care more about where growth, earnings, and policy are headed.
Celebrating America’s Birthday with Strong Stock Returns – U.S. stocks closed out a strong quarter, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their best quarterly performances since 2020. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the rally was led by the Technology sector, with semiconductors having an especially strong showing.5 The PHLX Semiconductor Index climbed 88% for the quarter, its best quarter on record, as investors continued to price in strong demand for the hardware, data centers, and components needed to support AI. In keeping with July 4 sentiment, Q2 2026 offered a timely reminder of the U.S. economy’s ability to adapt, invest, and create new engines of growth. Looking ahead, investors are still watching inflation, interest rates, the Middle East, currency volatility, and the consumer. But as has been proven out especially this year, markets do not require perfect conditions to advance.
Your Portfolio Likely Gained Ground This Quarter. Is Your Strategy Built to Last Beyond It?
Strong market performance can make it easy to overlook what’s still building underneath – including the kind of inflation that affects retirement income gradually, not all at once. Our free guide, How Solid Is Your Retirement Strategy?6, can help you assess whether your strategy is positioned to weather what comes next.
To help you assess where your strategy stands, our guide covers:
- The importance of flexible portfolio allocation
- Why keeping some liquid assets can potentially help you preserve more wealth
- Understanding your risk tolerance in case of a market downturn
- Plus, more strategies to help you protect your retirement assets
If a strong quarter has you thinking about what comes next, How Solid Is Your Retirement Strategy?6 is a good place to start.
Disclosure
2 FRED. June 10, 2026. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000703112#
3 ZIM may amend or rescind the guide “How Solid Is Your Retirement Strategy?” for any reason and at ZIM’s discretion.
4 CNBC. July 1, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/01/world-cup-could-boost-the-june-jobs-report-by-40000-goldman-estimates.html
5 WSJ. June 30, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/u-s-stocks-rise-to-cap-best-quarter-in-years-5f5ade0f
6 ZIM may amend or rescind the guide “How Solid Is Your Retirement Strategy?” for any reason and at ZIM’s discretion.
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