The key US stock indices ended last week in a minimal decline, having moved only slightly away from their absolute highs. Thus, the U.S. stock market continues to rise. And we continue to believe that this growth is provided by the Fed and is artificial. After all, it is the FedReserve that continues to print hundreds of billions of dollars that are pouring into the economy and settling into certain markets.

The economy does accelerate under the influence of this money, but this growth cannot be said to be real. Rather, it is "inflationary. There is more money in the economy, but money is depreciating faster than before. And inflation is likely to remain high for a long time to come. Thus, there is no obstacle to U.S. stock indices continuing to rise, whatever the news from America itself.

By the way, the U.S. economy in the second quarter did not show as strong growth as investors expected to see. GDP grew only 6.5% from the first quarter, although forecasts predicted 8.5% growth. Well, the U.S. economy can't accelerate all the time, even with Fed money. Now further developments will be of great importance, as inflation continues to rise and the Fed is not going to stop it somehow. Consequently, the U.S. dollar should continue to depreciate in both the "domestic arena" and the currency markets. And stock indices can safely continue to rise, as there is more and more money and will depreciate if they are not invested somewhere. Which is what U.S. investors will continue to do in times of high inflation especially zealously.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate, several Republicans threatened to block approval of two nominees to the Treasury Department unless U.S. President Joe Biden changes his mind on Nord Stream 2 and imposes appropriate sanctions. Recall that Joe Biden agreed with Angela Merkel that no additional sanctions against Russia would be imposed and that the construction of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline would proceed quietly to completion.

Biden was immediately criticized by both Democrats and Republicans. According to many congressmen, Nord Stream 2 directly strengthens one of the main rivals of the U.S. in the international arena and threatens the national security. Thus, Joe Biden had no right to sign this agreement. Now an entire group of U.S. senators is at once warning that they will put "sticks in the wheels" of any Democrat decisions if Biden does not impose new sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 project.

Even Donald Trump recently made this point: "We spend billions of dollars to protect Germany, and they're going to buy billions of dollars worth of gas from Russia. That never happened under me."