Stocks ended the week on an upswing, propped up by a better-than-expected jobs report and a rebound for Tesla , with the S & P 500 trading above 6,000 to sniff its all-time high. If the index can break though its closing record mark of 6,144.15 from February, it would be a remarkable turnaround given the tariff and economic slowdown concerns that weighed on the market in March and April — and are still hanging around. .SPX YTD mountain The S & P 500 has rallied back to near its record high. But the rebound might be running on borrowed time, according to Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management. “I think we could get to new all-time record highs. But remember the reason I believe that, is I believe demand is being pulled forward,” Niles said Friday on CNBC’s “Money Movers.” “If you’re a rational consumer, you’re buying things like smartphones, autos and PCs because you know prices are going up — you’ve been told that,” he said, adding that companies are spending in a similar manner. If this is a temporarily inflated economy, it’s not exactly a booming one. Job growth has definitely slowed, even if it is still beating monthly estimates, and there’s a slow but steady drip of corporate layoff announcements . Earlier this week, an ISM purchasing managers’ index showed that the service sector dipped into contraction territory in May. “Taken together, the mixed developments signal the complexity at this stage in the economic cycle as corporations adapt to the uncertainty and shifting tides,” José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said in a commentary note on Friday. To be sure, Niles is not betting against the market even with his medium-term concern. He said he is playing for the market bounce to continue while also considering raising more cash. “For right now that’s kind of the way I’m thinking — the market just kind of meanders higher, maybe gets to new all-time highs. Wouldn’t surprise me if it sells off by 10% in Q4,” Niles said.
