Unsure how long this AI bull has? Bonds now offer a cushion at the best values in years

Get Mike Santoli's Market Memo in your inbox first. SUBSCRIBE HERE "It gets late early out there," was Yogi Berra's illogically brilliant take on the late-summer left-field shadows at the old Yankee Stadium. Also works pretty well as an assessment of today's markets, where constant assurances that the AI theme is "still early" and widespread belief in unceasing economic momentum coexist with some late-cycle characteristics. S&P 500 operating-earnings growth in the second quarter exceeded 30% and is projected to hit that threshold again in the third, yet the index itself is merely 2% above its June peak from before those stellar results were reported.