Market Outlook - The Chief Investment Officer at Truist Wealth, Keith Lerner, indicated that fears regarding a government shutdown are currently muted, with investors not overly concerned [1] - Historically, during the 20 past shutdowns, the S&P 500 has remained flat and increased 50% of the time, suggesting that short-term volatility should not prompt drastic portfolio changes [1][2] - The upcoming earnings season, starting in two weeks, is expected to be a significant market driver [1] Economic Impact - Concerns about stagflation are present, with Moody's indicating that each week of shutdown could impact quarterly GDP by approximately 0.1% [2] - Despite the shutdown, the Atlanta GDP estimate for the quarter remains around 3.9%, indicating that the shutdown may not drastically alter economic conditions [2] - The shutdown adds to economic uncertainty in the short term, complicating the overall outlook due to less available data [2] Sector Focus - The primary theme for the firm's bullish market outlook is centered on AI and technology, which are expected to continue strong profit growth despite the government shutdown [3] - The technology sector has seen a 30% increase over the past year, which is not indicative of a bubble, as true bubbles typically exhibit closer to 100% year-over-year growth [3] Growth Stocks - A list of the 12 best growth stocks to buy now has been compiled, focusing on those popular among elite hedge funds and analysts [4][6] - The methodology involved using the Finviz stock screener to identify top growth stocks, ranked by the number of hedge fund holders as of Q2 2025 [6][7] Company Highlights - **Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY)**: Collaborating with Telenor Shared Services to modernize HR operations through Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, enhancing employee productivity and experience [9][10][11] - **LiveRamp Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RAMP)**: Launched new AI capabilities, including agentic tools and segmentation, to improve customer outcomes and enable secure data collaboration [12][13][14]