Why the stock market has defied the odds in July (so far)

Investors have breathed a sigh of relief up to this point in July as worst-case scenarios for the economy have failed to materialize. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 are up an impressive 7.5% and 4.8%, respectively, so far this month. Shares of meme stock darlings GameStop and AMC have jumped 17% and 14.5%, respectively,…