TLDR: S&P 500 beat inflation in 16 of 20 years, delivering a 14.76% real return in 2025 as CPI ended at 2.7%. S&P 500 earnings are tracking 34.5% growth in Q2, helping drive the index more than 12% higher in 2026. U.S. CPI reached 3.4% in July, while PCE rose 3.7% and core PCE cl...