People shop for groceries at a store in New York City, U.S., July 15, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Expectations are a funny thing. When we say that something meets expectations, we tend to mean it in a positive way, suggesting that a hurdle has been cleared or the result is welcome.

But what happens when we expect something bad, and the outcome meets expectations?

The U.S. consumer price index in June, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday, matched the Dow Jones consensus estimate. And there was even a pleasant surprise: Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month, which was 0.1 percentage points below expectations.

That said, both the headline and core inflation numbers, on an annual basis, hit their highest since February.

"The latest U.S. inflation report practically confirmed that President Trump's tariffs acted to push up consumer prices in June," said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.

Hence, while the inflation figures didn't surprise market watchers and investors — markets really dislike unpredictability —the fact that the downbeat expectations were realized still weighed on stocks, which mostly fell on the news.

As yesterday's market movements illustrate — and as many of us, after going through performance reviews with our supervisors, know — sometimes, meeting expectations isn't good enough.

An attendee wears a red, white, and blue US flag Bitcoin hat during the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Thursday, May 29, 2025. The event will examine Bitcoin's evolving global impact, with speakers from education, policy, finance, and technology. Photographer: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Several cryptocurrency regulation bills backed by Trump failed to clear a key procedural hurdle Tuesday in the House of Representatives, dealing a major blow to the crypto industry.

The measures had been widely expected to pass. The failure of the rule during what is being billed as "Crypto Week" was a rare instance of House Republicans refusing to take direction from Trump.

— Erin Doherty