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Week Ending 05/29/2026

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MARKET RECAP

US stock markets delivered strong results during the abbreviated trading week ending May 29, 2026, pushing major indexes to fresh record highs on the back of robust corporate earnings, AI enthusiasm, and reduced geopolitical risks. The S&P 500 advanced 1.4%, finishing at 7,580.06 compared to 7,473.47 the previous Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.9% to close at 51,032.46, marking its first-ever trip above the 51,000 level. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 2.4% to end at 26,972.62.

International equities followed suit, as the VXUS ETF (tracking global stocks ex-US) gained approximately 1.8% for the week, closing near 86.06.
Bond yields moved lower, with the 10-year Treasury yield dropping roughly 11 basis points from 4.56% on May 22 to about 4.45% by week’s end, as softer economic signals boosted demand for safer assets.

Bitcoin declined modestly by around 2.8%, moving from near $75,488 to approximately $73,372, while Gold held relatively steady in the mid-$4,500-per-ounce range with limited net movement.

In summary, the week reinforced a positive market backdrop with US indexes setting new peaks, though participants remain watchful of elevated valuations ahead of key upcoming data releases.

Financial Markets & Technology Sector

  • Bull Market Milestone: The current market trajectory officially crossed 1,325 days, surpassing the 1962–1966 run to become the ninth longest bull market on record. The index is up 111.5% during this period.
  • Tech Sector Streaks: The S&P 500 Technology sector achieved sequential monthly gains of over 10% in April (17.4%) and May (16%), marking a massive two-month gain of 36.1%.
  • Market Breadth Anomaly: A notable divergence persists between rising indexes and overall participation.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Revisions

The Q1 GDP headline figure was revised downward by 0.4 percentage points down to an annualized rate of 1.6%. The primary drags were soft inventories and downward corrections in services consumption. Conversely, non-residential AI technology and software infrastructure investments remained massive growth drivers.

Consumer Pressures & Savings Drop

A combination of stagnant hiring, moderating wage increases, and heightened inflation has restricted general household purchasing power. Real disposable personal income plummeted by 1% year-over-year in April. To fuel ongoing expenditures, consumers slashed their personal savings rate from over 5% last year down to 2.5%.

Inflation Metrics

Core prices jumped by a steep 4.4% annualized in Q1, registering the fastest non-pandemic core inflation surge since the early 1990s.

Regional Manufacturing Surveys & Corporate Pricing

  • Five Fed Composite: The regional manufacturing current conditions composite dipped slightly by 0.3 points in May but maintains a general expansionary reading of 53.8. Price metrics continue to sit in the highest historical quintiles.
  • Pricing Restrictions: Special corporate surveys indicate that while most manufacturing firms intend to raise prices in the upcoming year, they are limited from maximizing their target margins. More than 70% of companies noted that customers refuse to accept steeper price updates, fearing immediate losses in market share.
  • AI Adoption Stalling: Special surveys by the Dallas Fed highlighted a brief plateau in AI integration, though roughly two-thirds of surveyed companies operate as active users. The vast majority (84%) indicate that the tool has caused no immediate shifts to their total headcount.

Hardware, Storage, & Data Centers

An extreme imbalance between soaring AI infrastructure demand and limited manufacturing capacity has propelled data storage stocks to new heights. Producers like Micron Technology (joining the trillion-dollar market cap club), Seagate, and Western Digital have all tapped fresh multi-week highs. Compute prices continue to rise alongside rental pricing index spikes for next-generation Nvidia chips.

Private Credit Structural Shift

A private credit arrangement was engineered to fund Anthropic’s hardware acquisition cost efficiently. A financed special purpose vehicle (SPV) backed by Apollo and Blackstone will buy tensor processing units from Alphabet and lease them to Anthropic. Broadcom will act as a secondary shortfall guarantor. This underscores Anthropic’s asset-light business model, which has allowed its annualized revenue run rate to swell to $47 billion.

Week Ending 5/22/2026

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MARKET RECAP

American stock indices continued their upward momentum over the past week, driven by solid company results and ongoing excitement around artificial intelligence, even as international conflicts and climbing interest rates created some headwinds. The S&P 500 advanced approximately 0.9%, securing its eighth weekly gain in a row—the longest such run since late 2023—and finishing close to all-time highs just above 7,470. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a stronger increase of about 2.1%, reaching multiple new peaks before closing near 50,580, while the Nasdaq Composite delivered a more modest rise fueled primarily by tech and growth-oriented shares.

Market participation stayed generally constructive with selective caution, as participants weighed robust underlying business performance against potential inflationary pressures stemming from high energy costs linked to developments in the Middle East. Smaller-company stocks in the Russell 2000 delivered uneven results, whereas areas like technology, defense, and certain consumer categories led the way. Quarterly earnings largely surpassed forecasts once again, bolstering faith in business resilience, although some late-week selling emerged in semiconductor names and other momentum plays amid position trimming.
Bond markets came under selling pressure with Treasury yields moving higher due to reduced hopes for near-term Federal Reserve easing and ongoing worries about inflation, leaving the 10-year note yield around 4.55%. Energy commodities held firm overall, with WTI crude trading near $96 per barrel on supply disruption fears before moderating slightly on diplomatic optimism, while gold prices moved tentatively in response to elevated yields and a steadier dollar. Digital assets faced additional downward pressure amid the broader risk-averse tone in speculative corners.
Markets now head into a shortened trading week due to the Memorial Day holiday, with key items on the agenda including fresh inflation readings such as core PCE, updated GDP figures, consumer sentiment surveys, and earnings updates from companies like Salesforce and Costco. Positive signals on U.S.-Iran negotiations could help moderate energy costs, yet lighter volumes and continued monitoring of monetary policy may lead to sharper price swings. The prevailing mood remains underpinned by corporate strength, although sustained higher rates and external risks call for continued prudence.

Hawkish Shift in Fed Sentiment: The Federal Reserve’s April meeting minutes signaled a growing willingness to increase interest rates if core inflation remains stubborn. Policymakers noted that returning to their 2% target could take significantly longer than expected, elevating real yields to one-year highs and further flattening the Treasury curve.

Economic Divergence: Economic data painted a mixed picture. While overall employment trends remained strong and private sector job growth accelerated, surging input prices and geopolitical headwinds caused localized layoffs and production bottlenecks across several manufacturing lines.

  • High-Profile Tech Supply: Equity markets are shifting focus to an upcoming wave of mega-cap tech listings, highlighted by SpaceX filing its S-1 registration statement for a highly anticipated public offering.

  • Valuation Disconnect: Internal segment details for SpaceX reveal a sharp contrast: its core rocket launch and satellite internet branches are seeing rapid user growth and stable financials, whereas its heavily capitalized artificial intelligence and social operations consumed billions in capital expenditures against stagnant revenues.

  • Index Rebalancing Fears: Though investors expressed anxiety that massive new listings (such as SpaceX and OpenAI) might trigger heavy passive selling across older market components, strict float-adjusted weighting rules by key index providers will severely limit their initial footprint, capping broader index displacement.

  • Surging Soft Commodities: Agricultural markets broke free from a multi-year downtrend. Wheat and soybeans staged double-digit rallies due to geopolitical adjustments, while constraints in raw materials pushed global fertilizer prices higher.

  • Persistent Meat Inflation: Wholesale beef prices remained near historic, inflation-adjusted highs. Due to the aggregate U.S. cattle herd contracting to record lows, meat production constraints continue to pressure corporate downstream processors’ operating margins.

SCOREBOARD

Week Ending 5/15/2026

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MARKET RECAP

US equity markets ended the week ending May 15, 2026, with modest or flat performance after hitting records mid-week but pulling back sharply on Friday amid rising yields and hotter-than-expected inflation data. The S&P 500 closed at 7,408.50 on May 15 (up from 7,398.93 on May 8), for a weekly gain of about +0.13% (roughly +9.57 points, or around +0.1–0.21% depending on exact intra-week references). The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 49,526.17 (down from 49,609.16 the prior Friday), posting a small weekly loss of about -0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,225.14 (down from 26,247.08), ending essentially flat to slightly negative for the week.

International stocks, proxied by the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), faced downward pressure late in the week. VXUS closed at $83.11 on May 15 (down from around $85.43 on May 8), reflecting a weekly decline of roughly 2.7%. This mirrored broader global equity softness amid a stronger US dollar and rising Treasury yields, though international markets had shown relative strength earlier in 2026.

The bond market came under pressure as Treasury yields rose notably on persistent inflation concerns. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed from around 4.38% on May 8 to approximately 4.59% by May 15 (up roughly +21 basis points), driven by hotter CPI and PPI readings, resilient jobs data, and shifting Fed expectations. This led to lower bond prices and contributed to the late-week equity selloff.

Bitcoin and gold showed mixed-to-negative results. Bitcoin traded in the $78,000–$81,000 range and closed the week modestly higher (around +0.7% in some daily snapshots, ending near $80,000–$81,000). Gold faced selling pressure and declined on the week (down roughly 1–3.5% depending on exact spot/futures tracking), closing around the $4,500–$4,650 area as higher yields and a stronger dollar weighed on the safe-haven metal.

Overall, the week featured resilient US equities early on (supported by earnings and AI themes) but gave way to volatility from macro pressures. Focus remains on inflation trends, Fed policy, and global developments heading into the next week.

SCOREBOARD

Week Ending 5/8/2026

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MARKET RECAP

  • Another up week, US stocks +2.13% and international stocks +2.96%.
  • A big reason stocks are moving up, despite the lack of a peace settlement with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz being closed, is that earnings estimates have really been shooting higher. Look at the estimates for 2026 and 2027 below.

 

SCOREBOARD