🚀 S&P 500 at record high

In partnership with

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Wall Street surged to unprecedented heights on Friday as a series of geopolitical breakthroughs fueled investor optimism and pushed all three major indexes to record-breaking closes. The market’s rally followed a pivotal announcement from Iran declaring the Strait of Hormuz fully reopened to commercial traffic, a move triggered by a ten-day ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon brokered by President Trump. This easing of regional tensions led to a dramatic collapse in energy prices, with West Texas Intermediate futures plunging nearly 12% to $83.85 per barrel as global supply fears evaporated. While the S&P 500 crossed the 7,100 milestone for the first time and the Nasdaq celebrated its longest winning streak since the early nineties, some uncertainty remains regarding potential tolls and the continued U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. Despite these lingering complexities, the sharp rebound in airline and cruise stocks suggests that investors are increasingly betting on a swift diplomatic resolution and a permanent end to the conflict.

2. While the S&P 500 celebrated a historic milestone by closing above 7,100, Berkshire Hathaway’s performance remained noticeably stagnant, widening the performance gap between the conglomerate and the broader market to its largest point of 2026. The benchmark index has surged more than 9% this month in one of the fastest market turnarounds in nearly four decades, fueled by easing geopolitical tensions and receding inflation fears. In contrast, Berkshire’s A and B shares have slipped into negative territory for the month, now sitting more than 12% below the record highs seen in May 2025 prior to Warren Buffett’s retirement announcement. This divergence comes at a pivotal moment for the company, as investors prepare for the upcoming annual shareholders meeting and the release of an updated financial history covering the firm’s first sixty years. Despite the market’s aggressive rally, the cooling interest in Berkshire suggests a period of adjustment for the company as it navigates its first full year in the post-Buffett era.

3. While global markets have shown surprising resilience in the face of the conflict in the Middle East, top policymakers at the IMF World Bank meetings in Washington warned that the recent volatility of the Strait of Hormuz could still trigger a global stagflation crisis. Although the strategic waterway was briefly declared open on Friday following a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Iranian officials reportedly rescinded that status by Saturday, citing the persistence of a United States naval blockade. This ongoing uncertainty has left central bankers in a state of high alert, as experts from the European Stability Mechanism and the Bank of France caution that a prolonged closure could spike inflation by as much as 2.5% and severely disrupt the flow of essential goods like fertilizer and petrochemicals. As President Trump maintains that a peace deal with Tehran is moving quickly, finance ministers from Sweden to New Zealand are preparing for worst-case scenarios involving severe energy shortages and a significant drag on global demand. With supply chain interruptions expected to hit markets more acutely in late April when delayed shipments finally arrive, the European Central Bank and other monetary authorities are adopting a cautious, meeting-to-meeting approach to navigate the opaque economic outlook.

   Headlines

   1. Gamers are turning away from Nvidia GPUs as the company focuses on AI-specific and AI-optimized hardware.

   2. The US is seeing a rise in smaller car dealerships as online sales reduce demand for megadealerships.