Stocks rocketed to record highs last week on hopes of a peace deal with Iran, with the S&P 500 closing above 7,100 for the first time and the Nasdaq completing its longest-winning stretch since 1992, 13 days of gains. For the week, the S&P 500 jumped 4%, the Nasdaq rose 6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.7%. While ordinary people keep living through the fallout of war, inflation, and corporate power, the market treated the whole mess like a trading opportunity.
Who Gets Paid When the World Burns
Barclays strategist Venu Krishna said in a note to clients that the S&P 500 went from near correction territory, down about 9% from its all-time peak, back to an all-time high in just 11 trading days. He said that was the fastest move to record levels from a bottom of at least 9% since at least 1990. He said the quick reversal was largely the result of investors pricing in an end to the Iran-U.S. conflict, but Wall Street was also digesting solid bank earnings and a comeback in the beat-up software sector.
That is the machinery in plain view: war shakes the world, investors price it, and the bosses of finance call it a remarkable week. The speed of the rebound mattered more to the market than the human cost of the conflict that helped drive it.
The week started just as it had every Monday since the U.S. attacked Iran in late February, with investors trying to figure out how the latest overseas developments could affect their portfolios. Negotiations in Islamabad broke down over the weekend, prompting President Donald Trump to announce a blockade of all maritime traffic in and out of Iran's ports. Tuesday brought another round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, and on Wednesday Trump told Fox Business that the war was “very close to over,” which sent stocks soaring. A session later, the president announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, leading to another record high. On Friday, Iran declared that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open.”
What the Market Calls Resilience
Jim Cramer said there could be more gains in stocks that have been pressured by the war if the good news keeps coming. He cited homebuilders like Home Depot, which jumped 3.6% on Friday. During Friday's Morning Meeting, Cramer said he sees a coming rotation into stocks that were pressured by the war. “Now the Fed has the chance to be able to cut rates under Kevin Warsh. So, what we're seeing is a move back into things that have really lagged,” he said.
The language is all rotation, laggards, and opportunity, as if the point of the economy is to shuffle money between sectors while the rest of society absorbs the shock. The people at the bottom do not get a “rotation”; they get the bill.
Beaten-down software stocks were the biggest winners in the portfolio, with Microsoft, CrowdStrike and Salesforce the top three gainers. Software stocks have been hit this year on fears that artificial intelligence startups will eat their market share. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF rose nearly 14%, recovering some of its losses, but remained down roughly 20% for 2026. Microsoft was up 14% week-to-date. CrowdStrike gained 11.9%. Salesforce jumped 10.4%.
Banks, Spending, and the Usual Cheerleading
Bank earnings showed a healthy consumer despite war-driven market volatility throughout the last month of the quarter. JPMorgan said growth in consumer spending for the quarter was above the pace set in 2025. Credit card spending volume also went up 9% year over year, while delinquency rates remained fairly stable. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said, “consumers and small businesses remain resilient.” Wells Fargo’s credit card business was also positive, with new credit card account openings jumping nearly 60% year over year, CFO Mike Santomassimo said. Revenues from its consumer banking and lending division experienced a first-quarter revenue increase of 6.6%. Before the war-driven surge in energy prices, CEO Charlie Scharf said gas accounted for 6% of total debit card spending and 4% of total credit spending. Each of those levels rose 1%. Scharf said, “Consumers are spending more than a year ago, which includes spending more on gas, but they haven't slowed spending on everything else.”
That is the polished face of corporate capture: banks report healthy spending while energy prices rise and card spending gets mined for signs of endurance. The resilience being celebrated is not freedom from pressure, but the ability to keep paying.
Wells Fargo came in above earnings expectations, but management disappointed for the second quarter in a row with its revenue miss. The Club downgraded the stock to a hold-equivalent 2 rating on the release. Wall Street's other large banks weathered the first quarter of 2026 much better. Club holding Goldman Sachs, along with peers like Bank of America, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, beat on both the top and bottom lines. Cramer said, “The one [bank] you really want to own is Goldman because that was actually a really good quarter.”
The market got its record-setting week, its victory lap, and its familiar chorus of analysts explaining why the rich should feel optimistic. Meanwhile, the underlying story remained the same: war, finance, and corporate earnings moving together, with ordinary people left to live inside the consequences.