Macro Pilgrim's Ledger | May 31, 2026

U.S. stocks hit ninth straight weekly record as oil crashes from Iran war scare while new Fed chair battles three-year inflation high

U.S. stocks ground to fresh records for a ninth straight week, brushing off a war scare over the Strait of Hormuz that drove crude back toward $100 midweek before a late framework with Iran knocked it down again, all while a hawkish new Fed chair worked through his first full week with inflation stuck at a three-year high.

The S&P 500 added 1.4% on the week to close at 7,580.08, a ninth consecutive weekly gain and the longest such run since 2023, finishing at a record. The Nasdaq Composite ran 2.4% higher to 26,972.62, capping an 8% advance for May as the tech bid refused to quit, with Dell jumping nearly 30% on Friday after its results landed. The Dow climbed 0.9% to 51,032.46, clearing 51,000 for the first time on a 363-point Friday surge that left all three major averages at record closes.

WTI crude settled at $87.51 a barrel, down 9.4% on the week and its steepest weekly drop in months, after a wild path that carried it back toward $100 midweek on fresh U.S. strikes inside Iran before Friday’s report of a ceasefire-and-shipping framework drained the war premium out of the tape. Gold finished near $4,539 an ounce, up about 0.3%, rebounding Friday from a two-month low once the April inflation print came in close to expectations. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.46%, down nearly 9 basis points from 4.548% the prior Friday, though the move masked a midweek backup that pushed the 30-year to roughly 5.2%, a level last seen 19 years ago. The VIX finished at 15.74, off 0.99 from the prior Friday’s 16.73, as the Hormuz scare came and went without leaving a lasting bid for protection.

“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” – Thucydides