Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Wall Street ends down as US-Iran peace optimism fades

Wall Street ends down as US-Iran peace optimism fades

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Tue August 11, 2026  

For the second day after new proposals to end the war have utterly failed, the market took a dive straight down, this time much more seriously than yesterday. As Iran said, “The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. accepts Iran’s conditions to end the war.” As of this past weekend, those conditions now include the U.S. paying restitution for all the damage done to Iran. As reported yesterday, Trump has countered that by demanding Iran pay restitution for every American lost in the attacks by Iran.  

Monday, August 10, 2026

Wall Street ends down as expectations of Hormuz deal fade

Wall Street ends down as expectations of Hormuz deal fade

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Noel Randewich

Mon August 10, 2026  

The peace negotiations have become a sticky wicket with Tehran now demanding compensation for all the damage done by U.S. strikes during this war and Trump countering by demanding compensation for all lives lost in the war. Suddenly a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz appears at a standstill and with hopes fading for this critical aspect of the negotiations which could bring down the price of oil and help stabilize inflation, the markets turned downward. The Nasdaq closed down the hardest, the S&P stayed pretty close to flat after Friday’s record.  

Friday, August 7, 2026

S&P closes at record high as soft jobs report eases rate-hike concerns

S&P closes at record high as soft jobs report eases rate-hike concerns

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Shashwat Chauhan

Fri August 7, 2026  

Per today’s jobs report, the economy lost over 100,000 jobs, that is if you’re counting the 80,000 forecasted increase that didn’t happen and the 23,000 unexpected decrease that did. It was good news on the inflation front as providing more fodder to stall off a rate increase. The odds today of a September increase has fallen to 44% vs yesterday’s 55 vs last week’s 67. That’s a 35% decrease in a week.  

Thursday, August 6, 2026

Stocks close lower as investors eye Mideast talks, earnings

Stocks close lower as investors eye Mideast talks, earnings

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Shashwat Chauhan

Thu August 6, 2026  

Peace hopes got muted today over the impending opening of the Strait of Hormuz but with the Iranian parliament considering banning the U.S. and its allies from using it. This combined with more AI jitters brought all three indexes down for a second day after a very vigorous 3-day rally. Oddly, two of the tech companies that fell today, Western Digital and Sandisk, actually turned in glowing Q2 and have been booming this year, Western up 400%, Sandisk 160%. 

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Dow closes at record on Mideast optimism; SpaceX, AMD drag Nasdaq

Dow closes at record on Mideast optimism; SpaceX, AMD drag Nasdaq

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Wed August 5, 2026  

After four straight days of big gains, a couple of disappointing Q2 AI reports, namely from SpaceX and AMD, brought both tech indexes down but progress in the peace talks concerning a deal between Oman and Iran brought oil down and shot the Dow up to yet another record. SpaceX and AMD actually had reasonably good reports with SpaceX actually doubling revenues. But their expenses were still more than their revenues raising the old doubts that these massive AI investments will pay off. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Dow, S&P 500 close at record on AI-linked earnings, Mideast deal hopes

Dow, S&P 500 close at record on AI-linked earnings, Mideast deal hopes

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Tue August 4, 2026  

Optimism over earnings and an end to the war shot all the indexes straight up again for the fourth straight day, today even more impressively than before with high 3-digit gains all around. The Dow reached a new record for the second straight day, the S&P its first new record since July 2nd. Caterpillar provided the biggest boost to the Dow with increasing demand for its equipment in building AI centers. Palantir got an astonishing 29.5% boost and the chip index rose 6.6%. Crude dropped 5% on Qatari confirmations that peace talks were continuing.  

Monday, August 3, 2026

Wall Street rallies, Dow closes at record on Iran talks optimism

Wall Street rallies, Dow closes at record on Iran talks optimism

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Mon August 3, 2026  

Optimism is back up front with all three indexes jumping straight up out the gate and staying up all day, all achieving very substantial 3-digit gains again, the Dow not only now handsomely recouping all its losses but reaching another record high. The good news is new hopes over Iran as fighting de-escalates and bringing crude prices down 5%.  With 304 of 500 S&P companies now reporting and 85.2% beating estimates, Q2 earnings growth now stands at 29.3%, but oddly down from Friday’s 48%.