You can call it a comeback. 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 broad-based S & P jumped 4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.7%. It capped a rare and dramatic turnaround for the stocks. As Barclays strategist Venu Krishna pointed out in a note to clients, 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. That’s the fastest move to record levels from a bottom of at least 9% since at least 1990, he said. That 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. Peace signs The week started just as it had every Monday since the U.S. attacked Iran in late February: investors trying to figure out how the latest overseas developments could impact their portfolios. First, 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. None of that seemed to matter, though; the market roared higher. 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 finally declared that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open .” If the good news keeps coming, Jim Cramer said, there could be more gains in stocks that have been pressured by the war. 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. Software returns Beaten-down software stocks were our biggest winners in the portfolio, with Microsoft, CrowdStrike , and Salesforce our 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 (IGV) rose nearly 14%, recovering some of its losses, but remains down roughly 20% for 2026. Microsoft was up 14% week-to-date. Management needs to allocate more of its available compute capacity to Microsoft Azure rather than to Copilot, its floundering AI assistant. CrowdStrike gained 11.9%. The Club’s not worried about what AI means for this company. As AI models get more advanced, it should actually be a tailwind for our two cybersecurity…
Read More: The 3 forces that drove a remarkable, record-setting week on Wall Street
