THE WEEK ON WALL STREET
Stocks bounced back last week as enthusiasm for the AI trade continued and rumors of a Middle East peace agreement bolstered investor optimism. The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.88 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged ahead 0.45 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.13 percent. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, rose 2.16 percent.
FACT OF THE WEEK
On May 25, 1981, Clad in a custom-made Spider-Man suit, stuntman Dan Goodwin (aka "Spider Dan") free climbs the exterior of Chicago's Sears Tower—all 110 stories—fighting gusty winds, slippery glass and firefighters trying to pull him to safety.
MARKET MINUTE
S&P 500’s 8th Winning Week
Stocks sputtered out of the gate as a capacity issue amid soaring demand in the memory chip space put pressure on those stocks, along with the AI trade and tech more broadly.
Then markets took a leg up midweek as investor optimism returned for a Middle East peace deal; oil prices and Treasury yields fell. Investors also looked ahead to a quarterly earnings report from one of the megacap AI chipmakers. The Dow hit a fresh record close.
Then, on Friday, markets rallied once again as investors continued to hold out hope that a Middle East peace deal would materialize.
Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the new Fed chair, while investor enthusiasm over the AI trade and other tech stocks added to the market’s ebullient sentiment. The Dow closed at another record high, while the S&P 500 finished its eighth consecutive week in the green, its longest weekly winning streak since 2023.
Fed Meeting Minutes
The Federal Reserve released minutes from its April Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Jerome Powell’s last FOMC meeting as Fed Chair.
The minutes revealed that if the Fed were to adjust rates sometime during the remainder of this year, it might be a rate hike rather than a rate cut.
FINANCIAL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK
The Most Overlooked Item of Any Home Improvement
If you are like most homeowners, you love selecting the fixtures, fabrics, and paint colors of your home improvement project. But there is one very important item that you may overlook—making certain you are properly insured.
Why Proper Insurance Matters
You may need to review your insurance before beginning any home improvement project since it can expose you to additional financial risks.
If you choose to act as your own general contractor (in other words, you organize and order supplies while hiring sub-contractors to do the work), you may be opening up yourself to additional liability (such as an injury to a worker or third party) that may not be fully covered by your current homeowners insurance policy.
Whether it’s an extra room or an updated bathroom, many home improvement projects will increase the value of your home. However, too many homeowners fail to review the policy’s replacement value limits, which may no longer be high enough to cover any losses that occur after your home improvement.
Obtaining additional coverage shouldn’t wait until you’ve completed the remodeling. After all, at any point in the process, you will have supplies and completed work that may not be covered under your existing policy.
To ensure that you are properly covered, meet with your insurance agent about your projects and discuss with them any need for modifying your current insurance coverage.