We’ve been bumping Beyonce’s Renaissance and reliving the drama of Will Smith’s Oscars slap. Why? Because it feels like 2022 all over again.

The producer price index jumped a seasonally adjusted 1.4% over the month, more than double expectations of 0.5% and far higher than the 0.7% increase in March, making it the hottest monthly PPI reading since 2022.

The main culprit, of course, was energy prices, which have spiked since the oil shock tied to the Iran war. Roughly three quarters of the increase was due to a 7.8% jump in final demand energy, according to the BLS.

If you weren’t already convinced that inflation is making a comeback, yesterday we got the news that the consumer price index increased 3.8% annually last month, the highest reading since May 2023.

Back to bonds

Consumers aren’t the only ones stressed about rising prices—the suits down on the Street are spooked, too. But analysts are more worried about the bond market than they are about affording a full tank of gas.

When inflation accelerates, the chances that the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates decrease, which causes investors to bail on US Treasury bonds. When bond prices fall, Treasury yields spike:

• The 10-year US Treasury note yield rose to 4.49% today, its highest level since July 2025, though it closed at 4.481%.
• Meanwhile, the 2-year Treasury note yield fell to 3.983% at the end of the day, lower than the intra-day high of 4.015%.
• The longer-dated 30-year Treasury yield rose to 5.042%, down a bit from earlier in the day when it hit 5.05%, which was its highest level since last July.

“We see rising risks that the core PCE will settle in the 2.5-3% range even after tariff effects roll off,” explained Bank of America economists. “This would preclude additional rate cuts. We remain comfortable with our view that the Fed will be on hold until the second half of 2027.”

That’s a big problem for everyone on Wall Street. Rate cuts are a shot in the arm for businesses, since they lower borrowing costs and boost the economy overall—but higher-for-longer interest rates are a headwind for stocks, particularly growth stocks like those found in the tech sector.

What does this mean for investors?

High-flying growth stocks have driven much of the S&P 500’s recent gains, but this new market landscape is pushing some investors to consider boring, stable choices instead.

Take the understated I bond, a US government-backed security that protects against inflation. The yields on these bad boys rests at 4.26%, which ain’t too shabby for a relatively low-risk investment option. According to Morningstar, another alternative is inflation-protected bond funds, such as the Schwab US TIPS ETF.

Whatever you choose to do with your portfolio, keep an eye on bond yields.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• Apple rose 1.38% and broke above $300 per share for the first time ever, capping off a stunning surge.
• Alibaba gained 8.26% as AI-driven cloud revenue surged 38%, helping offset weaker profitability.
• Cloud computing company Akamai Technologies rose 7.74% after Bank of America upgraded the stock, highlighting a $1.8 billion AI infrastructure deal reportedly tied to Anthropic.
• Nebius, which provides cloud computing capacity to AI companies, jumped 15.72% on a first-quarter beat and higher contracted power targets for 2026.
• EchoStar climbed 2.98% after the FCC approved $40 billion in spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX.
• Nextpower rose 8.77% to a record high after beating earnings expectations and raising its revenue outlook on strong solar demand.
• Wolfspeed surged 16.53% after Citrini Research recommended the stock and highlighted the chipmaker’s growth potential.
• Ouster advanced 26.09% after its lidar sensors qualified for Nvidia’s new self-driving platform.

What’s down

• Wix.com fell 27.1% after missing Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue.
• Nuclear power provider Oklo dropped 5.46% following a wider quarterly loss and lack of revenue, despite regulatory progress.
• Dynatrace slipped 11.43% as softer-than-expected subscription revenue overshadowed an earnings beat for the AI-computing observability platform.
• Birkenstock declined 12.86% after missing earnings and revenue estimates, with Middle East tensions weighing on regional growth.
• Resideo Technologies tumbled 18.01% as weak guidance and rising freight and fuel costs offset stronger-than-expected quarterly results for the home security system company.

Markets have spent much of 2026 pushed and pulled between recession fears, tariff panic, geopolitical conflict, and nonstop debates about whether the AI trade has gone too far. Yet despite it all, stocks continue pushing toward new highs.

To help us make sense of the rally, we spoke with Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group and co-host of the investing podcast Facts vs Feelings. Detrick has remained consistently bullish throughout this year’s volatility, arguing that investors continue underestimating both the resilience of the economy and the market’s ability to adapt.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Amid all the volatility and uncertainty, which parts of the market are you most concerned about?

We still think this is a bull market, and we’ve been pretty vocal about that. But inflation is still a problem.

When we look at CPI, PCE, and different variations of inflation, we still think it’s running a little hotter than the Fed wants. I'm going to say it’s broadening out. Services inflation remains stubbornly high, goods inflation has been picking back up, and we think it’s more of a 3% inflation world than a 2% inflation world right now.

To be clear, that’s not the end of the world, but it probably makes it harder for the Fed to cut rates as aggressively as the market once hoped.

At the same time, one of our bigger worries is investors panicking during volatility spikes. Just look at recent years: After the regional banking crisis, the market still finished 2023 up roughly 25%. After the yen carry trade panic, the market finished 2024 up roughly 24%. Last year, tariffs and liberation day and all that stuff pushed the market down almost 20%. At the end of the year, the market was still up 18%.

Click here to keep reading about why tech stocks still have plenty of steam, and how the software selloff has been overblown.

You know those meetings that could have just been an email? This isn’t one of them.

President Trump landed in Beijing today to kick off his two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The last time Trump visited Xi was in 2017—when the Chinese economy was struggling, Xi thoroughly wooed his US counterpart, and Trump left with $253 billion in new trade deals. Today, China’s in a far stronger position than it once was, and the trade war with the US hasn’t slowed down China’s impressive export growth one bit.

The two geopolitical rivals are on opposing sides of plenty of issues, setting the stage for a dramatic discussion between the leaders of the two largest economies in the world.

A packed agenda

Here are the three T’s on the docket this week, and the stocks that could be caught in the crossfire:

• Trade: Both sides reached a ceasefire in their trade war last fall, but there’s still plenty of tension remaining. Several companies like Boeing have been made into political chesspieces, and managers there are desperately hoping that the peace won’t be broken. It would also be extremely beneficial to US farmers if China recommits to purchasing US agricultural exports in bulk.
• Tech: The US has kept heavy restrictions on Chinese purchases of advanced AI technology in place, and China certainly wants those sanctions to ease a bit. That would be a boon for chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD, which are not allowed to sell certain models to Chinese buyers but would love nothing more than access to China’s massive market. Meanwhile, if China pares back its restrictions on exporting rare-earth minerals, US mining stocks would suffer.
• Taiwan: Trump put US arms sales to the island nation on this week’s agenda, which is sure to stir up tensions. China is hoping that the US will withdraw its support for Taiwan, and China may sense an opening: The White House has yet to move forward with delivery of a massive $11 billion arms package promised in December.

Looming large in the background of this week’s discussions is Iran. The US is trying to prevent anyone from buying Iranian oil. China is Iran’s biggest oil buyer. See the issue?

China could use its influence in Tehran to help the US extricate itself from the Strait of Hormuz, but that would definitely mean concessions from the US, which analysts are unsure Trump would be agreeable to.

Bring the whole gang

Trump’s not travelling to Beijing alone—he’s accompanied by a posse of business leaders and luminaries who want to submit their own two cents to the discussions.

The headliners include Elon Musk, who will likely want permission to sell Tesla’s Full Self Driving product in China, which would be a massive boon for his company. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will also be joining the fun, along with Apple’s Tim Cook, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, and Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra—all of whom have serious skin in the game when it comes to semiconductor sales and the future of the AI industry.

Suffice to say, this is one meeting nobody wants to miss.—MR

• More OpenAI trial drama: Elon Musk accused Sam Altman of attempting to “steal a charity.”
• Microsoft has splashed out more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI. Here’s where all that money went.
• Flows of oil through the Strait of Hormuz fell nearly 30% to 6 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026.
• Just a few years ago, the US relied on oil imports. Here’s how it became the world’s largest energy exporter.
• Anduril is now worth $61 billion, making it the 12th-most valuable private company in the world.
• Here’s how Anthropic became a front-runner in the AI race and snagged the top spot from OpenAI.
• Kevin Warsh has been confirmed as the next Fed Chair, in an extremely divisive vote.

Economic reports: Plenty to watch tomorrow, including US April retail sales, the import price index, the export price index, March business inventories, and the usual weekly initial jobless claims.

Earnings announcements: Applied Materials, National Grid, Figma, Intuitive Machines, Viking Holdings, and Yeti.

Everything else: The Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on a landmark crypto bill that threatens to upset the status quo of the entire financial sector. And for you sports fans out there, the PGA Championship begins, with an early tee time of 6:45am.