The market made multiple attempts to turn higher yesterday, but was offset by weakness in Communication Services (XLC) and Technology (XLK). While headlines and speculation have been rampant, the market has shifted back to narratives in place before the Iran conflict. The result was the software (IGV) rout picking up steam.

The biggest names in software (Salesforce Inc (CRM), ServiceNow (NOW), Fair Isaac Corp (FICO)) were hammered during the session.

Meanwhile, Alphabet (GOOG/L) suffered its worst session since June 2025, as Anthropic continues to gobble up the artificial intelligence (AI) share.

Google entered 2026 as the de facto AI winner among “Mag Seven” names. Now, it's being pushed back into the same test as the others – show a Return On Investment (ROI) on all that spending.

Micron Technology (MU) was on its way to joining the “Mag Seven” when the company posted financials so good that the stock gapped lower on heavy volume, and it has been in a death spiral ever since.

Bond Market Struggles

There was a difficult two-year $69.0 billion bond auction.

• Bid to cover 2.44%
• Primary dealers: 24.1%; prior six auctions average: 10.7%

Bonds continue to be a listless investment.

Midcaps Stealth Rally

While the rest struggle, midcaps are higher on the year. It was money going without fanfare.

Manufacturing Data

The manufacturing renaissance continues, as the S&P Manufacturing PMI and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing numbers came in better than expected. The U.S. economy is still the cream of the crop.

Iran Conflict Messaging

Lots of stories and scuttlebutt about negotiations, but it’s clear things are happening, and it makes markets optimistic.

Today’s Session

Equity futures point higher, and crude oil is back under $90.00 a barrel. 

Exceptional

Crude will take some time to return to pre-Iran Conflict levels, and that’s just one reason America is more compelling than other markets, where crude would have a much greater detrimental impact on economies and markets.

New Leadership

There is cautious excitement that maybe Iran will be resolved, but the action will be tenuous.

Meanwhile, the question is where leadership will come from.

Mag Seven is oversold and making noise, and SpaceX fever could help all mega-cap tech names.

Crossing back above the 200-day moving average is a good time to look closely at short-term trades and long-term holds that are oversold.

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