The Strength of the Market is: Strong

Last week was a winning week on Wall Street. The Dow Jones notched an all-time high, rising 2.1% for the week. In addition, last week, the S&P 500 advanced 0.9%, its eighth straight winning week and longest weekly winning streak since 2023. The Nasdaq was up 0.5%, its seventh weekly advance in the past eight weeks. It still remains unclear whether the U.S. and Iran are getting closer toward a deal to end their war - hopes that an agreement can be secured soon as a Qatari team is flying to Iran to help negotiate an end to the conflict. Investors seem optimistic even with fears of a prolonged war that are keeping oil prices, interest rates and inflation numbers high.

Economic reports from last week came back mixed:

•Homebuilder Confidence - higher than expectation

•Pending Home Sales - higher than expectation

•Manufacturing (Philadelphia) - lower than expectation

•New Residential Construction - higher than expectation

•Consumer Sentiment - lower than expectation

•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation

This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Housing, Consumer Confidence, Manufacturing, Gross Domestic Product, Personal Income and Jobless Claims.