Markets whipsawed last week as US-Iran war headlines kept traders guessing. The week opened in the red before bouncing sharply as Trump signaled he wanted to exit the war and Iran expressed interest in a ceasefire. Trump threatened 2-3 more weeks of strikes in a primetime address and escalated rhetoric toward Iran, spiking oil to $112 a barrel. Iran-Oman safe passage talks and Trump’s assurances that oil would fall and stocks would recover helped equities stabilize, with most sectors closing green. By the end of the shortened week, $XLK and $SMH were the leading sectors while $XLE ended red even as oil spiked. In other news:
Looking ahead, CPI and PCE inflation data take center stage, with oil at $112 making every print a direct market catalyst. The second GDP revision also hits the tape as traders look for clarity on the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict. Let’s see how the charts are holding up.
Weekly Analysis
SPY (SPDR S&P 500)
$SPY snapped back last week, closing at $655.83 (+3.43%) and reclaiming lost ground despite elevated war tensions. The MACD printed a bullish cross on the daily, but SPY is still trading just below its 200-day EMA. Can bulls reclaim the 200 and flip it into support, or does it hold as resistance for another leg lower?
QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust)
$QQQ closed the week at $584.98 (+3.98%), bouncing sharply but closing right at its 200-day EMA. The MACD is curling toward a bullish cross but hasn’t confirmed one, and the ETF is still trading under the Ripster 9/21 EMA cloud resistance. Until QQQ clears that cloud, last week’s move looks more like a relief bounce than a reversal.
IWM (iShares Russell 2000)
$IWM closed the week at $251.29 (+3.37%), bouncing off the 200-day EMA and reclaiming the 9/21 EMA cloud. The ETF confirmed a bullish MACD cross, making it the only index of the three to flash every momentum signal. With inflation data on deck, small-caps have the strongest case for continuation heading into next week.
Earnings
Notable Results
SNX (Synnex)
- EPS: $4.73 vs $3.20 est
- REV: $17.16B vs $15.60B est
CALM (Cal-Maine Foods)
- EPS: $1.06 vs $0.78 est
- REV: $666.95M vs $642.48M est
NKE (Nike)
- EPS: $0.35 vs $0.28 est
- REV: $11.27B vs $11.22B est
LW (Lamb Weston)
- EPS: $0.72 vs $0.61 est
- REV: $1.56B vs $1.48B est
PVH (PVH Corp.)
- EPS: $3.82 vs $3.30 est
- REV: $2.50B vs $2.42B est
MKC (McCormick & Company)
- EPS: $0.66 vs $0.60 est
- REV: $1.87B vs $1.78B est
UNF (Unifirst)
- EPS: $1.29 vs $1.21 est
- REV: $622.50M vs $614.85M est
FDS (FactSet)
- EPS: $4.46 vs $4.37 est
- REV: $611.01M vs $604.97M est
MSM (MSC Industrial)
- EPS: $0.82 vs $0.84 est
- REV: $917.77M vs $932.80M est
CAG (Conagra Brands)
- EPS: $0.39 vs $0.40 est
- REV: $2.78B vs $2.76B est
AAUC (AAC Holdings)
- EPS: $0.56 vs $0.64 est
- REV: $427.82M vs $428.00M est
RH (RH)
- EPS: $1.53 vs $2.21 est
- REV: $842.62M vs $872.90M est
SGML (Sigma Lithium)
- EPS: ($0.22) vs ($0.05) est
- REV: $16.90M vs $45.67M est
USAS (Americas Gold and Silver)
- EPS: ($0.14) vs $0.04 est
- REV: $37.06M vs $65.27M est
What’s Happening Now
XLE Energy Select Sector
This year’s market action shows a fierce shift from growth and cyclical names into defensive and hard-asset sectors. Energy (XLE) is the undisputed leader with a 30% surge, followed by notable inflows into traditional safe havens like gold (GLD), utilities (XLU), and consumer staples (XLP). Conversely, investors have aggressively shed riskier sectors such as technology (XLK), consumer discretionary (XLY), and financials (XLF) behind… For now.
MCD McDonald’s
Next week shows an exceptional seasonal setup for MCD, which boasts a 100% win rate and a 2.4% average gain, over the last 13 years. Amid strong seasonality for the classic staple stock, it faces potential tailwinds from inflation-weary consumers. Before the war (which is running the risk of spiking food prices and fertilizer shortages), McDonald’s reported 9.7% YoY revenue growth for Q4 2025 and strong 6.8% sales growth in the United States.
AMZN Amazon
SpaceX is gearing up for a planned $2 trillion IPO that would shatter all previous listing records, including Saudi Aramco’s $1.7 trillion debut. If successful, SpaceX would skyrocket to be among the largest companies in the world with reports of a launch as early as June. For comparison, SpaceX reported $10 billion revenue last year while Amazon made $77 billion net income at a nearly $2.5 trillion valuation today. Last week, CNBC reported AMZN is considering buying $9 billion space firm GSAT to potentially join the space race alongside Bezos’ Blue Origin.
Believe it or not, this is just a fraction of what happened in the markets last week. For a full rundown delivered straight to your inbox every weekend, sign up for The Official Trendspider Newsletter!
Market Update Into September 14th: Rate Hike Incoming?