Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 3/13/2026

• US Equity Markets continued their recent declines, as worries around rising oil prices and the escalating conflict with Iran weigh on investors. The S&P 500 declined 1.6% for the week and is now down 3.1% for the year. The Nasdaq fell 1.3% for the week to bring its losses for the year to down 4.9%, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) dropped 1.8% for the week, erasing its gains for the year, now down 0.1% for the year.

• Global Equity Markets also fell last week, as international markets brace for the domino effects from the conflict in Iran. Developed Markets dropped 2.8% for the week and are now only up 0.5% for the year. Emerging Markets declined 2.3% for the week to bring their gains for the year to 4.6%.

• Inflation Data Held in check for February, but poised to increase. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February showed prices up 2.4% from a year ago, slightly below expectations and flat from January levels. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 2.5% from a year ago, in line with expectations and flat from January. These prices do not reflect the recent spike in energy prices, which rose another 8.8% last week and are now up almost 73% for the year.

• New Business Formation is Surging in the US. Likely fueled by AI and large language models that have significantly reduced the costs and complexity of starting a company, the number of applications for new businesses has exploded in the US. According to the US Census Bureau, new business applications hit a record 532K in the month of January 2026, and has averaged about 485K per month for the past two years. For context, the average pre-pandemic level was ~300K per month. As these firms scale, it is reasonable to believe they could support job creation, suggesting AI could strengthen the labor market, not disrupt it.

Market Data

for the week ending 3/13/2026