Market Memo

Well… yeah, this week was rough, like properly rough, the kind of week where everything just feels heavy and nobody really wants to take risk. The week of March 16, 2026 basically turned into a full risk off environment as markets got hit with a mix of rising tensions in the Middle East and a pretty hawkish Federal Reserve, which is just not a good combo. Wall Street ended up logging its fourth straight weekly loss, with the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all sliding as investors tried to process both geopolitical instability and the idea that interest rates are staying higher for longer. The biggest moment was easily the March FOMC meeting, where the Fed held rates steady at 3.50% to 3.75%, which was expected, but what Jerome Powell said after mattered more, he kept the possibility of one rate cut later this year but also made it clear inflation is still a real issue, especially with oil prices surging because of the Iran war, with Brent crude going above $100 per barrel, which just makes inflation more stubborn. Then the economic data did not help at all, the Producer Price Index hit a one year high and Q4 GDP got revised down to 0.7%, which is starting to bring up real stagflation concerns. Because of all this, investors rotated into safer areas, so Energy and Utilities were basically the only bright spots while Technology and Financials took most of the hit. By Friday there was a little bit of relief with talk of the White House possibly releasing strategic oil reserves and easing some maritime sanctions, but honestly it did not change the overall mood much, markets still felt on edge, Treasury yields kept climbing, with the 10 year getting close to 4.30%, and overall it just feels like the global economy is under real pressure right now, especially with trade disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and tighter liquidity everywhere.