The market’s doing the cha-cha
The S&P 500 has been on a tear, climbing more than 12% since the start of April and about 7% since the start of the Iran war. The big engine under the hood? Chip stocks, which have bounced roughly 40% and are doing their best impression of the market’s caffeine shot.
Meanwhile, consumers are not exactly vibing
On the other side of the ledger, May consumer sentiment sank to a fresh record low of 48.2. That’s not a subtle wobble — it’s a reminder that while portfolios may be feeling fancy, households are still dealing with a pretty gloomy backdrop.
Housing isn’t helping the mood
As if people needed another reason to sigh, the US 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed above 6.5%. That keeps housing affordability sticky and makes the consumer story even more awkward: the market is cheering AI and semis, but the average buyer is still staring down higher borrowing costs.
Why investors should care
This is the kind of split-screen environment that can keep the market looking healthy even when the economy feels cranky. If chip momentum keeps carrying indexes, you can get a shiny headline tape without a lot of help from the consumer. Big picture: the AI trade is still doing the heavy lifting, but the rest of the economy hasn’t exactly gotten the memo.