May Market Recap
· Monthly Recap · 5 min read
By Victor Chen
Top Global News Events
1. Hantavirus headlines news articles. Will this be a COVID 2.0?
Hantavirus has brought the pharmaceutical industry back into the spotlight, following the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius. By May 2, the WHO had flagged the outbreak, and Moderna became headlining news as reporters found out about their collaboration with Korea University to develop Hantavirus vaccines. In the following weeks, Ebola and other viruses all came back into the spotlight, as the fear of diseases from COVID seemingly reappeared overnight.
2. Blue Origin Blows Up. Rocket Science is Hard. But is that a bad thing?
On May 28th, Blue Origin rocket New Glenn exploded during a hotfire test. Immediately, space stocks tumbled sector-wide. AST SpaceMobile fell as much as 18%, Rocket Lab slid more than 6%. On June 1, the explosion wiped 12.87% off RKLB in a single session despite zero operational connection to Blue Origin. The market is realizing the inherent risk with rocket science has not disappeared.
FOMC
There was no FOMC meeting in May, as the next meeting will be on June 16-17, being the first meetings with the newly appointed Fed Chair, Kevin Walsh. Rate held at 3.50-3.75% during the last FOMC meeting in April.
Market Recap
Index Performance
S&P 500: +5.1%
NASDAQ: +8.4%
Dow Jones: +2.8%
Markets Go Up… Up… Up… Up… Up… Up… Up… Up… Up… Up…
By the end of May, the S&P 500 had racked up its ninth straight week of advances, setting new all-time highs. The technology sector accounted for all 10 of the S&P 500's top performers in May, advancing 20% as a whole. Oil prices remain elevated as the energy sector lags for the second consecutive month. There really aren't many trends, besides… Up.
In conclusion, the theme of the month is idealism. With the incoming SpaceX IPO, fed chair, and geopolitical events finally taking a backseat this year, markets are hitting record highs. The market is trading the future it wants, while ignoring the present while it still can. The market is, indeed, pricing in outcomes that are uncertain, but it feels are certain to happen. Whether these outcomes will produce a self-fulfilling prophecy, or crash like dotcom all over again, no one knows. The only certainty is that the market is pricing in uncertainty.