The Daily Wrap – May 11, 2026

The market was driven by two powerful and opposing narratives: escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sent oil prices soaring and weighed on the housing market, while an investor frenzy over artificial intelligence created a "supercycle" in memory chips, sending stocks like Micron and Intel to new highs. This tech rally was further supported by strong earnings from software company Monday.com and a strategic pivot to AI by stablecoin issuer Circle. Other major corporate news included Inspire Brands filing for an IPO to return Dunkin' to the public market and a speculative rally in biotech stocks like Moderna over hantavirus fears.

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From Phoenixstra Pro in Tampa, it's Monday, May 11th, and I'm Rachel Anderson with the Daily Rap. Oil prices jumped back up after the president rejected Iran's latest peace proposal, calling it totally unacceptable. This combined with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's warning that the conflict was not over, sent international benchmark Brent crude soaring over $103 a barrel. As the deadlock threatens the critical Strait of Hormuz, analysts are warning of potential demand destruction and a humanitarian crisis in poorer nations. In response, investors flood to safety, pushing gold prices higher. U.S. existing home sales for April came in lower than expected. The war is stoking inflation, which in turn is keeping mortgage rates stubbornly high and squeezing the budgets of American home buyers. Shares of Micron jumped as much as 9% today. The stock has more than doubled since the end of March on the belief that we are entering a memory chip supercycle, where soaring AI demand is creating a massive supply shortage. The Roundhill Memory ETF, which trades under the ticker DRAM, has become the fastest ETF in history to reach $6.5 billion in assets, beating the records set by the Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. Monday.com saw its stock surge today after the company posted stellar first quarter earnings, proving it can successfully integrate AI into its products and grow alongside the trend rather than be disrupted by it. Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, reported mixed earnings but made a major strategic announcement. The company is launching a new suite of tools to position its stablecoin as the payment method for autonomous AI agents, betting its future on becoming the financial plumbing for a new agentic economy. Shares of the chipmaker Intel are climbing after CEO Lip Bu Tan touted exciting new products being developed with partner Nvidia. This builds on their existing collaboration for AI data centers and PCs and comes on the heels of reports of a preliminary chipmaking deal with Apple. It's the latest win for Intel's turnaround story as the AI boom drives new demand for its processors, sending the stock up more than 245% so far this year. Inspire Brands, the parent company of Duncan, Arby's, and Buffalo Wild Wings, has confidentially filed for an IPO. The move will bring the iconic donut chain back to the public markets in a challenging environment for restaurants battling inflation-fatigue consumers. We saw speculative fever in the biotech sector. Shares of Moderna jumped over 9%, with traders piling into the stock, along with the Novio and Novavax, on news of a hantavirus outbreak. This rally is happening despite global health officials insisting the public health risk remains extremely low, in a move that echoes the speculative trading of the pandemic era. In a technical but significant move, shares of Lumentum Holdings gained over 15% today. The optical technology company is set to be added to the prestigious MASDAC 100 index, which will force index tracking funds to buy the stock, creating built-in demand. U.S. Treasury yields rose as tensions in the Middle East are renewing, and investors wait for a fresh CPI report tomorrow. The 10-year is at 4.39%, the two-year yield is at 3.92%, and the 30-year bond yield is at 4.96%. And now let's check the scoreboard. Wall Street is seeing modest gains on the backs of pivotal tech stocks. Midday the SP was up around 0.3%, the Dow was fairly flat, up about 0.04%, and the NASDAQ was up over 0.3%. That's all for your daily rap today. I'm Rachel Anderson with Phoenixtra Pro, turning data into stories.