You can call it a comeback. Stocks hit record highs last week on hopes of a peace deal with Iran, the S&P 500 closed above 7,100 for the first time and the Nasdaq completed its longest winning streak since 1992 – a 13-day gain. For the week, the broad-based S&P jumped 4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7%. It capped a rare and dramatic turnaround for stocks. As Barclays strategist Venu Krishna noted in a note to clients, the S&P 500 bounced from near-correction territory (about 9% below its all-time peak) back to all-time highs in just 11 trading days. He said it was the fastest move from a low of at least 9% to a record high since at least 1990. This quick reversal was largely the result of investors pricing in the end of the Iran-US conflict. But Wall Street was also digesting solid bank earnings and a comeback in the beaten-down software sector. Signs of Peace This week started the way every Monday has since the US attacked Iran in late February: Investors are trying to figure out how the latest foreign developments might affect their portfolios. First, talks broke down in Islamabad over the weekend, leading President Donald Trump to announce a blockade of all maritime traffic in and out of Iran’s ports. However, none of this mattered; There was a strong surge in the market. Another round of talks between Washington and Tehran came on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Trump told Fox Business that war was “very close,” sending stocks higher. Following one session, the President announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, reaching another record high. On Friday, Iran finally announced that the Strait of Hormuz is “fully open.” Jim Cramer said war-stressed stocks could rise further if good news keeps coming. He cited homebuilders like Home Depot, which jumped 3.6% on Friday. During Friday morning’s meeting, Cramer said he was seeing a turnaround in stocks that had been pressured by the war. “Now the Fed has a chance to cut rates under Kevin Worsh. So, what we’re seeing is a move back to the things that have really lagged behind,” he said. Weak software stocks were our biggest winners in the Software Returns portfolio, with Microsoft, CrowdStrike and Salesforce our top three gainers. Software stocks have been hit this year by fears that artificial intelligence startups will eat away their market share. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) rose nearly 14%, recouping some of its losses, but remained down nearly 20% for 2026. Microsoft was up 14% week-to-week. Management needs to allocate more of its available compute capacity to Microsoft Azure instead of its weak AI assistant Copilot. CrowdStrike increased by 11.9%. The club is not concerned about what AI means for this company. As AI models become more advanced, this should actually be a tailwind for two of our cybersecurity names, including Palo Alto Networks. We plan to eventually move out of Palo Alto and put some of those funds into CrowdStrike. Salesforce jumped 10.4%. Although AI may hurt its seat-based business model, we hope management will turn things around. In May, we’ll be listening closely to CEO Marc Benioff’s remarks during its earnings release. Consumers are doing well, with bank earnings showing a fairly healthy consumer despite war-induced market volatility in the last month of the quarter. The results in consumer-facing businesses like credit cards paint a positive picture – if cautious. JPMorgan said consumer spending growth for the quarter was above the pace set for 2025. Credit card spending volume also increased 9% year over year, while delinquency rates remained fairly stable. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said that “consumers and small businesses remain resilient.” Wells Fargo’s credit card business was also promising. CFO Mike Santomassimo said new credit card account openings are up nearly 60% year over year. Its consumer banking and lending division saw a 6.6% increase in first-quarter revenue. Before the war-induced increase in energy prices, CEO Charlie Scharf said gas was 6% of total debit card spending and 4% of total credit spending. Each of those levels increased by 1%. “Consumers are spending more than a year ago, including more on gas, but they haven’t slowed spending on everything else,” Scharff said. This was an otherwise weak report from Wales. Although the bank’s earnings exceeded expectations, management disappointed us with its second consecutive quarter of revenue decline. The club downgraded the stock to a Hold-equivalent 2 rating upon release. Wall Street’s other big banks fared much better in the first quarter of 2026. Club holding Goldman Sachs beat peers like Bank of America, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley on both the top and bottom lines. “The bank you really want to own is Goldman because it had a really good quarter,” Cramer said Friday. We like this stock for its profitable dealmaking business. (See here for a full list of the shares in Jim Cramer’s charitable trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after a trade alert is sent before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after the trade alert is issued before executing the trade. The above Investment Club information is subject to our disclaimer as well as our terms and conditions and privacy policy. No fiduciary obligation or duty exists, or is created, by virtue of your receipt of any information provided in connection with the Investment Club. 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