The Real Reason for the Stock Market’s Surprising Strength

“Father Time always wins,” Warren Buffett said as he stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway early Friday.

It turns out the stock market always wins, too, no matter what gets thrown at it. And there’s been a lot this week—fears over a slowdown in AI development, the Federal Reserve’s first rate increase in three years, and sky-high diesel and oil prices.

Yet the Nasdaq is on track for a weekly gain, and the S&P 500 could get there too.

Tech stocks, including Micron, are set for another good day against the odds. The same goes for Bitcoin. The failure of the Clarity Act vote in the Senate earlier this week and a rate hike should have punctured crypto’s recent rally. Instead, digital assets are making strong gains.

The Fed decision grabbed the limelight, but there’s a more sensible reason for the market’s strength. Oil prices have fallen for three straight days after nearing $110 a barrel, easing inflation worries in the process. If that continues, it’s a winning formula for the stock market.

You can subscribe to the Barron’s Daily newsletter here.

📈 Here’s what’s happening in markets today:

• Stock futures are mostly rising as a tech rally rolls on.
• Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman.
• Intel, Netflix, Berkshire Hathaway, and more stocks that explain today’s market.
• What China’s fresh memory-chip push means for Micron and SK Hynix.
• Why Bitcoin and Strategy stock are rallying against all the odds.
• SpaceX stock is on a good run while retail investors are selling. What gives?
• Inside Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. What its largest plant means for the stock.
• Bank of Japan rate boost stokes yen slump and raises new Bessent headache.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Source: FactSetNote: futures contractsAs of Sept. 18, 8:55 a.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Nasdaq S&P 500Dow industrialsSept. 17Sept. 18-0.6-0.4-0.200.20.40.60.8%

🏛️ The Fed is (almost) powerless against the bond selloff

The Federal Reserve’s long-awaited rate hikes are unlikely to rescue the beaten-down Treasury market. Long-dated U.S. government bonds, tracked by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, have generated 4.4% in losses this year on a total-return basis, with inflation being only a minor factor behind the rout. Read more here.

💾 Intel CEO’s memory warning is double-edged for Micron

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan isn’t seeing any signs of the AI buildout, or associated memory chip demand, slowing. Speaking this week at an industry conference, he said memory prices had risen between fivefold and sevenfold and that the memory bottleneck of last year is going to be even worse next year. That’s a double-edged statement for Micron.

💥 GM delivers first components for more Patriot missiles

The U.S. wants more missiles and has turned to the auto industry for help. General Motors just delivered its first mission-critical components to Lockheed Martin, maker of the Patriot Missile. That’s less than a month after the two signed their formal contract on the project. Read more about it here.

👟 Nike’s days in the Dow industrials may be numbered

Nike is getting booted from the S&P 100 index of large-cap companies on Sept. 21 because of its low market valuation of about $53 billion. Could the sneaker giant soon get kicked out of the Dow, too? Nike’s stock price is below where Verizon and Dow Inc. traded when they were removed from the Dow this June and in November 2024, respectively.

🏠 The climb in mortgage rates is a shock for a few reasons

Mortgage rates this week rose to just under 7% in their greatest one-week gain since April 2025, according to one closely watched weekly average. Other gauges, such as those published by Mortgage News Daily and Bankrate, have surpassed 7%. It’s a shock right now for a few reasons. Read more here.

☢️ This nuclear company scrapped its IPO as euphoria wanes

Holtec Nuclear scuttled its IPO plans just as it was on the brink of one of the industry’s largest fund-raising events in years, citing market conditions. The market is indeed shaky for most nuclear companies today, because the euphoria about nuclear that built up in the past two years has worn off.

📰 Don’t miss out on our other newsletters

• Review & Preview: Delayed Reaction
• Global Signals: 3 Charts That Reveal the State of the U.S.-China Trade Relationship
• Barron’s Tech: Apple’s Biggest Win This Week Wasn’t the New iPhone

🤖 Palantir’s CEO says the quiet part out loud on AI

Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp has asked a key question in the artificial-intelligence risk debate: If AI leaders are so adamant that development of the technology should slow down, why don’t they simply stop? He told CNBC: “You have to find a way to set reasonable guidelines that are enforced.”

💬 Quote of the day:

Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me. — Warren Buffett, in a letter to shareholders

Other headlines moving markets:

• New bank approvals are surging. What’s behind the boom.
• Apple’s chip strategy keeps paying dividends.
• The markets see rates going higher than the Fed does. Is stagflation ahead?
• Biopharma Ultragenyx gets landmark FDA approval.
• Who needs Venezuela when we could have Canada?
• Stocks reacted in a funny way to the Fed rate hike.
• Mastercard gets in on agentic payments system of the future.
• Tempus AI revenue optimism boosts winning streak.
• Paramount was one of the worst stocks in the S&P 500.
• Ciena leaves Wall Street pleasantly surprised with these numbers.
• Why Lucid’s stock was on the move.
• Bank of America’s unrealized bond losses could top this level.
• Is Bitcoin showing a quiet bullish signal?

— Edited by Liz Moyer and Stacy Ozol

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8