WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Memory’s Gold Rush, Oil Slips, Ford Finds a New Lane

Episode Date: May 30, 2026

Are memory chips the new oil? And why are energy stocks getting the cold shoulder? Plus, how is Ford cashing in on the AI boom? Imani Moise discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let's dive in. Stocks continued their historic march higher as Wall Street's appetite for AI showed few signs of slowing. All three major indexes ended the week at record highs, and the SMP has now risen nine consecutive weeks, the longest winning streak since 2023. Investors are paying historically high prices relative to corporate earnings, a dynamic not seen since the dot-com boom. The last time investors were willing to pay these kinds of prices was around the market peak in 2000. So far, investors are still buying. The tech-heavy NASDAQ led the way, rising just under 2.4% for the week. The S&P 500 grew 1.4% and the Dow increased

0.9%. The AI boom minted two new trillion-dollar companies that. this week. Shares in memory chip makers Micron and S.K. Heinex surged nearly 30% and 20% respectively to cross a trillion dollar valuation mark. They're the latest editions, after Samsung joined one of the stock market's most exclusive clubs earlier this month. For years, memory chips were seen as a commodity business, the tech equivalent of selling gasoline, but investors are now treating chips as one of the most precious resources in the AI economy. In fact, the combined value of Samsung, S.K. Hynix, and Micron now exceeds the market value of the world's three largest oil companies. Every AI model needs enormous amounts of memory to store and move data,

creating a global shortage of semiconductors. According to data provider Orne, spot prices for a common AI memory chip known as DDR5 have more than doubled since November. Stock prices have mirrored those gains. Micron shares have tripled since the end of March, helping it become the fastest company to ever go from a $500 billion valuation to a trillion dollar one. As memory chips become the hottest commodity, oil stocks are getting the cold shoulder. Energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 this week, as crude prices saw their biggest monthly decline since the onset of the pandemic. Reports that Washington and Tehran may be inching toward a possible agreement that would

reopen the Strait of Ramos, have traders unwinding back? that the conflict could lead to a prolonged supply shock. Investors have gotten used to whipsawing headlines as tensions in the Middle East drag on, but they still have some impact. The S&P Energy Index fell more than 5% over the week, as Brent Crude slid 11% to $92.5 a barrel. But don't cry for oil investors just yet.

The conflict in the Middle East sent energy stocks soaring earlier this year, and the S&P Energy Index remains up more than 25% year-to-date. Ford was one of the United States. the week's biggest winners, as investors' enthusiasm for a new subsidiary continued to rev up. Shares in the automaker continued to climb nearly 17% this week, following the company's announcement of an energy storage division called Ford Energy earlier this month. After pulling back from the electric vehicle market, Ford is repurposing batteries originally intended for EVs into stationary energy storage systems for AI data centers, power utilities,

and industrial customers. One Morgan Stanley analyst recently estimated that the business could eventually be worth $10 billion on its own. Investors see the move as a way for Ford to cash in on the AI frenzy, and that's right at a moment when the auto industry is slogging through an EB slowdown and broader downturn. Automakers are increasingly warning that new car sales could shrink this year. Roughly one million potential buyers have left the new car market since the start of the decade, and executives don't expect them back anytime soon,

as consumers grapple with high interest rates, stubborn inflation, and elevated gas prices. prices. Board is up almost 27% for the year, while rival General Motors has risen by less than 4%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You could read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in our live markets coverage on WSJ.com. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansy, which supervising producer Katie Ferguson. I'm Imani-Mau-Ease. Have a great weekend, and catch you next Saturday. Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba here forrealtor.com. The Pro's number one most trusted app. Finding a home is like dating.

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