From the desks of Stanley Katz & Lauren Madera
“AS WE SURPASS THE FURTHEST DISTANCE HUMANS HAVE EVER TRAVELLED FROM PLANET EARTH, WE DO SO HONORING THE EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS AND FEATS OF OUR PREDESCESSORS IN HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION.“
— Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II
U.S. stock indexes posted solid gains for a second consecutive week as a ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran — and the sharp drop in oil prices that followed — boosted investor sentiment (DJIA: +3.04%, S&P 500: +3.56%, Nasdaq: +4.68%). Markets began the week on a cautious note as investors monitored escalating rhetoric around energy infrastructure and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Sentiment improved markedly mid-week on reports of a two-week ceasefire framework and continued negotiations, helping fuel a broad risk-on rally. Oil prices, which had moved sharply higher in recent weeks, plunged on Wednesday in their steepest daily decline since 2020. Economic data released on Friday captured the fuller oil picture since the war commenced in February. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.3% year over year in March, with nearly three-quarters of the overall increase driven by a sharp rise in gasoline prices. The University of Michigan’s preliminary April reading followed suit, falling a whopping 5.7 points to 47.6. As you might expect, consumers cited higher prices and weaker asset values as the source of their angst. It was, in short, a week that captured the tension at the heart of Jamie Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders: reasons for confidence sitting alongside reasons for concern.
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon opened his annual letter with a nod to America’s 250th anniversary and a characteristic blend of confidence and caution. He noted that JPMorgan generated record revenue for the eighth consecutive year in 2025, a remarkable streak that speaks to the durability of the franchise across a wide range of market conditions. But Dimon spent considerably more time on the challenges ahead. Featured prominently were the wars in Ukraine and Iran, rising geopolitical tensions with China, government deficit spending, and the risk that oil and commodity price shocks produce stickier inflation and ultimately higher interest rates than markets currently expect. He also warned that high asset prices, while welcome in the short run, create additional risk if anything goes wrong. His tone throughout was steady and unsentimental, anchored by the belief that America will do what it has always done and look to the values that have defined its singular leadership of the free world. He invoked Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” as a guiding principle for how JPMorgan intends to navigate the uncertainty ahead: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.” The full letter is worth your time.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy opened his letter with an unlikely career story. Aspiring sportscaster, retail golf store employee, and failed entrepreneur are not the typical waypoints on a path to leading one of the world’s most valuable companies. But that circuitous route was precisely his point. The most meaningful progress rarely follows a straight line, and it is a framing that feels particularly relevant in a market environment defined by whipsaw volatility and shifting narratives. Jassy’s substantive focus was squarely on artificial intelligence. He made a direct and confident case that AI is not overhyped, noting that no technology in history has been adopted more quickly, with ChatGPT reaching 100 million users in two months. AWS’s AI revenue run rate crossed $15 billion in the first quarter of 2026, nearly 260 times larger than where AWS itself stood at the same point in its commercial history. Beyond AI, Jassy detailed Amazon’s expanding investments in robotics, rural delivery, and its Amazon Leo satellite broadband network, all framed as long-term bets on inflections that will reshape what is possible for customers. His letter, like Dimon’s, is a longer read, and a worthwhile one.
Below are links to a number of third-party research reports that we have read and analyzed over the past week. We hope you will find the information interesting, useful, and worthwhile.
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase:
Andy Jassy, President and CEO of Amazon:
Capital Group:
Argus:
Goldman Sachs:
Stanley Katz & Lauren Madera, Financial Advisors
ClientFirst Financial Strategies, Inc.
937-293-5500
Source for weekly stock market returns: Barron’s.
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