Inflation Angst Returns

Failed talks pushed global bond yields higher as inflation fears returned.

Author

Ankit Sinha
April 13, 2026

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Market News

What Happens If Talks Fail?

Wall Street’s rally paused as traders turned cautious ahead of U.S.–Iran negotiations that could determine the fate of a fragile Middle East ceasefire. While the S&P 500 logged its strongest weekly gain since November after roughly in-line inflation data, momentum faded following a seven-day advance.

Oil markets swung sharply, with U.S. Brent crude settling below $97, its largest weekly drop since 2020, as traders weighed the possibility of easing supply disruptions if tensions cool. Treasury yields edged higher while the dollar held steady.

Geopolitical uncertainty remains the dominant market driver. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz and clashes between Israel and Hezbollah continue to cloud the outlook, even as a two-week ceasefire largely holds.

Investors are also bracing for earnings season, with major banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley set to report results amid elevated trading volatility.

Peel Take: Markets spent the week balancing geopolitics and inflation, but the real driver may be diplomacy. If tensions around Hormuz ease, oil could stabilize, and risk assets may regain momentum. If talks fail, however, traders may quickly rediscover their favorite hedge: volatility.

What's Ripe

CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV) 10.9%

  • CRWV surged 10.9%, leading a rally among AI-linked stocks after the neocloud firm announced a multiyear infrastructure and development partnership with Anthropic.

  • Peel Take: The deal highlights how demand for AI infrastructure is increasingly flowing beyond chipmakers to cloud providers that supply the computing power behind large language models. As AI models scale, companies like CoreWeave are positioning themselves as critical middlemen in the AI ecosystem, turning compute capacity into one of the most valuable commodities in tech.

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) 4.7%

  • AVGO added 4.7% to close at $371.55, while American depositary receipts of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 1.4% after the chipmaker’s latest monthly sales report reassured investors that demand for artificial-intelligence chips remains strong despite geopolitical tensions linked to the Iran conflict.

  • Peel Take: The update suggests the AI investment cycle remains resilient even amid geopolitical shocks. As long as demand for data-center infrastructure and advanced chips stays strong, companies like Nvidia and TSMC are likely to remain key beneficiaries of the global AI spending boom.

What's Rotten

ServiceNow Inc. (NOW) 7.6%

  • UBS Group downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, sending shares down 7.6% after the bank slashed its price target to $100 from $170.

  • Peel Take: The downgrade highlights how quickly sentiment can shift for high-growth tech stocks when valuation expectations reset. As analysts recalibrate price targets amid changing market conditions, investors may grow more selective, rewarding companies with clear earnings visibility while punishing those whose growth narratives are beginning to lose momentum.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) 1.9%

  • PLTR fell 1.9% to $128.11 but recovered from deeper losses after analysts pushed back against claims that Anthropic was overtaking the firm in the AI race.

  • Analysts at Wedbush Securities dismissed investor Michael Burry’s suggestion that Anthropic was “eating Palantir’s lunch,” while Citigroup analysts said Palantir remains among the software companies showing clear growth acceleration.

  • Peel Take: The debate underscores growing competition across the AI ecosystem, where software platforms and model developers are increasingly overlapping. While Palantir focuses on enterprise AI deployment and data analytics, model builders like Anthropic compete at the foundational layer, suggesting the AI market may be large enough for multiple winners rather than a single dominant player.

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If tariffs jump this high, who feels it the most?

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Previous Poll:

Do markets get ahead of themselves when peace talks start?

Yes, happens every time: 78.2% // Only when nothing is signed: 4.8% // This time feels different: 9.7% // No, markets are cautious: 7.3%

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Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

The cost to rent a small bus for a trip is x dollars, which is to be shared equally among the people taking the trip. If 10 people take the trip rather than 16, how many more dollars, in terms of x, will it cost per person?

Answer: 3x/80

Today

Working alone at its constant rate, Machine K took 3 hours to produce 1/4 of the units produced last Friday. Then Machine M started working, and the two machines, working simultaneously at their respective constant rates, took 6 hours to produce the remaining units from last Friday. How many hours would it have taken Machine M, working alone at its constant rate, to produce all of the units produced last Friday?

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