The Week in Charts (5/29/26)

View the video of this post here.

Something I’m excited about is a new offering from YCharts called Communities.

It gives advisors a way to follow research and insights from voices they already trust, directly inside the platform many use daily for investment research and client communication.

That means instead of trying to recreate the charts or analysis after reading my newsletter, YCharts subscribers can quickly pull it up and work with it inside the platform.

It’s designed to make following market commentary feel more actionable and integrated into one’s daily workflow.

I’m excited to be one of the first Communities available, helping advisors bring the charts and market commentary they follow into their day-to-day workflow.

Click HERE to start a free trial to check it out. Plus, get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription (new customers only).

The most important charts and themes in markets and investing…

1) The Ultimate Pricing Power

Nvidia’s net profit margin surged to a record high of 71% in Q1, up from 12% a decade ago.

No company in history has had as much pricing power as Nvidia does today, fueled by its continued dominance in the AI chip market.

Nvidia stands in a league of its own when it comes to earnings growth and shareholder returns over the last decade.

We’ve never seen a company scale this fast at this size.

2) An All-Time High a Day

Another day, another all-time closing high for the S&P 500.

The index has hit 22 so far in 2026 and we still have 7 months to go.

What’s fueling the vertical advance in the stock market?

Earnings.

S&P 500 EPS have far exceeded expectations in Q1 (+29% YoY vs. +13% estimate heading in) and are now expected to increase by 24% this year.

We’ve never before seen earnings growth this high outside of post-recessionary rebounds. This is an unprecedented boom driven by the massive EPS gains in big tech from AI.

3) The Memory Mania

The Roundhill Memory ETF (Ticker: $DRAM) launched on April 2 of this year.

It already has $12 billion in assets under management, becoming the fastest ETF in history to cross above $10 billion.

What’s behind the massive inflows?

Investors chasing performance with the ETF more than doubling since its launch less than 2 months ago.

What are the biggest holdings in this ETF?

Micron Technology (28%) and two South Korean companies: SK hynix (28%) and Samsung (18%). Together they make up 74% of the ETF.

Micron Technology’s market cap crossed above the $1 trillion mark this week and has increased by over 10x in the last year.

SK hynix and Samsung are the two largest stocks in the South Korean stock market (54% combined weight in $EWY ETF).

As a result, South Korean stocks have more than quadrupled over the last 17 months, trouncing every other country.

4) Amazon IPO vs. SpaceX IPO

Amazon’s IPO in June 1997 came less than 3 years after Jeff Bezos founded the company.

Its market cap at the time: $442 million.

Its market cap today: $2.865 trillion.

That’s a 6,484x increase.

The SpaceX IPO is set to price in June after 24 years as a private company. Its valuation hit $1.5 trillion this month, up from $10 billion a decade ago. Its market cap is expected to be at least $1.75 trillion when it goes public, making it the 7th biggest public company in the US.

The entire IPO investing landscape has changed with companies staying private far longer than ever before (see our Podcast Discussion on IPO investing).

5) Persistent Inflation: Taking Its Toll

The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation (Core PCE) moved up to 3.3% in April, its highest level since October 2023. Core PCE has now been above the Fed’s target level for 62 consecutive months.

The persistence of higher and higher prices seems to be taking its toll. Two examples:

• Rising Delinquencies in Credit Cards (13.1%, highest since 2011), Student Loans (10.3%, highest since 2020) and Auto Loans (5.6%, highest on record).

• The lowest Personal Savings Rate in the US (2.6%) since April 2008.

6) A Few Interesting Stats…

a) Self-driving taxi company Waymo is now doing over 1.3 million rides per month in California, a 16x increase over the past two years.

b) The S&P 500’s Dividend Yield has moved down to 1.07%, the lowest level in history.

c) Nvidia’s forward P/E ratio (17x) is less than half the forward P/E ratio of Walmart (36x) and Costco (44x).

d) Amazon vs. Walmart…

25 yrs ago: Walmart revenue 68x larger than Amazon
20 yrs ago: Walmart revenue 36x larger than Amazon
15 yrs ago: Walmart revenue 12x larger than Amazon
10 yrs ago: Walmart revenue 4x larger than Amazon
Today: Amazon revenue > Walmart revenue

e) What’s been the best hedge against inflation over the past 50 years? (Podcast Discussion)

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!

Every week I do a video breaking down the most important charts and themes in markets and investing. Subscribe to our YouTube channel HERE for the latest content.

Disclaimer: All information provided is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Read our full disclosures here.

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