Wall Street bonuses seen flat to slightly positive in 2026 as Iran war and private credit turmoil hurt

TradingKey - On May 14, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed higher across the board, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both hitting record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 50,000 mark for the first time in three months. On the same day, Kevin Warsh officially succeeded Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve, ushering in the Fed's "Warsh Era."

Tradingkey - During the Asian morning session on May 15, the KOSPI opened lower but trended upward, briefly surpassing 8,000 points to hit a record high, reaching an intraday peak of 8,046.78 points. As of press time, the KOSPI had reversed to a 0.4% decline, trading at 7,949.71. Market analysis suggests three major tailwinds are supporting the upward trajectory of the South Korean stock market: tech giants continue to scale up capital expenditure, significant room remains for the expansion of AI application penetration, and geopolitical factors alongside data sovereignty are driving increased investment from non-US countries. Given the high weighting of AI-related industries among South Korean listed companies, these factors are expected to provide continued support for the market. Furthermore, corporate governance is poised to become a second structural support pillar by 2026, alongside earnings improvement. If companies continue to deliver on share buybacks and cancellations, dividend increases, asset efficiency optimization, and enhanced transparency in information disclosure, the market pricing of the "Korea Discount" is expected to narrow further, driving a valuation recovery for low P/B blue chips from a tactical phase into a sustained trend.

US markets hit records on AI growth and Nvidia’s China expansion. Key drivers include Cisco’s gains, Cerebras’ IPO, US-China diplomacy, South Korean retail FOMO, and Middle East tensions.

Tradingkey - During the early trading session on May 12, the KOSPI Index briefly touched the 8,000-point mark at the open before plunging more than 5% to a low of 7,421.71 points. As of press time, the index remains down 1.24% at 7,725.33 points. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for nearly half of the KOSPI's total market capitalization, were the primary drivers of this flash crash. Currently, SK Hynix is down 3.62% at 1.144 million KRW, while Samsung Electronics has fallen 2.28% to 279,000 KRW.

TradingKey - Cerebras Systems (CBRS) IPO prices May 13–14 at $125–$135/share. $26–$27B valuation, 20x oversubscribed, $510M revenue, 47% net margin, OpenAI 750MW deal. Everything you need to know.