Here are 3 forces that drove the stock market during Wall Street’s comeback week
HS 21/02/2026
The stock market staged a comeback last week, even as Wall Street waded through a flurry of both upbeat and unsettling headlines. The Nasdaq broke its five-week losing streak on Friday, buoyed by strong advances from our big tech names like Meta Platforms , Nvidia and Amazon . The tech-heavy index ended the week 1.9% higher. The S & P 500 rose 1.1% during the holiday-shortened week, snapping a two-week skid. The Supreme Court’s ruling against President Donald Trump ‘s emergency tariffs on Friday helped lift shares of many consumer-facing companies burdened by higher costs from imports. The index may have gained even more for the week if it weren’t for private credit worries stemming from Blue Owl Capital , which caused volatility in some financial names. All of our bank stocks, at least, remained above the fray and finished the week higher, led by a 2% gain for Wells Fargo . Goldman Sachs wasn’t far behind, up 1.9%. Capital One added 0.5%. We’ll see if the rebound can last into Monday. Until then, here are three drivers of the stock market and our portfolio over the past four trading sessions. .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 (SPX) year to date performance Supreme Court tariff decision The S & P 500 advanced 0.7% on Friday after the Supreme Court struck down the bulk of Trump’s far-reaching tariff agenda in a 6-3 decision. The high court argued that no president had ever used the statute in question “to impose any tariffs, let alone tariffs of this magnitude and scope.” Trump must “point to clear congressional authorization” to justify the “extraordinary” tariff powers, the majority wrote. “He cannot.” Trump pushed back on Friday afternoon with threats of 10% global tariffs. Those new levies, however, can only last for 150 days without more congressional action to extend. Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturda y about additional tariffs, too. Maybe a clearer picture will emerge when the president delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday. The court’s ruling wasn’t an all clear for investors to bid up stocks that have been hurt by the tariffs, though. Just look at Nike , which previously guided for a $1.5 billion tariff headwind this fiscal year. While the stock initially moved up on the court’s decision, it closed down 0.3% as the market realized Trump would find alternative ways to implement higher levies. Our other consumer companies like Costco , Procter & Gamble , TJX Companies , and Amazon are also impacted by the ruling. In the run up to the court’s decision, the Club explained how these tariffs directly affect pricing, margin and inventorying strategies for each company. Big Tech roars back Megacap tech stocks are making their comeback, finally. Meta announced on Tuesday that it will use millions of Nvidia’s chips in its data centers. Both names jumped as a result, reinforcing the narrative of relentless AI demand and a fresh wave of hyperscaler spending. Meta and Nvidia ended the week 2.5% and 3.8% higher, respectively. Amazon shares also climbed after a regulatory filing on Wednesday showed that Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square significantly grew the fund’s position during the fourth quarter. The e-commerce giant jumped 5.6% for the week, making it our best portfolio performer. Alphabet was a laggard in the group earlier in the week as the stock continued its post-earnings downtrend. The Club bought more shares of the AI leader, though, arguing the pullback is unwarranted.. A session later the stock rallied, and ended the week up by 3%. That same session, we trimmed our Corning position after a massive 2026 run. It’s not a megacap tech name like the others, but it has benefitted from the AI trade because the company’s fiber optic cables are playing an increasingly important role in data centers. Corning was our second best stock of the week, up 4.5%. Credit crisis? Private credit concerns over at Blue Owl Capital sent waves through the financial sector last week. Shares dropped nearly 6% Thursday after the asset manager permanently restricted withdrawals from its private debt fund for retail investors. Some on Wall Street are calling Blue Owl the “canary in the coal mine,” arguing the fast-growing private credit market, which has attracted billions of capital in recent years, may have trouble underneath the surface. Shares of the biggest private asset managers like Ares Management, Apollo Global, Blackstone, and KKR were hit hard Thursday. Ares and Blackstone dropped big again Friday, ending the week as the worst two names within the S & P 500 financials sector, down 8% and 6.6%, respectively. Apollo rose 1.2% Friday, recovering some of its 5.6% tumble in Thursday’s session. Within our portfolio, BlackRock has some private credit exposure, but it’s not a concern to us right now. The market seemed to agree: Shares dropped only 1% Thursday, bounced back Friday and finished the week up 2%. And more generally, Jim isn’t dismissing the presence of some bad loans within the private credit complex. However, he wrote Friday morning that he doesn’t believe the situation is “tragic in nature” at this point. Capital One is the lone Club financial that we traded last week, buying additional shares of the credit card issuer on Wednesday . A sale of Danaher and Texas Roadhouse was also included in that Wednesday trade. We exited the restaurant stock entirely on Friday after its earnings report the prior evening convinced us its beef inflation problem wasn’t going away anytime soon. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) 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