Iran ran the show this week. The U.S. naval blockade of Hormuz dragged on, oil whipsawed across a $16 range, and yet equities still managed to print fresh records. Strange combination but here we are.

The week opened with the S&P just under its all-time high. Apple earnings landed and impressed, which gave the indices an early bid. Then Tuesday turned messy, chips sold off, S&P slipped to 7,138.80 and the Nasdaq took a 0.9% hit. Iran headlines were doing most of the heavy lifting in both directions.

Wednesday was the pivot. Trump confirmed the blockade stays until a nuclear deal is on the table, Brent jumped 6% to close at $118.03, WTI cleared $107. Stocks didn't love it but didn't crack. By Thursday the tape flipped completely. Caterpillar and Alphabet earnings beat, Iran floated a new proposal, and the Dow ripped 790 points to 49,652.14. The S&P closed above 7,200 for the first time ever, 7,209.01 on the dot. Best monthly print for the index in five years.

Crypto was a quieter grind. BTC opened the week near $76K, briefly cleared $79K, settled back to around $77K by Friday. ETH did the same dance, $2,320 to $2,300. Almost boring. ETF inflows kept coming though, $1.2B on the week, fourth straight week of additions.

Gold had two faces. Down hard most of the week, then a 2% Thursday rally as the dollar got hit on Japan FX intervention reports. Closed near $4,571 Friday, off the $4,702 it started with. Second weekly decline in a row.

Apple and Alphabet did their jobs. Iran did everyone else's. Big Tech earnings still loaded into next week and the Fed lurking.

That was the week. More on Monday.