May Recap: Nasdaq New Highs, Will Global Frenzy Carry into June?
US stocks climbed steadily through May and closed the month at fresh record highs. $S&P 500(.SPX)$ finished +5.15%, closing at 7,580 (intraday high 7,599); $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$finished +8.36%, closing at 26,972 (high 27,095); and $NASDAQ 100(NDX)$crossed 30,000 for the first time, closing at 30,333. AI/tech led again. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ kept sliding after its earnings; Trump's China visit and policy moves sparked a policy-driven rally; and the looming Fed chair transition is set to weigh heavily on the months ahead.
S&P at record highs, but extremely divided underneath
The S&P hit new highs but only 4% (21 names) made new highs alongside it. Meanwhile 222 stocks are down more than 20% from their highs, and 109 are down more than 40%. BofA's Bull & Bear Indicator spiked to 8.5, entering extreme-bullish territory and triggering a strong contrarian "sell" signal. Money is pouring into high-yield (HY) and emerging-market (EM) debt, with global equity breadth approaching overbought. The new highs are being carried by a handful of leaders.
But beyond US stocks, there's one market we've been overlooking: South Korea has 51 million people, but 100 million brokerage accounts.
Global frenzy is spreading to $CSOP SK Hynix Daily (2x) Leveraged Product(07709)$ and $CSOP Samsung Electronics Daily (2x) Leveraged Product(07747)$
The most surreal scene in global markets is in Korea. A population of 51 million holds 100 million brokerage accounts — two per person. Per Toss Securities, new accounts opened by under-18s in Q1 2026 jumped nearly 10x YoY. At a Gangnam department store in Seoul, the staff bathroom stalls have lately been full at 3:30pm — employees checking their stock apps before the close.
$Samsung$ and $SK Hynix$ together make up nearly 50% of KOSPI's market cap — the memory duo single-handedly decides the index. This is a global compute-anxiety frenzy lit by NVIDIA and led by Korea's memory champions — and of course, our own $MU$. US investors can play it via Korea ETFs: the most liquid are $iShares MSCI South Korea ETF(EWY)$, $Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF(FLKR)$, $Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3x Shares(KORU)$.
NVIDIA's biggest quarter ever — and the market still wanted more
Q1 revenue: $81.6B (+85% YoY), data center $75.2B, of which networking was up +199% YoY — Huang isn't just selling shovels, he's selling the entire "nervous system" of the data center. Q2 guidance: $91B, explicitly excluding China. Rubin goes into production H2 2026 — the refresh cycle shifts from two years to one. New $80B buyback; dividend raised from $0.01 to $0.25. A monster print — yet the stock slipped after hours. "Sell the news," or just short-term digestion?
Did you beat the index in May?
Nasdaq +8% in May, but only 4% of stocks made new highs. A healthy bull, or a few leaders propping up a hollow top?
Global retail frenzy — mid-bull, or a top signal?
Which direction do you favor for June: the AI PC catalyst, the space economy, or the memory/HBM super-cycle?
Leave your comments to win tiger coins~
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The big underlying catalysts include:
Optimism surrounding a potential US Iran ceasefire extension & the memory stocks skyrocketing to the moon.
Backed by these 2 catalysts, S&P500 scored its 9th consecutive weekly advance - cementing May as one of the single strongest growth months of the entire trading year.
Fortunately for me, I continue to stay invested and saw my index ETFs like $SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF(SPYM)$ blasted to fresh record shattering all time highs in May.
SPYM is a mini version of $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ as it also tracks the S&P500 index with the tiniest expense ratio of 0.02%, perfect for long term investors like me.
Investing can be so simple with SPYM as it does the heavy lifting for me without the angst of individual stock risks.
@Tiger_comments @TigerStars @Tiger_SG
The retail frenzy in South Korea is remarkable, but I believe the memory story is backed by real fundamentals. $CSOP SK Hynix Daily (2x) Leveraged Product(07709)$ $CSOP Samsung Electronics Daily (2x) Leveraged Product(07747)$ , and $Micron Technology(MU)$ remain key beneficiaries of rising AI infrastructure spending and growing demand for HBM.
For June, I favor the memory and HBM super-cycle. NVIDIA's results continue to show strong AI demand, and memory remains one of the most important components powering the next wave of AI growth. Any pullback in quality AI names would be an opportunity for me to accumulate more shares.
@TigerStars @TigerClub @WallStreet_Tiger @Tiger_comments