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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