Your 5 weekly reads:
Brent crude slid 8.5% Friday as the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
Allbirds’ AI rebrand slingshot shares 600% in meme stock frenzy
S&P 500 tops 7,000 after recovering Iran war-related losses
Tax-loss harvesting could help you offset more taxes in 2026
New Rai feature: Pin, rename and delete conversations
1. MARKET ROUNDUP
The Strait of Hormuz Reopens
Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday amid the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, sending Brent crude tumbling 8.5% and buoying the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs.
Wall Street's six largest banks posted nearly $50B in Q1 profits this week, beating estimates — and up from ~$41B last year — as Iran War volatility supercharged trading volume.
Intel shares hit their highest level since 2000, up 90% YTD as investors buy into the chipmaker’s turnaround plan to restore its dot-com era tech leadership.
Figma dropped 8% on Friday (down 80%+ from its post IPO high in July) after Anthropic announced Claude Design, a collaborative design tool.
Range Takeaway: Markets ripped to record highs this week — anticipating de-escalation well before the Strait of Hormuz officially reopened. Early Q1 bank earnings are reinforcing that credit conditions remain stable and with valuations reset lower, the "chase" has been on for investors to reverse bearish positioning. Having swung from oversold to overbought in just 11 days, the market's focus will likely pivot to fundamentals as earnings season picks up.
2. THE BIG TAKE
Allbirds Takes Flight
It's rare to see a shoe company soar 600% in a single trading day. Then again, it's even rarer to see a shoe company announce a pivot to AI infrastructure.
Meme stock mania roared back into the mainstream on Wednesday after Allbirds announced a rebrand to NewBird AI. The move comes two months after karaoke machine maker Algorythm Holdings' AI-shift announcement sent its stock soaring more than 200% in a single session.
Do these AI meme stock rallies say anything meaningful about the real AI winners? Probably not. In 1999, companies that simply added ".com" to their name saw their stocks pop 74% on average. Most of those companies are gone today. Amazon and Google are not.
The businesses that actually define each era look nothing like the desperate rebrands. This week, TSMC reported a 58% jump in Q1 profits — its fourth consecutive record quarter. NVIDIA's share price is up more than 3,000% since the end of 2019, but its underlying earnings have grown even faster, leading its PE ratio to actually compress. The same can be said for fellow AI-darlings Meta and Broadcom. These are well-run businesses producing strong profits, not flailing companies looking to ride AI hype.
The biggest players in the ecosystem are printing cash—for now, NewBird AI is just printing labels.
3. BY THE NUMBERS
Record Highs, Rapid Reset
7,147: The S&P 500's new record intraday high, closing the week at 7,126.
13%: Rebound in the S&P 500 off its correction low.
4.1%: S&P 500's year-to-date return.
-10%: Drop from the index's January 28 all-time high to its April low.
4. FROM THE RANGE TEAM
What You Can Do Now to Potentially Lower Next Year’s Tax Bill
If your tax bill was higher than expected this year, it's worth asking what you can do differently for 2026. For those with high capital gains tax liabilities, more robust tax-loss harvesting is one of the most effective levers you can pull.
Here’s how it works: when positions in your portfolio drop, you sell to lock in the loss and immediately reinvest in similar, but not identical, positions. This allows you to stay fully invested while accruing losses that can be used to offset capital gains, or up to $3,000 in ordinary income each year.
At Range, we do this automatically. Members using our automated tax-loss harvesting portfolios benefited from last year’s volatility, averaging $13,281 in harvested losses for 2025. This translates to roughly $4,914 in tax offsets (assuming a 37% tax rate)—that's on top of their actual portfolio returns.*
As the past two months have shown, market volatility is unpredictable, and pullbacks can be swift. If you aren’t currently conducting active tax loss harvesting, either within your existing portfolio or as part of a direct indexing strategy, you could be missing out on future tax savings.
5. RANGE TIPS & TRICKS
Manage Your Rai Conversations
You can now rename, pin, and delete Rai conversations. Keep key advice and projections within reach, and clear out the rest.
RAI PROMPT OF THE WEEK
Rai is able to look back at your 2025 profile to help plan for 2026. Range Head of Content Marketing Tony Molina asked: “What could I have done last year to reduce my 2025 tax bill?”
By analyzing your unique financial profile, Rai can find missed tax-reduction levers and create a plan of action for 2026.
Try it yourself:
Before we go…
📱Follow us on Instagram for updates throughout the week – check out these stats on high-earner tax returns.
🥂 $1,000 says you know someone who needs Range. Refer a friend and treat yourself to dinner, concert tickets, or that thing sitting in your cart. Your buddy gets 20% off year one — you get the cash.**
Range
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*Based on all Range Advisory taxable accounts active in 2025, regardless of account open date or account size, with the average taxable account size being $504,859 (across 462 accounts), between Jan 1, 2025 and Dec 31, 2025: average realized losses were $13,281 with $4,914 in estimated tax offsets assuming a 37% effective tax rate. Actual tax outcomes vary and aren't guaranteed; loss benefits generally apply only to the extent losses offset capital gains (and up to $3,000 of ordinary income).
**Please see Range Advisory’s ADV Part 2A for important risk disclosures and risks related to the use of AI. Recommendations depend on the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide to us. Recommendations based on incorrect or incomplete data may not be accurate.
***Earn $1,000 per successful Range referral. To refer multiple people (earn >$1,000 total), you must first: (1) sign a written referral agreement with Range and (2) complete an approved compliance questionnaire.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this communication is for informational purposes only. This content may not be relied on in any manner as specific legal, tax, regulatory, or investment advice. While we strive to present accurate and timely content, tax laws and regulations are subject to change, and individual circumstances can vary.
Please see Range Advisory’s ADV Part 2A for important risk disclosures related to the use of AI. Recommendations depend on the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide to us. Recommendations based on incorrect or incomplete data may not be accurate.
While we strive to present accurate and timely content, tax laws and regulations are subject to change, and individual circumstances can vary. You should not rely solely on the information contained here when making decisions regarding your taxes or financial situation. We strongly recommend consulting with a certified tax professional, accountant, or legal advisor to address your specific needs and ensure compliance with applicable laws.
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