Robertson Stephens Weekly Commentary – May 18, 2026

The world may not be awash in oil and gas right now, but there is a healthy supply of ministerial- level meetings discussing the oil and gas problem. Most of these meetings have concluded, and will conclude that the situation with the Strait of Hormuz is awful... and that there is nothing that can be done. Most major U.S. stock indexes finished last week lower as optimism surrounding large-cap technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks was largely outweighed by concerns around accelerating inflation, rising Treasury yields, elevated oil prices, and lingering geopolitical uncertainty. On the wealth-planning front, we discuss retirement strategies to potentially maximize the value and flexibility of permanent life insurance policies.