Robertson Stephens Weekly Commentary – September 15, 2026

Economic winds are blowing, not necessarily favorably. The Federal Reserve FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) is widely expected to discuss moving to more restrictive monetary policy this week, possibly even following the European Central Bank and aising the target interest rate by 25 bps. Oil prices have returned to above $100/barrel and the average US retail price of gasoline rose 15 cents per gallon over the last seven days. The S&P 500 returned -0.8% as a jump in oil prices and two hot inflation gauges drove bond yields higher. Mid-cap stocks (-1.7%) and small-cap stocks (-2.4%) both fared worse than large caps. Within the S&P 500, energy (+2.1%) and communication services (+1.1%) were the only sectors with gains; healthcare (-3.5%) and materials (-2.7%) were the worst performing.