The market spent this week asking every hard question it had. Can the war end? Do the chips earn what they cost? Will the Fed cut? Is the breadth holding? And finally, this morning: is the economy still adding jobs? The answer to all five was yes. The S&P closed at a record for the sixth straight week. The Nasdaq gained 4% in five days. And the payroll report this morning — 115,000 jobs against a 55,000 estimate, with wages cooling — gave the tape the one thing it needed to close the week at the highs.

Strong finish. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% to close at 7,399 — another record. The Nasdaq led, up 1.7% to 26,247. The Dow barely moved, up 12 points. The Russell 2000 gained 0.8%. For the week, the Nasdaq was up 4%, the S&P up about 2%, and all three major indexes posted gains. That's six straight winning weeks for the S&P 500.

The jobs report set the tone at 8:30 a.m. The economy added 115,000 jobs in April — nearly double the 55,000 to 65,000 the Street expected. Unemployment held at 4.3%. March got revised up to 185,000 from 178,000. And the number everyone was watching — wages — came in slower than expected. Health care added 54,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing added 30,000. Information lost 13,000. The headline beat was strong enough to prove the economy is holding. The wage number was soft enough to keep the rate-cut math alive. That's the combination the market was waiting for.

The afternoon belonged to the Apple-Intel deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Intel reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to make chips for Apple devices. Intel jumped 13%. Apple gained nearly 2%. That's the kind of story that changes the semiconductor supply chain for the next five years — and it hit the tape on a day the chips were already running. Micron was up nearly 14%. Qualcomm added 8%.

CoreWeave went the other way — down 7% after guiding revenue below estimates and raising its capex forecast. The market that Tuesday taught to care about margins sold it on the spot. Expedia fell 7% on weak guidance. Rocket Lab jumped 25% after beating revenue and announcing its biggest launch contract ever.

Breadth told the real story. Only two of the eleven sectors finished green — tech and communications — and both just barely. The other nine were red. About 251 S&P names were advancing at midday, but by the close the sector map looked almost as narrow as Thursday. The Dow was flat while the Nasdaq gained 1.7%. Industrials fell nearly 2%. Materials and utilities each lost more than 1.4%. The index set a record, but nine of the eleven sectors went down while it did.

Stocks don't price today. They price the next six to twelve months. And this week the market answered every open question it had — and decided to keep buying.

Walk through the week. Monday, Iran attacked the UAE and Brent spiked to $114. The market sold off 1% and the question was: is the war getting worse? Tuesday, the ceasefire held, ships went through the Strait, and the market recovered to a record. The question shifted to: are companies earning enough to justify these prices? Palantir beat by 18% and got sold. The bar moved to margins. Wednesday, AMD blew out margins and Axios reported an Iran deal was close. The market gained 1.5%. Thursday, the tape hit new highs and then gave them back — breadth narrowed to 191 of 503 green, and Arm warned about supply constraints. The question became: is this rally too narrow to hold?

Today's jobs report answered the last one. The economy added nearly twice the expected jobs. Wages came in soft. That's the combination — strong hiring, cooling pay — that tells the Fed the economy is holding without overheating. It gives Kevin Warsh room to talk about cuts without looking like he's ignoring inflation. And it puts a floor under the parts of the market that need lower rates to work.

The catch — and there's always a catch — is that the rally is narrower than the headline makes it look. Today the pattern was the sharpest version of the week: nine of eleven sectors closed red while the S&P hit a record. Two sectors carried the tape. The other nine sold. Michael Burry — the investor who called the housing crash — said today that the market's focus on AI looks like "the final stages of the dot-com bubble." He's been early before. But the comparison sticks in the mind when the Nasdaq gains 4% in a week and the Dow gains 0.2%.

I've seen narrow rallies run longer than anyone expected. 2017 was the last time — the market went eight months without a 1% pullback, driven by tech earnings and a steady Fed. The VIX sat at 9 for most of that year. Today it's at 17. That tells you the market is more nervous now than it was then, even though the rally looks similar on the surface. Nervous markets can keep going. They just don't forgive mistakes.

The forward-looking read: the big number next week is April CPI on Tuesday May 12. If inflation cools toward 2.5% core, the rate-cut math from this jobs report gets confirmed and the rally extends into June. If CPI comes in hot — above 3% — the wage relief from today's print won't be enough, and the narrow leadership from this week gets tested against a tape that can't lean on rate cuts. Nvidia reports May 20. That's two weeks out but it's already the most-watched print on the calendar. The whole AI capex story — the margins AMD proved, the supply ceiling Arm warned about — gets its final exam in two weeks.

Three things I'm watching over the weekend and next week:

The inflation report that decides whether the jobs data matters. Today's wage growth came in soft — that's the green light the Fed needs. But if headline CPI runs above 3.5% or core stays above 3%, the wage story is noise and the Fed stays locked in. The consensus is around 3.3% headline and 2.8% core. If core comes in at 2.6% or below, the rate-cut trade that powered last week's rally gets a second wind.

The WSJ report hit late Friday. Intel is making chips for Apple. That's a five-year story, not a one-day trade — it reshapes the semiconductor supply chain, gives Intel a lifeline, and diversifies Apple away from TSMC. Watch for the formal announcement and the contract details. If the deal is confirmed at scale, Intel has a new floor. If the terms disappoint, the 13% move today comes back.

The ceasefire held through another exchange of fire this week. The Axios report on a one-page deal framework is still the live wire. Over the weekend, watch for Iran's supreme leader to comment. If Iran accepts the enrichment moratorium, oil breaks below $90 and Monday opens with a bid. If talks stall or another strike happens, the $95 floor in oil holds and the energy-inflation chain stays alive.

Six questions in five days. Every one got answered. The market bought the answers and closed at records. Now CPI on Tuesday decides whether May picks up where this week left off — or whether the narrow rally that Burry is warning about finally meets its match.

That's it for today. Have a good weekend. I'll be back on Monday after the close.