One headline machine held the markets hostage this week: US-Iran diplomacy. Every major asset bounced off the latest word out of Washington or Tehran, making traditional macro analysis feel almost beside the point. Add a Fed openly talking about rate hikes instead of cuts, a record-low consumer sentiment reading, and a new Fed Chair sworn in on Friday, and you had one of the more interesting weeks of the year. The dollar ended nearly where it started. Gold gave back its gains, oil bled lower on deal optimism, and Bitcoin closed in the red — while equities kept the good times rolling for an eighth straight week. Sterling quietly walked away as the week's best currency performer.