Final Tally: “Legislation Hopium” Pumps Bitcoins Bags… Our #1 Watch Explodes +119%

Hey there player,

Before we get started, check out ticker symbol: NCI. Our scanner flagged it as the #1 stock to watch after it got halted on Wednesday… and then it almost immediately doubled from $1.54 to $2.94 (+90%).

Not bad, right?

But it wasn’t done. This morning it exploded to a high of $3.38… a 119% move from when our scanner first alerted it.

If you want access to trades like these every day, BEFORE the masses know about them, make sure you’re opening the official Stocks.News app every morning… and see for yourself.

Today was another masterclass in the fact that close only matters in horseshoes and hand-grenades…

Just when everyone thought we might squeeze out a feel-good Friday after this morning’s hot start… Mr. Market finished prematurely and immediately lost interest in any further action.

U.S. stocks lost steam and slid into the weekend with their tails between their legs. The S&P 500 lapsed 0.2%... while the Dow and Nasdaq followed it down 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

Ironically, it did this even though inflation actually cooled more than expected.

For instance, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in January and 2.4% year over year. That’s softer than forecast. In theory? That’s the kind of data that usually gets traders buying overpriced tech names without a second thought.

(Source: CNBC)

And to be fair, rate-cut hopium did creep back in. June cut bets got revived. Most traders still see two cuts by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, a handful of hairbrains on Twitter are already pricing in incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh cutting six times and handing out Capri Suns at the press conference.

But instead of ripping higher, stocks did the financial equivalent of a troubled teen staring at the ceiling fan.

Why? Well, to put simply: this week’s mojo was already cooked.

Thursday’s heavy selling spilled into today’s story after fears about AI disruption started infecting “old economy” sectors. Real estate. Logistics. Transportation. You get the point… the stuff people thought was safe while AI stocks were falling down the stairs. Turns out nothing is safe with the state of this market.

In the end, all seven members of the Magnificent Seven closed lower and tech got pummeled. Again.

That said, earnings to close out this Fiesta Friday were actually solid. Applied Materials popped as much as 10% on a strong AI-driven outlook. Rivian soared over 25% after a surprise beat and said its R2 model is still on track before summer. And Moderna jumped 10% on resilient Covid shot sales.

Meanwhile, Pinterest got sent to the shadow realm… down 20% after a revenue miss and fresh fears that AI might be better at recommending your wedding aesthetic than, well… Pinterest.

And if you’re looking for the ultimate sign this market might be a little… fragile?

Enter: Donnie Tariffhands (via PR team).

He hinted at potentially scaling back some steel and aluminum tariffs — which could lower duties on everything from ovens to drink cans. Another soft walk-back in the name of “cooling affordability concerns.”

The decision’s not final… But the door is open.

And then there’s Bitcoin.

Michael Saylor’s entire personality bounced 5% thanks to two words: legislation hopium. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent basically went on record saying Congress needs to pass a bill creating federal rules for digital assets by Spring.

Translation: The adults might actually draw the lines on the field instead of letting the entire crypto ecosystem operate like a backyard dodgeball game.

If you read all of this, congrats for having a 10 second attention span (better than me). As always, here’s our heatmap for today.

Market Gossip

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At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Moderna and Bitcoin as mentioned in the article.