The Final Tally: Wall Street Throws Middle Finger to Second Worst Sentiment Reading In History…

I can finally drink in a good mood tonight.

The S&P 500 just wrapped its fifth straight day of gains and clocked a 5.3% weekly jump, all while most economic indicators are still flashing something between “mild concern” and “incoming train.” The Nasdaq closed up 7.2% for the week, while the Dow finally dragged itself into positive territory for 2025. Bigly. 

(Source: Giphy) 

The best part? Friday’s close came in strong even with consumer sentiment giving us all a middle finger with its second-worst reading since… *checks notes*... ever. Not this decade… ever. Inflation expectations over the next year jumped to 7.3% from 6.5%, which is a number that would usually send the market into a fetal position. Instead, it shrugged and kept YOLO buying. 

Of course, tech led the charge with Nvidia gaining 16% this week as if investors threatened to send Jensen Huang back to Denny’s. Meta added 3.69%. Apple climbed 6% without launching a single new product. And Microsoft moved up 3% just because it exists at the intersection of AI narrative and shareholder inertia. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Elsewhere, Applied Materials missed revenue estimates and shed 6% like it was allergic to guidance. Take-Two Interactive dropped nearly 2% after issuing full-year bookings guidance that missed by more than a rounding error… a $1.8 billion hole relative to consensus that no amount of TLC can patch. Novo Nordisk lost 4% after CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen decided now was the perfect time to step down without a successor lined up.

Meanwhile, Vistra bought up seven natural gas plants for $1.9 billion, which investors apparently liked enough to give them a 3% bump. The deal includes assets in PJM, New York, New England, and California… or, as analysts call it, “a trust fall.” 

(Source: Giphy) 

So yeah, indeed are up, tech is up, and somehow, sentiment is way down. What’s even more interesting is that there was no clear catalyst or no sudden shift that had everyone stepping over themselves to chase the line going up. The indexes are moving like someone’s foot is stuck on the gas, and no one wants to be the first one to ask where the brakes went. 

But hey, am I complaining? No. Why? Well, refer back to the first sentence of this Final Tally briefing. Meaning, enjoy the wonderful end of the week, and stay safe out there, friends. Until next time… 

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.

P.S. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you liked getting rekt. Let’s face it, retail investors get the short end of the stick all day everyday. It’s the smart money’s world, and we are just living in it–only useful when it comes to liquidity purposes in the market. Meaning, if you’re as pissed off as I was when I found out Milli Vanilli was lip syncing the whole time, then it’s time to go from investing blind, to investing smart. Luckily for you, the key is right here as a Stocks.News premium member. Click here to see exactly how our premium members are printing while others quake in the face of today’s market chaos. 

Stocks.News holds positions in Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Take-Two Interactive as mentioned in the article.