The Market’s Four-Day Bleed Continues… Is It Finally Time to Panic?

Somebody get this market some milk… 

The S&P 500 bled for a fourth straight session (-0.24%), the Nasdaq dropped- 0.67%, and the Dow added a meaningless 16 points. Of course, four days down doesn’t make a crash, but it’s the kind of steady leak that reminds you tech stonks don’t go up in a straight line forever. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Case in point: The selling was concentrated where it hurts most… semiconductors and mega-cap tech. Nvidia (-0.14%) flattened out but still carried the mood, AMD (-0.81%) and Broadcom (-1.27%) slipped, Intel collapsed -7% after once again proving once again it’s still “Intel”. Apple (-1.97%), Amazon (-1.84%), Alphabet (-1.12%), and Meta (-0.5%) all declined… once again, giving us the revelation that when the fat cats retreat, the rest of us plebs follow. 

As for Palantir and The Great Value version of Doc Brown (read: Alex Karp), the company logged its sixth straight losing day (-1.1%), giving back a fifth of its value in a week. It’s still doubled this year, but momentum in AI hype is finally tripping over its own shoelaces. Elsewhere, Target dropped -6% after reporting another sales decline and tossing its CEO out by February. A familiar cycle: weak numbers, new management, same existential rot. Lowe’s got a small bump (+0.30%) for beating expectations, and TJX rose +2.6% after reminding Wall Street that America’s middle class will still elbow each other in a discount aisle long after they stop shopping at Target. 

(Source: Giphy)

Additionally, Novavax dumped -8.1% after a BofA downgrade (Spoiler: The market’s politely suggesting the COVID vaccine cash grab era is 100% over). Medtronic climbed +4% on raised guidance and Avis Budget lost -5% after BofA downgraded it, which feels inevitable in a world where Uber exists.

Meanwhile, the Fed’s July minutes showed what everyone already knows… J-Poww and the boys are boxed in. Inflation’s not dead, the labor market is showing cracks, and for the first time since 1993, two voting members dissented. Despite this, futures are pricing in an 80% chance of a September cut. Translation: The market doesn’t care what the Fed says…  it’s high on the idea that Powell is trapped. Investors want a cut, need a cut, and they’ll believe it’s coming until they’re proven wrong. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In the end, the moral of the story of today’s price action is this: Tech is expensive, retail is fragile, and the Fed is cornered. That’s enough to grind the market lower without needing a crisis headline. For now, everyone’s waiting for Powell’s Friday remarks, because as we all know… Powell is the ONLY one who knocks. Meaning, keep your heads on the swivel and place your bets accordingly, 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.

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Intel, Amazon, and Uber as mentioned in the article.