Edition #182
Investing Unlocks: How to Read the Hot Topics From The Last 7 Days
News, earnings, analyst moves and charts worth your time.
AI Selloff Sinks Stocks After Midterms 📉
Last week, a Democratic sweep of Congress sparked fears of tighter AI rules, and a tech selloff left the S&P 500 down 2.7%, its worst week since June, and the Nasdaq down 3.4%. Energy slid as oil tumbled on hopes the war with Iran could end, while consumer staples, health care and financials hit record highs. Friday’s jobs report showed 165,000 new positions, nearly triple forecasts, lifting yields and December rate hike bets, though tech still bounced.
This week, inflation takes center stage, with consumer prices due Tuesday and producer prices Friday, both expected to cool after a hot September. Traders see about 78% odds of a December Fed hike, so a hot reading could hit tech again, while a softer one would give stocks room to breathe. Earnings from CoreWeave, Applied Materials and Cisco will test whether AI demand still holds up.
Hot Topics
AI selloff wipes over $2.5 trillion off the Nasdaq
AI stocks led a roughly $2.5 trillion Nasdaq wipeout as Democratic midterm gains fueled fears of tighter data center rules. Texas’s incoming governor pledged to halt new approvals, raising concerns about delays to the AI infrastructure boom.US jobs growth blows past forecasts even as markets wobble
It matters because strong hiring usually cheers investors, but a surprise this big adds uncertainty about whether the Federal Reserve keeps cutting rates. October payrolls rose by 165,000 versus a forecast of 59,000, and unemployment ticked down to 4.1%.
CVS Health plans to split into two companies by 2028
Breaking up a major healthcare company can unlock value for shareholders, but it also shows how hard it has become to run pharmacy, insurance and benefits businesses under one roof. CVS is reportedly planning to separate its retail pharmacy business from its health insurance and pharmacy benefit units.
Gold finds a floor near $4,000 after its roughest patch of the year
Gold slid to its 2026 low of $3,869.85 an ounce on October 30, then recovered to $4,065.63 by November 6 as the AI-driven stock selloff took hold. It matters because it shows gold’s safe-haven pull came back once the selloff deepened, even though it lagged behind other havens earlier in the turmoil. Worth watching is whether gold holds above $4,000 as the dust settles.
Holiday Shoppers Set to Spend a Record Sum
The National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend $1.013 trillion over the November and December holiday season, up 4.2% from last year’s $972 billion. That is a bigger jump than the 3.1% rise seen the prior year, which matters for investors in retail, logistics and payments stocks that depend heavily on the holiday rush. Watch how retailers staff up, with NRF expecting 325,000 to 375,000 seasonal hires this year, broadly in line with last year’s total.
Earnings Performance
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB)
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB) just posted its fastest growth in more than three years. Third-quarter revenue rose 19% to $4.87 billion, the total value of bookings climbed 21% to $27.7 billion, and nights booked jumped 16% after hovering near 10% for a year. Management raised its full-year outlook and added a $12 billion buyback, its largest ever, sending shares up more than 10%. New booking options are pulling in guests, while AI support is cutting costs.
The harder question is whether it lasts. Reserve now, pay later lets guests book with nothing down, which can mean more cancellations, and a one-off tax charge last year flatters profit growth. The next test is the holiday quarter, where Airbnb expects 16% to 18% growth, though a weaker dollar is doing some of the lifting.
Other Earnings Updates
Reporting this week: Occidental Petroleum, Barrick Mining, CoreWeave, Cisco Systems, and Applied Materials.
Upgrades and Downgrades 📈
The rating changes that caught our eye this week, and why the analysts moved.
Analyst ratings are opinions, not recommendations. Always do your own research.
Investors Saw the Storm Coming
Schwab’s latest client survey caught retail investors souring on stocks before the market did. Taken in mid-September and published November 2, it found 46% of Schwab retail clients bearish on US stocks, up from 35% in the summer, while bulls fell from 47% to 36%. Active traders swung even harder, with bulls dropping from 57% to 40%. Gen Z clients named an AI bubble as their top worry for a second straight quarter. Weeks later, on November 5, AI and chip stocks led a rout that cut the S&P 500 4.4% in a day and pushed the Nasdaq into correction.
So were these investors right, or just nervous? Sentiment surveys swing fast, and this one has flipped from deeply bearish in the spring to bullish in summer and back again. The more telling number may be that 84% of active traders said they would buy the dip if markets fell sharply. That promise was made before the selloff, not during it. Whether it holds will say a lot about how deep this pullback runs. Watch whether retail money keeps flowing into stocks, and whether the AI worry spreads beyond chipmakers.
Read the full report at Charles Schwab