The Weekend Rip
Happy Weekend!

U.S. markets moved from holiday pause to full macro-policy chaos, with hawkish Fed signals, sticky inflation, weaker growth, and a widening trade deficit colliding with escalating Iran risk and oil volatility. The biggest shock came Friday when SCOTUS struck down IEEPA tariffs, only for the White House to signal rapid replacement routes, leaving the tariff regime uncertain but still central to pricing risk. Underneath the index churn, performance was brutally selective: AI-adjacent winners and deal-driven names ripped while legacy software/cyber and margin-stressed stories got punished.

Let’s recap and prep you for the week ahead. 📝

◀️ On Monday, the market was closed for Presidents day.

Tuesday ⚖️: Markets treaded water as investors weighed a massive new Nvidia-Meta partnership for Blackwell and Rubin chips against a deepening tech “de-risking” trend highlighted by Berkshire Hathaway’s exit from Amazon and Apple. Palo Alto Networks plummeted nearly 8% on disappointing earnings guidance, while ZIM Integrated Shipping skyrocketed following a $4.2 billion buyout offer from Hapag-Lloyd. The session reflected a cautious “wait-and-see” mood as traders navigated mixed signals from legacy whales and AI-driven growth projections.

Wednesday ⚔️: Stocks rose for a third straight session even after Fed minutes signaled fewer cuts and possible hike chatter, with investors leaning into a “higher-for-longer unless inflation cools” message. Energy led as Iran briefly shut the Strait of Hormuz during drills and Russia-Ukraine talks fizzled, while U.S. military repositioning in the region raised geopolitical risk premium. Deal and earnings tape stayed hot as eBay’s $1.2B Depop buy and strong guidance fueled recommerce optimism, Figma and DoorDash popped on AI-led growth, and Carvana cratered on margin pressure despite huge revenue growth.

Thursday 🌩️: U.S. stocks slipped as a wider-than-expected trade deficit and evidence that tariffs mostly hit U.S. buyers revived macro pressure, while rate-sensitive housing data stayed weak. Geopolitical risk pushed oil higher after Washington gave Iran a 10-day nuclear deadline and expanded military positioning in the Gulf, adding a fresh risk premium to energy markets. Under the surface, AI winners/losers diverged hard: AppLovin jumped on OpenAI tie-up chatter, Opendoor rallied despite weak fundamentals, and GRAIL plunged even after a narrower loss.

Friday 🎢: Stocks closed higher despite a policy shock: the Supreme Court struck down IEEPA-based tariffs, forcing a potential unwind of massive collections while the White House immediately signaled replacement tariffs through narrower legal channels. Macro stayed messy as growth slowed sharply (Q4 GDP downshift) and PCE inflation re-accelerated, keeping the rates narrative conflicted even as headline risk exploded. Sector action was brutal and selective, with cybersecurity names hit on Anthropic disruption fears while tariff-sensitive consumer names and event-driven stories (Opendoor, AI infrastructure plays) drove pockets of upside.

🤩 This week’s Stocktwits Top 25 showed how momentum movers fared vs. the indexes.

Here are the closing prices: 

THE BRIEF

Need a concise summary of what’s going on this week? Look no further. Here’s a rundown of this week’s earnings and economic data.

Earnings This Week

Above is a quick summary. Check out the full Stocktwits earnings calendar for the other names reporting this week.

Economic Calendar

In addition to the above, check out this week’s complete list of economic releases.

ST MEDIA
EXCLUSIVE: Opendoor CEO Kaz Announces Mortgage Beta, Talks Earnings With Michele Steele

Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian joins Stocktv to talk Opendoor’s monster Q4, and answer retail questions. He announced a brand-new Opendoor mortgage beta running internally at the firm, with a launch date TBD. 👀 

Links That Don’t Suck 🌐

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⚠️ Michael Burry Questions AI Buildout: ‘When Does This Spending Actually End?’

❄️ Blizzard warning for NYC: Live updates as powerful storm approaches

🧑‍💻 ‘Money’s moving out of tech’: Wall Street weighs stock market winners amid the AI scare trade

📆 Nvidia earnings, SCOTUS tariff fallout, geopolitical tensions rise: What to watch this week

🧓 In tariff case, Supreme Court justices bicker over treating Trump and Biden differently

Law enforcement shot and killed armed man trying to enter Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.

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