Volatility Rocks Wall Street’s Historic Week

The Dow logged one of its worst days in recent memory

It was the best of times, then it was the worst of times on Wall Street this week. Record closes earlier in the week and outstanding Nvidia (NVDA) earnings quickly gave way to hawkish Fed rhetoric and inflation woes as the Memorial Day holiday loomed. It all came to a head on Thursday, when the Dow suffered its worst day in over 12 months on Thursday, retreating further away from 40,000. While equities righted the ship somewhat on Friday, only the Nasdaq is headed for a weekly win as of this writing. 

Nvidia’s Earnings, More Big News

One of the biggest stories of the week was Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings call, which included a 10-for-1 stock split and better-than-expected results that pushed the equity to record highs. Elsewhere, Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) was sued by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a group of states, in regard to antitrust violations. Boeing (BA) also provided an update, with the aerospace name’s CFO saying free cash flow would likely be in the negative for the second quarter. Big Tech behemoth Apple (AAPL) announced aggressive discounts on its Tmall site in China, a new strategy to combat higher competition in the world’s second-largest economy.

In other news, Lululemon (LULU) fell to 52-week lows after the company’s chief product officer departed and the company said it won’t replace the role; Macy’s (M) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) both experienced big post-earnings wings; and Him & Hers (HIMS) jumped to a three-year high after adding new injections to its weight-loss services.

Get Ready for Retail Earnings

Investors have a deluge of retail earnings to unpack next week, including reports from Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Dollar General (DG), and Gap (GPS). A host of personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index readings are also scheduled, which could provide insight into the health of the U.S. economy. 

In the meantime, Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White breaks down the best way to play Memorial Day week, while Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone takes a look at exits and stop-loss points. 

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