Markets
Luke Kawa
3/11/25

US stocks slump as traders ditch the stocks previously immune from the sell-off

Stocks whipsawed as President Trump floated fresh tariffs on Canada, with the S&P 500 ending down 0.8% and the Russell 2000 off 0.3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2%.

Under the hood, it sure doesn’t seem like tariff talk played too large of a role today — General Motors, perhaps the company most impacted by trade barriers with Canada, actually rose.

Telling the tale of the tape today is relatively easy: if a stock had been getting creamed since February 19, the most recent closing high, through March 10, then it did well today. Conversely, if a stock had been holding up well through the carnage, it ceded ground today.

Said another way, every S&P 500 constituent that’s down 30% since the S&P 500’s record close, like Palantir, rose on Tuesday. And only two stocks of the couple dozen that are up 10% since February 19 rose on Tuesday.

Interestingly, this was the first time during the S&P 500’s retreat from its all-time high where the benchmark index fell and the equal-weight S&P 500 suffered a larger loss than the iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (which actually ended higher on the day!). Investors ditched the safer stocks that had been holding up well while beaten-up names caught a bid.

Every S&P 500 sector ETF finished lower, with industrials, communications services, and consumer staples suffering the largest losses.

Kohl’s cratered, losing nearly a quarter of its value as its solid fourth-quarter results were overshadowed by abysmal guidance and a reduction in its quarterly dividend.

Dick’s Sporting Goods told a similar, but less severe, story and sold off after also exceeding its fourth-quarter earnings expectations while offering a dim outlook for 2025.

Shares of software company Oracle fell after posting lower-than-expected earnings and sales after the close on Monday.

Verizon also tumbled after its CRO warned of a “challenging” first quarter for the telecom company.

Southwest’s was a particularly bright spot on the tape today, rising 8% after ditching its “bags fly free” policy, a move which passengers will invariably despise.

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Rocket lab soars to new record close amid rally for retail faves

Rocket Lab ripped by roughly 10% Friday to close at a new all-time high, riding an upturn of retail enthusiasm for a coterie of tech-themed favorites, even as the broader market was more or less flat on the day.

Goldman Sachs’ basket of “retail favorites” — its heaviest weights are Reddit, AppLovin, and Tempus AI — was the second-biggest gainer among the company’s flagship US equity baskets on Friday, rising about 1.6%. The S&P was almost dead flat.

It’s not Rocket Lab’s first retail rodeo, as the money-losing company has more than doubled this year and is up nearly 700% over the last 12 months.

Oracle Wall Street Revisions

Analysts revise up anything and everything they thought about Oracle

After the company’s bombshell earnings this week, Wall Street thinks Oracle’s trajectory has changed.

markets

Six Flags pops after reiterating its guidance as theme park attendance rebounds

Six Flags shares rose more than 7% today after the company reported a rebound in attendance and early season pass sales heading into the fall. The nine-week period ended August 31 saw 17.8 million guests, up about 2% from the same stretch last year, with stronger momentum in the final four weeks. 

More importantly, Six Flags reaffirmed its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $860 million to $910 million, showing confidence that its cost and operations strategy can stay strong for the duration of the year. Riding that wave, Six Flags also said early 2026 season pass unit sales are pacing ahead of last year, and average season pass prices are up about 3%.

The good vibes come despite a drop in in-park per-capita spending, especially from admissions, where promotions and changes to attendance mix (which parks or days guests visit) have weighed. Earlier this week, the amusement giant signed a new agreement that extended its position as the exclusive amusement park partner for Peanuts™ in North America through 2030.

Despite the rally, Six Flags shares are down about 52% year to date.

markets

Rivian turns red on the year, squeezed by a recall and the looming end of the EV tax credit

Shares of EV maker Rivian are down more than 5% on Friday following the company’s recall of 24,214 vehicles due to a software issue. The stock move erases Rivian’s year-to-date gain and turns the company negative on the year.

Rivian’s 2025 model year R1S and R1T are affected by the defect, which was identified after a vehicle’s hands-free highway assist software failed to identify another vehicle on the road, causing a low-speed collision. Rivian said it’s released an over-the-air update to fix the issue.

The recall marks Rivian’s fifth this year, affecting nearly 70,000 of its vehicles.

Rivian’s shares are down more than 20% from their 2025 high, which came prior to the passage of President Trump’sbig, beautiful bill.” Through the legislation, the $7,500 EV tax credit is set to expire at the end of the month.

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