The stock market’s time in the sun encountered inclement weather today as geopolitics and earnings weighed on a key market sector. Meanwhile, defensive stocks like healthcare’s UnitedHealth and J&J have seen increased activity as investors seek to diversify. Let’s see what else you missed. 👀

Today's issue covers what caused the semi selloff, healthcare’s new highs, and whether Beyond Meat is beyond rescuing.📰

Here's today's heat map:

6 of 11 sectors closed green. Consumer staples (+1.29%) led, & technology (-3.89%) lagged. 💚

U.S. housing starts rose 3% in June, with building permits rising 3.40%. Multi-family housing starts helped offset single-family housing starts declining for a fourth month. U.S. industrial output also posted its largest back-to-back gain since 2021, with capacity utilization rates at their highest in 10 months. 🏘️

Fed Governor Waller was the latest member to say that the central bank is “getting closer” to an interest rate cut (likely in September) as inflation and the economy continue to soften. ✂️

Tex-Mex chain Chuy’s soared 50% on news that Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants will purchase the company for $37.50 per share in cash ($605 million total). 🌮

V.F. Corporation rose 14% on news that eyewear group EssilorLuxottica will acquire its Supreme brand for $1.50 billion in cash by year-end. 😎

DevOps software company GitLab jumped 9% on a Reuters report that it was exploring a sale after receiving acquisition interest from Datadog and others. 🐕

Charles Schwab suffered its second straight down day after TD Cowen downgraded shares to hold, citing “ongoing mixed execution” and potential balance sheet shrinkage. 📉

Freight company J.B. Hunt Transportation Services fell 7% after posting second-quarter earnings and revenue that missed expectations. 🚚

Qualcomm suffered among the chip rutt due to HSBC downgrading the firm to hold, citing a “lackluster” artificial intelligence PC narrative. 👎

Steel Dynamics and Alcoa both rose marginally after the bell, following better-than-anticipated earnings and revenues. Metals and mining stocks remain a key focus area amid debates about the economy and commodity price direction. ⚒️

Other active symbols:$DJT (-1.22%), $SAVA (-29.27%), $SHIM (+52.17%), $MAXN (-3.29%), $SDST (+144.70%), and $XRP.X (+8.73%). 🔥

Here are the closing prices: 

This morning, a Bloomberg report indicated that the Biden admin is considering imposing tougher restrictions on the chip sector if firms like ASML Holding NV and Tokyo Electronic continue to provide access to critical technology to China. 😠

Former president Donald Trump’s comments on Taiwan also added pressure, with him suggesting that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defense.

In addition, ASML Holdings reported second-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates. However, management reiterated that 2024 is a transition year and offered a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2025 and beyond. ⚠️

The cocktail of news, combined with chip stocks already experiencing significant upside this year, was enough to spark profit-taking in the sector.

Meanwhile, the chart below from Stocktwits user @2KayKim sums up the technical situation pretty well. Momentum has failed to confirm the new price highs, a “divergence” that’s led to pullbacks in the past.😬

The trillion-dollar question remains whether bulls will step in to “buy the dip” as they consistently have or if this time is different and a steeper decline is ahead. Time will tell, but Stocktwits sentiment has turned decidedly bearish for many sector ETFs and stocks, signaling caution among retail.

$GOOG has agreed to a $350 million settlement with shareholders to resolve claims related to the security issues of Google+.  

Back in 2018, Alphabet was accused of hiding a major security flaw in its Google+ social network. This exposed users' private data to third parties between 2015 and March 2018. Following this news, $GOOG fell significantly, and Alphabet faced a lawsuit from shareholders.

Now, Alphabet has decided to pay the affected shareholders to avoid further litigation. 

Healthcare stocks, as a broader group, have been middle-of-the-pack performers for most of the last few years. On the upside, we’ve had massive outperformers like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, and on the other hand, we’ve had pandemic-era darlings like Pfizer and CVS struggle to find footing.

But, with technology’s leaders finally taking a breather, more and more of these stocks are catching a bid as investors look to take shelter in more “defensive” market segments. 🛡️

More evidence emerged today as the popular sector ETF, $XLV, broke out to fresh all-time highs. The chart below from Stocktwits user @TheEquilibrium shows the view many technical analysts say indicates further upside ahead. 👀

UnitedHealth rose 5% to new all-time highs after its earnings and revenue beat expectations, even amid higher medical costs and a major cyberattack. As the largest weighting in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, its strength helped push the index green as others suffered.

Even Johnson & Johnson, which has underperformed its peers in the post-pandemic environment, caught a bid despite slashing its 2024 profit forecast.

Stocktwits sentiment readings for the broader ETF, these two companies, and many of their “boring” peers are sitting in bullish territory as retail investors and traders continue to look for “catch-up” opportunities in the space. 🐂

Shares of the plant-based meat substitute company Beyond Meat are falling after hours, back toward their all-time lows. 📉

This time, prices are falling because the company is looking to scare its lenders into giving it better terms for its outstanding $1.10 billion in convertible notes. This is unlikely a surprise for those following the company, given CFO Lubi Kutua said in February that it planned to bolster its liquidity and potentially restructure its balance sheet during the year.

With revenues declining and the company reporting net loss after net loss, its cash balance is dwindling. And with its convertible notes trading at around $0.20 on the dollar earlier this month, the falling stock and bond prices reflect holders’ lack of confidence in the company’s ability to pay. 😬

This stock's high short interest and retail following always leave the potential for it to become a “meme stock” again, but the problem remains that its core business is broken, and management doesn’t know how to fix it.

Could there be a short-term price spike due to some positive catalyst sending the shorts running? Absolutely, that’s never off the table.

But what’s clear is that the company’s restructuring discussions with lenders show that management knows it’s running out of time and needs to beg, borrow, and steal itself more time to figure out a way to sell more product. 🤷

For now, retail traders and investors are mixed on the after-hours news. Stocktwits sentiment has fallen back into neutral territory from a previously bullish zone as the debate continues.😐

✈️ United is the latest airline to disappoint with its forecast. The company’s adjusted earnings per share topped expectations, but revenue missed the mark as domestic capacity weighs on airfares and travelers spend less on non-ticket items. Its international travel segment remains strong, but not enough to offset the domestic weakness. Spirit Airlines also fell to an all-time low after warning that passengers spending less on extras like baggage would hurt its non-ticket revenue more than expected. CNBC has more.

🤑India’s hot market attracts its latest IPO hopeful. Adtech startup InMobi is eying a $10 billion valuation for an Indian initial public offering sometime next year, as sources say it looks to capitalize on the red-hot market. It would be one of the biggest listings by a local software startup, with others seeking valuations below $5 billion and Paytm crashing from its pandemic-era IPO high of $20 billion down to $3.50 billion since. What may bode well for InMobi, though, is that it plans to list at the group level, which includes its advertising arm and investments and ownership in unicorn startup Glance. More from TechCrunch.

📈Prologis says the logistics real estate market has troughed. The real estate investment trust said fewer development starts, a shrinking construction pipeline, and “subdued but improving” demand will keep industry vacancies from moving materially higher from current levels. Its core funds from operations beat expectations by $0.01 but were still down $0.49 YoY. Investors are looking to these companies for confirmation signals about what’s ahead for the economy since cyclical sectors like industrials, financials, and others are performing so well lately. Yahoo Finance has more.

💵Prime your portfolio with a daily newsletter of top trade ideas—MarketDiem is just $20/year*

🔋Mercedes-Benz’s 400kW EV chargers are coming to Starbucks

🤖The ‘godmother of AI’ has a new startup already worth $1 billion

❌Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez tells allies he will resign after bribery conviction

👨‍💼Trump says he mulls Jamie Dimon for US Treasury, won't try ousting Fed's Powell

🃏The last cards have been dealt as the iconic Mirage closes its doors on the Las Vegas Strip

🕵️ Trends With No Friends: CorVel Carried to new all-time highs

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

Follow our social channels for great, real-time content on Stocktwits and Twitter. And check out our YouTube channel for in-depth video content! 📲

Help us deliver the best content possible by completing this brief survey.📝

Email me (Tom Bruni) your feedback; I’d love to hear from you. 📧

Want to sponsor this newsletter and reach hundreds of thousands of passionate investors and traders? Reach us here. 👍

Disclaimer: Stocktwits, Inc. (“Stocktwits”) operates the stocktwits.com website and Stocktwits mobile device applications (the “Apps”). Stocktwits is not a securities broker-dealer, investment adviser, or any other type of financial professional. No content on the Stocktwits platform should be considered an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or any other type of investment or financial product. Read the full terms & conditions here. 🔍