Stocks cooled for the third time in four sessions as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's ‘hawkish’ remarks weighed on sentiment. His speech signaled no rush for cuts and dimmed hopes for a December trim. With this week’s inflation data out of the way, all eyes turn to the next big catalyst, Nvidia earnings. 👀

Today's issue covers the semiconductor sector’s concerning setup, SolarEdge setting up for a potential bounce, Trump’s cabinet appointments tipping certain sectors, and the world premiere you don’t want to miss. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 1 of 11 sectors closed green, with energy (+0.38%) leading and industrials (-1.69%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

Most bullish/bearish symbols on Stocktwits at the close: 📈 $ADGM, $MTEM, $POOL, $NICE, $OWLT 📉 $CPS, $BRAG, $NKLA, $PDYN, $ME*

*If you’re a business and want to access this data via our API, email us.

Broadening market breadth has shifted the focus from the lackluster performance in semiconductor stocks over the last six months. With Nvidia earnings rapidly approaching, let’s examine what could be the most important chart of 2025.

Below is the iShares Semiconductor ETF ($SOXX), which was a major leader in the market throughout 2023 and into mid-2024 but has recently faded in strength. Prices are below their 200-day moving average, hanging onto a trendline from their October 2022 lows. And Momentum has failed to reach overbought territory since July, showing a lack of commitment from buyers. 😩

While bulls say a much-needed reset after a big run, bears say that If prices were to break below their uptrend line, that would signal a clear trend break and confirm the first “lower high” of a potential downtrend. 😬

Nvidia, its largest holding (and the world’s largest company), will report results next Wednesday after the bell, and expectations have never been higher. As a result, the company’s numbers and subsequent stock reaction will set the tone for a semiconductor sector that clearly needs a catalyst to keep its long-term upward momentum going, primarily because other leaders haven’t taken the baton.

Take Advanced Micro Devices, for instance. The stock hit new all-time highs in March and has been trending sideways in a wide range ever since. With momentum showing mixed signals and prices sitting comfortably below a downward-sloping 200-day moving average, this is a sideways trend at best…and a downtrend at worst. Also, its 4% workforce cuts sparked further growth fears. 😨

As the third largest weighting in the $SOXX semiconductor ETF, traders and investors are watching this closely to see how it develops. Some good news from Nvidia would certainly help bring buyers back into the market. But we’ll have to wait and see.

As for ‘Nvidia Day,’ be sure to follow @Stocktwits on the platform and our socials (X, Instagram, YouTube) to stay updated on all the action. 🚨

We will cover more of Trump’s appointments tomorrow, but several choices today caused several noteworthy market moves.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) sent vaccine stocks like Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer lower, impacting the broader healthcare sector and names like Eli Lilly, too. 💉

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler gave what sounded like a farewell speech this morning at a conference. Trump has yet to announce a replacement, but many expect Gensler to be replaced shortly by a more ‘friendly’ regulatory head. That speculation buoyed crypto prices today…especially Ripple and others with outstanding cases or issues with the regulator. 🤑

Electric vehicle (EV) stocks also fell on reports that Trump’s transition team aims to kill Biden’s EV tax credit, a $7,500 subsidy that helped support demand. Tesla's shares fell 6% but held up better than those of its competitors, given its competitive advantage in space and Musk’s relationship with Trump. ⚡

Someone else that Trump has had contention with in the past was Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who gave a somewhat hawkish speech today in an effort to keep the market’s rate cut expectations in line. He noted that the Fed doesn’t need to ‘be in a hurry’ to reduce interest rates, with strong economic growth allowing policymakers to take their time in determining the path of interest rates.

Producer prices that were in line with expectations certainly helped make the case for keeping a balanced approach to rate decisions. But time will tell.

We’ll keep an eye out for more Trump-related market moves in the days ahead, but for now, these are the few obvious ones worth noting. 👍

Some know SolarEdge Technologies for its innovative battery technology. But most know it for losing 97% of its value over the last three years. 🙃

Still, as part of the renewable energy sector, it maintains a rabid retail fanbase that believes the stock could be reaching a turnaround point.

Below is a chart showing the stock’s epic rise and decline over the last decade, along with a few key indicators that suggest it could be ripe with “short squeeze” potential.

The first factor is that prices are back at November 2016 levels where they originally started an epic run to the upside. Additionally, prices are roughly 69% below their 200-day moving average, stretching far from their long-term trend at current levels. And lastly, 29% of the stock’s float is sold short, which could be rocket fuel if bulls can create a spark here. 🔥

Solar stocks, in general, have been a rough bet, but many of them are now approaching levels at which bulls feel comfortable considering them again. The fundamental issues of high inventory levels weighing on pricing power and higher interest rates crippling demand are already well known. If the sector can show a slight improvement, that could be enough tinder to spark a move from depressed levels.

Currently, Stocktwits sentiment is still in ‘extremely bearish’ territory, suggesting the contrarian take is still unpopular, even as chairman Avery More buys $2.13 million in shares on the open market. Still, with several solar stocks experiencing a pop today, this one is certain to be on traders’ radars headed into next week. 👀

We will keep this section short because there were too many moves to cover today. If you want more than the one-line explanation, click through to the hyperlinked articles from our talented Stocktwits news team.

Tapestry: Shares popped 12% after abandoning its merger with Capri due to regulatory pressure from the FTC. ❌

Hims & Hers: Shares fell 20% after Amazon launched its new Amazon One Medical pay-per-visit telehealth service, introducing further competition. 💊

General Mills: Shares rose 1% after announcing it will acquire Whitebridge Pet Brands’ businesses for $1.45 billion.

Intuitive Machines: Shares dove 14% after the space exploration company lowered its full-year revenue forecast. 🧑‍🚀

JD.com: Shares dipped 6% despite profits beating estimates, as Chinese growth concerns weighed on investor sentiment. 🛒

Nu Holdings: Shares slipped 4% after results met expectations, but customer growth and engagement efforts like cross-selling and up-selling drove optimism.

Stocks like Domino’s Pizza are flying as Berkshire Hathaway and institutions file quarterly 13-Fs, revealing their latest market moves. We’ll cover all those tomorrow after the market has time to digest all the filings. 📝

“The Weekend Rip With Ben & Emil” premieres Friday at 4:30 PM ET…live on YouTube & X. It’s the best way to close out your trading week, with your hosts recapping the biggest financial news while taking a piss out of the market. 😂

Check out the trailer below for a sneak peek, and we’ll see you tomorrow! 👇

Economic data: Retail Sales (8:30 am ET), Import/Export Prices (8:30 am ET), NY Empire State Manufacturing Index (8:30 am ET), Industrial Production (9:15 am ET), Business Inventories (10:00 am ET), NOPA Crush Report (12:00 pm ET). 📊

Pre-Market Earnings: Alibaba ($BABA), AIM ImmunoTech ($AIM), WISA Technologies ($WISA), Bio-Path Holdings ($BPTH), Trinity Biotech ($TRIB). 🛏️

After-Hour Earnings: None — have a great weekend. 🎧

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls and more straight from the Stocktwits app or website. You’ll find them on the calendar page and individual symbol pages once they’re set to begin! We’ll see you there. 👍

🪫 Nearly half of AI data centers may not have enough power by 2027

🧅 Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with Sandy Hook families’ backing

🕵 FTC to investigate Microsoft’s cloud unit on antitrust concerns in last hurrah under Biden

👮 Bitfinex hacker sentenced to five years in prison for bitcoin money laundering scheme

🧑‍⚖ Europe fines Meta $840 million over ‘abusive’ practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace

😭 Just Eat Takeaway sells Grubhub for $650 million, just 3 years after buying the app for $7.3 billion

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