Stocks had another solid week, led by banks and technology stocks, as a fresh earnings season began. 🎉

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

What Happened?

🥳 On Monday, stocks slumped despite a chipmaker jump. Super Micro Computer rebounded sharply, though other big tech giants came under pressure. It was a Monday full of M&A activity, and Lithium finally got a look after a major rebound.

😨 On Tuesday, semiconductors and software led the major indexes higher. The market continued its undertone of uncertainty, as the Volatility Index ($VIX) stayed above 20 while stocks traded near all-time highs. Hindenburg Research targeted Roblox, and Robinhood and MicroStrategy led the crypto surge.

🔻 On Wednesday, stock market bulls broke through ahead of U.S. inflation data. Cruise stocks sailed higher on analyst upgrades, the FOMC Minutes showed a mixed committee, and Helen of Troy brought investors some joy after a rough decline.

🫨 On Thursday, inflation fears sparked a stock market slump. Rising prices and dropping employment jeopardized the “soft landing” narrative. Meanwhile, Aehr Test Systems soared on earnings, solar slumped, and software jumped.

👨‍💼 On Friday, banks took the market baton as they kicked off earnings season. Solid quarterly results sent the financial sector to new highs, Tesla’s RoboTaxi event revealed some clear beneficiaries, and Flutter Entertainment was hit by U.K. regulator rumors.

🤩 This week's Stocktwits Top 25 showed outperformance vs. the indexes.

Here are the closing prices: 

🤔 Chinese finance minister hints at a deficit increase during a closely watched briefing. He told reporters that the central government has ‘rather large’ room for a deficit increase but noted that policy discussions are still underway. Analyst projections for how much stimulus is needed to prop up China’s economy is 2 trillion to 10 trillion yuan. CNBC has more.

🌊 Americans face a flood insurance crisis. Middle-class wealth creation has historically been built around homeownership, though natural disasters like flooding can quickly turn those assets into liabilities. Recent events have reinforced the idea that there’s no easy or obvious way to protect America’s homeowners from flood damage, with private insurers looking ill-equipped to deal with it. More from Axios.

🚀 SpaceX’s Starship test completes remarkable booster catch. The company’s spacecraft splashed down in the Indian Ocean slightly over an hour after its launch from South Texas. However, the Super Heavy booster returned to its launchpad successfully just seven minutes after liftoff. This was a critical step in making the Super Heavy booster a fully reusable launch system just like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. The Verge has more.

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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.

It’s a busy week of economic data, with investors focused on foreign central bank decisions and Fed member speeches. In addition to the above, check out this week's complete list of economic releases.

A new earnings season is officially underway, with 102 stocks reporting this week. Some tickers you may recognize are $BAC, $GS, $SCHW, and $NFLX.

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

My presentation, “Social Sentiment's Growing Role in Navigating Markets,” will explain how investors and traders use Stocktwits’ unique social data to stay ahead of the market’s top trends. Register here, and I’ll see you then! 👍

Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits nor is this investment advice. See disclosure.

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🏪 7-Eleven to close over 400 stores in North America

😡 Scoop: Paramount bidder claims its offer was wrongly spurned

💾 Fidelity says data breach exposed personal data of 77,000 customers

💰 SpaceX alums are working to raise a hefty $550M first deep tech fund

✂️ Berkshire slashes Bank of America stake to under 10%, no longer required to disclose frequently

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

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Author Disclosure: The author of this newsletter holds positions in $PARA. 📋