1. Moving the market

Wall Street got off to a rocky start today, with major indexes slipping again. Tech stocks took a hit for the second straight day, dragging the market lower as traders kept a close eye on mixed retail earnings and anticipated the latest word from the Federal Reserve.

Investors kept cashing out of big-name tech and chip stocks, worried about whether those high price tags—and the AI frenzy backing them—have maybe gone a bit too far.

Nvidia slumped around 3%, while AMD and Broadcom lost more than 3.5%. Over in software and semis, Palantir slid 5.5% and Intel dropped over 6%. Even the mega-cap crew—Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta—couldn’t find any traction.

On the retail front, Target’s stock tanked over 8% (the S&P 500’s biggest loser of the day) after reporting yet another sales drop and announcing a new CEO starting Feb. 1. Lowe’s, on the other hand, got a little love when its earnings beat estimates.

While traders scooped up some classic retail favorites, no one wanted to touch the so-called “Mag7” tech heavyweights, sending that group sharply lower. Despite the tech slump, the overall market stayed relatively steady.

Bond yields edged down, the dollar pulled back, and gold caught a bid—rising 1% as dip buyers swooped in. Bitcoin bounced back above $114,000 after taking a beating lately, suggesting it might have hit bottom.

But you could almost forget all that—because at the end of the day, everyone’s just waiting to see what Fed Chair Powell will say after Friday’s big symposium in Wyoming.

1. Moving the market

The market was a mixed bag at the open, with the Dow standing out while everyone else treaded water as traders digested new earnings from major retailers and looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s much-anticipated speech later this week.

Home Depot shares popped 2%—even though its second-quarter results missed expectations, investors were happy the company left its full-year outlook unchanged.

The rest of the retail crew—Lowe’s, Walmart, and Target—are in the spotlight as earnings continue to roll in, with investors eager for any clues about the health of the U.S. consumer, especially with inflation and trade policy still in flux.

The real buzz, though, is all about the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole gathering. There’s plenty of wishful thinking that Powell’s Friday speech could be a game changer, with many hoping he’ll hint at a rate cut for September.

Despite the early promise, tech stocks weighed heavily on the indexes, and everything finished in the red.

The Dow has actually been beating the Nasdaq for four of the last five days—a trend mirrored by the Mag7 stocks, which have pulled back sharply this week. The most shorted stocks got slammed.

The dollar bounced back after some ups and downs, bond yields dipped, gold slipped for a fourth straight session, and bitcoin fell toward three-week lows after last week’s fireworks.

With everyone now hanging on Powell’s upcoming words, will he deliver the bullish news traders are hoping for, or will the bears get the upper hand?

1. Moving the market

It was a pretty uneventful Monday on Wall Street as the major indexes mostly hovered near the flat line. After a strong run last week, traders seemed content to take a breather while they wait for some big retail earnings, updates on Ukraine, and—most of all—a speech from Fed Chair Powell later this week.

All eyes are on results from retail heavyweights like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and Target. These reports are expected to provide fresh insight into the state of the U.S. consumer.

There’s also plenty of Fed-watching going on, as central bankers head to Jackson Hole for their big annual meetup. Traders are looking for any clues about what’s next for interest rates, and the odds of a rate cut at the September meeting are now hovering around 85%.

The indexes are coming off two solid weeks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up in four of the last five weeks. Small caps stole the show last week as traders kept betting on a friendlier Fed.

On the housing front, homebuyer confidence remains stuck at rock-bottom, and homebuilder sentiment just dropped to lows not seen since the early days of the pandemic. Despite that, homebuilders still seem to be in a better spot than the buyers themselves, at least for now.

Today’s short squeeze mostly gave a lift to small caps. Bond yields ticked up a bit, the dollar bounced off Friday’s dip, and gold slipped just a hair. Bitcoin, which smashed through $124,000 last week, cooled off but built a solid base around the $116,000 mark.

With the final weeks of summer here and traders glued to Powell’s Jackson Hole speech this Friday, will markets stay in cruise control, or are we in for a surprise as the headlines roll in?