Luke Kawa12/20/24

US stocks close out the week on a high note

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% while the Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 advanced by 0.9% to end a bad week on a strong note.

A subdued reading for November’s core PCE inflation helped alleviate investor worries about rising prices, a concern the Federal Reserve fanned the flames of earlier this week.

Breadth finally returned: for the first time this month, more S&P 500 stocks rose than fell, snapping the streak of 14 consecutive sessions with a negative advance-decline line.

Every S&P 500 sector ETF was positive. Real estate, utilities, tech, and financials led the way. Consumer discretionary was a relative laggard, amid a 3.5% retreat in Tesla. In fact, despite a 3.5% advance from Nvidia, the Magnificent 7’s 0.2% gain was its smallest of the year for a session in which the S&P 500 was up at least 1%.

After a 30% drop from its peak, MicroStrategy rebounded with a massive 11.6% gain.

Avocado seller Mission Produce had its second-best day ever after posting record sales figures and comments from management suggesting the company was well positioned to navigate any potential trade levies that might be instituted by the incoming Trump administration.

Not all stocks managed to finish the week well, however. Starbucks was down 0.9% as strikes threaten to limit its seasonal sales bump.

And Novo Nordisk got slammed, down more than 17% after its new weight-loss drug didn’t live up to the company’s hopes, helping spark a little rally in rival Eli Lilly in the process.

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Toby Bochan, Luke Kawa

Markets end first week of November on a mixed note

While November is historically the best month for US stocks, the first week of the month in 2025 wasn’t great.

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BEAR NECESSITIES

The insanity over the Starbucks “Bearista” cups tells you everything you need to know about the US economy and markets

Upper-income consumers and megacap tech companies are both a) doing well and b) supply constrained.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain projected that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks. Through noon ET on Friday, his daily outflow estimate stands at $851 million.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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