August 24th Market Overview

Happy Monday

Indices went three different ways, Dow slightly above green and the Nasdaq lower with S&P about down the middle (slightly in the red).

Memory chip names are selling ahead of Nvidia's report on Wednesday and Oil fell as Washington rolled out its harshest Iran sanctions yet… mostly was a priced in event. The headline that could move things is more sanctions against China as they are one of Iran’s largest trade partners.

Let’s dig in...

Today's Big Picture

1. Chip leaders hit a wall

Memory stocks led the selling, and 19 of the 20 best S&P 500 performers this year finished lower. Nvidia closed down for a seventh straight day, its longest slide since September 2022. The damage stayed in one corner of the market. Six of the 11 sectors finished green with consumer staples on top, which is not what a broad selloff looks like.

2. Iran sanctions now reach past Iran

Treasury sanctioned more than 60 people, companies and vessels tied to Iran, and put every other country on a clock. Asked directly about Chinese banks, Scott Bessent said no one is exempt. China buys nearly all the oil Iran exports, and Xi is due at the White House next month. Oil still closed lower, which tells you traders think enforcement is the hard part.

3. The Canada fight moved into cars

Trump said Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel get fifty percent tariffs on January 1, 2027, double the current rate on autos. Canada's dollar-for-dollar retaliation starts September 8, and Ottawa sees no talks before the midterms. Bank of America says the direct economic hit to Canada is small, since the tariffs touch a thin slice of its exports. The confidence hit to investment and hiring is the one that matters.

Market Overview

Index Performance

Stock spotlight

Visa $V ( ▲ 3.06% )  
closed at a record for the first time since June 2025, its fifth straight winning day. Bill Ackman's fund holds a stake now worth about $1.25 billion.

Tesla $TSLA ( ▼ 3.6% )  
shows the production Cybercab in Austin on September 3. The stock fell anyway.

Alibaba $BABA ( ▼ 0.78% )  
sold $10.2 billion of new stock at a discount to fund AI data centers. New buyers got the cheap entry, existing holders got the dilution.

Big name updates

Sandisk $SNDK ( ▼ 6.68% )  
was the worst stock in the S&P 500 and still sits near the top of the year's leaderboard. That is what profit-taking looks like.

Apple $AAPL ( ▲ 0.49% )  
may start buying memory chips from Chinese suppliers, according to weekend reports. That added to the pressure on memory names here.

Ford $F ( ▼ 3.16% )  
led the automakers lower on the Canada tariff threat.

Nucor $NUE ( ▲ 0.42% )  
rose with the other domestic steel makers, the clearest winners from the standoff.

Other notable company news

PulteGroup $PHM ( ▲ 0.47% )  
picked up a Wolfe Research upgrade and a $158 target on its build-to-order mix.

Darden Restaurants $DRI ( ▲ 1.67% )  
got a Baird upgrade and a $250 target.

Blue Chips
MarketBeat names and lists “7 Blue-Chip Stocks to Add To Your Forever Portfolio”

Canada Goose $GOOS ( ▼ 5.26% )  
was cut to underweight at Wells Fargo on a warm winter forecast, with the target down to $10 from $16.

Jersey Mike's $JMKE ( ▼ 2.39% )  
drew a wave of buy ratings after its July 30 debut. Loop Capital set the high mark at $40.

RUM Group $RUM ( ▲ 3.43% )  
signed a $13.7 billion deal to supply AI chips to a customer it did not name

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Sector Watch

Bond market

• The 10-year finished at 4.71.

• The 30-year finished at 5.23, off last week's two-decade high.

El-Erian's point: buybacks don't fix the actual problem. Washington and the tech sector are both borrowing heavily while China, Japan and the Gulf states buy less. Gold closed at its highest since May, and that is where the doubt is going.

Policy watch

Fiscal and trade

• Bessent dodged the question on whether Treasury will issue less long-dated debt. That call comes at the next quarterly refunding.

• Peter Boockvar's catch: paying for those buybacks with short-term paper ties the government's interest bill to whatever the Fed does with rates.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is building an aid package for Canadian businesses and planning to ride out the rest of Trump's term. UBS no longer expects a quick renewal of the North America trade deal.

International

Bessent wants every branch of Iran's state-owned bank closed and says another major bank gets sanctioned by Friday. Separately, FTSE Russell upgrades Vietnam to emerging market status on September 21. Goldman expects that rebalance to push passive money into China, Korea, Taiwan and India, with Japan on the sell side.

Economy

The Chicago Fed's activity index fell to minus 0.08 in July from 0.06. Anything under zero means growth below trend. Housing and consumer spending drove it.

What to Watch

The AI Infrastructure's Backbone
10 Stocks Powering the AI Buildout

Nvidia Earnings, Wednesday

The last of the megacaps to report, and the market has set a high bar. Shares have fallen after each of the last four reports. Watch how management frames the server price increases going into next year.

Inflation Data, Wednesday

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge lands the same morning, alongside the second read on second-quarter growth and durable goods orders.

Thanks for reading - you are now the more informed 🙂

- John

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