Tale of the Tape

Good evening folks. We hope you wore your football helmets today because the market got clothesline tackled and it was unnecessary roughness.

(As a quick aside, NFL Regular Season Action begins one week from today with Chiefs v Texans! 💪🏻)

Stocks had their worst day since June 11. The S&P 500 fell 3.37%.

Only 2 stocks in the Tech-laden Nasdaq 100 closed higher. Moderna and Ulta Beauty managed fractional gains.

Too many stocks got bludgeoned to mention them all but here is a taste. Zoom down -11%. Nvidia -9%. Teladoc -9%. Mercado Libre -9%. Wix -8.66%. AMD -8.5%. Slack -8%. 

Apple -8% (See more below)

Bitcoin got smoked too, down 5%, and made a 5 week low.

Still, there were a few bright spots on the tape. Macy’s rallied 7% who knows why. Cruise liners Carnival and Norweigen rallied 5% and 4% respectively.

No sectors closed higher but energy sucked the least, dropping only 0.67%.

Basically, the biggest losers in the universe caught a bid amid the carnage, which is sorta poetic, we guess.

Here’s the damage y’all:

S&P 500	3,455	-3.51%
Nasdaq	11,458	-4.96%
Russell 2000	1,544	-2.99%
Dow Jones	28,292	-2.78%

Poison Apple 🍎🤢

Look, Apple is one of the greatest companies and stocks of all time. And it has had an historic run, and who knows, by Tuesday the stock could be making all-time highs again like no big deal.

But today, the biggest cap in the universe coughed up 8% – $180B in market capitalization.

That’s a lot of Earbuds.

There was no news. They don’t ring a bell at the top. And maybe it’s not the top. Maybe it’s just a bull market bloodbath. 

$AAPL is still up 66% YTD and over 100% from the March 23rd bottom. So maybe not poison just bitter. Place your bets…

Here’s a chart that provides the calming perspective. 

Bill Gates SPAC

QuantumScape, an electric vehicle battery supplier supported by Bill Gates and Volkswagen is the latest automotive company set to go public via Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).

The solid-state battery developer entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. ($KCAC ) on Thursday. QuantumScape plans to go public in the fourth quarter under the ticker $QS.

In addition to the public offering, $QS expects to receive $1 Billion+ in cash from Volkswagen and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

Chairman and CEO of Kensington, Justin Mirro, had this to say,

We’ve done a lot of work on the technology. This is really a revolutionary step in terms of technology. While there’s a lot of other SPACs out there to claim they’re automotive experts maybe for the last 30 days, we’ve been automotive experts for the last 30 years.

$KCAC closed up 87% on the news.

Strength in Travel…?

Despite the market taking a dump, travel stocks were a surprising source of strength. Carnival and Norwegian led the S&P 500 for maybe the first time ever.

Here’s how the Cruisers closed the day.

NCLH +3.77%
RCL +2.68%
CCL +5.21%

It wasn’t just the ships, Airline ETF, $JETS traded as high as $18.74, its highest level since June 16.

Here’s the daily $JETS chart. 

Facebook’s New Policies

Facebook updated its policies on political ads.

Zuck had this to say regarding the change,

The US elections are just two months away, and with Covid-19 affecting communities across the country, I’m concerned about the challenges people could face when voting. I’m also worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country.

This election is not going to be business as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest.

Here are the updated policies: 

Read the full post here.

Out of this Astroworld 🎡

Fast food and hip hop fans alike went crazy this morning following McDonald’s tweet hitting at a collaboration with hip hop sensation, Travis Scott.

The artist confirmed the deal by sharing this photo.

The partnership introduces “The Travis Scott Sandwich”– a quarter pounder with bacon, ketchup, mustard, grilled onions, lettuce, pickles, and two cheese slices. The $6 meal will be served with BBQ sauce, fries, and a Sprite. 

Here’s what Travis had to say about the deal, 

I couldn’t be more excited to bring the Cactus Jack x McDonald’s collaboration to life. We are bringing together two iconic worlds. Including a charitable component was key for me, and I can’t wait for people to see what we have in store.

It seems like everything this kid touches turns into gold. 

His most recent album, Astroworld, logged ~350M streams in its first week.

Here’s the official press release.

And here’s Scotts’ latest hit, Highest in the Room.

Stocktwits After-Hours

Blood In The Streets 🩸

🔊 Listen Here: Spotify | Apple

Links That Don’t Suck

🏦 Start-up founded by ex-Goldman trader becomes first fintech to complete takeover of a national bank

🏀 How the Nets build a contender with KD, Kyrie and new coach Steve Nash 

👃 Big manta rays found ‘right under our nose‘ off Florida beaches

🕹 Videogame Technology Could Bring Biofeedback Therapy to the Living Room

🏘 The Suburban Real Estate Boom Is Only Continuing

🍎  Images of the new Apple Store in Singapore

📈 The Craziest Year Ever? What Are Your Thoughts?