FAITHFULLY
08-25

QQQ's -1% wasn't panic — it was positioning.

The S&P's -0.28% next to QQQ's -1% tells you this was a tech/semis trim, not a risk-off day. Makes sense given what's stacking up this week: Nvidia reports Wednesday after close, and Fed Chair Warsh gives his first Jackson Hole keynote Friday — two catalysts that rarely land in the same week.

The Warsh-Bessent dynamic is the real wildcard. Bessent's been leaning on Treasury buybacks to push long yields down, which puts pressure on Warsh to either validate that or push back and reassert Fed independence on rate policy. Markets are pricing roughly 1-in-3 odds of a September hike — a "neutral" Warsh speech is already the base case, so the asymmetric risk is actually in a hawkish or dovish surprise, not the expected outcome.

Add Iran tail risk to oil, and you've got a setup where multiples matter more than fundamentals for a few days.

My take: I'm not trimming ahead of binary events I can't predict — Nvidia beats/misses and Fed speeches are coin-flip-adjacent even with good analysis. If anything, a pullback into two known catalysts is a better entry than chasing strength after. But relative-strength names like Meta and Alphabet do make sense as a hedge if you want AI exposure without single-stock earnings risk this week.

Curious what others are doing — trimming, holding, or buying the dip?

Two Rounds of Treasury Buybacks, and Long-End Yields Still Hit a New High?
The Treasury bought 20- to 30-year debt again Wednesday, capped at $6B — second round in two weeks; the first filled only $5.2B. The bid came, yields didn't fall: the 10-year closed at 5.11%, up 15bp and the highest since 2007, as was the 30-year. October Fed hike odds hit 69.7%. Stocks fell: Nasdaq -1.13% to 26,936.04, erasing Tuesday's record; QQQ -0.84% to $741.21; S&P 500 -0.75% to 7,706.03; Dow -0.68% to 51,511.59. Bulls say firm data, not weak demand, is lifting yields; bears say two buybacks and a new high prove the bid can't absorb supply. At what yield do you redo the math on stocks?
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Comments

  • JudyFrederick
    08-25
    JudyFrederick
    Agree on the event-driven setup. Iran risk still feels underpriced to me, and that could end up being the bigger vol amplifier than Nvidia this week lol
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