Stock Market Today: Major Indexes Advance After Losing Day for S&P 500, Nasdaq; Oil Prices Sink; Bitcoin Briefly Tops $80K

Information Technology Leads S&P 500 Sector Gains

FROM 22 minutes ago

Super Micro Computer shares are helping technology stocks power the S&P 500 to gains Tuesday.

The S&P 500 Information Technology Sector is the best performer of the 11 industries tracked by the benchmark index, up 0.7% in early afternoon trading.

Supermicro (SMCI) is the top-performing individual stock in the sector, up nearly 9%.

Six of the 11 sectors are in the green at the moment. The S&P 500 is up 0.3% overall.

Bitcoin Briefly Tops $80,000 as Market Flashes ‘Extreme Greed’

FROM 2 hr 2 min ago

Bitcoin is stepping back into the spotlight and the crowds are cheering.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency topped $80,000 overnight, a level it hasn’t touched since May. Between federal regulators’ efforts to fill in the rulemaking gaps the Clarity Act has left behind, and spot bitcoin ETFs’ six consecutive days of net inflows, per Farside Investors, market conditions would appear to be swinging from crypto famine to crypto feast.

CoinMarketCap’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index was recently flashing “extreme greed” from last week’s “neutral.” Meanwhile, the latest chart making the rounds in crypto circles on social media is a 10-year gains table that ranks bitcoin at the top, followed by hot AI stocks Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD). Indeed, the cryptocurrency’s latest surge has pushed it to the top, with a 13,429% gain compared to Nvidia’s 13,156% over that period through Aug. 23.

Strategy (MSTR) wasn’t doing much in the crypto market last week, although surging bitcoin prices might’ve been the ideal time to capitalize on its stockpile of some 840,447 coins valued at around $66 billion at recent prices. Instead, Strategy sold more of its common stock, which got a boost alongside bitcoin last week, for about $2 billion.

In a report yesterday, Fundstrat Head of Digital Asset Strategy Sean Farrell observed that “Strategy has now gone two consecutive weeks with zero BTC activity,” and that would mark a “meaningful departure from the historical playbook.”

However, the company announced yesterday that it established a pool of $1.6 billion, called USD Cash, that is “intended to allow management to respond more quickly to market conditions, including dislocations in the markets for bitcoin or Strategy’s securities,” and not to be confused with its existing USD Reserve, which recently held $5.1 billion, designated to pay dividends on its preferreds and interest accruing on its debt, filings show. 

Farrell likened the cash pool to “plunge protection,” which he said he expected Strategy to tap when either bitcoin or its preferred stocks took a dive. Recall Strategy’s Stretch preferred slid to the low $70s in June, causing alarm as the gap to its par price of $100 blew out.

–Crystal Kim

Walmart Stock Has Dropped Since Earnings. Could It Keep Falling?

FROM 2 hr 40 min ago

August hasn’t been kind to Walmart investors. 

The retail giant’s stock has fallen 4% this month through Monday’s close, and it’s off another 1.5% so far today, extending losses that accelerated last week after Walmart (WMT) turned in a third-quarter financial outlook that spooked investors. 

Wall Street is broadly positive on the shares–Visible Alpha’s mean price target is around $127, a nearly 20% premium to yesterday’s finish around $106–but some analysts think they aren’t done dropping. 

Oppenheimer earlier today said they could see the stock moving into the “low $90s.” They haven’t traded below $100 since November. 

The analysts still see plenty to like about the company, including operating profit and e-commerce growth trends, as well as increased U.S. share in grocery, but they also see the latest retreat as “justified” after a yearslong runup that ended in May, along with slowing same-store sales growth. 

Oppenheimer, which downgraded the stock earlier this month, doesn’t currently have a price target on Walmart shares, but says they “remain on our radar.”

– David Marino-Nachison

The New Canada Trade War Could Hit Every Room in Your House

FROM 3 hr 57 min ago

The latest round of tariffs is hitting, and it could affect your cash—and your dough.

Dough used for baking is one of hundreds of products imported from Canada that will be subject to a new 50% tariffs. On Saturday, a sweeping set of tariffs on products from Canada went into effect after trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed.

The latest wave of tariffs affects a sprawling array of products from Canada, including whiskey (like Crown Royal), down jackets (such as Canada Goose), hockey sticks and numerous other items. President Donald Trump also responded to potential Canadian retaliatory tariffs on Monday by threatening to raise the existing 25% auto tariff to 50%. So far, the affected imports total 5% of the products the U.S. brings in from its Northern neighbor by dollar value.

Despite the low percentage of trade by value, the tariffs are so sprawling they could end up affecting a vast number of items in every room of a typical suburban house.  

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Can Intuit’s Earnings Pull the Stock Out of Its Slump?

FROM 4 hr 36 min ago

TurboTax and QuickBooks parent Intuit (INTU) is slated to publish its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the closing bell.

Intuit shares have lost nearly half their value since the year began, making the stock one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 for 2026.

Though the tax software company beat expectations last quarter and announced plans to shrink its workforce, the stock has slumped amid a broader pullback in software stocks driven by worries about AI disruption.

Intuit is expected to report adjusted earnings per share of $3.58 on $4.27 billion in revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter, per Visible Alpha.

Shares of Intuit were little changed in premarket trading.

–Kara Greenberg

Will Warsh Hit Reset With Markets at Jackson Hole?

FROM 5 hr 12 min ago

As the marquee event in economics approaches, investors are wondering whether they’ll get morsels of clarity from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh—or whether he’ll remain tight-lipped about the Fed outlook.

Warsh will speak at 10 a.m. ET on Friday at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole conference, giving him a chance to hit the reset button with markets if he chooses. 

The Fed’s new chair has adopted a less-is-more communication style, giving the Fed more flexibility to pivot on interest rates in an uncertain environment. Investors, however, are still getting used to less guidance on how the Fed may react to incoming data.

It was one of several reasons behind last week’s wobbles in bond markets, though analysts don’t think Warsh will suddenly start giving markets the guidance they’ve been missing. 

Read the full article here.

–Polo Rocha

Dick’s Sports Goods Stock Plunges; Retailer ‘Impacted by Challenging Conditions’

FROM 5 hr 49 min ago

Dick’s Sporting Goods said its Foot Locker business was “impacted by challenging conditions” in the second quarter. It slashed its full-year outlook, and investors are dropping the stock.

Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) are plunging 15% after the retailer’s second-quarter results came up short of analysts’ estimates and it cut various fiscal 2026 projections, including for Foot Locker comparable sales and operating income.

The Pittsburgh-based company reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $3.53 per share on net sales of $5.59 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $3.77 per share and $5.64 billion, respectively.

Comparable sales increased 2.1% year-over-year, well below the 3.4% Visible Alpha projection. Pro-forma Foot Locker comparable sales fell 3.6% when a 0.2% decline was expected.

As a result, Dick’s lowered its Foot Locker pro-forma comparable sales outlook for the year to a range of negative 2% to flat, down from the prior projection of 1.5% to 3% growth. The company also lowered its operating income outlook for both Foot Locker and its namesake businesses, as well as its guidance for net sales and profit.

“This environment had a more significant impact on the Foot Locker Business given its greater exposure to legacy footwear silhouettes and greater dependence on footwear launch and retro product,” Executive Chairman Ed Stack said. “Not only were there fewer launches in the second quarter, but those launches performed below both industry and our expectations. As a result, we are taking a more cautious view of the balance of the year.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods shares entered Tuesday down more than 9% since the start of the year.

Stock Futures Rise After Losing Day for S&P 500, Nasdaq

FROM 6 hr 56 min ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.

S&P 500 futures also pointed up 0.5%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1%.