Lululemon (LULU) absolutely cratered, dropping a jaw-dropping 14.2% after their guidance came in well below what analysts were hoping for. I'd actually been eyeing their stock last month when it looked like it was finding support — thank goodness I hesitated. Their forward-looking statements suggest they're seeing softening demand in what had been a resilient athleisure market.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) also had a rough go of it, sliding 5.8% as their studio performance continues to disappoint. They've been struggling to find their footing in the streaming wars, and investors (myself included) are growing impatient with the timeline for profitability.
The crypto space — which I've always viewed with equal parts fascination and skepticism — took a beating as well. Bitcoin slid about 4% to $83,700, dragging down stocks like MicroStrategy (MSTR), which plunged 10%. Coinbase (COIN) wasn't far behind with a 7% drop. The correlation between these stocks and Bitcoin prices remains incredibly tight — for better or worse.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom. W.R. Berkley (WRB) jumped 7.5% after Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance took a strategic stake in the company. That kind of vote of confidence from a major player can really change sentiment overnight.
The broader indices reflected this mixed but generally negative sentiment:
- S&P 500: 5,591.75 (-0.56%)
- Dow Jones: 41,653.00 (-0.47%)
- Nasdaq: 19,302.75 (-0.79%)
What's driving all this? The usual suspects — inflation worries and consumer sentiment that seems to be deteriorating faster than my patience during a Zoom meeting that could've been an email. The VIX — Wall Street's "fear gauge" — spiked nearly 16% to 21.65, crossing that psychologically important 20 threshold.
The path forward? Honestly, it's about as clear as mud. But with Treasury yields falling (the 10-year dropped to 4.25%), there's at least some cushion as investors seek safety. I'll be watching next week's employment data closely — it might give us clues about whether this volatility is just a blip or the start of something more concerning.
