Market Update

Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) managed to bounce back from early morning lows, but only the S&P 500 ended the day in the green.

Introducing ETF AI Analysts

Since last Friday, the eight largest AI companies—NVIDIA (NVDA), Metaplatforms (META), and Palantir (PLTR), among others—have collectively shed $911 billion in market value, as per reports. Fears surrounding a potential bubble and high valuations in the tech sector have deepened losses. This was exacerbated by a statement from OpenAI’s CFO, Sarah Friar, who suggested that the government would provide a financial safety net for investments in the firm but later retracted her comment, stirring concerns over the availability of capital in the AI industry. David Sachs, the White House’s AI and Crypto Czar, clarified via an X post that no federal bailout would be forthcoming for AI.

Interestingly, President Trump appears unconcerned about the downturn in tech stocks. When asked by a reporter if he was worried about an AI bubble, he replied, “No, I love AI. I think it’s going to be very useful. There’s so much going on with AI.”

As the government shutdown extends into its 38th day, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats will support a continuing resolution aimed at renewing Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for another year—a move that Republicans have already dismissed.

The latest attempt to restart the government emerges as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy cautions that flight reductions could escalate to between 15% and 20% should the shutdown continue much longer. The 40 airports experiencing staffing shortages are projected to face a 4% cut in flights on Friday, with a 10% reduction likely by next week.

The effects of the government shutdown are beginning to reach consumers. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index for November is sitting at 50.3, only slightly above the record low of 50.0 set in June of last year.

Joan Hsu, director of the Consumer Research Bureau, noted, “Consumer sentiment fell by around 6% in November, largely due to a 17% drop in current personal wealth and a forecasted 11% decline in business confidence over the past year.” Consumers expect inflationary pressures to continue, matching last year’s expectations of 4.7%, a slight rise from 4.6% in October.

The S&P 500 (SPX) closed up by 0.13%, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) saw a decrease of 0.28%.