Quarter-End Chaos: Bears, Execs, and Nike Collide

The Big Picture

June 28 marks the final day of Q2. Markets are absorbing a wave of signals simultaneously. Short sellers are piling in, insiders are cashing out, and a string of earnings loom. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower Friday as chip stocks stumbled.

Short Sellers Go Extreme

Wolfspeed has become the most extreme short on US markets. SI % of FF hit 129.9%. Availability of shares to borrow has fallen to zero. Cost to borrow stands at 8.7%. Any sustained buying could spark a violent squeeze. Lucid Group also drew fresh short interest. SI % of FF climbed to 39.2%, up 7 points. Borrowing costs hit 77.9% — one of the priciest short positions in the market. Airlines remain under pressure too. Frontier Group saw SI rise nearly 9 points to 42.2%.

Insiders Hit the Exit

Three companies saw concentrated executive selling this week. AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan filed a $146.7M sale — the largest single US insider trade of the period. At Applied Materials, five executives sold a combined $87M across June 15–22. Argan Chairman William Griffin Jr filed three separate tranches totalling $69M in under two weeks. The scale and clustering of these filings is notable at quarter-end.

Earnings and Analyst Watch

NIKE reports Q4 2026 results Monday. Investors want clarity on China sales and tariff impact. Options expiries stack up at July 2 and July 17. Micron Technology led analyst target upgrades this week. Consensus target rose to $1,410. Railroad names Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and CSX also received upward revisions. The BIS warned separately that AI "exuberance" risks a lengthy investment bust if returns disappoint — a note of caution as chip stocks sold off to close the quarter.