Oil is trading near $87 a barrel. US-Iran tensions are the driver. American forces struck Iranian targets after attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Stocks and bonds fell in risk-off mode. Small caps are bucking the trend — the Russell 2000 is on course for its best year since 2003, lifted by AI spending and tax changes.
Goldman Sachs delivered upbeat Q2 results today. The stock moved higher. Short interest sits at just 2.1% of free float — bears are thin on the ground here. Thursday brings the heavyweights. Netflix posts Q2 after the close. UnitedHealth reports in the morning under heavy scrutiny. ABB reports Q2 from Europe on Thursday too. Options volume is climbing across all three names ahead of the prints.
An analyst flagged 20% downside for Apple today. Citigroup lifted price targets on three US refiners — , , and — citing improved crack spreads. Goldman raised its target on to $16. Norwegian carries nearly 19% short interest. A sustained re-rating could squeeze those bears.
Hertz short interest hit 68.8% of free float. Zero shares are available to borrow. The SPCX SpaceX ETF saw shorts jump from 3.7% to 26% in two days. Arm Holdings carries 12.3% short interest — the highest among large-cap chip designers. HSBC flagged a valuation concern on ARM today, adding pressure.
Asian chipmakers — TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung — now account for 29% of the MSCI Emerging Markets index. European stocks slid broadly. Defense names held up after Ukraine ratified a €105 billion EU loan deal. Sweden's Nordea Bank reports H1 results Thursday.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
