Semiconductors are the dominant theme heading into September. NVDA and MU sit simultaneously at the top of both bullish and bearish options flow over the past seven days. That split is rare. It points to a market genuinely unsure of direction in AI-linked names. AMD also carries heavy put activity despite a 117% year-to-date gain. S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower Friday as a chip rebound failed to hold.
KVYO short interest jumped nearly 7 percentage points in a week to 19.9% of free float. Bears are pressing ahead of its earnings print. WOLF sits at a punishing 73.7% SI with zero shares available to borrow — a squeeze candidate. SPCX shorts climbed close to 24% of free float despite a $1.1 trillion valuation.
Bill Gates filed $207M in purchases of RSG stock this week. That is a clear vote of confidence in waste management. On the other side, activist Corvex Management dumped over $230M of ILMN shares between August 19 and 27. Corvex holds a board seat at Illumina. The scale of that exit demands attention.
DELL and MDT headline a packed earnings week starting Tuesday. SNOW also reports for the second time this year. Short sellers are already retreating from Snowflake ahead of the print.
French bonds are now a bigger worry than Italian debt for European investors. Paris borrowing costs have exceeded Rome's for most of the summer. Ukraine ratified a $105 billion EU loan deal, lifting European defense stocks. Bitcoin treasury companies shed $80 billion in value as the model shows signs of unwinding.
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.
