Dow Drops 300 as Oil Spikes, Bears Circle Chips

Macro Picture

The Dow fell more than 300 points Thursday as oil prices surged. The Fear & Greed Index remains stuck in "Fear" territory. Rising energy costs are squeezing sentiment ahead of a busy earnings week featuring KR, LEN, and PGR.

Tech Under Pressure

Oracle is in focus after Co-CEO Clay Magouyrk warned that betting on AI data center timelines going to plan is a "bad plan." Construction delays are emerging across its buildout. That candour rattled confidence in the AI infrastructure trade. NVIDIA remains in the crosshairs too — Michael Burry closed his December put positions on both NVDA and PLTR, but options flow still skews bearish on chips. Micron is drawing heavy put buying after a 260% year-to-date run, even as the company announced bumper bonuses of up to 68 months' pay for Taiwan workers — a sign of strong fiscal 2026 results but also a strike threat lingering in the background.

Short Interest Signals

Short sellers hit CHWY hard. Short interest reached 54.9% of free float, up 4 points in a week. WIX saw an even sharper move — SI jumped 7.5 points to 18.2% of free float with borrow availability collapsing to 28%. Meanwhile, GME shorts fled en masse, SI falling from 15.7% to 2.7% in a single week.

Europe & Analyst Watch

Swedish cooling specialist Munters completed a data center campus expansion in Virginia — positioning it squarely in the AI infrastructure buildout. On the analyst front, Scotiabank raised its target on midstream name TRGP by 22% to $314. Medical device firm COO was cut to Hold at William Blair, with no new target offered.