The Nasdaq 100 pushed to a new record today. Tech led the rally with NVDA, MSFT, and GOOGL all in positive territory. Oil fell sharply as Iran reportedly weighed a deal over the Strait of Hormuz. Lower energy prices gave consumers and transport stocks a lift.
Boeing was one of the session's standout movers. The aerospace giant climbed on fresh news flow, with Alaska Air also rising in sympathy. The moves come as aviation demand holds up despite broader macro uncertainty.
The week's packed earnings calendar drove heavy single-stock action. Shift4 Payments surged after beating Q1 estimates. Short interest sits at 31% of free float with 15.9 days to cover — a textbook short squeeze setup. Options traders have been all over the May 15 expiry.
Papa John's was a notable loser. Discount wars are hammering US same-store sales. The fast-food price war shows no sign of easing.
In Europe, Enel SpA reported today. Italy's €115bn utility is closely watched as a proxy for European energy policy. UCB SA, Belgium's large-cap pharma group, also delivered results.
Pentwater Capital filed a full exit from Avis Budget Group — over $1.1bn in stock sold on April 22–23. That lines up with short covering data showing Avis shorts unwound sharply this week, down 8.2 percentage points.
Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl filed $4.5M in open-market purchases across two days. CoStar Group founder Andrew Florance added $2.4M. Both are signals worth watching in a week where institutional money is rotating fast.
Wolfspeed remains the most aggressively shorted name. SI % of free float hit 57% — up 6.5 points in a week. Shares to borrow are nearly gone, with availability at just 0.75% of short interest.
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.
