PUT IN WORK (1/26/2026)

We’re back with another issue! After a long holiday weekend, last week turned into a bit of a mixed bag as investors played tug-of-war with one another, unsure of which way to pull the market. The Nasdaq (QQQ) ended up a modest 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (SPY) finished down 0.4%—a choppy week that mostly came down to headlines and tariffs.

Tuesday was the roughestn one. Stocks posted their worst day in months after President Trump threatened new tariffs on eight NATO allies tied to the Greenland situation. The Nasdaq dropped 2.4% and the S&P 500 fell 2.1%, with big tech leading the decline (Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and the rest of the Mag 7 all took meaningful hits). Meanwhile, investors piled into gold and silver, which hit fresh all-time highs.

Wednesday brought a big rebound as investors took a deep breath. Markets pushed higher after Trump appeared to rule out using force in Greenland and backed off the February tariff threat, and both major indices bounced meaningfully. Chip names like Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) led advancers (Intel was up more than 11% and AMD was up around 7.5%).

Thursday extended the bounce for a second straight session, with the Nasdaq up 0.9% and the S&P 500 up 0.6%. Inflation came into play as the delayed PCE report came in as expected (0.2% month-over-month and 2.8% year-over-year), and the market kept looking ahead to the Fed’s next meeting, which takes place this Tuesday and Wednesday. Interestingly, all of the Magnificent Seven finished higher.

Friday was mixed, but the real headline was gold’s intense moves. The Nasdaq finished up 0.3% while the S&P 500 was basically flat, and gold traded up to about $4,980 after coming within $10 of $5,000, while silver topped $100 for the first time. Intel sank 17% after issuing a soft outlook, while Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia helped keep the broader market steadier than it otherwise might’ve been.

If headlines calm down, markets can stabilize quickly—but if not, investors will keep doing what they did last week, maintaining volatility and uncertainty in either direction. As of now, it looks like the latter is more likely, but as always, only time will tell.

(Nasdaq ETF (QQQ) price from December 2024 - 2025 — each candle is 1 week. Chart provided by tradingview.com.)

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Our stocks were just as mixed as the overall market, with some of our smaller and more volatile stocks acting as outliers—though nothing too crazy. We’re curious to see how our stocks react to the upcoming Fed meeting and headlines that are sure to come. As always, thank you for reading, and happy investing.