Dip Buyers Can’t Stave Off Ugly Finish as Stocks Head for Disappointment
Both retail and institutions sold off as the market heads into two key events that are likely to produce bounces.
Closing Market Stats for Tuesday
Closing Volume
– NYSE volume 1% above its one-month average
– NASDAQ volume 12% above its one-month average
– VIX index: up 1.68% to 18.12
Breadth
S&P 500 Sectors
% Movers
Nasdaq 100 Heat Map
Closing S&P 500 Heat Map
Position: None
Never a Good Sign
Financials rolling over.
Never a good sign.
Position: None
Cashing in on This Big Tech Holding After Shares Surge
Where we might consider revisiting our current Two rating
More AI Skepticism From Ed Zitron
Position: None
Samsung’s Looming Labor Strife Could Reverse Semiconductor Surge
Will Samsung Electronics workers walk off the job? And how can U.S. investors access the Korean chip sector, which has made Seoul stocks the world’s best performers?
Trump on Warsh’s Independence and Potential Iran Timing
Uncertainty remains in play and that is likely to spur our portfolio discipline.
Good Covers
Good covers on $NVDA, $MU, $AMD, $INTC and $SNDK yesterday:
Covered My Tech Shorts
I covered the balance of my individual technology shorts for some good profits:
* AMD $416.30 (-$6)
* NVDA $221.08
* MU $$680.95 (-$42)
* SNDK $1,291.61 (-$115)
* INTC $106.42 (-$2)
Position: None
BY Doug Kass · May 18, 2026, 1:37 PM EDT
I plan to re-short on strength but I am giving these volatile stocks a wide berth before I do so.
However, after the big rally off of the morning lows (and Nasdaq futures back in the green), I am back shorting the indices:
* $SPY $737.44
* $QQQ $706.28
Position: Short SPY (VS), QQQ (VS)
Boockvar on Pending Home Sales
From Peter Boockvar:
Pending home sales lift for 3rd month but what happens next?
Pending home sales in April, when mortgage rates averaged 6.44% vs 6.26% in March, rose by 1.4% m/o/m, just above the estimate of up 1% and after a 1.7% increase in March and a 2.5% rise in February after a few months of declines. About all of the gain was seen in the Northeast and Midwest while there was little change in the South and West.
The NAR said “Buyers are coming out with cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty and a slight rise in mortgage rates.”
Still limited inventory in some markets remains an issue in keeping prices elevated. The NAR added, “Unless supply meaningfully increases, home price growth could outpace wage growth and further erode the homeownership rate. All efforts need to be focused on boosting housing supply.”
Bottom line, as seen in the chart below, the pace of transactions continues to bounce along the multi decade bottom for reasons we all know and now we have higher mortgage rates again coincident with the rise in the 10 yr Treasury yield.
Pending Home Sales index
