In the latest episode of DH Unplugged, hosts Andrew Horowitz and John C. Dvorak navigate a turbulent week on Wall Street, marked by dramatic swings in major indices, a collapse in the Korean stock market, and a post-IPO slide for SpaceX that has left investors questioning the strength of recent high-profile listings. The episode, titled "Rollercoaster Ride," arrives as markets grapple with mixed Big Tech earnings and geopolitical uncertainty.
Horowitz, recovering from recent surgery, noted the Dow's 1,000-point gain and subsequent 700-point drop, while oil prices reacted to shifting war headlines. The volatility extended to individual stocks, with Palantir surging 26% and AMD falling 8% after hours. The hosts also scrutinized earnings from Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, with Amazon briefly crossing the $3 trillion market cap before retreating, and Apple dropping 7% on warnings about memory chip costs.
Overseas, South Korea's KOSPI index experienced a severe meltdown, exacerbated by leveraged ETFs and resulting in an estimated 350,000 retail accounts being wiped out. The hosts discussed the systemic risks of such products and the broader implications for retail investors.
SpaceX, which recently went public, saw its shares fall to $108 from $135, a decline Horowitz characterized as a "rug pull" due to insider selling and expired lockups. He noted the absence of syndicate support from major banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch, which typically stabilize new listings. The company also faces headwinds from a Starlink subscriber miss and plans to price $40 billion in new debt toward junk status.
The AI sector was a central theme, with OpenAI and Anthropic promoting "hackathon" narratives and Google introducing selfie-based authentication. Dvorak dismissed the AI safety marketing as a "regulatory moat play," arguing that companies use fear of AI to entice investment. "Their large marketing campaign goes around the idea that their AI is going to kill us all. So buy now, don't miss out on having the evil machine work for you," he said, noting OpenAI's history of similar messaging. Horowitz countered that whether deliberate manipulation or genuine incompetence, the uncertainty complicates investor pricing of AI stocks.
Reddit's 20% plunge on weak AI licensing demand and Meta's miss tied to its Scale AI acquisition added to the sector's jitters. The hosts also touched on housing, with Miami showing 140 sellers for every 100 buyers, drawing a comparison to unsold Beanie Babies on eBay.
Other topics included TSMC's additional $100 billion investment in Arizona, Delta's confidence in higher fares, a salmonella recall of 1.6 million dozen eggs, and grocery prices for lamb and shrimp. Core PCE inflation remains sticky at 3.3%, and a fresh 50% tariff on Canadian goods was announced.
As the episode concluded, Horowitz and Dvorak offered their usual mix of skepticism and practical insight, leaving listeners with much to consider in a market that continues to test investors' nerves.
