May 19, 2026

Markets:

U.S. index futures fell Tuesday as a sell-off in chip stocks, which have led the A.I.-driven bull market, continued.

Traders also kept an eye on the oil market following President Donald Trump’s cancellation of planned attacks on Iran, as well as bond yields hovering near multi-year highs, which threatened to put more pressure on the U.S. consumer.

Shares of Micron were also down 2% before the bell, set for their fourth-straight day of declines on concerns the A.I. run in memory chipmakers in particular has gone too far, too fast. Micron is still up more than 138% this year. The stock fell on Monday after peer Seagate Technology fell 7% after warning about keeping up with demand. Seagate was down another 3% on Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is down 6% in two days as investors take profits on concern about valuation and the sustainability of sky-high data center spending. Nvidia, which will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, headed for its third-straight decline, down 0.8% in pre-market trading.

Crude prices were down Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced late Monday that he was calling off a plan to attack Iran after the heads of three regional powers in the Middle East asked him to “hold off.” West Texas Intermediate futures shed 0.4% to $103.81 per barrel in early trading. Brent crude lost 1% to $110.96. Trump’s post also helped the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recover some losses late in the session Monday, though they still ended lower for a second day in a row.

Portfolio:

Wild start to the week yesterday. But nothing has changed in the broader outlook for the summer or the rest of 2026. There will be some chop and noise in the near term, but the bigger directional move still looks intact. My sense is we get a bit more messy price action here, and then a new theme starts to take shape after NVIDIA earnings.

One thing that really stands out right now is the elevated upside premium across several names, especially Micron Technology. Options pricing there is telling a story. If you’re leaning short, be careful. There’s real opportunity building into the Wednesday event.

We enter the day holding setups in TSLL, NVTS, and ACHR.  Tough stretch last two weeks with swings just getting bruised here.  Realigned a bit and a monster streak is getting ready to launch and we need it here.  They really went after small caps last week or so.  Watching this closely.

Be ready today. We may get an opportunity or two, but the priority remains patience as we head into NVDA earnings tomorrow.