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The Warsh Pivot: Market Volatility and the Tech Pullback · The SPY Trader

• 0:00
  Good morning , friends !
• 0:01
  I am Sunny Sideup , and you are listening to Spy Trader .
• 0:05
  It is 6 am on Saturday , August 29th , 2026 , here on the Pacific coast .
• 0:11
  I hope you are having a wonderful start to your weekend after what has been a bit of a whirlwind week in the financial world .
• 0:18
  Grab your coffee , settle in , and let's talk about what just happened on Wall Street .
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  This past week was a classic tale of two halves .
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  For most of the week , we saw some really encouraging momentum .
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  Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were riding high on strong corporate earnings and positive economic data .
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  But then came Friday , August 28th , and the mood shifted .
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  We saw a sharp pullback after a very important speech .
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  By the time the dust settled , the S&P 500 , which you might know through the SPY or VOO ETFs , ended the week up about zero point six three percent , closing at 7,711.76 .
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  The Nasdaq , represented by QQQ , actually outperformed for the week with a one point three percent gain , thanks to some AI excitement .
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  However , Friday was tough , with the Nasdaq falling over half a percent as investors reacted to rising bond yields .
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  The big news of the week was the debut keynote address by the new Federal Reserve Chair , Kevin Warsh , at the Jackson Hole Symposium .
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  Folks were calling it the Warsh Pivot .
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  He warned that inflation is still stubbornly above that two percent target and suggested the Fed might still have more work to do , which many people took to mean a potential rate hike in September .
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  This hawkish tone really pressured the tech and chip sectors .
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  For example , Nvidia , ticker NVDA , reported fantastic secondquarter earnings on Wednesday , but its stock actually fell nearly four and a half percent on Friday as investors decided to take their profits and run following those Fed comments .
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  We also saw pressure on memory names like Micron and Seagate due to trade tensions and talk of new tariffs .
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  It wasn't all gloom , though !
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  The Communication Services sector was a bright spot .
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  Salesforce , ticker CRM , was a standout gainer , jumping over three percent after its earnings .
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  Consumer Discretionary stocks showed some real muscle too .
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  Amazon , ticker AMZN , rose over four percent on Friday , which really helped balance out the tech selloff .
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  We even saw Nike get a three percent bump .
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  Over in the Financial sector , Visa and Mastercard both hit 52week highs earlier in the week , showing us that consumers are still out there spending despite the macro concerns .
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  So , what does this mean for your portfolio ?
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  Based on the current climate , here are a few things to consider .
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  First , given that the big tech names are looking a little tired , it might be a good time to look at the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF , or VTI .
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  It gives you broader exposure to small and midcap stocks that aren't as heavy on tech as the Nasdaq .
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  For a more tactical play , look at companies with strong cash flow like Salesforce and Amazon .
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  They proved they could handle the heat during Friday's selloff .
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  The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund , XLF , also looks attractive right now because higher interest rates can actually help banking margins .
• 3:30
  Because of the geopolitical jitters involving Iran and those trade frictions with Canada , gold hit a threemonth high this week .
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  You might want to look at SPDR Gold Shares , ticker GLD , as a little safety net if you're worried about inflation .
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  Finally , a word of caution on longterm bonds .
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  The iShares 20 plus Year Treasury Bond ETF , or TLT , is facing a lot of pressure right now with yields at twodecade highs .
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  Until we see inflation cooling off or a resolution to global tensions , those longterm bonds are likely to stay pretty volatile .
• 4:05
  That is all for this morning's update !
• 4:08
  I am Sunny Sideup , and this has been Spy Trader .
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  Enjoy your Saturday , and stay savvy out there !