Wall Street Turns in Weekly Loss as Fed Fatigue Returns

After waffling all afternoon, Wall Street turned sharply lower in the final hour of trading, as investors weighed the implications from today's hotter-than-expected inflation report. Losses accelerated for the Dow and Nasdaq, with both shedding triple digits, while the S&P 500 pared midday gains to finish in the red. All three benchmarks closed with weekly losses, their first since the start of 2024, while the VIX logged its best weekly performance since October.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• Software stock short interest has dried up ...
• ... while Toast stock is ripe for a short squeeze.
• Plus, this week's biggest movers; Roku's latest woes; and TTD's bright forecast.

5 Things to Know Today

1. A slew of Big Tech titans are slated to ink a pact to combat election trickery generated via artificial intelligence (AI). (MarketWatch)
2. The United Auto Workers union is back in the news, now threating to strike at Ford Motor's (F) Kentucky Truck Plant. (CNBC)
3. This week's notable earnings winners, losers.
4. Roku is facing some serious competition.
5. Sunny skies ahead for Trade Desk stock.

Oil Rises, Gold Falls for the Week

Oil prices moved to their highest level since November today, riding the coattails of inflation data and murky demand outlook. For the session, April-dated West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) added 87 cents, or 1.1%, to finish at $78.46 per barrel, and gained 3.1% on the week.

Gold inched higher today, but turned in a weekly loss amid Fed fatigue. April-dated bullion lost $9.20, or 0.4%, to settle at $2,024.10 for the session, but lost 0.5% for the week.