Technology
Shorts, Cornered
June 3, 2025
Friday’s market session saw a sudden jolt of enthusiasm from retail traders, as a spat between two of the world’s most prominent billionaires—Elon Musk and Donald Trump—failed to deter everyday investors from diving back into their favorite high-risk, high-reward names.
Despite what might have looked like a potentially destabilizing moment for investor sentiment, a wave of individual traders poured back into the market. Instead of retreating in the face of political drama, retail investors treated the moment as a buying opportunity, doubling down on battered stocks they’ve historically embraced during times of volatility.
Stocks that typically dominate Reddit threads and retail trading platforms—particularly speculative tech names, crypto-aligned equities, and meme stock classics—outpaced the major indexes. It was a move reminiscent of the COVID-era rally in 2020, when retail money became a force that moved markets and shook Wall Street’s expectations.
According to Goldman Sachs’ closely watched "retail favorites" basket, retail-heavy stocks surged by 2.1% early Friday afternoon—handily outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Among the standout names were large retail darlings like:
But the real fireworks were among the even more speculative corners of the market:
While there’s no way to definitively prove that individual investors alone were behind Friday’s gains—professional traders were certainly active as well—the price action was highly consistent with the recent patterns seen among retail investors. These are the same investors who stepped in aggressively during April’s selloff, scooping up shares of top names like Nvidia as prices fell and sentiment soured.
Despite their willingness to "buy the dip," retail traders aren’t exactly crushing the market overall. According to analysts at JPMorgan, retail portfolios have lagged behind broader market returns so far this year. Their data shows that from January through the end of May, retail investor portfolios had fallen by 2.6%, while the S&P 500 managed a 1% gain in the same period.
Still, if Friday’s action is any indication, retail traders are staying true to their post-pandemic playbook: ignore the noise, chase volatility, and lean into the hype. Whether that’s wise or reckless remains to be seen—but for now, the meme-stock crowd is very much alive and kicking.
According to Goldman Sachs’ closely watched "retail favorites" basket, retail-heavy stocks surged by 2.1% early Friday afternoon—handily outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Among the standout names were large retail darlings like:
But the real fireworks were among the even more speculative corners of the market:
While there’s no way to definitively prove that individual investors alone were behind Friday’s gains—professional traders were certainly active as well—the price action was highly consistent with the recent patterns seen among retail investors. These are the same investors who stepped in aggressively during April’s selloff, scooping up shares of top names like Nvidia as prices fell and sentiment soured.
Despite their willingness to "buy the dip," retail traders aren’t exactly crushing the market overall. According to analysts at JPMorgan, retail portfolios have lagged behind broader market returns so far this year. Their data shows that from January through the end of May, retail investor portfolios had fallen by 2.6%, while the S&P 500 managed a 1% gain in the same period.
Still, if Friday’s action is any indication, retail traders are staying true to their post-pandemic playbook: ignore the noise, chase volatility, and lean into the hype. Whether that’s wise or reckless remains to be seen—but for now, the meme-stock crowd is very much alive and kicking.
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Lululemon (LULU) $265.66 (-19.69%) shares plunged nearly 20% on Friday, setting the stage for the company’s sharpest single-day loss in over five years. The selloff followed a disappointing earnings report and a significant downgrade to its full-year profit outlook, rattling investors and raising new questions about the health of the athleisure powerhouse.
The company now expects to earn between $14.58 and $14.78 per share for the year, a drop from its earlier forecast of $14.95 to $15.15. Lululemon attributed the downgrade to growing tariff costs and weakening demand in its core U.S. market—two pressures that have left Wall Street feeling less optimistic about the once-reliable growth story.
Analysts didn’t hold back:
For a brand that once seemed impervious to retail headwinds, Friday’s nosedive marked a turning point. Lululemon has now shed nearly one-third of its market value in 2025 alone, a dramatic reversal for a company once seen as a pandemic-era winner and a consistent outperformer in the apparel space.
With pressures mounting and investor confidence shaken, the road ahead looks less smooth for the once-stretchy staple of every fitness-conscious wardrobe.
If you happened to scroll through social media yesterday, chances are you caught wind of the very public digital fallout between Elon Musk and President Trump. What began as a disagreement over policy quickly escalated into a personal war of words that played out across their respective platforms—X and Truth Social.
Things took a sharp turn when Musk suggested that Trump wouldn’t have made it back into the Oval Office without his backing. Then came the now-notorious clapback: a simple two-word post from Musk — “Such ingratitude.”
That post didn’t just stir headlines—it rattled markets. By the end of the trading day, Tesla (TSLA $301.15, down 5.78%)had shed a jaw-dropping $153 billion in market capitalization. Musk’s own net worth took a brutal hit as well, plunging $33.9 billion, making this likely the single most financially damaging post in social media history.
It joins a small but dramatic list of social media blunders that wiped out billions:
Plenty of posts have momentarily rocked stocks before bouncing back—but Musk’s post stands apart due to the sheer scale of the fallout and its implications for Tesla’s ongoing relationship with the federal government.
Whether the market will shrug off the drama or if this fracture proves more lasting remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: the “ingratitude” heard ‘round the internet may have just set a record for the most expensive tweet in history.
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