This week's stock shocks as of 23rd January, 2026

The final full week of January answered a question nobody wanted to ask: what happens when a market addicted to momentum meets a macro backdrop that refuses to cooperate? The S&P 500 clawed out a 1.2% gain, the Nasdaq surged 1.8%, and the Dow added 0.7%—but these weren’t the confident, broad-based rallies of late 2025. This was surgical positioning. Tactical risk-taking. A market that desperately wanted to go higher but knew it was running out of excuses.

Semiconductors exploded on Intel’s four-year high, biotech caught a patent-win bounce, and industrials got crushed under fresh tariff fears. Meanwhile, the macro backdrop kept tightening: yields grinding higher, the dollar firming, and the Fed making it crystal clear they’re in no rush to rescue anyone. Earnings hope is the only thing keeping this rally alive. And next week, that hope gets tested.

---

🔔 Don’t miss out!

Add winvestacrisps@substack.com to your email list so our updates never land in spam.

---

Market recap 📊

The week’s price action told a story in three acts: steady climb, brief panic, then stubborn resumption. The S&P 500 spent the week trading in the high 6,800s to low 6,900s per TradingEconomics and FRED data, closing Friday near 6,900. The Nasdaq and Dow both finished green, but the journey was anything but smooth.

Monday and Tuesday felt constructive—not euphoric, just steady accumulation as Big Tech earnings anticipation built. Then, on Wednesday, Intel delivered the catalyst everyone had been waiting for: Intel shares spiked 11% to a four-year high, levels not seen since early 2022, after Barron’s flagged growing confidence ahead of Thursday’s earnings. That single move ignited the entire chip complex. AMD rallied. Micron surged. Nvidia climbed on pure sympathy. One stock’s story became the sector’s narrative—classic momentum contagion.

But Wednesday afternoon brought the inevitable reality check. Fresh tariff-related headlines rattled trade-sensitive names, triggering a sharp selloff in Caterpillar and industrials. The dollar spiked. Cyclicals cracked. For six hours, it looked like the rally might finally break.

Then Thursday’s open arrived, and buyers came roaring back. The dip got bought. Aggressively. By Friday’s close, indexes were back near the week’s highs, futures flat heading into the weekend per Yahoo Finance. The message was clear: this market wants to go up, and it’s willing to ignore a lot of noise to get there.

Volume stayed average throughout—institutional caution, not retail FOMO. Smart money positioning ahead of the earnings gauntlet, not conviction that the rally can broaden. That distinction matters.

---

Sentiment watch: Neutral is the new battleground 😶‍🌫️

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index spent the week locked at 52, dead centre in neutral territory and perfectly consistent with the year-to-date average of 52.7 per Finhacker’s data. The index has ranged from 44 (fear) to 62 (mild greed) so far in 2026, spending most sessions exactly where it is now: undecided.

That neutrality is unstable. After 2025’s relentless grind higher, investors have learned not to chase blindly or flee at the first sign of trouble. But neutral sentiment is a coiled spring—it’s waiting for a catalyst to release it in either direction. A strong earnings week tips it toward greed and fuels another leg up. Weak guidance or a tariff escalation flips it back to fear and triggers the first real correction of 2026.

Right now, the market’s refusing to pick sides. It’s waiting for Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla to force its hand. That’s what makes next week so dangerous—and so full of opportunity.

---