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Worry List. The worries about software stocks—the so-called SaaSpocalypse—returned with a vengeance on Friday, expanding across the tech complex to chips and other hardware plays, as well. |
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Software as a service, or SaaS, was once the market’s hottest sector, but it’s been a deadweight for much of the last month. The last few days had brought a relief rally, sending the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF up 7% from Tuesday to Thursday. Today the selling resumed. The IGV ETF, as its known by its ticker symbol, was down 1.3% on the day. |
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Other tech stocks were worse off, with Nvidia continuing its post-earnings descent. The chip maker fell another 4.2% today, bringing its two-day decline to 9.4%. There was no real place to hide: Apple, an AI-light hardware play, was down 3.2% while Meta Platforms, the social media giant, was down 1.3%. |
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Two Magnificent Seven stocks did manage to finish the day in positive territory: Amazon.com rose 1% after it signed a deal to invest $50 billion in AI start-up OpenAI. Google-parent Alphabet was up 1.4% on the day. |
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Friday’s problems extended beyond tech, thanks to new worries about private credit and the possibility of loan defaults. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index finished the day down 4.9% after Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo published a note warning of new “cockroaches,” the term JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon used last October to warn of more likely bankruptcies after the collapse of two auto-related firms. |
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In a note titled “More ‘Cockroach’ Concerns for Banks,” Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo points to the collapse of Market Financial Solutions in London, amid “news of other credit problems among non-bank commercial players” weighing on stocks. |
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“The issue is one problem can mark the group negatively,” Mayo writes. |
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As if investors didn’t have enough to digest, Friday renewed the specter of inflation, as well. A hotter-than-expected producer-price-index showed wholesale prices were up 0.5% in January, an acceleration from the 0.4% rate in December. Today, at least, the bond market wasn’t ruffled. Add it to next week’s worry list. |
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Watch our TV show Fridays on Fox Business at 7:30 p.m. ET and Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. ET. This week, strategist Emily Roland on why she isn’t concerned about the inflation picture. Plus, big tech stocks have been hit hard. Which ones are starting to look attractive? |
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| - | Last | Chg% |
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↓ Dow Jones Industrial Average | 48,977.92 | -1.05% | ↓ S&P 500 Index | 6,878.88 | -0.43% | ↓ NASDAQ Composite Index | 22,668.21 | -0.92% |
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2/27/2026, 8:00:22 PM ET |
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The Hot Stock: Dell Technologies +21.9%
The Biggest Loser: United Airlines -8.7% |
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Best Sector: Healthcare +1.8%
Worst Sector: Information Technology -2.2% |
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