AlphaTALKS Wall Street Breakfast, Feb. 13: What Moved Markets This Week

Stocks rose this week, with investors piling into growth-oriented segments of the market. At the time of this recording, the S&P 500 (SP500) and Dow Industrials (DJI) were up 0.3% and 0.1% for the week, respectively. The Nasdaq (COMP) rallied by 0.9% while cryptocurrencies (and crypto stocks) saw the biggest gains.Winners & LosersBitcoin (BTC-USD) gained about 21% after Elon Musk’s Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) said it had invested $1.8 billion in the cryptocurrency. Shares of crypto-related companies rallied on the news and were some of the biggest winners for the week. Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT) is up 87%, Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ:MARA) is 64% higher, and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) 27% to the good.Semiconductors also gained significantly on reports the Biden administration signed an executive order to authorize supply chain reviews. KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) are up about 10% eachMicroVision (NASDAQ:MVIS) skyrocketed, gaining more than 77% this week after saying it had received the necessary components and equipment to improve its lidar sensors.Coronavirus vaccine stocks gained: Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) rallied 12% today after Oppenheimer initiated coverage with an outperform rating. NantKwest (NASDAQ:NK) is up 21% this week after receiving Phase 1 FDA approval of its T-cell based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.Not all was quiet among social media pump stocks: China Liberal Education Holdings (NASDAQ:CLEU) jumped 145% this morning after a 13-G reported generated excitement on Stocktwits and YouTube.Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) shares had a strong start after their initial listing, opening nearly 80% higher.Defensive names were among the biggest losers this week. Utilities as measured by the Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLU) are down about 0.3% this week. Certain consumer staples names also sold off. Clorox (NYSE:CLX) is down 4% for the week, Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) is about 1.7% lower, while Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) and Procter & Gamble are both about 0.5% in the red.What Caught Our Eye(s) This WeekStephen: Crypto coverage as reported here, here, and here;Kim: Robinhood among those subpoenaed in federal probe of squeeze stock manipulation and the upcoming hearing;Nat: A Lucid Look At The SPAC Craziness: Churchill Capital Corp IV Deep Dive.About This PodcastAlpha TALKS Wall Street Breakfast is a weekly roundtable covering what moved markets this week (WMMTW), featuring a panel of Seeking Alpha editors.Hosted by Nathaniel E. Baker, Senior Editor, Strategic Contributors, and featuring:Bradley Olesen, VP News;Kim Khan, Senior News Editor (off this week);Stephen Alpher, Managing Editor News, co-host of Seeking Alpha's Alpha Trader podcast.AlphaTALKS videos, featuring highlights of this podcast, publish every Friday by close of trading. Also available on our YouTube channel.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices