AlphaTALKS Wall Street Breakfast, Feb. 6: What Moved Markets This Week

Stock market indices rallied every day for their best week since early November as coronavirus vaccine news swayed investors' mood. The Nasdaq (COMP) leads major indices with 5% gains for the week. The broader S&P 500 (SP500) is up about 4% for the week, with the Dow Industrials (DJI) adding 3%.Winners & LosersReddit WallStreetBets’ favorites were some of the biggest losers. GameStop (NYSE:GME) is down by 72% for the week as of this writing, though shares are trading higher on Friday. Koss Corp. (NASDAQ:KOSS) has fallen by 55% this week with National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) giving up 30% and Tootsie Roll (NYSE:TR) dropping by 19%. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) are down almost 20%, with AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) 17% lower.Some of the week’s big losers were heavily-shorted names. iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC) is down 30% for the week as reimbursement issues were flagged as a concern for the company. Clover Health (NASDAQ:CLOV), which was the subject of a short-seller report from Hindenberg, dropped 13%. BofA has since defended the company but CLOV declined again on Friday.Defensive names that performed well during the height of Covid also saw selling in their shares. Cloros (NYSE:CLX) is down 8.5% for the week. Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) dropped by 5.5%. Real estate companies also sold off: Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) shares were down 7.3%. SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) fell 6.5%.Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) was one of the winners, with shares more than doubling this week. Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) shares are up 12% after an upgrade from Wells Fargo.What Caught Our Eye(s) This WeekBrad: Silver spikes as retail buyers try squeeze play and its aftermath of coverage; Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) earnings and Jeff Bezos' retiring from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).Stephen: Alex Rodriquez is sponsoring a SPAC.Nat: "Stephen stole my idea."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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices