AlphaTALKS Wall Street Breakfast, March 20: What Moved Markets This Week

Stocks had another volatile week with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision (and more importantly, its accompanying commentary) on Wednesday the major linchpin. Markets initially greeted Fed chair Jerome Powell’s dovish statements with buying, bidding up indices on Wednesday afternoon. That reversed on Thursday, with risk assets selling off across the board. Technology stocks took the brunt of the punishment, with the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) dropping by 3%.On Friday, tech stocks rebounded and major indices ended the week only slightly lower.The Dow Industrials Index (DJI) was the least bad performer for the second week in a row, with a loss of 0.5%. The S&P 500 (SP500) and Nasdaq were both 0.7% lower.Cryptos quietly had a strong week with bitcoin (BTC-USD) gaining almost 5% since Monday.Winners & LosersCyclicals and value stocks were among the main beneficiaries over investor concerns about inflation. Rising yields have been leading investors away from growth-related names and into some value stocks. Airlines took off after the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, said air travel had rebounded to its highest level in almost a year. The US Global JETS ETF (NYSEARCA:JETS) gained 4% this week. United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) shares rallied almost 13%, followed by American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) with a 12% gain.Energy was a big loser this week, with crude prices declining more than 7% to their lowest level this month. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLE) is down 7%, snapping a six-week winning streak. Shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) have dropped almost 15% with Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) off about 14% and Apache Oil (NASDAQ:APA) down about 12%.Financial stocks were one of the few sectors to finish in the black on Thursday. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) is up 0.6% for the week even after dropping today on news the Fed let its temporary SLR rule expire.What Caught Our Eye(s) This WeekKim: GameStop heading for first down week in four after 550% rally;Stephen: Office politics at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS);Brad: Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) CEO tells short-term investors to consider other stocks;Nat: Why CVS (NYSE:CVS) Is Logan Kane’s Top Stock Pick For 2021.About This PodcastAlpha TALKS Wall Street Breakfast is a weekly podcast 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 (off this week);Kim Khan, Senior News Editor;Stephen Alpher, Managing Editor News, co-host of Seeking Alpha's Alpha Trader podcast.A slightly longer video publishes every Friday by close of trading on the SeekingAlpha.com website. Watch this week's video here.The video can also be seen on the Seeking Alpha YouTube account.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices