T3’s Market Wrap: Elon Musk Tweets a Short Squeeze

Tesla (TSLA) had a big day today.

Shares were up today on news reports that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had a $2 billion stake in the stock.

And then the stock extended on Elon Musk's subsequent Tweet.

This felt like an engineered short squeeze. My initial reaction was “I'm no securities attorney, but shouldn't the stock have been halted? Or does the word ‘considering' prevent this from being some type of official expression of intent?”

Funnily enough, the stock was halted about an hour later after it was up 7% on the day, at which point Musk Tweeted this:

After the stock reopened, it kept rallying and finished up 11% at $379.57.

In more ‘normal' market news, JOLTS Job Openings were 6.662 million in June, slightly exceeding the 6.646 million consensus. This is evidence of a strong labor market, last week's slightly light nonfarm payrolls report notwithstanding.

And the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index was 58 in August, beating the expected 57.2.

These numbers helped push the US dollar and Treasury Yields off the lows, and took gold down off its highs.

Interesingtly, the Vaneck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) could put in an outside down day if it keeps declining today and goes red. (an outside day has a higher high and lower low than the prior day) Utilities and real estate stocks, which are usually week when yields rise, performed poorly today.

On the flip side, bank stocks are putting on a pretty good show today.

But the real story was China's Shanghai Composite, which surged 2.7% on hopes of policy changes that could spur investment. That helped fuel positive action in US equities, with the S&P 500 inching ever closer to the 2872 all-time high set back on January 26.

Meanwhile, the strong dollar drove the Russell 2000 to outperform. Biotechnology was in great shape too.

The VIX hit an intraday low of 10.52, a level not seen since January.

Apple (AAPL), which now looks like the star of a blockbuster earnings season, hit a record high for the fifth straight day today, touching $209.50.

Speaking of earnings, Twilio (TWLO) stood out today, gapping up to new record highs today after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Office Depot (ODP) was up huge after shocking Wall Street with a revenue beat.

Expeditors International (EXPD) dropped despite beating Wall Street estimates.

And Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) was clobbered because of trial safety concerns.