The markets just closed out a manic week
26 February 2021
The markets just closed out a manic week.
Why it matters: Outsized — and in some cases historic — moves were evident across the board.
A few places it's playing out...
Stocks: The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 5% this week, its ugliest performance since October.
- The "meme trade" reemerged, with GameStop stock gaining 156% this week, a record second only to ... that week in January.
- Separately, the SEC suspended trading in 15 different penny stocks Friday "because of apparent social media attempts to inflate their stock price" — its latest action on this front, the agency said this afternoon.
Bonds: There was a rare, massive surge in yields, followed by a sharp reversal. This is not often a wild market, but a measure of bond volatility this week hit the highest level since last April, Bloomberg reports.
- Inflation fears — and how the Federal Reserve will respond — hit a fever pitch. The 10-year government yield hit its highest level in a year (above 1.6%) on Thursday. It ultimately pulled back to 1.4% Friday.
- The yield on a separate bond (the 5-year) saw the biggest single-day increase in over a decade on Thursday, per Tradeweb data.
- And what you'll earn on dividends from the S&P 500 matched the return on the 10-year bond — a pandemic-era first notched this week.
Then there's bitcoin: Prices fell roughly 20% this week, the worst drop since March.
- A warning from soon-to-be public company Coinbase: The unveiling of Bitcoin's anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto and what he does with his stash could have a massive impact on the entire crypto market.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.