Stocks Log Sluggish Start to September Amid Geopolitical Buzz

The subdued weekly returns from from Wall Street this week hardly tell the full story to start September, a historically bearish month. Investors battled global bond yield spikes, stubbornly-high oil prices brought on by renewed geopolitical tensions, and interest rate fears triggered by jobs data. Through it all, the Dow finished the week in the red, the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 closed out Friday rangebound for the week, and the Nasdaq eked out a weekly win.

Tech Tales of the Tape

Tech sector volatility shook loose a host of intriguing quantitative signals, semiconductor concerns Micron Technology (MU) and Intel (INTC) chief among them. Cryptocurrency maven Riot Platforms (RIOT) is another name to watch, as well as Adobe (ADBE), for all the wrong reasons.

MongoDB (MDB) sat out of the software rally after a post-earnings selloff, while sector peers Snowflake (SNOW) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) soared after their respective reports. 

Options Movement and Other Developments to Know

Options traders were busy this week, with recognizable names like Lululemon Athletica (LULU), Dell Technologies (DELL), and GoPro (GPRO) all getting blitzed. Going forward, keep an eye on MP Materials' (MP) China headlines and PG&E's legal headwinds.

Labor Day Breaks Up First Full Week of September

Next week brings the first full week of September, but not really, due to the Labor Day holiday. As summer officially winds down, keep this short squeeze watch list handy, as well as our studies on the three B's: bond yields, Bollinger Bands, and blue-chip outperformers.