ECONOMIC SILUET: Watch crypto stocks as SEC issues an investor alert, a big day for Netflix shares, REITs and regional banks add to losses

THU, MAR 23, 2023

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Big jump for Netflix stock. TikTok testifies before Congress

Netflix gained 9% Thursday in its biggest jump since a post-earnings surge in January. The move comes amid renewed optimism that the streamer's crackdown on password sharing will help boost subscribers, after a report showed a positive trend among Canadian users.
The backdrop of heightened scrutiny on TikTok helped boost stocks that could benefit from a potential ban such as Snap, which gained 3.1%.
Take-Two rose 3.5% and Electronic Arts added 2.6%

A good day for chip stocks

Chipmakers outperformed today, with Micron and Marvell both up more than 5%. Nvidia is enjoying its longest daily winning streak since 2016 and headed for its best quarterly gain since 2001. STMicroelectronics hit its highest level since November 2021 in today's session, while more than half of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) constituents are less than 10% from highs of their own.

On Holding surges 40% this week, outperforming other shoemakers

On Holding is on quite a run – up 40% so far this week, which would be its best gain since it went public in 2021. It's also trading at its highest level since then, fueled by an earnings report and flurry of positive analyst notes. All told, the stock is up nearly 80% in 2023.
Nike, which is significantly larger than On, is poised to finish its earnings week near the flatline. Lululemon, Under Armour and Hoka-parent Deckers Outdoor are up less than 10% this week.

More bad news for office REITs

The pile-on continued for office REITs again today, with Barclays downgrading SL Green and Boston Properties. The industry has seen a number of price target cuts and downgrades this week. SL Green is tracking for its seventh-straight weekly decline and its worst month since March 2020. Boston Properties is down 28% in March, also its biggest drop since March 2020. Both names are trading at their lowest level since 2009. Vornado, Cousins Properties, Douglas Emmett and Highwoods Properties were all off by 5% or more today and are tracking for monthly declines of over 20% each.

Ethan Kraft | CNBC Stocks & Markets Editor
@ethan_kraft

Caution lights for crypto stocks

The SEC has issued an "investor alert." It's on the front page of the agency's website saying quote "Exercise Caution with Crypto Asset Securities."
On that news, bitcoin was up 4% today.
Riot Platforms, which used to be called Riot Blockchain and something before that, rose 17% today. It's up a mere 180% in 2023.
Marathon Digital was up 9% today, up nearly 150% in 2023.
Cleanspark picked up 7% today, it is up 40% in 2023.
The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) jumped 7% today. It is up almost 70% in 2023 as well.
Coinbase, which received a Wells notice from the SEC yesterday, dropped 14% today, but it's stil up 87% in 2023.

Energy companies have great balance sheets, but the stocks are struggling this year.

CNBC's Pippa Stevens will report on a new trend in the industry for exploration and production companies like Hess, Devon, Conocophillips and others to stop hedging.
These companies have much improved balance sheets and cost structures. But these stocks are the worst performing sub-industry within energy so far this year.
APA is down 27% in 2023.
Devon Energy is 24% in 2023.
EOG is down 19% in 2023.
Texas-based Marathon Oil is down 19% in 2023 also.
Conocophillips is down 18% in 2023.
Pioneer Natural is down 17% in 2023.
Hess is down 15% in 2023.
Diamondback is down 7.4% in 2023.
Coterra is down about 6% in 2023.
The brightest part of energy so far is the oil and gas refining sub-industry, which is up 0.6% in 2023, led by Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum (MPC – not to be confused with Marathon Oil, MRO) and Valero.

Beyond Block

By now you know Block stock was hit hard after a short report, the stock fell 15%.
As for other payment stocks: Affirm was up 2.36%, Visa and Mastercard both up about 1% today, American Express was flat, Global Payments fell 0.5% and PayPal was down 2.4%.
For the year so far, American Express is the leader up 10%, Visa is up 7%, Affirm has a 3% gain, Mastercard is up 2% and PayPal is about the same.
Global Payments and Block are both now down about 1% in 2023.

More losses for regional banks

The KRE and IAT regional bank ETFs dropped big today, with the KRE slipping almost 3% and the IAT sliding another 2%.
Bob Pisani noted significant and sudden drops around midday for many of the big name regional banks.
Zions dropped 9% today, it's down 46% in March.
Comerica fell 8.6% today, it's down 42% in March.
KeyCorp lost 6.5% today, it's down 38% in March.
M&T fell 4.5% today, it's down 27% in March.
Citizens Financial fell 3.5% today, it's down 28.4% in March.
Western Alliance dropped 2% today, it's down 58% in March.
PNC fell 1.8% today, it's down 23% in March.

The FANG stocks

A big day for Netflix up 9%, but without today's rally, the stock would be lower for the year.
Meta gained 2.25% today, it is up 17% in March.
Alphabet also up 2% today, up 17% in March.
Apple and Amazon were both up slightly today. Apple is up 7.8% in March while Amazon has gained 5% so far this month.

These China stocks aren't being hurt by TikTok's grilling

While a TikTok executive was grilled on Capitol Hill today, several other Chinese companies had big days on Wall Street.
Tencent jumped 8% today. The stock is 10% from a 52-week high.
The latest jump was on the company saying revenue was growing once again.
Weibo was up 7.65 today.
Bilibili is up 6.3% today and up 25% in March.