One Euphoric Monday, then four Choppy days as Nvidia lost its CEO

This was a one-day week wrapped in four days of chop. Monday closed Euphoric as hopes for an end to the Iran war sank crude and buyers rushed back into chips, lifting the S&P proxy about 2.4% in its best day since April. Then the tape stalled. Tuesday through Friday all closed Choppy, and the S&P proxy added only about 0.2% across those four sessions. For the week it rose about 2.6%, the Nasdaq proxy about 3.6%, the equal-weight S&P about 2.4% and small caps about 1.4%, while long Treasuries fell about 3.1%.

The week in moods

The turn came Tuesday. October consumer prices ran a tenth hotter than forecast, wires talked up back-to-back Fed hikes, and long Treasuries fell about 1.3%. From there the week swung around one company. Wednesday's chip rally on CoreWeave's report lifted the Nasdaq proxy about 2.3%, but a new report about Nvidia's CEO hit after the bell. Thursday Jensen Huang resigned, Nvidia fell about 4.3% after a 10% morning drop, and a weak 30-year bond sale sent small caps down about 1.6%. Friday's producer prices came in cooler than forecast, yet the chip ETF still fell about 3.0% and the Nasdaq proxy about 1.2%, while the equal-weight S&P edged up about 0.2%.

Best and worst trades

Among the week's headline names, Cerebras was the best, up about 21.1%, including about 11.1% on Friday after a sales forecast above estimates. AMD rose about 18.9% and Broadcom about 18.0% as buyers rotated into Nvidia's rivals, even after both gave ground Friday, AMD by about 8.8%. Onto Innovation gained about 17.5% after its report and CoreWeave about 14.5%, nearly all of it in Wednesday's 24.7% jump. The worst was Nvidia, down about 12.8% in its worst week since April 2025, accounts report, as its CEO probe ended in Huang's resignation. Nebius fell about 10.6% as AI cloud stocks slid after the news, and Microsoft slipped about 1.2%.

The story that won the week

Nvidia's CEO shake-up won the week. It began Monday with a halted smuggling probe and a class action, turned into a board investigation by Tuesday, and ended Thursday with Huang out and finance chief Colette Kress as interim CEO. On Friday accounts reported the board had approached Arm's CEO about the job, and the story eased to steady. The AI spending boom cooled. The chip ETF still rose about 4.9% for the week, but it gave back about 4.0% across Thursday and Friday as AMD, Broadcom and Nebius fell even after Cisco and Applied Materials beat. Underneath, Hike bets weigh on long bonds stayed live: long Treasuries fell about 3.1% on the week.

Next week's mood

Monday opens with the Empire State manufacturing survey at 8:30 AM ET, with Baidu and Tyson Foods reporting before the open (implied moves about 5.9% and 5.0%). Tuesday brings October retail sales at 8:30 AM ET and Nvidia's report after the close, and FOMC minutes come Wednesday at 2:00 PM ET. After Friday's close the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop over a communications issue, and the S&P proxy slipped about 0.6% after hours. The desk expects a Choppy Monday: the average stock is leading, but chips are sliding into Nvidia's first report without Huang. A calm restart for air traffic and a firmer chip ETF would pull it toward Grinding; a lingering ground stop with chips extending Friday's drop would push it to Rattled.