Intel lost almost a third of its value on Friday. By the close, the Nasdaq Composite had sealed its worst month since March 2025, down 5.3%.
Tom Lee of Fundstrat, a Wall Street research firm, has another suspect. He thinks one big investor may have been forced to dump tech shares, leaving tech holders with the losses.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Why Tom Lee Thinks One Investor Was Forced to Sell
Speaking on CNBC as the Nasdaq slid on Friday, Lee said the market was fighting an “internal battle” and that the selling looked forced.
“Today looks like someone‘s getting liquidated. I don’t know if its an institution,” he said.
By “liquidated,” Lee means forced to sell. This happens when an investor buys shares with borrowed money and prices then fall. The lender wants its money back, so the investor has to sell at any price.
Selling that big drags prices even lower. Lee thinks that is what hit tech on Friday, not investors abandoning stocks.
As evidence, he pointed to a version of the S&P 500 that counts every company equally, so a small firm matters as much as a giant like Nvidia. That index was rising while he spoke, a sign to Lee that money was still in stocks.
By the close, it had slipped 0.79%. The regular S&P 500, where the biggest companies count most, fell 1.82%.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Bad Earnings Hit Tech the Same Day
Intel fell 28.6% after a weak fourth-quarter forecast, its worst day since 1974. Amazon reported $42.4 billion in negative free cash flow, driven by heavy AI spending.
A week earlier, Lee said yields back below 5% meant the AI selloff was ending. On Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.93%. The Nasdaq still had its worst day since June 5.
Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, said his retail clients had not fled. On Thursday, though, they piled into Alphabet.
Why Lee Says Wall Street Is Waiting for November 3
Lee says big investors lack the conviction to buy falling stocks before Tuesdays midterm elections. Until then, he warned, a small push could send prices sharply lower.
“I think people are marking their calendar until November 3rd,” he added.
CNBCs anchor said markets expect Democrats to edge ahead in both chambers of Congress. Sosnick called that the prevailing theory.
CME FedWatch also puts the odds of a December rate hike at 72%.
Lee says the buyers will come back. Tuesdays vote will show whether they do.