The market continued to push through headwinds on Wednesday, driven by technology stocks such as TSLA and MSFT. The S&P set a fresh record close at 7022, with growth stocks receiving a boost. Despite the overall positive sentiment, banks did not participate significantly, with some earnings prints rewarded. Meanwhile, popular hedge fund longs underperformed crowded shorts, and software rallied by 5%, while semis traded lower for most of the session. The software rally appeared to be technical in nature, with momentum pressure and unwinds of long semiconductor and memory positions versus short enterprise software.

Retail brokers gained attention following a Wall Street Journal report on the potential end of the “Pattern Day Trader” rule, which could turbocharge retail stock trading. According to Christian, the retail customer is more interconnected than people think, with total activity at HOOD coming alongside crypto activity/sentiment. This interconnectivity could lead to higher activity across the platform, especially since multiple is still a factor driving buying interest. However, earnings estimates are still coming down, making it challenging for investors to get behind the sector.