Fed's soft touch sparked a broad rally, and our rare earth plays felt the love just in time for Nvidia's reckoning

Evening brief: Fed's soft touch sparked a broad rally, and our rare earth plays felt the love just in time for Nvidia's reckoning

Published Aug 23, 2026, 8:01 PM EDT

Fed Rate Cut Hopes Drive Broad Market Rally

Dovish expectations ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium rallied equities as traders priced in near-term monetary easing.

HOOD Surges 13.70% on Wall Street Upgrades

Robinhood jumped 13.70% after Goldman Sachs raised its target to $123 amid surging Bitcoin prices and private-market expansion.

USAR Jumps 12.57% on DOE Minerals Grant

USA Rare Earth surged 12.57% as fresh Department of Energy critical mineral grants and domestic supply mandates boosted buying interest.

MP Gains 9.10% on Rare Earth Momentum

MP Materials climbed 9.10% following a Morgan Stanley price target upgrade to $73 and accelerating domestic magnet supply contracts.

NVDA and CRM Earnings Head Next Week's Slate

Investors prepare for high-stakes earnings from Nvidia and Salesforce on Wednesday to test the market's AI momentum and rally strength.

Posture: With Fear & Greed at 55 (Greed) and rate cut hopes building, we maintain a cautious growth posture ahead of key AI earnings.

Tickers in focus: SPY, MP, NVDA

Upcoming earnings

• CRM — 2026-08-26, After Market Close
• NVDA — 2026-08-26, After Market Close
• IREN — 2026-08-27, After Market Close
• MRVL — 2026-08-27, TBD
• WDAY — 2026-08-27, After Market Close
• AVGO — 2026-09-02, After Market Close

The day's lineup changes

• Aug 23, 2026 · CCJ — Sold @ $103 +5.3% (Cut)
  CCJ revenue contracted 7.2% YoY with lumpy deliveries and rich 176x PE, making room for higher-conviction AI infrastructure exposure in ANET.
• Aug 23, 2026 · ANET — Stage change — → Buy Zone @ $189
  Added to lead enterprise AI Ethernet networking; strong hyperscaler cluster deployment earns immediate buy-zone status.
• Aug 23, 2026 · PAAS — Stage change Buy Zone → Holding @ $53.07
  Silver ripped and took us +10% in five days — with 19% left to our value the easy entry is gone. Same playbook as CCJ: hold the winner, stop adding.