Rocket Lab (RKLB) Stock Is Sliding Wednesday: What's Going On?

Shares of Rocket Lab Corp RKLB are trading lower Wednesday afternoon, caught in a broader market downturn as major indices see red. Here’s what investors need to know.What To Know: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipped Wednesday following cautious remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and rising oil prices, creating a risk-off sentiment that pressured growth stocks.The dip for the space exploration company follows a period of significant news. Recently, CEO Peter Beck highlighted potential collaborations with NASA for missions to Mars and Venus.Read Also: Opendoor Technologies Stock Is Surging Wednesday: What’s Going On?The company also celebrated the opening of its new Neutron launch complex. However, this positive momentum is weighed down by a recently filed class-action lawsuit alleging financial discrepancies.This mix of ambitious future plans and present challenges comes as the aerospace sector remains volatile. For Wednesday’s session, the decline in Rocket Lab’s stock appears primarily linked to the negative macroeconomic sentiment impacting Wall Street, rather than any new company-specific catalyst.RKLB Price Action: Rocket Lab shares were down 7.67% at $48.86 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro. Over the past month, RKLB has gained about 8.6% versus a 2.6% rise in the S&P 500 and is up roughly 93% year-to-date compared to the index’s 12.1% gain.Benzinga Edge Rankings: Despite Wednesday’s dip, Benzinga Edge rankings show the stock has an exceptionally high Momentum score of 99.04, indicating a strong recent price trend.Read Also: What’s Going On With SoundHound AI Stock Wednesday?How To Buy RKLB StockBy now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Rocket Lab – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.In the case of Rocket Lab, which is trading at $49.44 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 2.02 shares of stock.If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.Image: Shutterstock