--- title: "Chip Stocks \"Hit a Wall,\" But the Market Didn't" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/295318895.md" description: "Chip stocks suffered a sharp decline, yet failed to deter the market; instead, they became a Buy-Low Signal for capital. Semiconductor ETFs, high-yield bonds, and Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously attracted inflows, with risk appetite heating up across the board. Although elevated 10-Year Treasury Yield continues to exert pressure, investors are betting with real money that this adjustment is merely a brief pullback, not the end of the risk-on rally" datetime: "2026-08-09T08:27:27.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/295318895.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/295318895.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/295318895.md) --- # Chip Stocks "Hit a Wall," But the Market Didn't Chip stocks plunged, bond yields surged, and geopolitical conflicts persisted— **Wall Street's list of worries keeps growing, but capital flows tell a completely different story.** Last week, **the S&P 500 Index hit a record high, the Nasdaq 100 Index recorded its largest single-week gain in two months, meanwhile, high-yield bond funds attracted $4 billion in a single week, marking the highest level in two years, and Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $500 million over five trading days.** Bank of America's Bull & Bear Index rose to its highest level since 2021, indicating that market sentiment has turned fully optimistic. All this occurred in the aftermath of the liquidation turmoil at Situational Awareness, an AI-focused hedge fund founded by "Silicon Valley Stock God" Leopold Aschenbrenner. The incident once dragged the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 29% from its June highs. However, instead of retreating, investors viewed the turbulence as a buy signal, injecting over $11 billion into semiconductor ETFs within just two trading days, after which related funds soared. ## Sharp Decline in Chip Stocks Becomes a Buy Signal The liquidation turmoil at Situational Awareness was the most dramatic episode in the recent market. The distress of this AI-themed hedge fund once pushed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 29% from its June highs, triggering severe volatility in tech stocks. But the market's reaction ran counter to traditional safe-haven logic. According to Bloomberg data, **the Direxion Semicon Bull 3X ETF, which leverages semiconductor stocks three times long, attracted over $2 billion in inflows within just two trading days, subsequently accumulating a gain of more than 50% over the next seven trading days.** The two largest non-leveraged semiconductor funds collectively attracted over $7 billion in inflows during the same period, each rising by approximately 16%. Michael O'Rourke, Chief Market Strategist at JonesTrading, characterized this as a "tsunami" of momentum buying. "The Situational Awareness event created a 阶段性 low point for AI trades, thereby releasing large-scale momentum chasing behavior," he stated. "However, it is worth noting that many investors still tend to concentrate on mega-cap stocks, with the Magnificent Seven remaining the primary drivers of index gains." ## Risk Appetite Heats Up Across the Board, From Retail to Institutional Investors Driving the market was not only the rebound in chip stocks but also a comprehensive influx of capital across asset classes. Citing Bank of America data, Bloomberg reported that high-yield bond funds saw net inflows of $4 billion last week, the largest single-week scale in two years; Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $500 million over the five trading days ending last Thursday, despite Bitcoin prices having traded sideways in a narrow range for months. In the stock market, investors injected a total of over $11 billion into semiconductor-related leveraged and non-leveraged ETFs last week. **Bank of America's Bull & Bear Index consequently rose to its highest level since 2021.** A team led by strategist Michael Hartnett pointed out that the stock market rally has 扩散 ed from the core tech sector, with strong inflows into high-yield bonds and narrowing credit spreads jointly supporting this optimism. Garrett Melson, Portfolio Strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions, believes that current market concerns are overstated and the fundamentals of risk assets remain solid. He maintains an overweight position on U.S. stocks, focusing on large-cap tech stocks, while keeping an underweight position on fixed income, though holding moderate duration and selectively configuring credit exposure. "At the end of the day, economic growth is performing well," Melson said. "Sentiment and positioning sometimes become overextended, but this overheating is localized. Rotation helps digest excess bubbles while maintaining support for the indices." ## Shadow of High Yields: Pressure in the Bond Market Has Not Dissipated The 狂欢 of risk assets did not take place in a worry-free environment. **Although the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield fell in four of the last five trading days, it remains near twenty-year highs, constituting significant background pressure that the market cannot ignore.** Analysts disagree on the causes of elevated yields. Some attribute the surge in yields in late July to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's deliberate avoidance of clear rate guidance, causing the market to doubt his determination to fight inflation; others believe that bond market movements reflect investors' confidence in continued economic expansion. Last Friday, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that U.S. employers unexpectedly cut jobs in July, with data for the previous two months also revised downward. This unexpectedly weak employment report instead boosted the stock market, causing bond yields to fall as the market bet that the Federal Reserve would not be forced to raise interest rates in the short term. Lindsay Rosner of Goldman Sachs Asset Management stated that as data becomes clearer and oil prices stabilize, the full picture of the economy and return on capital expenditure are becoming more evident. "Combining what we see, the economy remains robust, and the market is gradually adapting to the current AI supply while engaging in price discovery for future trends," she said. Ayako Yoshioka, Senior Investment Strategist at Wealth Enhancement, warned that **semiconductors remain central to AI infrastructure construction, but as the process advances, bottlenecks may shift to power supply shortages. "Higher yields remain a risk—especially against the backdrop of AI infrastructure construction continuing to knock on the door of the bond market," she said.** ## Brief Pullbacks Repeatedly Reinforce Bullish Confidence Supporting current market sentiment is a repeatedly validated investor psychology—every pullback is temporary, and every panic is a buying opportunity. Nathan Thooft, Senior Portfolio Manager at Manulife Investment Management, pointed out that price corrections have repeatedly proven to be fleeting, continuously reinforcing investors' psychological confidence. Those who chose to exit during periods of highest uncertainty paid the price, as the largest gains often occur precisely during the most turbulent market moments. "There are still no compelling alternatives," Thooft said. "Cash may feel safe, but in the long run, it struggles to outpace inflation and stock-like earnings growth. As for bonds, we believe the term premium is still underestimated. Over the past decade, investors who kept waiting for better entry points have mostly been left behind by the market." The Cboe Semiconductor ETF Volatility Index dropped by nearly 9 points this week, marking the largest single-week decline of the year，直观 ly presenting the rapid repair of market sentiment. 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