Meta Pops, Dollar General Soars While Kroger, Snowflake And Intel Slide

US markets were pretty flat, but there were big moves under the surface as discount retail and big tech rallied while groceries, cloud data and old school chips sold off.

Winners -

Discount retailers – $DG, $DLTR

Reason: $DG jumped after strong earnings and upbeat guidance, confirming that cash-strapped shoppers are trading down into dollar stores rather than cutting spending, which also supports sentiment for $DLTR.

Social media and digital ads – $META, $GOOGL

Reason: $META climbed after reports it plans to cut metaverse spending and focus more on profitable ad and AI areas, which is positive for margins and spills over into other big ad platforms like $GOOGL.

Energy and gold plays – $XOM, $NEM ...