Making sense of this week’s volatility... And Nvidia earnings on the clock 8/21/26

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**Mike Santoli** (1:02)
Live from the Nasdaq Market site in the heart of New York City's Times Square, this is Fast Money. Here's what's on tap tonight. Stocks ending a rough week on an up note, but still down notably since Monday. Can today's momentum carry into next week? We'll debate. And we're counting down to Nvidia Earnings, the world's biggest company set to report next Wednesday what the charts say is next for the stock and what one top analyst is expecting. Plus, Broadcom eyes a massive debt deal. Retailer Ross Stores surges after earnings and a big week for Bitcoin. The crypto hitting three month highs and clocking its best week of the year. What's driving the gains and how much more momentum is left in that trade? I'm Mike Santoli, in for Melissa Lee. Coming to you live from Studio B at the Nasdaq. On the desk tonight, Karen Feinerman, Steve Brasso and Carter Worth. Welcome to you all. We start with that volatile run on Wall Street. S&P higher today, still down more than a percent since Monday, breaking a streak of three straight weeks of gains. Other major index is also in the red, with the Nasdaq leading the losses down over 2%.
All the action coming is long-term interest rates trade, near two-decade highs. Investors seemingly unimpressed by Treasury Secretary Scott Besson's plans to buy back billions of dollars in longer-term government debt. The 30-year yield fully recouping Wednesday's drop by today's close. So, can today's stock momentum last into next week, or will higher rates take another bite out of equity? Steve, read the back and forth here between stocks and bonds.

**Steve Brasso** (2:32)
Yeah. So, bonds are always considered the smart guys in the room, I think.
I say this humbly as an equity trader, we sort of react to them.
Warsh wants the bond market to do all the heavy lifting. It's done that so far, and the market is, as you've said in your last show, it's already pricing in basically, it's a coin toss right now. So, is Warsh going to have these focus groups handle it? Or is he going to let the market sort of, is he going to intimate anything? He's not going to say anything. He doesn't want to say anything. I think Powell said too much. So, we went from your part just too cold, your part just too hot, we want it just right. I think we're going to swing to that ambiguity now, and the market's going to run away with it a little bit. And I think that's what he wants. I think that's what the market wants. That's what I want. Why do I want that? Because I always like asking myself questions because I know the answers, I think. So, the reason why I want that is I feel as if the Fed gets painted into a corner if he talks too much. Gives him the ability to go back and forth. You had a guest on the previous show saying it's getting political. So, last year it was, or up until wars came in, it was Trump being political with Powell. Now, I feel like the Fed is being political with the market. I think we're going to see a little bit of this juggling back and forth, but I think it's healthy for the overall market.

**Mike Santoli** (3:52)
I guess, Karen, even setting aside the Fed piece of what's been going on with yields. First of all, it's a global move.
It's not really about projected inflation expectations. It's like everyone's borrowing, we're building a totally new industrial complex with AI. You obviously have a little bit of uncertainty around policy, but the question is, is this a level that changes the equation for stocks?