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Nick Lampone
Nick Lampone
Chief Strategy Officer
Pine Valley Investments
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Past Issues

The Morning Core Archive

Past issues are published here two days after subscribers receive them. Subscribe today to get every issue the morning it's written.

September 1, 2026
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August 31, 2026
Warsh, Bonds,and the Bond Market
Warsh slightly hawkish at Jackson Hole — September hike odds jump to 58% from 35%. US struck Iranian launchers preparing to fire mines in Hormuz. S&P up 3.45% s
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August 28, 2026
Forget the Fed,Watch the Market
Happy Soul Train Friday. Warsh speaks at Jackson Hole at 10 AM ET — 36% Sep hike chance. Torsten Slok: long rates have stopped moving on Fed days — this is the
Read Issue →
August 27, 2026
Nvidia, Mortgages,and Smoking on Airplanes
NVDA +16% premarket on strong earnings — Salesforce, Okta, CrowdStrike also jump. Software catching a bid. In 2010, a new home cost 3.3 years of average income.
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August 26, 2026
Nvidia's Next Trick,Earnings Tonight
PCE data, Durable Goods, and Nvidia earnings all today. Canada announces 50% counter-tariffs on 700+ US products effective Sep 8. Ben Evans on Nvidia: using its
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August 25, 2026
The Market You Wantvs. The Market You're In
NVDA down 7 straight sessions ahead of earnings. Druckenmiller's WSJ Op-Ed (written with AI) calls Bessent's bond buybacks a mistake. Hedge funds posted largest
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August 24, 2026
A Big Week
Nvidia earnings, Jackson Hole, and Bessent's 'economic D-Day' Iran sanctions press conference all this week. US debt hits $40 trillion. Q3 PMI tracking near 3%
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August 21, 2026
Summer Friday,Market Bounce
Happy Soul Train Friday. Nasdaq down 5 straight sessions — tech catching a bid on opex Friday. Walmart soft guidance weighs on consumer discretionary. Bitcoin d
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August 20, 2026
Bessent Hits Snooze,Formula Un
Treasury doubles long-bond buybacks — yields fell sharply, then reversed. Bitcoin above 200-DMA for first time in a year. SOXX stalled at 50-day MA and down 7%
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August 19, 2026
Earnings >Everything Else
Moderna +60% on positive Phase 3 melanoma data. Ed Yardeni coins 'FEMO' — Fabulous Earnings Momentum. Forward earnings at record highs across Large, Mid, and Sm
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August 18, 2026
Oil Higher,Rates Are Getting Rowdy
Oil back above $90 as Hormuz vessel crossings back to zero. 30-year yield hits a 19-year high at 5.32%. Tech up 65% since start of 2025 while forward PE fell fr
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August 17, 2026
Quiet Tape,Big Picture
Nick's back from vacation — quiet tape kept S&P within 1% of ATH. VIX under 15, no 80% downside volume day all year (unprecedented since 1996). Iran ceasefire e
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August 6, 2026
An "Outstanding"Market
Nick's on vacation — keeping it brief. Hormuz interim deal signed: 60 days, no tolls. Oil falls sharply. S&P earnings season 91% reported, blended EPS growth 49
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August 5, 2026
Risk-On,"Take It Back"
US, Iran, and Oman nearing interim Hormuz agreement — could be announced today. Eli Lilly +5%, Disney +3% on earnings. S&P broke above ATH by more than 1.5% — o
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August 4, 2026
The Trend IsYour Friend
Bessent says Hormuz deal possible today. PLTR +15%, CAT +11% on earnings. S&P above 7600 for first time since June 2. ISM Manufacturing highest in 4+ years. Q3
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August 3, 2026
Oil Down, Stocks Up,Climbing the Wall of Worry
Trump calls off Iran strikes — oil -6%. AstraZeneca in discussions to acquire Bristol Myers ($400B potential deal). S&P barely budged in July (-0.1%) despite al
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July 31, 2026
Momentum is Running With the Night,Playing In the Shadows
Happy Soul Train Friday. Amazon +13% on AWS blowout — AWS revenue over 12 months exceeds revenue of 474 S&P 500 companies. Apple -7%. Korea KOSPI +18% as deleve
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July 30, 2026
Bond Market Strikes Back,Meta Misses Again
Fed held 9-3 — first three dissents in the same direction since 2016. 30-year yield hit a 19-year high at 5.21%. MSFT +10% premarket after blowout cloud results
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July 29, 2026
The Fed, AI Spending,Show Me the ROI
Fed Day + Meta/MSFT earnings tonight. 35% chance of a hike priced in. S&P forward PE down 10% YTD, Tech PE down 14%. Investors' two rosy AI assumptions — US chi
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July 28, 2026
Welcome To the Party,Pal!
Nasdaq -1% premarket. WDC -22%, MU -22%, INTC -34%, SNDK -43% month-to-date. Korea KOSPI -36% from June peak. Fed meeting this week. AI circular funding concern
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July 27, 2026
Momentum On Vacation,FOMO Freefall
Oil lower on Trump's Iran strike pause. SpaceX -49% from ATH as FOMO evaporates. Earnings excellent but market reaction subdued — expectations were sky high. Ra
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July 24, 2026
Enjoy the QuietWhile It Lasts
Happy Soul Train Friday. Intel beat-and-raise jolts tech. Oil hits $100 for a visit. Fed meeting and Big Tech earnings next week. USTR tariffs effective today.
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July 20, 2026
The Bulls Have Earnings,The Bears Have Missiles
Weekend strikes push futures lower, then bounce on ceasefire proposal. Earnings the real story: 88% of S&P reporters beating estimates — well above every histor
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July 17, 2026
Welcome To the AI Hangover,Living Longer
SOX -4% premarket — semis in a steady drawdown for a month. JPMorgan's desk lays out the full bear case for tech. Netflix -10% on growth concerns. But breadth i
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July 16, 2026
Rotation orthe Start of Something Bigger?
TSM's capex guidance spooks semis. Korea Kospi -7%. S&P has done nothing for 2 months — but only the 4th time in this bull market it sat within 5% of ATH withou
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July 15, 2026
Can We Just TalkAbout Earnings?
June CPI declined for first time in 6 years. Goldman and JPMorgan at all-time highs after blowout earnings. Datatrek: Financials +9.5%, Healthcare +8.0%, Russel
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July 14, 2026
The VIX Is Sleeping,The Market Isn't
Oil above $80, stocks flat premarket. US hits Iran again. VIX under its long-run average while semis average +/-3.36% daily — only matched at the dot-com peak,
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July 13, 2026
'Well, We're Waiting.'— Judge Smails
US-Iran trade fresh strikes — Hormuz 'closed.' SK Hynix -15% after IPO. Earnings season kicks off tomorrow. Warsh testifies to Congress. CPI Tuesday. Q2 EPS gro
Read Issue →
July 10, 2026
Diversification,Do I Do
Happy Soul Train Friday — RIP Bonnie Tyler. SK Hynix IPO day. SPY +10%, IWM +21%, RSP +11%, VEA +13% YTD. Of H1's top 20 performers, only 2 are up in Q3. Old Er
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July 9, 2026
You Don't Have to Seethe Whole Staircase
Semis catching a bid — SK Hynix IPO 7x oversubscribed. Markets pricing in the TACO trade. Apple-Broadcom $30B chip deal. NDX within 10% of ATH with 1%+ daily sw
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July 8, 2026
Oil Up, Stocks Down,Rinse & Repeat
US launches major Iran strikes — oil +6%, S&P futures -76. SMH down 8% in 5 days but still +61% YTD. Hedge funds at 2nd percentile leverage. Crash protection at
Read Issue →
July 7, 2026
Semis Hit Pause,Market Runs Out of Headlines
Samsung beats but disappoints. DeepSeek building its own AI chip. Iran fires at Hormuz ships again. 10-year up to 4.50%. S&P 493 responsible for 96% of price re
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July 6, 2026
Follow the Money,Not the Headlines
Back from the holiday weekend. Semis set to rebound. SpaceX joins the Nasdaq 100 tomorrow with a <1% weight. AAII investors say they're bearish — but their a
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July 2, 2026
Fear Sells,the Tape Tells
Happy 4th of July weekend. Semis under pressure but oil on a 4-week decline — the tape knew first. Jobs report at 8:30. GDPNow plunged to 1.2%. Mag 7 had their
Read Issue →
July 1, 2026
Q3 Kicks OffWith Bulls Still in Control
Calendar flips to Q3. Semis led the charge to close Q2. If the S&P finishes the year above 7530, that's FOUR consecutive years of double-digit returns — only ha
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June 30, 2026
Lag 7Strikes Back
SOX swings from -2% to +3.8% in a single session. The Lag7 finally shows life — Tesla +8.4%, Google +4.8%. Big Tech's correlation with the S&P at its lowest sin
Read Issue →
June 29, 2026
AI Maniato Market Rotation
Bouncing after last week's selloff. Semis down 2%, equal-weight up 1.6% — a clear rotation signal. Mag-7 down 14% from its May peak — meet the new 'Lag-7.' Gold
Read Issue →
June 26, 2026
AI Pause, Rotation,Russell Rebalance
Happy Soul Train Friday. Semis pulling back — Trump may ask OpenAI to delay its model, OpenAI may delay its IPO to 2027. Russell rebalance at the close. Mag 7 a
Read Issue →
June 25, 2026
Tech Is Kindof a Big Deal
Micron blowout — MU +16%, SOX +5%. AI trade back in full force. PCE data this morning. Immaculate disinflation hopes returning. Oil back to pre-war levels. Hype
Read Issue →
June 24, 2026
The SemiconductorSoap Opera Continues
Semis bounce premarket ahead of Micron earnings tonight. Iran won't charge Hormuz tolls but nuclear inspections still unresolved. June last 2 weeks historically
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June 23, 2026
Drunken Sailors,Show Me the Money
Nasdaq down again — AI capex concerns weigh on tech. South Korea Kospi -10%, triggering a halt. SpaceX heading to the bond market. Quarter-end rebalancing: $165
Read Issue →
June 22, 2026
Irrational Exuberance,30 Years Later
Back from a long weekend. Micron reports Wednesday — up 297% YTD. FedEx on Tuesday. Alan Greenspan passes at 100. Oil below $4. Hormuz traffic ticking up. 98% c
Read Issue →
June 18, 2026
The Trend Is Your Friend,Quad Witch
Happy Soul Train Thursday — market closed tomorrow. US-Iran MOU officially signed. Largest options expiration in history: ~$8.3 trillion. Fed signals next move
Read Issue →
June 17, 2026
Warsh Takes the Wheel,The Compute Crunch
Warsh's first FOMC — hawkish tone, rates held. AI narrative: 'not enough compute.' SpaceX buys Cursor for $60B. DeepSeek raises $7.4B. Bank of Japan at 31-year
Read Issue →
June 16, 2026
SometimesIt's Just Earnings
Stocks flat after yesterday's monster rally. Oil down another 2.6%. Warsh's first Fed meeting tomorrow. Eight of eleven S&P sectors saw multiples compress this
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June 15, 2026
One Less Thing to Worry About,Back to Earnings & Rates
US-Iran peace deal confirmed. SpaceX IPO closed +19% — a well-executed deal. Equal-weight S&P and Russell 2000 both hitting ATHs. Now back to earnings and rates
Read Issue →
June 12, 2026
Positioning, Fundamentals,SpaceX Spirits
Happy Soul Train Friday — SpaceX IPO day. Iran deal imminent. Adobe -7% despite a beat. Software shorts still elevated. S&P RSI fell 34 points in 6 days — histo
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June 11, 2026
From Buy the Dipto Sell the Rip
Every bounce gets sold. Oracle -8% on exploding capex guidance. May CPI hits 4.2% — first time above 4% since April 2023. S&P top-of-book liquidity at lowest in
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June 10, 2026
Golden TempoTakes the Lead
A re-escalation in the Middle East pulls a Golden Tempo and takes the lead in the anxiety race. CPI at 8:30. S&P down 3% from highs. Bitcoin -51%. The three ing
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June 9, 2026
The BullsAre Back In Town
Stocks set to open higher as tech rebounds from Friday's bloodbath. Crude down 2% on Hormuz deal reports. S&P earnings expected up 25% this year. Corporate Amer
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June 8, 2026
Markets Discover Gravity,Real Test Coming
Stocks try to bounce after Friday's epic rout — Nasdaq -5%, SOX -10% in a single day. Iran says it will end military operations against Israel. The AI momentum
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June 4, 2026
Expectations Matter,Risk Assets Involve Risk
Happy Soul Train Thursday — Nick is out Friday. AVGO down 12% despite a good quarter. 9-day win streak snapped. SpaceX IPO hype: the best investments always fee
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June 3, 2026
Narrow Leadership,New Highs
Renewed Iran hostilities push oil and yields higher. Semis open higher anyway. 68% of the S&P's 20% gain since March driven by just 10 companies. The definition
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June 2, 2026
AI Doing AI,Everyone Is a Genius Again
Futures flat as the AI trade and Iran talks get reassessed. 10-year dropped 24bps in two weeks. Alphabet raises $80B. Goldman Panic Index at a 2-year low. Puts
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June 1, 2026
Tech Leads,The Rally Rolls On
9th consecutive winning week. S&P +5.15% in May, Nasdaq +8.36%. Tech now 37% of the S&P — above the dot-com peak. AI gets you the answer. Understanding still re
Read Issue →
May 29, 2026
The Narrow RallyRolls On
Happy Soul Train Friday. Dell +33%. Fresh record intraday highs. Only 21 S&P stocks at new highs — same count as the dot-com bubble top in March 2000. Breadth i
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May 28, 2026
Markets CatchTheir Breath
Stocks flat as investors pause after a strong run. Snowflake +30% on a massive beat. PCE inflation at 8:30 AM. US and Iran exchange overnight strikes — but the
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May 27, 2026
Momentum Isa Helluva Drug
Semis push stocks to fresh all-time highs. Crude down 5% on Hormuz deal optimism. Software up next — Snowflake and Salesforce report today. The SaaS-pocalypse m
Read Issue →
May 26, 2026
Fear Headlines,Calm VIX, Bullish Tape
Futures surge on reports the US and Iran agreed to a deal in principle. VIX below 19.5. 10-year back to 4.51% after hitting 4.66% last week. Consumer sentiment
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May 22, 2026
Warsh, Inflation,Moving Sidewalks
Happy Soul Train Friday! Stocks modestly higher into Memorial Day weekend. Kevin Warsh sworn in as Fed Chair today. Iran talks progressing. A reminder of what t
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May 21, 2026
Nvidia Non-Event,Geopolitical Noise, VIX Shrugs
Nvidia flat premarket — all the good news was priced in. Iran Supreme Leader hardens on uranium. Fed minutes show rate hike seriously considered. VIX at 17.4: n
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May 20, 2026
Semis, IPOs,and a Hopeful Tape
Stocks inch higher as oil and yields drip lower. Nvidia earnings tonight. Toll Brothers beats and raises despite housing headwinds. IPO supply wave building — G
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May 19, 2026
Buyer Exhaustionor Market Pause?
Stocks in a holding pattern as Iran talks stall and oil hits $108. The AI trade is crowded — semis 20% of hedge fund net exposure, $100B in leveraged ETF gamma.
Read Issue →
May 18, 2026
Inflation Fears,Bond Market Wants Answers
Stocks shaky after a 7-week win streak as Iran headlines and the 10-year pushing 4.60% weigh. AI now accounts for nearly half of all IG bond issuance. Eight 1%+
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May 15, 2026
Higher Yields,A Pause in the Melt-Up
Happy Soul Train Friday! Futures down -65 as the 10-year creeps toward 4.55% and inflation stays sticky. Six weeks of straight up — a little consolidation would
Read Issue →
May 14, 2026
AI & IPO Mania,Melt-Up Continues
Cisco +15% on stellar earnings lifts the whole tape. Cerebras IPO priced at $185, well above range. China agrees Hormuz stays open. How much good news is alread
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May 13, 2026
Semi Fever,Inflation Reality
Semis look to bounce after yesterday's slide. April CPI came in hot — core services at a 15-month high. The 10-year creeping toward 4.5%. The oil shock is start
Read Issue →
May 12, 2026
Bad News?Buy More Tech
CPI at 8:30 AM. S&P and Nasdaq at fresh record highs. Retail call buying at meme-stock levels. Bears think it's overheating — bulls say party like it's 1998. Wh
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May 11, 2026
The RallyKeeps Feeding Itself
Stocks flat as earnings season winds down. Buying begets more buying — bears are short, retail is all-in, and the options market has flipped from fear to AI sup
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May 8, 2026
Stocks Eye Labor Data,Fed On Hold?
Futures higher on falling yields and easing oil. April Jobs Report at 8:30 AM. The labor market holds — and so does the Fed's patience. Equal odds of a cut or h
Read Issue →
May 7, 2026
Wall of WorryStill Under Construction
Futures flat as the market digests AI gains and shifts back to earnings. Treasury yields drifting lower. Bears are fighting the rally — and that's exactly what
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May 6, 2026
AI and OilDrive the Boat
Oil down. Stocks up. Reports of a US-Iran deal framework send futures surging. AMD +19%, Corning +17%. The two variables that have driven this market all year a
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May 5, 2026
Record Margins,Profits Still Matter
Futures higher as oil drifts lower. Corporate margins are tracking to a record 14.7% — breaking the previous high. Nearly 70% of S&P 500 companies have reported
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May 4, 2026
Earnings Support,Eyes on Consumer
Futures slip as Project Freedom headlines shift. Consumer stocks take center stage — Shopify, Disney, Uber, and McDonald's all report this week. April jobs repo
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April 30, 2026
Tech Delivers,Reactions Mixed, No More Easy Wins
Mega-cap tech beat across the board, but investors are no longer rewarding earnings alone. Google soars. Meta sells off on spending. Microsoft guides higher but
Read Issue →
April 29, 2026
We Know What We're Holding,We Know What You're Holding
Stocks are flat premarket as mega-cap tech lines up to report after the bell and the Fed delivers its rate decision at 2 PM. Only two things move stocks — earni
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April 28, 2026
Markets Stall Near Highs,Waiting on Tech and Oil
The tape remains resilient ahead of a massive week of catalysts — but with valuations elevated and expectations high, the next move will come down to whether ea
Read Issue →
April 27, 2026
Oil Noise Fades,Earnings Season Heats Up
Markets are looking through higher oil prices and focusing on what matters most: five of the Magnificent 7 report this week. The next phase of this rally needs
Read Issue →
April 26, 2026
Markets Hold Near Highsas Tech Earnings Loom
Markets remain stalled near all-time highs as investors await clarity on US-Iran negotiations and a blockbuster week of mega-cap tech earnings. The tape is resi
Read Issue →

Disclaimer: The Morning Core is published for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained in this newsletter constitutes investment advice, a solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. The views expressed reflect the opinions of Pine Valley Investments and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Subscribers should consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Pine Valley Investments, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.