The pullback crash toolkit if markets fall 20% again

US stocks tumbled overnight, with the Nasdaq 100 the biggest loser — falling 2.4% and wiping out gains led by Nvidia, which fell ~3%.  The $NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$ is now almost in correction territory, down 8%. The Aussie market also looks like it’s heading for a correction.

$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ continued its bear-market decline, shedding almost 4% to $87,177. It has now erased seven months of gains in just 50 days — down 30%.  We cover the pullback crash toolkit today. Stocks to watch coming up.
It almost feels like we’re getting signals that it’s February all over again — before tech stocks fell 24%.The fact that key indices, Nvidia, and the king crypto Bitcoin all closed at their lows of the day suggests selling pressure is building. More dark days may be ahead for riskier assets before we can think about a meaningful rebound.

If markets correct 10% or fall into a bear market (down 20% for their highs) expect animal spirits to return. Investors to buy stocks that suddenly look cheap. This is how investment managers make money: buying long-term themes they believe in (at a discount). And remember the themes: AI, chips, data centres, uranium, lithium — all have strong multi-year tailwinds. And Nvidia. Yes $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ as I covered yesterday, it remains the only company of its size that has sold out all cloud GPU, is growing gross margins above 70%, has US$500 billion in AI-chip orders for 2025 and 2026. That’s extremely compelling so you'd expect Nvidia shares to recover from a market crash, as they historically do

$Walmart (WMT.US)$ shares gained 6.5% overnight after releasing results. Sales rose 4.5% for the quarter ending 31 October, and the retailer lifted its fiscal-year sales forecast to more than 5%. E-commerce growth was particularly strong. This wraps up a mixed quarter for US retailers, with Walmart, Amazon and TJ Maxx reporting solid demand driven by need-based spending, while Target and home-improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe’s underperformed.

$Oracle (ORCL.US)$ slid 6.6% overnight and has become something of a barometer for AI-related market risk. Its shares have now fallen 24% over the past month. A series of deals linking Oracle, Nvidia and OpenAI has fuelled concerns that AI valuations may have run too hot, too fast. Traders are increasingly betting the stock may face further pressure, reflected in credit-default swaps rising to a three-year high — a sign markets are pricing in higher perceived risk.

$Liontown Ltd (LTR.AU)$ Resources jumped 9.5% yesterday after completing its first digital spot sale auction of spodumene. The move comes as lithium prices rebound roughly 50% from their lows. Liontown’s share price has surged 206% year-to-date, including a 63% gain over the past month. Despite the sharp rally, analysts maintain an “underperform” consensus rating on the stock, signalling expectations of a potential pullback.