Podcast Summary – The Rundown

Episode: S&P 500 Heads for 4th Straight Down Day, Home Depot Cuts Full-Year Guidance
Host: Zaid Admani
Date: November 18, 2025
Duration: Under 10 minutes

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode covers the broad downturn in both stock and cryptocurrency markets, focusing on why investor sentiment has soured, notable earnings reports from Home Depot and Klarna, a significant Cloudflare outage, strong results from Amer Sports, and a playful look at Pinkfong’s (the company behind "Baby Shark") IPO. The host also weaves in his signature light, relatable tone to make key financial headlines and trends accessible for everyday investors.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Sell-Off: Causes and Context

• Broad Declines: S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost ~1% on Monday, with over 400 S&P stocks in the red and 10 of 11 sectors down. (00:44)
• Technical Reversal: Both indices dropped below their 50-day moving averages—a significant bearish signal ending a 138-day streak, the longest since 2007 before the Great Financial Crisis.
  • Quote:

    "Both The S&P 500 and NASDAQ fell below the 50 day moving average, which is often seen as a sign that the momentum in the market is shifting downwards...the longest streak since 2007, which was right before the great financial crisis. So, so that's not a good omen." — Zaid Admani (01:14)

• Crypto Rout: Bitcoin briefly under $90,000, now below its start-of-year levels; altcoins at pandemic-level lows.
  • “It is brutal out in crypto land right now.” — Zaid (02:07)
• Drivers of Fear: Concerns over an “AI bubble," softening labor market, and uncertainty around Fed rate cuts (currently 50/50 odds for December).
• Rising Risk Aversion: Investors selling riskier assets like crypto and overvalued AI stocks.

2. Earnings Spotlight: Home Depot

• Weak Results:

  • Third straight quarterly earnings miss; full-year guidance cut.

  • Q3 profits and comparable sales came in light; projected EPS to fall 5%. (04:03)

  • Cited a “frozen housing market” and quiet hurricane season reducing both big renovations and urgent supply runs.

  • Customers are delaying major upgrades; trips to Home Depot are down (transactions -1.6%), but average spend per trip is up 1.8%.

  • Bright spot: Online sales up 11% YoY.

  • Home Depot stock down 3% for the day, over 10% YTD.

  • Quote:

    “People just aren't spending big on home improvement these days and management is blaming that on the frozen housing market and a relatively quiet hurricane season.” — Zaid (04:21)

3. Major Outage: Cloudflare

• Widespread Disruption:
  • Cloudflare outage took down major platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, and X. (05:19)
  • Cloudflare powers security/traffic management for an estimated 20% of the internet.
  • Previous outages noted (2019, 2022).
  • Broader point: The fragility of the internet, reliant on a handful of “infrastructure” companies.
  • Quote:

    “Honestly though, maybe a small reset from the Internet is needed for a few hours every few weeks.” — Zaid (06:14)

  • Impact: Cloudflare stock down ~4.4% on the day.

4. Stocks in Focus

Amer Sports

• Positive Surprise:

  • Q3 revenues up 30% to $1.8B, all business segments beat.

  • Brands include Wilson, Salomon, Arc'teryx; outdoor/technical apparel strong.

  • Shares up over 10% post-earnings.

  • Quote:

    "It might be time to put Amer Sports in that elite category." — Zaid (07:17)

Klarna

• Post-IPO Woes:

  • First report since IPO: Revenue +26% YoY to $903M (beat), but swung to $95M loss versus $12M profit a year ago.

  • Long-term loan activity up, but riskier — requires more reserves (“uncertainty investors hate”).

  • Klarna shares down nearly 10%, at all-time lows since IPO.

  • Rapid loss of market enthusiasm for recent IPOs (Klarna, Circle, Figma).

  • Quote:

    “The growth is there, but it's expensive and risky and investors just hate the uncertainty around it.” — Zaid (08:05)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Market Sentiment:

  "The vibe has shifted and we'll see if things can get back on track. Like I'm starting to think that even an Nvidia blowout earnings on Wednesday might not be enough to get the markets rallying again." (02:51)

• Host’s Birthday Wish:

  “I turned 34 today. It would be great to see some green in the markets as a birthday gift because lately opening up the public app to check my investments hasn't been so fun.” (03:07)

• On Internet Outages:

  “Just a few companies are responsible for the entire Internet working. So when one of them goes down, it has a pretty significant impact on people's day to day lives.” (05:57)

Fun Fact Spotlight (09:00)

Pinkfong IPO:

• The company behind “Baby Shark” (Pinkfong) just IPO’d in Korea; stock jumped 60% on the first trading day.

• Raised over $50M, now valued at ~$4.5B.

• “Baby Shark Dance” is still the most viewed YouTube video (16B+ views).

• Pinkfong’s new franchise, Bebefin, now exceeds Baby Shark in content revenue.

• Personal aside: Zaid notes how much his son watches their videos, joking about buying the stock.

  • Quote:

    “Turns out making baby brain rot videos can be pretty lucrative.” — Zaid (09:34) “I might have to buy some Pinkfong stock given how obsessed my 2 year old son is.” — Zaid (09:59)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:44: Market sell-off overview, technical trend warnings
• 02:07: Crypto market downturn, risk aversion themes
• 04:03: Home Depot earnings miss and cause analysis
• 05:19: Cloudflare outage explained and broader internet risk
• 06:54: Amer Sports earnings beat
• 07:32: Klarna’s first public earnings and market skepticism
• 09:00: Pinkfong and the “Baby Shark” IPO fun fact

Takeaway

This episode of “The Rundown” provides a quick yet nuanced look at broad shifts in investor risk appetite, the knock-on effects for both equities and digital assets, and the latest earnings signals from major retail and fintech names. Zaid’s conversational, empathetic tone makes technical and macroeconomic trends relatable, especially in a week marked by nervousness and volatility.