Week in review: The Nasdaq's worst week since April, three trades, and earnings (www.cnbc.com)

Tech stocks stumbled to start November: the Nasdaq fell just over 3% — its worst week since April — and the S&P 500 dropped 1.6%, snapping three-week wins. Much of the sell-off centered on frothy AI-related valuations: Nvidia slid about 7% for the week and lost its $5 trillion market-cap tag amid renewed investor doubts that China will meaningfully reopen for chip purchases. That shift, combined with the now-longest U.S. government shutdown (since Oct. 1) delaying official data, elevated private indicators of economic stress — October job cuts hit a 22-year high and consumer sentiment plunged near historic lows — and amplified market volatility for AI plays. In response, the CNBC Investing Club made three buys: Starbucks (buying the turnaround under CEO Brian Niccol and a renewed store model), Boeing (added after a 777X charge but with confidence in a 737 production ramp from 38→42→47→52 planes/month and future free-cash-flow upside), and GE Vernova (key supplier of gas turbines for power and data centers benefiting from AI infrastructure buildout). Pharma and AI-adjacent stories also shaped the week: Eli Lilly gained after a GLP-1 pricing deal to expand Medicare/Medicaid access to Zepbound and positive mid-stage results for an amylin obesity candidate; DuPont beat on results after a spinoff and jumped 16.5% despite a downgrade; other earnings (Eaton, Solstice, Texas Roadhouse) were mixed. Bottom line for the AI/ML community: demand drivers for chips and data-center power remain strong, but geopolitics, macro stress, and valuation rotations are creating sharper, short-term re-pricings.