The Trading Day · Monday, July 20, 2026

Two Sessions to Decide the DeepSeek Question — Then Alphabet Speaks

Confirmation Monday. Friday's expiry session left the verdict written in pencil: SOXX closed 43 cents below the June washout line at 522.24 after a 498.54-to-530.52 round trip, QQQ held its own line by 39 cents, and option mechanics were in the middle of all of it — which is why Sunday's scoring carried an asterisk and today's clean session is the eraser or the ink. The first answers are already on the tape: Seoul, which sat out the entire global rout, is repricing two missed sessions at once — the Kospi is down four and a half percent — and buying back the epicenter while it does it: SK Hynix gapped five percent lower and is trading above its open. Taiwan reopened with TSMC green. Tokyo is closed for Marine Day. Tomorrow the biggest AI spender of them all reports — and the bear who called the June top spent the weekend arguing the risk-reward has turned. The day in ten.

The Morning 10

  1. 1 The verdict line — 43 cents below, with an asterisk to resolve
  2. 2 QQQ's 39 cents — the last held line in growth
  3. 3 Seoul reopens into the rout it missed — and buys the epicenter
  4. 4 SKHY — the $149 shelf was pierced and rejected
  5. 5 Micron's 12% range — a two-way auction, not a liquidation
  6. 6 The handoff branch — software was flat through a 10% semis week
  7. 7 Vol is expanding — the reversal is the signal to wait for
  8. 8 The defensive week — how fast it unwinds is the tell
  9. 9 The calendar turns — Ryanair today, Alphabet tomorrow
  10. 10 Outside view — Dan Niles turns tactical buyer of the break

On the tape

The books that day

24 recorded trades: Added ATEYY (AI Buildout) · Added BB (AI Buildout) · Added COHR (AI Buildout) · Added DOCN (AI Buildout) · Exited ISRG (AI Buildout) · Exited SFTBY (AI Buildout) · …. The live feed →

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