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Semis get rejected at the overhead line — SOXX -6.1%, SMH back below its 50-day — while the new sovereign-bond watch says this selloff isn't a rates story

In this edition

DUOL MNDY SPOT FN AEHR CRDO SMH XLV

The Midday 10 Tue, Aug 18, 2026 ~60 seconds 12:30 ET

A tech-led selloff dominates the midday tape, with semis bearing the heaviest weight while defensives — Health Care, Staples, and Energy — hold in positive territory.

US midday, intraday quotes (delayed)

  1. Duolingo
  2. monday.com
  3. Spotify
  4. Fabrinet
  5. Aehr Test Systems
  6. Credo Technology
  7. ETF Board
  8. Semis (SMH) / 50-day
  9. Health Care / 52-week high
  10. Morning 10 followup

The ten lines

  1. 1

    UP Duolingo

    DUOL

    DUOL adds 7.43% by midday, trading at 139.84. No fresh catalyst in the facts, but the move stands out against a broadly risk-off tape.

  2. 2

    UP monday.com

    MNDY

    MNDY rises 5.55% to 87.95, bucking the tech pressure that is dragging semis and the Nasdaq-100 sharply lower. Software's relative calm is providing cover for names like this one.

  3. Trade the Look The diary’s tactical book as an investable wikifolio certificate — around ten positions, fully visible. See the wikifolio →
  4. 3

    UP Spotify

    SPOT

    SPOT gains 5.17% to 517.93 by midday, sitting comfortably in the Communications sector which is itself up 0.43% — a pocket of the tape that is not behaving like tech today.

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C · line 11 · members

Today in line 11: the morning's open question gets answered by the bell — all four semi charts hit their first overhead line and got rejected, SOXX -6.1% and SMH back below its 50-day (590.82) after one session above it, Fabrinet completing a beat-to-sold-20% arc in under 24 hours — while a brand-new house instrument, the sovereign-bond watch (IGOV/GOVT/IGLO), debuts with a pre-market scare that the cross-check kills in minutes and settles at IGOV -0.27%, meaning today's selloff is equity-led rather than the sovereign-led pattern behind both of this year's drawdowns, with QQQ still 716.9 inside the untouched 694/746 scoreboard.

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Further reading on Closelook

Ten lines on the US midday tape, not advice — an investment diary. Published every trading day at 12:30 ET. See The Morning 10 and the Daily Pulse.