WSJ Your Money Briefing What’s News in Markets: Bearish Bets, Defiant Oil Prices, a Social Media Reckoning
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Mar 28, 2026 Markets are shifting as last year’s top performers lose favor and investors place bearish option bets. Legal rulings against major social platforms spark stock declines amid debate over harms to minors. A breakthrough in AI memory rattles chip makers. Oil jumps near $113, lifting energy names and threatening higher consumer prices and sentiment.
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Market Leaders Falling Trigger Broad Pullback
- The market's recent slide is driven by the very stocks that led last year's rally, signaling a broad rotation rather than isolated weakness.
- Nasdaq hit correction territory and the S&P 500 posted its longest weekly losing streak in nearly four years, showing widespread selling pressure.
Big Tech Faces Potential Existential Legal Risks
- Legal rulings this week put Meta and Alphabet under pressure by holding them responsible for harms to minors and addictive design.
- Meta fell 11% and Alphabet about 9% as juries awarded damages and analysts called it existential for ad-driven engagement models.
Jury Awards Highlight Social Media Harms
- Jurors in New Mexico and California awarded damages linking Meta and YouTube to harms experienced by minors, including addiction and exposure to explicit content.
- A New Mexico verdict hit Meta for $375 million while a plaintiff won $6 million citing scrolling that 'shredded her mental health.'