It's an interesting day, as the market moves higher and everyone awaits the Nvidia (NVDA) financial results after the close.

Two things stand out for me:

1. Consumer discretionary (XLY) stocks are higher on a lot of retail beats, which defies the notion that inflation has killed households' spending.  

2. The high beta trade has shifted back to hardware (it began yesterday with reversals of Micron (MU)) after Intuit (INTU) announced the layoff of 17% of its workforce.

The software ETF (IGV) is lower, although I am not as panicked, as the discovery process runs its course.  I mention “high Beta” because investors in software names might feel the urge to take losses on down days. If you still believe in the underlying fundamentals, it's probably best to hold, and ride out the big choppy waves.

Yes, they can be scary.

Today’s big decliners include some retailers, some software, and other names that could be vulnerable to the rise of AI.