📺💡 The S&P 500 Is Hiding A Brutal Bear Market Please ❤️like, 🔖bookmark, and 🔁share with fellow growth stock traders/investors In this Short Insights video from our podcast recorded on Oct 23, @ConnorJBates_ explains why the S&P 500 is hiding a brutal bear market beneath the surface, as AI-related stocks, high-beta momentum names, and former market leaders suffer devastating losses despite the broader index remaining relatively close to its highs. * While the S&P 500 $SPY / $SPX is less than 5% below its peak, the Goldman Sachs high-beta momentum basket has suffered a staggering 43% drawdown, with some individual AI and momentum stocks down as much as 70–80% from their highs. – $IREN: -67% – $NBIS: -45% – $CRWV: -61% – $AAOI: -65% – $ASTS: -70% – $OKLO: -80% – $INTC: -35% and the list goes on... Excluding the COVID period, the momentum factor is experiencing its worst drawdown since the Global Financial Crisis. * Earlier this year, high-beta stocks, including names like $BE, $MU, and $SNDK, were among the market's strongest performers, with the momentum basket surging roughly 70% at its peak. But since topping in June, the trend has reversed dramatically, with many former leaders breaking below key moving averages. * The real story is what is happening beneath the surface. Money isn't necessarily leaving the stock market, which is a really positive sign. Instead, investors are rotating out of speculative AI and high-beta growth stocks into defensive sectors, consumer staples, dividend-paying companies, and traditional value stocks. This rotation helps explain why the S&P 500 remains relatively resilient while so many individual stocks are experiencing bear-market-level declines. * One particularly revealing indicator is the relative performance of low-volatility stocks versus high-beta stocks. After forming a triple bottom with RSI near 30, the low-volatility/high-beta ratio began climbing almost exactly when $QQQ peaked. Since then, defensive stocks have consistently outperformed while the Nasdaq-100 has trended lower. * Another striking development is the extreme underperformance of AI stocks relative to non-AI stocks, with the latest move marking the sharpest relative decline since the DeepSeek shock. Importantly, many of these beaten-down AI and momentum stocks are rebounding sharply today (Monday, Oct 26). But after declines of 40–80%, a powerful one-day rally doesn't necessarily signal a sustainable bottom or a reversal of the broader downtrend. This could simply be an oversold bounce or short-covering rally. The real test will be whether these stocks can sustain the recovery, reclaim key moving averages, and begin rebuilding their technical structures. * The key signal to watch is whether the low-volatility/high-beta ratio begins to roll over, potentially indicating that capital is rotating back into higher-beta technology names. * So, don't confuse a resilient S&P 500 with a healthy stock market, or a sharp rebound with a confirmed trend reversal. A historic momentum crash, widespread technical breakdowns, and a major defensive rotation reveal how much damage has occurred beneath the surface. Today's bounce is encouraging, but sustained improvement in market internals is needed before declaring that the worst is over. * Watch this Short video where @ConnorJBates_ breaks it all down in detail 🔽