Wall Street Today | DWAC fuels day trader return to blank-check stocks

Tech shares faltered in late trading after results from $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ and $Apple (AAPL.US)$ fell short of expectations, marring what had been a strong earnings period for heavyweights in the sector.

The biggest exchange-traded fund tracking the $NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$ slid 0.7% as of 4:35 p.m. in New York, after Amazon warned its holiday profit could be zapped by higher costs and Apple's sales missed forecasts. The online retailer lost 5% and the iPhone maker dropped 4.8%.

Short interest in the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ has remained near historic lows for a large portion of 2021 as the U.S. equity benchmark has climbed to new heights. That's concerning in the longer term, as higher short interest levels tend to help minimize price gapping when the market is faced with unexpected risks or shocks, said a team of strategists including Christopher Harvey in a Thursday note to clients.

Economic growth rate slows to 2% on a sharp slowdown in consumer spending

The U.S. economy grew at a 2% annualized pace in the third quarter, its slowest increase since the end of the 2020 recession. Decelerations in consumer spending and residential investment helped keep the number lower.

Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected last week to a fresh pandemic-era low of 281,000, below the 289,000 estimate.

Individual investor interest has spread from $Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.US)$ to other pre-merger SPACs like $B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp. (BRPM.U.US)$ and $Altimeter Growth Corp (AGC.US)$ over the past week as retail traders hype shares across platforms like Stocktwits and Twitter. The same enthusiasm was, however, missing for those that have already been closed like $DraftKings (DKNG.US)$ and $Lucid Group (LCID.US)$, according to data from Vanda Research.

$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ posted lower-than-expected third-quarter sales and signaled that a tight labor market and supply-chain disruptions would weigh on earnings.

$Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ on Thursday announced that it has changed its company name to Meta. The name change, which was announced at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference, reflects the company's growing ambitions beyond social media.

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday, which Apple CEO Tim Cook attributed to larger-than-expected supply constraints. Apple's overall revenue was still up 29% on an annual basis and each of its product categories grew on an annual basis.