Investor Peter Schiff on Wednesday challenged President Donald Trump’s claim of a booming stock market, pointing to a wave of stocks hitting 52-week lows.

Most Stocks Are Already in Bear Markets

In a post on X, Schiff said that 479 U.S. stocks hit 52-week lows Wednesday while only 60 hit new highs, a ratio of roughly eight to one.

“Trump likes to take credit for a booming stock market. But most stocks are actually in bear markets,” he added.

Today in the broader U.S. stock market, 479 stocks made 52-week lows while only 60 made 52-week highs. That's eight stocks hitting new lows for every one hitting a new high. Trump likes to take credit for a booming stock market. But most stocks are actually in bear markets.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 14, 2026

Trump has regularly touted the strength of the stock market, and in September, he said that “the stock market will go up” despite the war in Iran, adding that it had kept hitting new records and would likely be even higher without the war.

Hot CPI and Fed Hike Fears Weigh On Chips

The S&P 500 fell 1.11% to 7,718.94, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.88% to 26,692.87.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX), which is up about 70% this year, has fallen for seven sessions in a row.

Chip stocks have been hit by worries that financing could constrain the AI buildout, a hotter-than-expected inflation reading, bets on further Federal Reserve rate hikes, and concerns that China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies is stepping up competition in memory chips.

U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August, adding to expectations of further tightening.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate to a range of 3.75%–4% on Sept. 16, and the dot plot median points to one more hike this year.

AST SpaceMobile and SoFi Under Pressure

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) hit a 52-week low of $13.92 and is down about 46% so far this year.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) hit a 52-week low of $42 and is down about 50% this year, with analysts at Piper Sandler downgrading the stock this week.

Price Action: The State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) fell 1.08% on Wednesday to close at $769.60 and lost 0.32% in early pre-market trading on Thursday. The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) was down 1.97% to close at $728.95 and lost 1.18% in premarket trading.

Benzinga Edge rankings indicate the Invesco QQQ Trust has a Momentum score in the 81st percentile.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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