AI super rally has retail investors acting the most aggressive since trading frenzy during Covid

Retail traders are buying calls in Cboe's "Mag 10" stocks – the big seven plus AMD, Palantir and Broadcom – at the heaviest 10-day clip since 2021, according to a report from the exchange.

What happened

Retail traders are buying calls in Cboe's "Mag 10" stocks – the big seven plus AMD, Palantir and Broadcom – at the heaviest 10-day clip since 2021, according to a report from the exchange. The development sits squarely in the capital markets cycle that our editors have been tracking this week, touching on ai, amd, broadcom, investors, report.

Why this matters

Markets in 2026 are pricing a sustained AI-led capex cycle, with semiconductors, hyperscale cloud, and adjacent infrastructure plays driving a disproportionate share of index returns. Each new earnings beat or capital-allocation announcement tightens or loosens the narrative, and moves like this one give traders a fresh data point on whether the story is still intact.

The bigger picture

Equity markets in 2026 have been defined by concentration in tech mega-caps and AI-adjacent infrastructure plays, with a small number of names driving a disproportionate share of index returns. Fed policy, inflation prints, and the trajectory of corporate AI capex remain the dominant macro themes going into the back half of the year.

What to watch

Watch how this lands in equity multiples, options skew, and the broader narrative around AI-capex sustainability. The risk-on vs. risk-off rotation in the coming weeks will reveal whether investors are still buying the growth story or beginning to rotate defensive.

Originally reported by CNBC. Read the original report for full context.