Tom Lee Cheers On 'Buy The Dip' Crowd As Retail Investors Pour $4.1 Billion Into Stocks: Tesla, Palantir Lead Inflows

Retail investors flooded the market with $4.1 billion in stock purchases during Monday morning’s selloff, with Tesla Inc. TSLA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR attracting the largest inflows, according to JPMorgan data.

What Happened: “Congrats to those ‘buying the dip,'” wrote Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Tom Lee on X Monday, responding to investor Amit Kukreja, who shared the retail buying figures.

The aggressive purchasing followed Moody’s decision Friday to strip the U.S. of its final AAA credit rating, citing persistent fiscal deficits and rising debt burdens. The downgrade aligns Moody’s with Fitch and S&P, marking the first time all three major agencies have rated U.S. debt below the top tier.

Tesla captured $675 million in retail inflows while Palantir drew $439 million, according to the data. Single stocks accounted for $2.5 billion of purchases, with exchange-traded funds comprising the remaining $1.5 billion.

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Why It Matters: The buying emerged as markets reacted defensively to the U.S. credit downgrade, with the S&P 500 futures falling 1% and the Nasdaq 100 contracts dropping 1.5% in Monday’s premarket. High-growth tech stocks were hit particularly hard, with PLTR down up to 4.4% and TSLA declining 3.9% during the regular trading session on Monday.

Despite market jitters, many analysts view the rating cut as having a limited long-term impact. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Moody’s decision “a lagging indicator” on CNBC, noting the administration “inherited a 6.7% deficit-to-GDP ratio” and is “determined to bring spending down.”

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