The Nasdaq Rallied Today. Here's Why.

Thanks in large part to Mark Zuckerberg, the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ traded as high as $314.73 Friday before ending the day at $313.14. More on Zuckerberg later.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust DIA traded slightly lower and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY slightly higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will not extend loosened capital requirements for banks. A rise in yields, which hit a 14-month high of around 1.75%, has also continued to pressure stocks, especially those in growth sectors such as tech.

Here are the day's winners and losers from the QQQ, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Among the leaders for the QQQ were Facebook, Inc. FB, Microchip Technology Inc. MCHP and NetEase Inc NTES.

Facebook shares were trading higher, as strength has been attributed to comments from Zuckerberg saying the wave of Apple Inc AAPL privacy changes could actually be beneficial for the social media giant.

After having bitterly criticized Apple’s upcoming privacy updates to its iOS 14 operating system for months, Zuckerberg said his social media company will be “in a good position” when Apple enforces the rules. Read More

T-Mobile Us Inc TMUS, Marriott International Inc MAR and CSX Corporation CSX were among the top losers in the QQQ index Friday. 

Elsewhere On The Street

• One company that has been a good investment in the last year has been auto giant Ford Motor Company F. For years, Ford lagged behind many of its competitors in investing in next-generation autonomous and electric vehicle technology. The company has aggressively upped its commitment to innovation in the past year, and investors have been handsomely rewarded. Read More
• Tesla Inc TSLA Elon Musk made light of the non-fungible token hoopla sweeping investors. The entrepreneur tweeted an image that contained a hypothetical party scene with a man standing in the corner wearing a party hat thinking to himself, “They don’t know I own this song’s non-fungible token.” Read More
• Bank of America analyst Curtis Nagle reiterated his Underperform rating and $10 price target for GameStop Corp. GME. In his note to clients, Nagle said spikes in GameStop shares in 2021 have coincided with increases in social media conversations related to stimulus payments on Reddit’s WallStreetBets and elsewhere. Read More