Today's Worst Performing Stocks: What Most People Get Wrong About This Week's Selloff

Market turbulence is just a fancy way of saying a lot of people lost money quickly. If you've been watching the tickers this week, especially today, January 17, 2026, you've probably noticed some red ink that's a bit deeper than usual. Honestly, it's been a rough ride for a specific set of darlings that, until about five minutes ago, seemed untouchable.

Stocks don't just "go down." They dive for reasons that usually involve a mix of political posturing, earnings misses, and the ever-present ghost of inflation.

Why the Worst Performing Stocks Today are Screaming for Attention

Let's cut to the chase. The biggest losers today aren't just random names. We're seeing a massive hit to energy companies and financial giants, and the reasons are kinda wild.

Take Constellation Energy (CEG) and Vistra (VST). These two have been the absolute rockstars of the AI-driven energy boom. They have these massive 20-year power deals with Microsoft and Meta because everyone realized AI needs a staggering amount of electricity. But then, the political winds shifted.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration signaled a plan to force big tech companies to help lower electricity prices for everyone else. Basically, the government is looking at the high cost of data centers and saying, "Hey, don't let the regular folks pay for this." Investors freaked.

Constellation Energy plummeted nearly 10%—its worst day in nine months. Vistra wasn't far behind, dropping 7.5%. When the government starts talking about "intervening in the marketplace," the smart money usually heads for the exits first and asks questions later.

The Credit Card Cap Chaos

It's not just energy. If you hold bank stocks, today felt like a punch in the gut.

President Trump called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates, set to kick in around January 20. Think about that for a second. Most cards are charging 20% or 30%. Cutting that to 10% is a massive blow to the bottom line of companies like Capital One (COF) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

• Capital One tanked almost 10% this week.
• American Express (AXP) and Discover took similar hits.
• Even the networks, Visa and Mastercard, saw drops between 6% and 8%.

Basically, the market is pricing in a future where the most profitable part of banking—high-interest debt—gets a permanent haircut.

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Breaking Down the Worst Performing Stocks by Sector

It's helpful to look at who is actually at the bottom of the pile right now. Morningstar and Zacks have been tracking some pretty ugly numbers for the week ending January 16 and leading into today.

Atlassian (TEAM) is currently sitting at the very bottom of the S&P 500's performance list for the week, down roughly 19%. They aren't alone in the tech-trash bin. HubSpot (HUBS) and Wix.com (WIX) both saw double-digit slides, falling about 16% each.

Why? It's the "valuation gravity" at work.

When the 10-year Treasury yield climbs—and it hit 4.24% this week—high-growth tech stocks become less attractive. You're basically paying a premium for future earnings, but when you can get a guaranteed 4% from the government, you're less likely to gamble on a software company trading at 50 times its earnings.

Regional Banks are Reeling

While the big boys like JPMorgan are worried about interest rate caps, regional banks have their own problems: earnings.

Regions Financial (RF) missed its Q4 targets due to higher-than-expected expenses. The stock dropped about 2.6% today. It's a classic case of the "whisper number" being higher than reality. Even if a bank is doing okay, if they aren't doing perfectly in this environment, they get punished.

Is This a Crash or Just a Very Loud Correction?

People love to use the word "crash." It's dramatic. It gets clicks. But what we're seeing today is more of a rotation.

While tech and energy are getting hammered, other sectors are actually doing okay. Consumer defensives—the stuff you buy regardless of the economy, like soap and cereal—rose about 3.7% this week. Real estate even saw a bump.

The market is "thinning out."

In 2025, the "Magnificent Seven" (Apple, Nvidia, etc.) carried the entire market on their backs. Now, in early 2026, investors are looking for "value." They're tired of overpaying for AI hype and are moving money into boring things that actually pay dividends.

The Nvidia Factor

You can't talk about the worst performing stocks today without mentioning the chip giant. Nvidia actually slipped a bit after reports that China is blocking certain high-end chips from entering the country.

It's a weird spot for Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang just announced that their next-gen Vera Rubin chips are ahead of schedule. Normally, that's great news. But in a market that's already nervous about tariffs and trade wars with China, even good news gets sold.

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Nvidia is down about 12% from its November peak. For a stock that's up nearly 1,000% over three years, that's a "breather." For someone who bought at the top, it's a disaster.

Misconceptions About Today's Losers

One big mistake people make is thinking that a 10% drop means the company is failing.

Look at Docusign (DOCU). It fell over 17% this week. Is Docusign going out of business? No. But the market decided it was priced for a level of growth that just isn't happening right now.

Another misconception? That "buying the dip" is always the right move.

If a stock like Constellation Energy is falling because of a fundamental change in government policy, that's not a "dip"—it's a change in the business model. Buying it now is a bet that the government is bluffing. Sometimes they aren't.

What You Should Actually Do Now

Watching your portfolio turn red is stressful. I get it. But there are a few practical moves to consider if you're holding any of today's worst performing stocks.

First, check your "Why." If you bought Vistra because you believed in the 20-year AI power story, does a Truth Social post from the President change the fact that data centers still need power? Probably not. But it might mean the profit margins will be lower than you thought.

Second, look at the yields. If you're in high-growth tech, keep a very close eye on the 10-year Treasury. If that yield keeps creeping toward 4.5% or 5%, the pain for Atlassian and HubSpot probably isn't over.

Third, diversify into the "Boring." If your entire portfolio is AI chips and Bitcoin-adjacent stocks, you're going to have a heart attack this month. Sectors like healthcare and consumer staples are acting as a hedge right now for a reason.

• Review your stop-losses. If you have them, make sure they aren't set so tight that a normal morning wobble kicks you out of a good position.
• Audit your financial exposure. If the credit card interest cap becomes law on January 20, the banks won't just "bounce back" the next day.
• Watch the Fed. There's a lot of uncertainty about who will lead the Federal Reserve after Jerome Powell. Markets hate uncertainty more than they hate bad news.

Don't panic-sell at the bottom, but don't hold a falling knife just because you liked the company last year. The rules of the game for 2026 are being written right now, and they look a lot different than the "everything goes up" era of 2024.

Keep your head down, watch the policy shifts out of D.C., and maybe look at those boring "defensive" stocks your grandfather used to talk about. They're looking pretty good right about now.

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Check your exposure to the credit card sector (JPM, COF, AXP) before the January 20 policy anniversary.
2. Verify the fair value estimates for beaten-down tech like Atlassian; Morningstar currently lists it at a 44% discount to its long-term value, suggesting the selloff might be overdone for long-term holders.
3. Rebalance toward "Value" if your portfolio is more than 70% weighted in high-multiple growth stocks, as the rotation into consumer defensives appears to be accelerating.