The stock market is a fickle beast. One day you're hitting all-time highs, and the next, a single sentence from a politician or a clunky software update sends everything into a tailspin. That’s exactly what we’re seeing right now. If you've looked at your portfolio today, January 13, 2026, you might’ve noticed some pretty ugly red numbers. The Dow shed roughly 400 points, and the biggest stock drops today weren't just random small caps—we're talking about the giants of the S&P 500.
Salesforce is getting hammered. Visa and Mastercard are sliding. Even Adobe, the creative king, is feeling the heat. It’s not just one thing; it’s a messy mix of AI anxiety, new government regulations, and earnings reports that basically told investors to lower their expectations.
What's Behind the Biggest Stock Drops Today?
Honestly, the biggest story today is a "double whammy" for the tech and financial sectors. On one hand, you have the "Trump Effect"—specifically a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates that has sent the payment processors into a panic. On the other, we’re seeing a massive shift in how the market values AI. It turns out, just saying "we have AI" isn't enough anymore. Investors want to see the money.
Salesforce: The Slackbot Slump
Salesforce (CRM) ended up as the worst-performing stock in the Dow today. It dropped nearly 7%. Why? It’s kinda ironic. They released an update to their virtual assistant, Slackbot, and the market absolutely hated it. Analysts are worried that Salesforce’s "Agentforce" vision is taking too long to turn into actual profit. When you’ve lost a quarter of your value in a year, a bad product update is the last thing you need.
The Credit Card Crash: Visa and Mastercard
If you hold Visa (V) or Mastercard (MA), today was brutal. Visa dropped 4.5% and Mastercard fell 3.8%. This is their sharpest decline in about six months. The trigger was President Trump’s suggestion over the weekend to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.
William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey didn't mince words, saying it’s "hard to spin" the prospect of new routing regulations positively. It’s a direct threat to their bottom line.
Adobe and the AI "Existential Crisis"
Adobe (ADBE) fell more than 5% after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to "Perform." They even withdrew their price target. That’s a bold move. The fear here is that GenAI is actually making content creation too easy, which could lower the price Adobe can charge and hurt subscriber growth. It’s a classic case of a company being disrupted by the very technology it’s trying to lead.
The Full List of Today's Market Losers
It wasn't just the big names. The carnage spread across biotech and travel too.
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- Travere Therapeutics (TVTX): This one was painful. The stock lost about a third of its value. The FDA asked for more info on their kidney-disorder drug, Filspari, and investors bolted.
- American Airlines (AAL): Down 4.06%. They got dragged down by Delta’s mixed earnings and the same credit card worries affecting the banks.
- Delta Air Lines (DAL): Fell about 2.5% after their profit forecast for 2026 came in lower than what Wall Street wanted to see.
- Super Micro Computer (SMCI): Still struggling with margin worries and analyst downgrades.
Why Investors are Panicking Right Now
Markets hate uncertainty. Right now, we have a lot of it. We have a Justice Department probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which is enough to make any trader jumpy. Then you have the CPI inflation data. While it matched expectations, it didn't give the "all clear" signal people were hoping for.
The shift in AI sentiment is the real long-term worry. For the last two years, anything "AI" went up. Now, we're seeing the "show me the money" phase. If a company like Adobe or Salesforce can't prove that AI is actually growing their margins, the market is going to keep punishing them.
Actionable Insights for Your Portfolio
So, what do you do when the biggest stock drops today look like a sea of red?
First, stop and breathe. Panic-selling is how most people lose money.
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Check your exposure to "seat-based" software companies. If companies like Adobe are moving away from reliable subscription models toward "pay-per-use" AI models, their revenue could become much more volatile. You might want to rebalance toward infrastructure providers—like Intel or AMD—which actually saw gains today because they've "sold out" of capacity for 2026.
Keep an eye on the 10% interest rate cap news. If that gains actual legislative traction, the banking and payment sectors are in for a long, cold winter.
Next Steps for Investors
- Review your tech holdings: Specifically look for companies relying on seat-based pricing that might be disrupted by AI automation.
- Monitor the "Trump Trade": If you're heavy in financials, prepare for volatility as interest rate cap discussions continue.
- Watch the FDA calendar: For biotech investors, Travere is a reminder that "additional information requests" are often treated by the market as a soft rejection.
- Look for "sold out" signs: Companies like Intel and AMD are showing strength because demand for their physical hardware is tangible and measurable.