Stocks can be brutal. One day you're hitting fresh record highs—which is exactly what the S&P 500 did yesterday—and the next, you're watching Salesforce and JPMorgan lead a retreat that wipes out billions in market cap. Today, January 13, 2026, was a "let the air out of the balloon" kind of day. Even with inflation data coming in cool, the big averages couldn't hold on.
The Dow shed about 400 points. That's a roughly 0.8% drop. While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite weren't hit quite as hard—falling 0.2% and 0.1% respectively—the damage under the surface was real, especially for software and financial giants. If you're looking at today's losers stock market, you'll see a weird mix of political policy jitters and a full-blown identity crisis in the software sector.
Software’s AI Identity Crisis: Salesforce and Adobe Hit Hard
It’s ironic. For the last year, if a company mentioned "AI," their stock usually went up. Not today. Salesforce (CRM) was the single worst performer in the Dow, tumbling more than 7%. The catalyst? It sounds minor—an update to its Slackbot virtual assistant—but it triggered a much deeper fear.
Investors are starting to wonder if AI is actually a "Salesforce killer."
Think about it. If AI makes every employee 20% more productive, does a company need 20% fewer software seats? Since Salesforce and Adobe (ADBE)—which dropped 5.4% today—base their entire business on selling "seats," this is a nightmare scenario. Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz even downgraded Adobe today, basically saying that generative AI is lowering the price of content creation so much that it might cannibalize the very software used to make it.
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Biggest S&P 500 Decliners (Jan 13, 2026)
| Company | Ticker | % Change | Why it fell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | CRM | -7.1% | Concerns over AI disrupting seat-based revenue |
| Solventum | SOLV | -6.6% | Broader healthcare sector volatility |
| Adobe Inc. | ADBE | -5.4% | Analyst downgrade; AI competition fears |
| Progressive | PGR | -5.3% | Insurance sector pressure |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | -4.2% | Disappointing earnings; credit card rate cap fears |
| Visa Inc. | V | -4.5% | Trump's proposed 10% credit card interest cap |
The "Trump Cap" Shakes the Banks
If software was the first pillar to wobble, the big banks were the second. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell 4.2% today. Jamie Dimon, the bank's CEO, didn't hold back in his comments, warning that a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates—suggested by President Trump—would "severely hurt consumers."
Basically, the banks are terrified that if the government caps what they can charge on credit cards, they’ll have to tighten lending so much that the average person won't be able to get a card at all.
This isn't just a JPMorgan problem. Visa and Mastercard were caught in the crossfire, dropping 4.5% and 3.8% because their entire ecosystem relies on high-volume card spending. When the most powerful man in the world starts talking about 10% caps, investors don't stick around to see if it actually becomes law. They sell first and ask questions later.
Airlines Lose Altitude on Delta's Outlook
You’d think lower inflation would be great for travel, right? Lower prices, more vacations. Well, Delta Air Lines (DAL) didn't get the memo. Despite beating earnings estimates for the quarter, the stock plunged 5%.
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The issue? Their 2026 profit forecast was... well, "underwhelming" is a nice way to put it.
Delta is seeing a weird split in the market. Wealthy people are still buying first-class tickets like crazy, but the "main cabin" (the rest of us) is struggling. Domestic airfares actually dropped 3% in December. That sounds great for your spring break trip, but it's terrible for airline margins. American Airlines (AAL) and United both fell in sympathy, proving once again that in the stock market, bad news for one is often bad news for all.
Why the "Cool" CPI Didn't Save the Day
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) this morning, and it was actually pretty good. Prices rose 2.7% year-over-year, which was exactly what economists expected. "Core" inflation, which ignores the price of eggs and gas, was even better at 2.6%.
Usually, this would send stocks soaring because it means the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates.
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But today, the market was too distracted. Between the Justice Department’s probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the brewing "debasement trade"—where people are dumping dollars for gold and silver—the "inflation is over" narrative just didn't have enough juice to overcome the selling in big tech and big banks.
Actionable Insights for Your Portfolio
When you see a day where the market's "generals" (the big names like Salesforce and JPMorgan) are the ones retreating, it’s usually a sign of a shift in sentiment. Here’s what you should actually do with this information:
- Watch the "Seat-Based" Software Names: If you hold Adobe, Salesforce, or Workday, keep a close eye on their next few earnings calls. You want to hear how they plan to charge for AI features to replace the revenue they might lose from fewer seats.
- Don't Panic on the Credit Card Cap: Political proposals often face a mountain of lobbying and legal challenges. The 10% cap is a huge headwind for bank stocks right now, but it's far from a done deal.
- Look at the Laggards: Interestingly, while software and banks fell, some chipmakers like Intel and AMD actually rallied today. There's a "rotation" happening—money is moving out of the companies that use software and into the companies that make the hardware for AI.
The stock market has a way of humbling everyone. Yesterday's record highs felt great, but today's losers remind us that policy and technological disruption can change the scoreboard in a matter of hours.
Next Step: Review your exposure to "SaaS" (Software as a Service) companies. Check if their primary revenue comes from the number of users; if it does, today's price action suggests the market is repricing their long-term value in an AI-driven world.