Trading the Headlines: The Stocks with the Highest Search Volume Amid the AI and Crypto Selloff

The market is caught in a dual shock, reacting to two powerful, conflicting trends that are pulling capital in opposite directions. On one side, fears over AI disruption are sending tech stocks into a tailspin. On the other, a brutal crypto selloff is draining risk appetite, pressuring everything from mining stocks to companies holding digital assets. This volatile news cycle is creating a clear flight to safety.

The scale of the tech sell-off is stark. The Nasdaq 100 is down more than 4.5% from its recent high, marking its worst three-day slide since April. This isn't just a minor dip; it's a turbulent few days that has shed over $1.5 trillion in market value this week. The pain is spreading beyond the usual suspects. While software stocks were the first to fall due to AI fears, the weakness is now spreading across the wider technology sector. Major names like AMD, Palantir, and Micron have seen steep losses, and even the market's largest company, NVIDIA, has declined.

The catalyst for this AI fear is twofold. First, there's the sheer cost and scale of building AI infrastructure, which is making investors question the sustainability of tech valuations. Second, and more immediately, there's the threat of AI eating into established business models. The recent release of new AI tools by Anthropic has spooked investors, making them nervous that companies will soon be able to dump their existing, specialized subscriptions to data analytics and research software. This has triggered a deep selloff in global software stocks, with European and Japanese IT exporters also falling sharply.

The result is a market in tension. The AI fears are pulling down the high-flying tech sector, while the crypto weakness is draining the broader pool of risk capital. This creates a volatile environment where the "main character" for capital flows is shifting rapidly between these two dominant, conflicting narratives.

The Main Characters: Stocks with High Search Volume and Headline Risk

In a market where attention is the new currency, certain stocks have become the focal points of the day's hottest financial headlines. Their movements are driven less by isolated earnings and more by their direct exposure to the twin narratives of AI disruption and crypto weakness. These are the main characters in the current news cycle, where search volume and viral sentiment often override fundamentals.

The European software sector is a prime example. Companies like RELX and Wolters Kluwer are hitting new lows as fears that AI will eat their core business models become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The catalyst was clear: the launch of Anthropic's legal plug-in for its Claude AI chatbot served as a fresh reminder of the threat to data analytics and professional services. As a result, shares in these firms fell sharply, with RELX and Wolters Kluwer each down almost 3% in morning trade last week. This isn't just a sector-wide selloff; it's a targeted attack on business models seen as most vulnerable. As one JP Morgan analyst noted, the sector is now being "sentenced before trial," with investor appetite to step in remaining "generally low."

ServiceNow presents a different, yet equally telling, story. The company has posted solid fundamentals, with Q4 EPS beating estimates and revenue growing 20.7% year-over-year. Management has signaled confidence with a sizable buyback and an accelerated share repurchase. Yet the stock still trades well below its key moving averages, having fallen nearly 8% in a single session earlier this month. This disconnect between strong earnings and weak price action highlights how viral sentiment can override fundamentals. Even with analyst upgrades and a partnership with Anthropic, the broader sectorwide AI fears have kept the stock under pressure, demonstrating the powerful headwind facing even the best-run software names.

On the crypto front, MARA Holdings is on the front lines of the selloff. The miner's investment narrative is now being challenged by a specific regulatory setback. In recent days, France's government moved to pause and review MARA's planned acquisition of EDF's Xion data center arm, citing national security concerns. This intervention directly affects the miner's European expansion plans and adds a layer of policy risk to an already volatile story. At the same time, the broader crypto weakness and the company's own internal Bitcoin treasury transfers have raised questions about its risk management. MARA's stock price pullback is a direct reflection of this confluence of headline risk, where a single government review can become a major catalyst for capital outflows.

The bottom line is that in today's market, being a main character means being a headline. Whether it's a European software firm facing existential AI threats, a high-flying tech name caught in a sector-wide selloff, or a crypto miner blocked by a government review, these stocks are the ones the market is currently googling. Their search volume and price action are the clearest signals of where capital is flowing-and where it's fleeing.

The Catalysts: What's Next for These Trending Stocks

The current selloff in AI and crypto-linked stocks is a reaction to specific, high-stakes events. The market's next move hinges on a few clear catalysts that will determine if this is a temporary panic or the start of a longer correction.

For the AI narrative, the key benchmark is capital expenditure. The recent sell-off was sparked by Amazon's projection that its capital expenditures would reach $200 billion in 2026, a figure $50 billion higher than expected. This sets a new, aggressive standard for the sector. The market's focus will now shift to whether this massive spending translates into profits quickly enough to justify the cost. As one analyst noted, persistent questions over the eventual return on that capex and fears of over-expansion are the core concerns. The next major headline will be how other tech giants follow through. Alphabet's recent raise of its AI spending forecast to $175B -$185B shows the trend is robust, but the stock's reaction proves that even strong spending plans can be met with skepticism if the path to profitability seems uncertain.

On the crypto front, the leading indicator is Bitcoin's price action and on-chain data. The asset has been in a brutal freefall, down roughly 50% from its record high just months ago. This isn't just a digital asset problem; it's a capital flow signal. The recent 13% single-day drop on Feb. 5 was its largest since the FTX collapse, a stark reminder of the market's volatility. For crypto-linked stocks like MARA, the price of Bitcoin is a direct leading indicator. When Bitcoin is weak, the entire ecosystem faces pressure, regardless of individual company fundamentals. The key watchpoint is whether this downturn triggers a deeper, more structural loss of institutional confidence, as seen in the three consecutive months of net outflows from US Bitcoin ETFs.

The broader market catalyst is a potential shift in sentiment. Some analysts suggest the current fears may be overdone, pointing to the long-term profit potential of AI. The disconnect between strong earnings and weak stock prices, as seen with ServiceNow, hints that viral sentiment could eventually give way to fundamentals. However, the opposite risk is real: fears of AI disruption could become self-fulfilling, as seen in the sharp increase in job cuts and the jump in initial jobless claims. The market will be watching for a clear signal on which narrative wins. If capital expenditure plans are met with rising profits, the AI theme could stabilize. If Bitcoin continues to struggle and job losses accelerate, the flight to safety could intensify, pressuring even the most resilient tech names. The setup is clear: the next major headline will decide if these trending stocks have found a floor or are just beginning a longer decline.