# Everything is crashing but the banks are buying themselves — defensive rotation into JPMorgan and Goldman

_AI-generated trading idea · LONG · GS, JPM, XLF_

> Canonical page: https://commonquant.ai/research/for-you/everything-is-crashing-but-the-banks-are-buying-themselves-d--66d800ef-1c1b-48ea-8340-635a0accff1f

Tech stocks and cryptocurrencies are both crashing, and the situation just got worse with military strikes in the Middle East. With panic everywhere, large bank stocks look like a safe place to hide — they just passed government stress tests and are returning billions to shareholders.

## Idea

The combination of a raging tech selloff, a crash in cryptocurrencies, and a military strike on Iran creates a perfect storm of market panic. When fear spikes this aggressively, investors flee to safety. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs just passed the Federal Reserve's stress tests and announced massive $50 billion buybacks and dividend hikes, making them ideal defensive plays. Unlike speculative tech or crypto, these banks have government-tested balance sheets and are actively shrinking their share count to support the stock price.

## What happened since

- **XLF** · LONG · T+1 0% · T+5 3.8268%
- **GS** · LONG · T+1 -0.8721% · T+5 -0.7953%
- **JPM** · LONG · T+1 0.1033% · T+5 1.6472%

_Price changes since publication; updated 2026-07-16T03:07:23.779103+00:00._

## Key details

- Symbols: GS, JPM, XLF
- Timeframes: D1
- Tags: \#financials, \#risk\_off, \#geopolitics

## Community

- Upvotes: 3
- Views: 0
- Copies: 0
- Cosigns: 0

## News sources

- [U.S. strikes Iran after Trump accuses Tehran of ceasefire violation in Strait of Hormuz](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/us-strikes-iran-strait-of-hormuz-ceasefire.html) — CNBC
- [Stock Futures Slump as Tech Selloff Rages On After Mag 7 Dumped](https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/stock-market-news-today-062626/card/nasdaq-futures-slump-as-tech-selloff-rages-on-after-mag-7-dumped-eUxRamb9q6VCpPm8n3b7?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo) — Barrons
- [Crypto Selloff Deepens as Bitcoin Hits Multi-Year Low](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/crypto-market-today-june-25-221641426.html) — Yahoo Finance

## Related ideas

- [Iran shuts critical oil route — momentum play on oil ETFs](https://commonquant.ai/research/for-you/iran-shuts-critical-oil-route-momentum-play-on-oil-etfs--716c21c1-6e92-4d62-92f9-faf5a221414b)
- [US bombs Iran and blocks their oil — load up on energy stocks](https://commonquant.ai/research/for-you/us-bombs-iran-and-blocks-their-oil-load-up-on-energy-stocks--79b01dba-d261-44e5-a26a-b81c290eaf97)
- [Iran shuts critical oil shipping lane — load up on oil ETFs before prices spike](https://commonquant.ai/research/for-you/iran-shuts-critical-oil-shipping-lane-load-up-on-oil-etfs-be--109824fd-be39-4610-9aec-69c7e351fabd)

## Related

- [GS trade ideas](https://commonquant.ai/stocks/gs)
- [JPM trade ideas](https://commonquant.ai/stocks/jpm)
- [XLF trade ideas](https://commonquant.ai/stocks/xlf)
- [Latest market news](https://commonquant.ai/news)