Market Pulse
What is moving financial markets today?
Major indices, important company announcements, economic data, interest rates, earnings surprises and the developments driving sentiment.
Amazon has burned $42.4B of free cash over 12 months to fund AI
Amazon posted a record operating margin in Q3, yet its trailing free cash flow turned deeply negative. The gap comes down to $215.2 billion of equipment spending.
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Intel beat on profit, then had its worst day since 1974
The third quarter was strong. The forecast for the fourth was not, and the stock fell 28.6% in a single session.
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Reddit beat Wall Street's third-quarter numbers, then lost about a quarter of its value on its outlook
Revenue grew 53% and profit jumped, but a fourth-quarter forecast that landed below analysts' hopes, plus a warning about Google traffic, sent the stock sharply lower.
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Amazon fell 7% and Intel 20%+ premarket as AI spending worries bite
Amazon posted a record operating margin and 39% cloud growth, and its stock still slid before the open. The reason is in the cash flow line.
Read the storyQ3 GDP rose 3.4%, but September inflation ran hotter
The economy grew faster than expected last quarter, while September prices rose 3.6% from a year earlier and real spending stalled.
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Americans spent 0.5% more in September, but income rose only 0.2%
The BEA's September report shows spending growing faster than pay, and the personal saving rate at 3.8%. Here is what that gap means.
Read the storyUS economy grew 3.4% in Q3 2026, but the mix behind it is uneven
The Bureau of Economic Analysis' first estimate shows real GDP growing at a 3.4% annual rate, up from 2.2% in the spring. Part of the lift came from a quirk in how government oil sales are counted.
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ECB chief Lagarde will leave on 7 February 2027, months before her term ends
The ECB has given a leaving date for its president. It has not named a successor or said when one will be chosen.
Read the storyGoogle Cloud doubled in a year. Azure grew 48%. Both are spending fortunes.
Alphabet and Microsoft both reported accelerating cloud growth on Oct 28, 2026. Their capital spending is rising just as fast.
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Alphabet's revenue jumped 25%, yet its profit per share fell
Alphabet's third quarter looks contradictory until you separate the operating business from a large swing in the value of its investments.
Read the storyOracle targets $225B revenue for fiscal 2030 and caps new fundraising at $20B
Oracle's 8-K pairs a big growth target with a hard limit on new financing. Here is what it says, and what it does not settle.
Read the storyNew Zealand's central bank held rates when a hike was expected, and the kiwi dollar fell
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its official cash rate at 2.75% on Oct 28, 2026, after economists had almost all forecast an increase. The currency slid almost a cent against the US dollar.
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Ares Capital's 30% premium for MidCap Financial comes with a floor and a cap
Ares Capital will pay $10.88 a share for MidCap Financial, mostly in its own stock. The formula behind that stock decides what holders actually get.
Read the storyBoeing's 737 Max ramp slips again, and the market noticed
Boeing's backlog is a record $745 billion, yet its shares had their worst day in 18 months. The reason is how fast the planes get built, and how late the cash arrives.
Read the storyVertiv pays $1.45B cash for a 2020 microgrid startup, with up to $1.15B more tied to earnings
The upfront price is about 13 times expected 2027 EBITDA, according to Vertiv, and the earnout could take the total to about $2.6 billion. The deal shows how AI data centers now need their own power, not only cooling.
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The US emergency oil reserve is at its lowest since 1982 while Brent sits near $115
America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to about 283 million barrels as Washington releases oil to cushion the Hormuz disruption. Brent is still near $115, so the buffer is shrinking while the shock is not over.
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GM's "delisting notice" is really a move from the NYSE to Nasdaq
An SEC filing headed "notice of delisting" sounds like trouble. In General Motors' case, it announces a voluntary switch of exchanges, with the ticker unchanged.
Read the storyGalp and Moeve scrap their refinery merger as the Iran war lifts valuations
The two Iberian energy groups ended merger talks on October 26. Reportedly, refineries had become too valuable, and too volatile, for the sides to agree on a price.
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Anthropic's IPO filing: $16.3B in revenue, an $80.7B loss, and why both are true
Most of the reported first-half loss is a non-cash charge tied to the company's rising value. The numbers worth watching are cash commitments and customer concentration.
Read the storyEQT's all-stock deal for Range Resources: what no cash changes hands really means
EQT and Range Resources agreed to combine on October 26, 2026 in a deal paid entirely in shares. Here is how that works, and what is still only a forecast.
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Mortgage rates are 1.13 points above a year ago, and the bond market sets them
The average 30-year rate was 7.32% this week, up from 6.19% a year earlier and just off a two-year high. Here is what moves it, and what the gap costs a buyer.
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EQT's all-stock deal for Range Resources: the $50 billion headline vs. what is actually paid
EQT agreed to buy Range Resources with its own shares, not cash. The $50 billion figure describes the combined company, not the price tag.
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Profits are forecast up 24%, yet the Nasdaq sits 6% below its high
Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a strong third quarter. Stocks have slipped anyway, and the 10-year Treasury yield, near 5%, is part of the reason.
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Audi plans a $4 billion Georgia plant, its first in the U.S.
Announced at a Trump rally on Oct 24, the factory would let Audi build large SUVs where it sells them. Tariffs are part of the story, but Audi's CEO says they are not the whole of it.
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Markets price an 84% chance of a Fed hike by December, but only 9% this week
The Fed is widely expected to hold on Wednesday. Futures still put the odds of a hike by its December meeting at 84%, and the gap says a lot about how markets read the Fed.
Read the storyThe Week in 5 Minutes: AI stocks, borrowing costs and a split economy
Eight Finvestex stories from the week to October 24, one short section each: what happened, why it mattered, and what to watch next.
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A Tesla–SpaceX merger would be the biggest deal ever, and Tesla holders must clear a 'high hurdle'
Elon Musk says SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a combination worth about $3.5 trillion. No terms exist yet, and Tesla's own shareholders would have to approve it.
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Oil is back above $100 and dragged the Dow down 652 points
U.S. crude closed above $100 a barrel on Oct 23, 2026, and the Dow fell 1.23%. Here is why an oil jump reaches well beyond energy stocks.
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Chip stocks had their worst day since June, yet they're still up 51% this year
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.7% on Oct 22. It is also more than 26% below its June record and up 51.5% for the year. All three facts hold at once.
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Saab's orders tripled in a quarter — and one Gripen deal is only part of why
Saab booked SEK 65.8 billion of orders in Q3 2026, about 3.2 times a year earlier. The Ukraine Gripen contract was the biggest piece, but the jets will not arrive until 2029.
Read the storyeBay is cutting about 9% of its workforce while saying profit beat its own guidance
In an 8-K filed Oct 22, 2026, eBay disclosed a workforce reduction and, in the same document, said its third-quarter results are expected to come in above its guidance.
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Jobless claims fall to 194,000, near the lowest level since the 1960s
Fewer Americans are filing for unemployment benefits than at almost any time in decades. That says a lot about layoffs, and less about hiring.
Read the storyMeta spent more than it earned in cash: what negative free cash flow means
Meta's third-quarter revenue hit a record, yet capital spending outran the cash its business produced. The gap shows why profit and cash are not the same thing.
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France's 10-year bond yield tops 5%, a 24-year high, as unrest meets budget worries
France's cost of borrowing for ten years has crossed 5% for the first time since 2002. The number says as much about politics and a stalled budget as it does about bonds.
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Zuckerberg can't cash out his new Meta shares without giving up voting power
Meta's new non-voting Class C stock comes with a catch: 80% of Zuckerberg's allotment is stapled to his voting shares. Here is what the Oct. 21 filing says.
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Wholesale prices rose 6.3% in a year, the most since 2022
The Producer Price Index jumped 1.3% in September, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. It is a gauge of what businesses pay, and consumers usually meet it later.
Read the storyTesla's profit fell 43% in Q3, and its spending plan implies a huge Q4
Revenue was flat at $28.05 billion, but net income dropped to $787 million. The bigger question is how Tesla reaches its $25 billion-plus capital spending target.
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Fink Says Blocking Data Centers Is Inflationary. What He Said, and What's Missing
BlackRock's CEO told Bloomberg on Oct. 21 that a slow data-center buildout raises costs. His claim is documented; the evidence behind it is thinner.
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SpaceX's AI arm is now bigger than Starlink, and it just made the company profitable
SpaceX's Q3 report shows AI computing at $7.56 billion in revenue, ahead of Starlink's segment, and a $4.4 billion net profit. The spending behind it, and part of the profit, deserve a closer look.
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Three banks earned about 80% of the AI-boom trading money. Here's how
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley booked roughly $52 billion in equities trading revenue through September, according to CNBC. Hedge-fund financing is a big reason.
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Netflix beats on earnings, but a lighter outlook and lower ad forecast send shares down
Third-quarter profit topped estimates, yet fourth-quarter guidance and a lowered 2026 advertising target left investors cold.
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Netflix beat on profit, but trimmed its 2026 ad revenue forecast by about $300 million
The headline in Netflix's third-quarter letter was a jump in earnings. The line that matters for its ad business is a smaller forecast, and a slower rollout is the stated reason.
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United's fuel bill jumped 61.6% in a quarter, and it still set a revenue record
United's Q3 2026 revenue hit a record $17.9 billion, but jet fuel at $3.90 a gallon pushed adjusted EPS down 8.6%, and Q4 guidance assumes $4.80.
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Treasury yields dip as weak housing data lands a week before the Fed meets
The 10-year yield slipped about 2 basis points to roughly 5.11% on Oct. 20 after September housing starts missed forecasts. Jobs data and the Fed's Oct. 27–28 meeting are next.
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SpaceX's AI computing business is growing fast. So is the bill.
SpaceX rents out computing power to AI customers. Its second-quarter numbers show how much revenue that brought in and how much equipment it took.
Read the storyThe Fed is hiking again, and the 10-year yield sits at 5.10%
The Fed raised rates on Sept 16 for the first time since July 2023, and long-term Treasury yields are now well above its overnight rate. Here is what that gap means for companies that borrow.
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Strong earnings are colliding with rising yields. Is AI really immune?
Profits tied to AI spending keep growing, but Treasury yields are near multi-decade highs. Last week showed that AI stocks are not shielded from the cost of borrowing.
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Prices jumped 0.6% in September while hiring nearly stalled
The latest government data shows faster inflation and only 29,000 new jobs. It is an awkward mix for anyone trying to guess what interest rates do next.
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Chip stocks bounce after a brutal week, with Nvidia and Meta up next
Micron and other semiconductor names rebounded on Oct 19 after an eight-session slide that wiped out roughly $2 trillion. A big tech week will show whether the bounce has legs.
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Strong earnings meet rising borrowing costs, and the AI trade is feeling it
Profits are growing fast, but 10-year Treasury yields near multi-decade highs are pulling the other way. Here is why that tug-of-war matters for stocks, and why the AI trade isn't as shielded as it looked.
Read the storyCoreWeave's bonds now yield over 15%. Here is what that signals
A $50 billion debt load, a record insurance cost and a 22% weekly share drop show how fears of higher interest rates reach AI companies through their borrowing costs.
Read the storyThe S&P 500 is up about 12%. The typical stock isn't.
The index and the median stock have told very different stories in 2026, and Oct 16's AI selloff showed why that gap matters.
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