Phone Stocks Fall on SpaceX Wireless Plan as Chips Steady; Oil Near Five-Month High

Good morning. This is Trade and Ticker. Friday, October twenty-third, twenty twenty-six. We're lining up the open: what futures are saying and what to watch when the bell rings.

Daily Catalysts. Four things to watch today. First, after Thursday's big A-I selloff, chip stocks are trying to steady. Second, phone company stocks are falling on a report that SpaceX wants to build its own nationwide wireless network. Third, oil is at a five-month high, with Brent near one hundred fifteen dollars. Fourth, American Express reported this morning, and we get two reads on the economy by ten o'clock Eastern. We'll get into each of these as we go.

Let's start with U.S. futures. The board is mixed, and this time the Dow is the one lagging. As of about eight o'clock Eastern, Dow futures are down about six-tenths of a percent, or roughly three hundred points. S-and-P futures are down about two-tenths of a percent. And Nasdaq futures are close to flat. After yesterday, that's a calmer start for tech.

Here's where we're coming from. On Thursday, the Nasdaq fell about two and six-tenths percent, its worst day since June. The S-and-P dropped about one and two-tenths percent. The Dow finished just about flat. The Philadelphia chip index fell almost seven percent. For the week, the Nasdaq is on track for a loss, while the S-and-P and the Dow are still higher, helped by a move into safer stocks.

Oil keeps climbing. Brent crude is up about one percent, to around one hundred fourteen dollars and fifty cents a barrel. Earlier it touched one hundred fifteen, its highest level since early May. U.S. crude is up about one and a half percent, just above one hundred one dollars. The ten-year Treasury yield is back up to about five percent. And the market's fear gauge, the V-I-X, is a little higher, near twenty.

In early trading, the A-I names are mostly a bit higher. A-M-D, Intel, and Micron are each up about one percent. Nvidia is up a little. S-K Hynix is up about four percent. Meta is down about half a percent after its seven percent drop yesterday. The biggest moves this morning are in telecom. A-T-and-T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are each down about four percent. Cell tower owners are jumping, with Crown Castle up eight percent or more and American Tower up about six. SpaceX is up about two percent.

Now let's get into those four things to watch.

First, the chip stocks. Yesterday was brutal. Lam Research fell almost twelve percent after it said supply problems limited its outlook. A-M-D and Intel each fell about eight percent, and Nvidia fell more than four. Nvidia's Jensen Huang added to the worry when he told C-N-B-C there is a scarcity of capital for A-I buildouts, and that the demand for money is much bigger than what's available. This morning, most of those names are bouncing a little. Storage is the exception. Western Digital is down about three percent, even after strong results last night. Revenue rose fifty-five percent, to about four-point-four billion dollars, and it expects about five-point-one billion this quarter, well above forecasts. Investors are still asking how long the A-I spending boom can last. Seagate is lower too.

Second, telecom. Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in talks to get access to at least eighty thousand cell sites across the U.S. That would help it build a fourth nationwide wireless carrier, combining its Starlink satellites that connect straight to phones with towers on the ground. Crown Castle is one of the companies in those talks. That's about half of all the purpose-built cell towers in the country. One analyst firm, T-D Cowen, estimates a nationwide ground network would cost more than eighty billion dollars and take years. Still, the big three carriers are falling on the idea of a well-funded new rival. And Verizon's drop is a big reason Dow futures are lagging this morning.

Third, oil. Saudi Aramco ordered staff to leave its headquarters in Dhahran after a series of Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia. Reports that the U.S. and Israel are weighing new strikes on Iran after next month's midterm elections are still hanging over the market. And Iran's army chief said the country is fully prepared for warfare. President Trump, for his part, accused Iran of making up reports of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz to push oil prices higher. Brent is on track for its third weekly gain in a row. Higher oil also feeds inflation worries, and the Federal Reserve meets next week.

Fourth, earnings and the calendar. American Express beat expectations. It earned four dollars and sixty-eight cents a share on an adjusted basis, up from four-fourteen a year ago. Revenue rose nine percent, to a record twenty-point-one billion dollars, and spending on its cards rose eight percent. It also raised its profit forecast for the year, to between eighteen dollars and thirty cents and eighteen-sixty a share, from as high as seventeen-ninety before. The stock moved higher at first this morning, then slipped lower. Elsewhere, Deckers, which owns Hoka and Ugg, is down seven to eight percent after its revenue came in below forecasts. Moderna is lower again after falling nearly eighteen percent yesterday, when partial data on its cancer vaccine with Merck leaked before the full results. Bloom Energy is lower even after raising its forecast. And gold miner Newmont is down about one percent after warning that costs will rise next year.

On the calendar, early readings on factory and services activity come out at nine-forty-five Eastern. At ten o'clock, we get the final University of Michigan read on consumer sentiment for October, along with what people expect for inflation.

Here's what would make the open worse. Watch three things. First, if Brent pushes through one hundred fifteen dollars on more news from Saudi Arabia or Iran. Second, if the chip stocks lose this morning's small bounce, which would mean the selling isn't done. Third, if the ten-year yield keeps climbing above five percent, which would put more pressure on the stocks that depend on borrowing to grow.

So here's the picture heading into the open. Dow futures are down about six-tenths of a percent, the S-and-P is a little lower, and the Nasdaq is close to flat after its worst day since June. Phone stocks are falling on SpaceX's wireless plans, tower stocks are jumping, and oil is near a five-month high. And next week brings the Fed, plus earnings from Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon.

Quickly overseas. Asia was mixed, with Tokyo a little lower and Hong Kong up less than one percent. Europe is down about half a percent.

We'll be back at lunch with how the chip stocks, the phone companies, and oil are trading into the weekend. Thanks for listening. I'm Trade and Ticker.