Market Setup: New Month, Midterm Risk
A new week and new month open on Wall Street with midterm elections tomorrow as the main worry, plus uncertainty over what the vote means for big tech, AI, and other sectors. The NASDAQ 100 fell over 3.5% on Friday, its worst day since June. No relief rally followed over the weekend, and no new geopolitical risk showed up. Crude oil is down sharply today.
Last week was led by losses in information technology. All 11 S&P 500 sectors finished positive for the month except two: information technology fell 6.8% and communication services fell over 15%. Healthcare, energy, and consumer staples all hit record highs, with staples rallying hard last week.
The read here: investors are not leaving the market, they are rotating. The tech and semiconductor drop looks like a warranted reset. Intel (INTC) dropped 29% Friday after missing earnings and guiding lower, with PC sales likely weaker, though the stock had been up 150-200% in 2026. The worry is that money is moving into safety plays. Bonds are up, with the 10-year yield back below 5%, even though inflation is still rising and moving the wrong way versus what the Fed wants. This creates a split in equity markets. The S&P 500 sits only about 3% off its highs despite a volatile October.
This week brings major earnings: Apple (AAPL) and Palantir (PLTR) tonight, AMD (AMD) this week, plus consumer discretionary names including Airbnb (ABNB) and Uber (UBER). The week ends with non-farm payrolls Friday, watched for a weakening jobs market. Expect volatility through tomorrow and Wednesday around the midterms, which may set the tone along with earnings.
Amazon: Upgrade After Q3
Phillip Securities upgraded Amazon (AMZN) and raised its price target to $330 from $320 after Q3. Amazon reported last week. It missed on EPS at $1.89 versus $1.96 expected, and revenue came in just under $22 billion, slightly light. AWS grew 39.3% year over year, above expectations, though the whisper number was above 40%. That was AWS's biggest growth rate in nearly 5 years, and cloud is the most profitable part of the business. Capital spending for 2026 is still guided around $220 billion, which may have worried investors, but the figure was neither raised nor lowered.
The stock fell 2% after earnings but bounced off pre-market lows that had reached down 6-7%. Amazon says it is well positioned in AI by staying agnostic and using its full stack, including its Trainium chips, which get overlooked. Advertising showed some slowing. Falling only 2% on a weak tech day Friday was a bright spot.
Merger Monday: Marvell Buys Lumentum
Marvell (MRVL) is buying optical components maker Lumentum (LITE) in a $115 billion all-stock deal, flagged last week after a Bloomberg report on talks. The deal expands Marvell's footprint and may fix supply chain problems it has had while building specialty chips. Jensen Huang said over the summer that Marvell could be the next trillion-dollar company. Marvell competes with Broadcom (AVGO), which has long been Alphabet's (GOOGL) main chip partner. Nvidia (NVDA) invested $2 billion each in Marvell and Lumentum earlier this year. The deal gives Marvell a broader menu of AI data center hardware under one roof and helps it compete with Broadcom.
SpaceX Eyes Boost Mobile
A Washington Post report says SpaceX is in talks to buy Boost Mobile from EchoStar (SATS) to gain access to its networks, which lease from AT&T (T) and T-Mobile (TMUS). On the news, AT&T, Verizon (VZ), and T-Mobile all fell. Verizon's CEO said it would take SpaceX four to six years to build out a Starlink mobile US carrier network, while Elon Musk said two to three years. Buying Boost Mobile could speed that up further, since the satellites are already going up and more will be added. This opens competition at home and globally.
SpaceX has other demands: it is raising capital to push out xAI and needs funding, and it secured $40 billion in a partnership with Apollo Global (APO) last week. This fits SpaceX going after more wireless spectrum. Legacy telecom names should stay under pressure. If SpaceX runs faster than the market expects, this becomes another revenue stream. My own view: the major carriers should have partnered with SpaceX rather than fight Musk, especially since T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint already shrank the field.
Marriott: Consumer Keeps Spending
Marriott (MAR) beat on EPS, with revenue hitting all-time highs, and the stock is up about 30% this year. It raised full-year EPS guidance to $12.07-$12.14, above the expected $11.64-$11.81. Worldwide revenue per available room rose 6.5% in the quarter, beating expectations, and US and Canada rose about 7.4%. Competition is heating up: Hilton (HLT) is doing well and Hyatt (H) reported a beat last week. The result shows consumers keep spending on travel and experiences despite inflation. Airbnb (ABNB) has pushed into the hotel business itself.
