Wednesday: The Fed, Alphabet and Amazon

Avatar photo NeilSethi on October 28, 2026

US economic data is light Wednesday, with just the September advance goods trade balance and wholesale and retail inventories plus weekly MBA mortgage applications and EIA petroleum inventories.

The FOMC takes center stage announcing its decision at 2pm ET, with a hold priced at ~93% by CME’s FedWatch tool, followed by Chair Warsh’s press conference at 2:30pm ET.

The only Non-Bill (>1yr in maturity) US Treasury auction is a $30B 2-year floating-rate note (not followed due to its floating nature).

Alphabet and Microsoft lead 46 S&P 500 components reporting, nine of them with market caps over $100B:

Before the open: GE Vernova ($GEV), Amphenol ($APH), ADP ($ADP), Phillips 66 ($PSX), Vertiv ($VRT), American Electric Power ($AEP), Boston Scientific ($BSX), Aon ($AON), TE Connectivity ($TEL), Garmin ($GRMN), Old Dominion Freight Line ($ODFL), Biogen ($BIIB), GE HealthCare ($GEHC), Otis Worldwide ($OTIS), Labcorp ($LH), Smurfit Westrock ($SW), NiSource ($NI), Fortive ($FTV), International Paper ($IP), IDEX ($IEX), C.H. Robinson ($CHRW), Masco ($MAS), Lennox International ($LII) and Generac ($GNRC)

After the close: Alphabet ($GOOGL), Microsoft ($MSFT), KLA ($KLAC), ServiceNow ($NOW), T-Mobile ($TMUS), Equinix ($EQIX), O’Reilly Automotive ($ORLY), FedEx ($FDX), Carvana ($CVNA), eBay ($EBAY), Honeywell Aerospace ($HONA), Ford ($F), Chipotle ($CMG), Raymond James ($RJF), American Water Works ($AWK), FedEx Freight ($FDXF), Invitation Homes ($INVH), Tyler Technologies ($TYL), Gen Digital ($GEN), MAA ($MAA), Align Technology ($ALGN) and MGM Resorts ($MGM)

Ex-US highlights include decisions from central banks in Canada and New Zealand, Germany November GfK consumer confidence, France Q3 total jobseekers, Italy August industrial sales and September PPI, and Australia September CPI.

That’s a Wrap!

Avatar photo Stephen Guilfoyle on September 24, 2026

The major domestic equity indices closed flat to slightly lower on Thursday after having tested much lower levels earlier. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed very close to flat on the day. It appears that Washington and Tehran are exploring what would be a phased arrangement that would restore the ability of commercial traffic to navigate the Strait of Hormuz.

Four of the 11 S&P sector SPDR ETFs closed higher, with Communication Services ($XLC) atop the performance tables. The Materials ($XLB) were the big losers. Everpure ($P) was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500, while Gen Digital ($GEN) was the worst.   

Though stocks rallied well off of their lows, crude oil did not rally and Treasury debt securities sold off yet again. The U.S. 10-year Note paid 5.19% by day’s end, up 8 basis points. 

The big news of the day for single stocks was probably made by Oracle ($ORCL). The stock fell 3.5% after Bloomberg News reported that the company was citing force majeure in order to protect itself from a data center project being built in New Mexico if it is delayed.

Have a good night gang. Dougie, I believe, will be out again tomorrow, but someone else is destined to be here with you as I cannot work through the close tomorrow.

Get some rest, gang and God bless. Zero dark-thirty comes early.  

Position: None