11/02/2026
"Off the Cuff" - Tech attempted a rally after last week's and Friday's big down days to start the month of November. Ultimately, there is just still a lot of uncertainty, and the long-term "buy the dip" investors were overtaken by the short-term momentum focused ones. The tech sector PE multiple is now at 18.4. The cheapest in the past 4 years. That historically is a BIG buying or at least stay invested signal. The message from technology earnings last week was somewhat paradoxical. Demand for AI remained exceptionally strong, but so does the investment required to meet it. That strikes me as a healthy evolution. For much of the AI boom, investors appeared to have largely rewarded companies for announcing bigger AI investments. Today they appear to be increasingly interested in what they’re getting for the money. That doesn't mean the AI opportunity has disappeared. It means the hurdle is likely getting higher. Importantly, weakness in technology doesn’t appear to mean weakness everywhere else. While tech is the major driver of markets since it makes up nearly 30%, it is not the only play. The Nasdaq closed down 1.07%, the S&P was lower by 0.51%, the Russell dropped 0.21%, while the Dow rose 0.41%. The VIX rose 9 ¼ % to 21.2 ahead of Apple's earnings, the elections tomorrow, and the continued search for a diplomatic end to the war in Iran. Bond yields were fractionally lower again as oil prices plummeted ahead of the elections. The yield on the 10-year closed down to 4.91%, helping homebuilders rise. Oil prices fell 7 ½ - 8% as peace talks continue ahead of the mid-term elections. WTI oil closed down to $96, and Brent was down to $104. The drop in oil prices allowed metals to rally by about 1% today. The Binance crypto hack by North Korea last week continued to weigh on crypto causing drops of 1-2%. Seven of the eleven major sectors finished in the green today. Those sub-sectors and leading to the upside today were Homebuilders, Private Equity, Infrastructure, Defense, Robotics, Reshoring, Metals/Mining, Leisure/Entertainment, US Industrial tech, Rare Earth Metals, Clean Energy, and Internet. Earnings this afternoon are led by Apple, but others are from Advanced Energy, BWX Tech, Clorox, Fabrinet, Lattice Semi, onsemi, and Palantir. Earnings to watch in the morning are from DuPont, Eaton, Leidos, Louisiana-Pacific, Pfizer, Shopify, Xometry, and Zebra Tech. While markets were weak in October, markets are ultimately led by earnings (strong) and economic activity (very strong). We'll see how things trade on election day tomorrow.
One More Thing - These next six months are historically the best of the year, but they are even better in a midterm year.
In fact, 19 for 19 times we've seen November - April higher when starting in a midterm year.
As always, if you have any questions regarding the information in this email, please don't hesitate to contact me
Content curated and written daily by Douglas Emitte
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