- S&P fut: 7,774 (0.24%)
- Nasdaq fut: 29,866 (0.64%)
- Dow fut: 52,789 (0.13%)
- VIX: 17.33 (0.12%)
- 10Y: 5.12% (-0.37%)
- Dollar: 101.67 (-0.03%)
- Fear & Greed: 29 · fear
- BTC: $83,434 (2.48%)
- XRP: $1.36 (4.58%)
- ETH: $2,467 (3.57%)
- 30Y mortgage: 7.4%
☀️ The Morning Brief
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Russia frees retired American teacher as Trump envoy meets with Putin · Ohio governor’s race in uproar over ad featuring Democrat’s estranged mother · United Nations report highlights significant increase in U.S. climate pollution
Number of the Day
- 29 — the Fear & Greed Index — Fear
Top Stories
10- 1
Russia frees retired American teacher as Trump envoy meets with Putin — NBC News
- 2
Ohio governor’s race in uproar over ad featuring Democrat’s estranged mother — The Washington Post
- 3
United Nations report highlights significant increase in U.S. climate pollution — NPR
- 4
Exclusive | Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine — WSJ
- 5
Haitian migrants changed this town - Trump's deportation drive is reshaping it again — BBC
- 6
A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. — The New York Times
- 7
New Video Shows Chaotic Moments Before Police Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley — The New York Times
- 8
Trump Promises Cash and Bailouts to Woo Midterm Voters Worried About High Prices — WSJ
- 9
Rubio insists the US isn’t trying to hurt Ukraine — POLITICO.eu
- 10
Federal agents knock on doors to track down possible noncitizen voters ahead of midterms — CBS News
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On the Radar
10- Daylight saving time ends in 2 weeks; will Senate ever make it permanent? — Bergen Record
- Brazil’s Senate votes 75 to 1 to end the 6×1 work schedule. Business groups warn of layoffs ten days before the runoff — Plataforma Media
- Map Shows When Early Voting Starts in Each State for Midterm Elections — Newsweek
- Supreme Court takes case on K-12 admissions policies - K-12 Dive — K-12 Dive
- Immigrant moms with American babies anxiously await birthright citizenship ruling — ABC News
- 2026-10-21 — ADP Employment Change Weekly
- 2026-10-21 — Building Permits
- 2026-10-21 — Building Permits
- 2026-10-21 — Housing Starts
- 2026-10-21 — Housing Starts
Entertainment
5- Grab the Tissues, It’s Dedication Night on ‘Dancing With the Stars’: See the Scores, Who Went Home — The Hollywood Reporter
- Alan Bersten replaces Val Chmerkovskiy on 'DWTS' Week 6 — ABC News
- Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis — The Washington Post
- Robert Pattinson Was Bribed to Star in ‘Primetime’ With 200 Zyn Canisters and a Note That Read: ‘Dear Chris Han-Zyn’ — Variety
- Your Love Horoscope Is Here For Wednesday, October 21: Retrograde Venus Moves Through Scorpio — YourTango
Pre-Market Pulse
6- S&P 500 fut
7,774.00+0.24% - Nasdaq fut
29,865.75+0.64% - Dow fut
52,789.00+0.13% - VIX
17.33+0.12% - 10-yr yield
5.12%-0.37% - Dollar (DXY)
101.67-0.03%
Fear & Greed
29 · fear
Economic Calendar
6- 08:15 · United States — ADP Employment Change Weekly →
18.50K - 08:30 · United States — Building Permits →
1.400Mvs1.390Mexp - 08:30 · United States — Building Permits →
-0.2%vs-1.3%exp - 08:30 · United States — Housing Starts →
1.221Mvs1.300Mexp - 08:30 · United States — Housing Starts →
-5.2%vs1.9%exp - 08:55 · United States — Redbook →
9.0%
Earnings Today
8- META Meta Platforms, Inc. — $1797.1B, after hours, $4.98 exp
- TSLA Tesla, Inc. — $1453.7B, after hours, $0.22 exp
- LRCX Lam Research Corporation — $340.6B, after hours, $2.17 exp
- PM Philip Morris International Inc — $313.4B, pre market, $2.30 exp
- SAP SAP SE — $277.7B, after hours, $2.03 exp
- TXN Texas Instruments Incorporated — $252.2B, after hours, $2.40 exp
- TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc — $251.2B, pre market, $6.40 exp
- IBM International Business Machines Corporation — $222.7B, after hours, $2.88 exp
Stocks Moving
15- Gainers
- AIMDW $0.0579 +111.3%
- SAIQ $6.84 +100.6%
- SCAGW $0.0090 +73.1%
- SHFSW $0.0132 +65.0%
- COPL.WS $0.0700 +60.5%
- Losers
- CJMB $0.6599 -65.6%
- SDSTW $0.0276 -59.2%
- ALPXW $0.0250 -58.4%
- BKHAU $4.15 -52.4%
- BCAT.RT $0.0001 -50.0%
- Most active
- NWGL
421,484,724shares - PRSO
230,679,136shares - SDST
215,597,486shares - SHFS
211,095,117shares - FRTT
209,671,316shares
Unusual Activity
3- NVDA calls heavy — put/call
0.6 - AMD calls heavy — put/call
0.79 - AMZN calls heavy — put/call
0.38
Crypto
3- BTC $83,434 +2.48%
- XRP $1.36 +4.58%
- ETH $2,467 +3.57%
AI & Tech
5- Does Ruby on Rails still make sense? — 30 points
- Good type against all odds — 140 points
- Unitree's newest robot: H2-X Kung Fu Legend Guardian
- Be prepared, GPU price increase incoming --> Samsung sells out 100% of all 2027 HBM capacity - HBM prices expected to jump 200% next year, DRAM price…
- There seems to be a ton of these managed agent platforms from all companies lately. Actual demand or solution in search of a problem? How would you d…
Fraud Watch
4- Southern District of Texas | Two charged in mortgage fraud scheme involving falsified financial documents — Department of Justice (.gov)
- Trump suggests he could be ‘arbitrator’ in DoJ anti-fraud whistleblower scheme — The Guardian
- Ex-New London chief sentenced in $1.9M healthcare fraud case — Valley News
- TransUnion Launches Industry-First Adverse-Actionable Scores to Combat Synthetic Identity Fraud and Credit Washing, Now Being Integrated With Oscilar — TransUnion
Breakthroughs
4- SD Mines researchers contribute to Nobel Prize-winning IceCube Experiment — Black Hills Pioneer
- FSU 175: Florida State’s research legacy spans generations of discovery — Florida State University News
- L'Oréal USA Names 2026 For Women in Science Awardees, Supporting the Future of Scientific Discovery — PR Newswire
- Chen Qiyu: Building on "Affordability & Reliability", Fosun Expands the Global Reach of Chinese Innovative Drugs — TradingView
Housing
4- 30-year fixed
7.4%(as of 2026-10-15) - September data shows housing market in a deep freeze — CNBC
- Home Prices Edge Up, But The Housing Market Is Dismal — Forbes
- Small Investors Made Gains in Housing Market This Year as Congress Limited Big Institutions — Realtor.com
Pets
3- Southwest Research Institute Leads City’s Roaming Dog Study — City of San Antonio (.gov)
- San Antonio turns to AI to study its roaming-dog population — San Antonio Report
- Cats And Their Owners Seem to Share A Weird, Hormonal Connection — ScienceAlert
Fitness
3- Remote exercise monitoring has mixed results in Parkinson’s study — Parkinson's News Today
- Inside Binghamton University’s student-led Metabolic and Exercise Physiology Laboratory — Binghamton University
- Fitness tracker data could offer clues about future brain health — Medical Xpress
On This Day
4- 2021 — A shooting occurs on the set of the film Rust, in which actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop weapon which had been loaded, killing the director of ph…
- 2019 — Thirty people are killed in a fiery bus crash in western Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2019 — In Canada, the 2019 Canadian federal election ends, resulting in incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remaining in office, albeit with the Liberal…
- 2018 — A passenger train derails in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187.
Birthdays
4- Cameron Burgess, Scottish-Australian footballer (31)
- Doja Cat, American rapper, singer and songwriter (31)
- Antoinette Guedia Mouafo, Cameroonian swimmer (31)
- Kane Brown, American singer and songwriter (33)
Recipe of the Day
- Tangy cabbage slaw — Ukrainian, Vegetarian
Dad Joke of the Day
- What did the piece of bread say to the knife? Butter me up.
🧠 Daily trivia
Sting, the lead vocalist of The Police, primarily plays what instrument?
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Assembled automatically from public sources — every headline links to its origin. Nothing here is investment advice.





