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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

01 · THE BRIEF

What · why · when What: Index futures reopened higher at 18:00 ET Sunday: S&P futures +0.20%, Nasdaq-100 futures +0.43% and Dow futures +0.17% at 18:09 ET. Saturday's recap left the S&P 500 down 1.95% on the week and the Nasdaq Composite down 4.48%, its worst week since June. Why: Last week chips carried the damage (the semiconductor fund lost 10.53%) while staples (+5.02%) and energy (+4.86%) took the money. This week's reports land on that nerve: AI spending, chip orders and what the build-out costs. When: Housing data Monday and Tuesday; Netflix Tuesday after the close; Meta, Tesla, IBM, Texas Instruments and Lam Research Wednesday after the close; jobless claims Thursday 08:30; flash PMIs 09:45 and final sentiment 10:00 Friday. Monday's morning edition picks it up before the bell.

Friday's close

MARKET

FRIDAY 'S CLOSE

FRIDAY

WEEK

S&P 500

7,659.44

−1.09%

−1.95%

Nasdaq Composite

26,140.03

−2.14%

−4.48%

Dow

52,002.41

−0.34%

+0.67%

Russell 2000

2,721.37

−1.66%

−3.05%

19.99

+21.45%

+34.70%

5.081%

+0.2 bp

−16.1 bp

VIX 10-year yield

Market health The S&P 500 closed Friday 0.61% under its 50-day line at 7,706.42 but 5.34% above its 200-day line. The VIX closed at 19.99, up 34.70% on the week. The 10-year yield ended the week at 5.081%, down 16.1 bp. The Dow was the only major index up on the week (+0.67%): money rotated, it didn't run.

The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

02 · THE WEEK

The week at a glance DAY

DATA TO WATCH (ET )

BEFORE THE OPEN

AFTER THE CLOSE

Mon Oct 19 Home builder index, 10:00

Cleveland-Cliffs, Fifth Third

Steel Dynamics, Zions

Tue Oct 20

Housing starts and permits, 08:30

GE Aerospace, RTX, General Motors, 3M

Netflix, Capital One, United Airlines

Wed Oct 21 Crude oil inventories, 10:30

AT&T, Thermo Fisher, Abbott, NextEra

Meta, Tesla, IBM, Texas Instruments, Lam Research

Thu Oct 22

Jobless claims, 08:30

Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Comcast

Western Digital, Newmont

Fri Oct 23

Flash PMIs, 09:45; final sentiment, 10:00

American Express, Schlumberger

none of note

Read: Wednesday after the close is the week. Five reports land on the exact nerve the market hit last week: AI spending, chip orders and what the build-out costs.

Economic calendar DAY

TIME

RELEASE

PERIOD

FORECAST

PRIOR

Mon Oct 19

10:00

NAHB housing market index

Oct

31

32

Mon Oct 19

11:30

3- and 6-month bill auctions

auction

no forecast listed

4.085% / 4.20%

Tue Oct 20

08:15

ADP weekly employment change

week

no forecast listed

24.75K

Tue Oct 20

08:30

Housing starts

Sep

1.300M

1.275M

Tue Oct 20

08:30

Building permits (preliminary)

Sep

1.400M

1.403M

Tue Oct 20

10:00

Pending home sales m/m

Sep

0.0%

+0.3%

Tue Oct 20

11:00

Atlanta Fed GDPNow

Q3

no forecast listed

3.6%

Wed Oct 21

07:00

MBA mortgage applications

week to Oct 16

no forecast listed

−2.7%

Wed Oct 21

10:30

EIA crude oil stocks change

week to Oct 16

no forecast listed

−8.557M bbl

Wed Oct 21

13:00

20-year bond auction

auction

no forecast listed

5.42%

Thu Oct 22

08:30

Initial jobless claims

week to Oct 17

200K

199K

Thu Oct 22

08:30

Continuing jobless claims

week to Oct 10

no forecast listed

1.710M

Thu Oct 22

10:00

Conference Board leading index m/m

Sep

−0.2%

−0.1%

Thu Oct 22

13:00

5-year TIPS auction

auction

no forecast listed

1.955%

Fri Oct 23

09:45

S&P Global flash manufacturing PMI

Oct

55.6

55.9

Fri Oct 23

09:45

S&P Global flash services PMI

Oct

57.9

58.8

Fri Oct 23

09:45

S&P Global flash composite PMI

Oct

no forecast listed

58.4

Fri Oct 23

10:00

University of Michigan consumer sentiment (final)

Oct

46.3

48.1 (preliminary)

Fri Oct 23

10:00

Michigan 1-year / 5-year inflation expectations (final)

Oct

4.7% / 3.5%

4.6% / 3.4%

All times ET. Forecasts are consensus where listed.

The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

03 · REPORTERS

Earnings on our lists this week

SYMBOL

DAY

TIMING

WHY WE CARE

NFLX

Tue Oct 20

after the close

Engine List name; closed Friday 6.07% below its 50-day line

IBM

Wed Oct 21

after the close

Engine List name; the only Engine name above its 50-day line

TSLA

Wed Oct 21

after the close

a name we keep an eye on

TXN

Wed Oct 21

after the close

a name we keep an eye on; above its 50-day line

LRCX

Wed Oct 21

after the close

on last week's lists (Tue Oct 13 entry)

META

Wed Oct 21

after the close

the biggest AI spender reporting this week

Major market movers reporting this week DAY

BEFORE THE OPEN

AFTER THE CLOSE

Mon Oct 19

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), Fifth Third (FITB)

Steel Dynamics (STLD), Zions (ZION)

Tue Oct 20

GE Aerospace (GE), RTX (RTX), 3M (MMM), General Motors (GM), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Halliburton (HAL), Vicor (VICR)

Netflix (NFLX), Capital One (COF), United Airlines (UAL), Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX)

Wed Oct 21

AT&T (T), Thermo Fisher (TMO), Danaher (DHR), NextEra (NEE), Philip Morris (PM), Abbott (ABT), CME Group (CME)

Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), IBM (IBM), Texas Instruments (TXN), Lam Research (LRCX),

SAP (SAP)

Thu Oct 22

Procter & Gamble (PG), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Comcast (CMCSA), Blackstone (BX), Union Pacific (UNP), Honeywell (HON), Valero (VLO), American Airlines (AAL), Dow (DOW), Nokia (NOK)

Western Digital (WDC), Newmont (NEM), Bloom Energy (BE)

Fri Oct 23

American Express (AXP), Schlumberger (SLB)

none of note

The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

04 · SCREENERS

The Engine List No Engine List name meets the star bar today.

SYMBOL

FRIDAY 'S CLOSE

FRIDAY

VS 50-DAY LINE

IBM

232.14

−0.85%

+0.06%

MRVL

227.83

−5.56%

−5.46%

NET

296.30

−6.33%

−7.38%

NFLX

70.53

−2.86%

−6.07%

NVDA

214.13

−1.43%

−3.96%

SNOW

306.84

−8.43%

−7.88%

APH

79.35

−2.63%

−3.42%

CSCO

107.39

−2.24%

−3.50%

List notes IBM The only Engine name above its 50-day line (+0.06%); reports Wednesday after the close.

NVDA Closed 3.96% under its 50-day line. APH and CSCO Closed 3.42% and 3.50% under their 50-day lines.

NFLX Closed 6.07% under its 50-day line; reports Tuesday after the close.

The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

04 · SCREENERS · POSITION & SWING

The names we keep an eye on Twelve names we keep an eye on, Friday's close.

SYMBOL

FRIDAY 'S CLOSE

FRIDAY

VS 50-DAY LINE

QCOM

172.11

−1.93%

−1.47%

AVGO

328.75

−9.07%

−10.01%

TSLA

354.72

−7.31%

−1.32%

GOOGL

340.59

−3.15%

−1.13%

SNDK

1,299.30

−17.86%

−18.44%

MU

878.84

−14.59%

−10.59%

AMZN

250.00

−4.74%

−2.75%

TXN

276.48

−2.56%

+1.54%

PANW

342.00

−18.33%

−8.38%

UBER

70.35

−1.62%

−3.76%

ENB

48.10

+3.22%

−1.37%

AAPL

343.46

+2.03%

+5.46%

Only TXN and AAPL closed Friday above their 50-day lines. TSLA and TXN both report Wednesday after the close.

The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

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T H E D E G E N E R AT E S J O U R N A L · BASIC · SUN OCT 18, 2026

0 5 · T H E C LO S E

QUESTION FOR THE WEEK

Was the AI-hardware selloff a rotation the rest of the market can absorb, or the start of a broader break? Graded at the Fri Oct 23 Final Hour. It grades as rotation if the S&P 500 closes Fri Oct 23 at or above Friday's session low of 7,631.77 and the VIX closes under Friday's close of 19.99. It grades as a broader break if the S&P 500 closes below that low and the VIX closes above Friday's session high of 22.31. Anything else grades Unresolved, stated with the closing figures.

P R I N T Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” — Benjamin Graham, as quoted by Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway 1987 shareholder letter Why it fits the week: Last week's selling was the vote. This week the reports start the weighing: Netflix Tuesday, then Meta, Tesla, IBM, Texas Instruments and Lam Research Wednesday night.

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The Degenerates Journal — Basic · Sunday, October 18, 2026

p. 7

Position disclosure — checked November 8, 2026: of the names covered in this edition, the desk currently holds QCOM, AVGO, TSLA, GOOGL, SNDK, MU. The desk’s current position book (QCOM · AVGO · TSLA · GOOGL · SNDK · MU) prints in the open in the current editions; see Methodology & Disclosures.

For research and education purposes only. Not financial advice.