Nvidia's board is reportedly preparing to oust its chief executive

Futures

Futures as of 05:02 ET · VIX early · 10-year at Wednesday's 4.998% print (bonds were closed Wednesday for Veterans Day) · risk 77, Transition regime · Lens board as of Wednesday's close.

The Story

Wednesday's rebound was real — and it lasted about five hours past the bell. The S&P 500 rose 1.31% to 7,619.38, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.60% to 25,466.19 and the Dow rose 0.49% to 52,486.49 as CoreWeave's after-hours beat on Tuesday rebuilt the AI trade: CoreWeave itself rose 24.71% on the session, SanDisk 13.69%, Micron 11.89% and Dell 11.75%. Then, after the close, the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust chief executive Jensen Huang, and the same complex unwound: Nvidia fell about 8% after hours and trades 5.7% lower ahead of today's bell near $163.76, CoreWeave gave back about 7% premarket, and Nasdaq futures lead the morning lower (−0.64%) against a flat Dow. The 10-year yield printed 4.998% on Wednesday with the bond market closed for Veterans Day; cash Treasuries reopen today, jobless claims print at 08:30 ET, and Cisco and Applied Materials report after the closing bell — with Nvidia's own earnings now five days out, on November 17.

Pre-Market / Overnight Standout

NVDA — NVIDIA −5.7% · The board turns — a reported ouster, an 8% after-hours fall, and no statement yet.

Nvidia trades about 5.7% lower ahead of the bell, near $163.76 against Wednesday's $173.73 close, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company's board is preparing to oust chief executive Jensen Huang. The shares fell about 8% after hours (Reuters) and were down 7% in early premarket trade before paring part of the fall. The reversal is total: Wednesday's session had been the story's first good day — the shares rose 2.87% to $173.73 on volume of about 339M shares as CoreWeave's after-hours beat rebuilt the AI trade, recovering part of the two-session fall that followed the board's November 8 announcement of an independent investigation. Sunday, that board expressed confidence in Huang's leadership. Nothing the company has published since has withdrawn that statement — and as of 05:02 ET this morning, nothing has replaced it: Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Reuters could not immediately verify the Journal's report.

What the Journal reported, via Reuters, is specific: the board is preparing to oust Huang after reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, and the board was preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future; a Reuters source said the board was meeting late Wednesday to decide. Earlier Wednesday the New York Times had reported an affair with a company executive who reported to him. The investigation the board announced on Sunday — run by its independent directors with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim as counsel — was into the relationship and the company's safeguards; the question has now moved from the relationship to the chief executive's tenure itself. No outcome of the board's meeting had been announced in any source this edition read by 05:02 ET, and the edition does not state one.

The Washington thread runs on the same clock. Three House Republican chairs asked Huang on November 4 for a closed-door briefing on November 18; Foreign Affairs chair Brian Mast said Huang had until 17:00 ET Wednesday to say whether he would agree to meet behind closed doors, with subpoenas likely to follow if he did not agree or propose another date, and the chairs were unlikely to accept the general counsel answering in his place (Reuters). As of 05:02 ET there is no public confirmation of a reply. Separately, Senators Warren and Coons asked the administration to preserve all documents tied to Nvidia's chip exports to China (Reuters), and customer Megaspeed said it cooperated with U.S. inspections. Succession talk centres on engineer Ian Buck and finance chief Colette Kress (Reuters) — speculation, printed as such; nothing has been announced.

The read into the open: this is now the fourth morning of the same company's story, and each morning the question has changed — governance, then shipments, then a deadline, now tenure. The business dates have not moved: earnings after the November 17 close against $108.0B of revenue guidance, and the requested November 18 briefing. What prices today is whether the complex treats a reported ouster at its largest company as one name's story or its own: Wednesday's close at $173.73 is the line the premarket has already surrendered, Monday's $178.67 close the level the shares left when the story widened, and the after-hours low near $159.51 reported by CBS is the first line underneath. Cisco and Applied Materials report after the closing bell today — the complex's equipment leg prints on the day its centre is in question.

FIG. 1 — NVDA · Weekly candles with the key levels · Data through Wednesday’s close.

The Engine List

Today's Engine List — twelve names the desk's screens carried into Thursday, ranked lowest to highest by forward multiple where a multiple is on file, with Wednesday's closes. The full board, the levels and the Lens reads are Pro.

Market Health

Degen Risk 77 of 100, Transition regime — computed on Wednesday's close from the v2 meter, down from Tuesday's 86: the fear gauge fell to 17.49 and the index's stress leg eased, but the meter stays in the seventies because the credit leg has not cooled — high-yield still sits about 4.7% below its 252-session high — and the S&P 500, at 7,619.38, is still about 0.7% under its 50-day average at 7,672.67. The regime improved; it did not clear.

Futures Levels

YM — Pressing the week-of-Jul 6 weekly swing high at 53,656 (1.9% away).

ES — Pressing the week-of-Jul 13 weekly swing high at 7,632 (0.2% away).

NQ — Sitting on the week-of-Jun 8 weekly swing low at 28,228 (0.2% away).

The Look Ahead

Today 08:30 ET — Weekly jobless claims — Initial claims are expected at 195K against 189K the prior week; continuing claims are expected at 1.72M. Existing-home sales follow at 10:00 ET (3.85M expected against 3.99M), the delayed EIA petroleum report lands late morning, the $25B 30-year bond auction at 13:00 ET and the federal budget statement at 14:00 ET.

Earnings Today

Recent Basic Editions

• Wed Nov 11 — Morning Basic
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• Mon Nov 9 — Morning Basic
• Sun Nov 8 — Sunday Basic
• Fri Nov 6 — Morning Basic
• Thu Nov 5 — Morning Basic
• Wed Nov 4 — Morning Basic
• Fri Oct 30 — Morning Basic

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