[OP Ed. Note: This Editorial Was Drafted Without AI]

Yo Pit Crazies,

Fall is in Maine of course and one of my favorite sites to see is the cove filling up with leaves as Halloween approaches.

A light leaf day in coastal Maine

Eventually, there will be a day where the water is 90% covered with leaves against the green tidal water.

I’ll report when it gets full.

I have to admit, I thought it would take longer for Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) to get whacked by the AI train.

Revenues were up 25% but investors could not get past the negative free cash flow. That news of a bellwether stock getting pummeled sent the market down.

GOOGL erased a whole year off of 25% revenue growth because traders are worried about search. Start the game over as 2026 didn’t happen.

Spending on AI is giving everyone the willies and even Oracle Corp (ORCL) preannounced yesterday only helped a bit. Start the game over as 2026 didn’t happen for these two giants.

1-Year GOOGL Chart

Why didn’t the VIX go up

You can tell from above that VIX is down on an SPX down day. The trading manual says that should not happen but it does. The two can move in the same direction up to 20% of the time and 2026 has been one of those times. That generally means stocks are moving.

Like I said yesterday, the front end of the VIX curve was flat looking for a larger move in the S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) out of the Fed and we did not get one. I said that would be a low point for buying VIX puts and so far, 24 hours later, I’m correct.

Traders are now easing back the extreme move forecast. The only thing that will get stocks going without Big Tech is a ceasefire in the Iran Conflict but we still have to wait for the election too. One more week and VIX likely will see the 15 handle.

Speaking of election:

We have an election extravaganza coming Nov 2-4. Hosted by the inimitable Garrett.

I will be guesting to talk about how the election is going to affect my investment choices in what I want to protect, jump into and get rid of.

Tap this to claim your free seat and add the event to your calendar.

This isn’t just a run of the mill small town mayoral election. Midterms are a big deal. They affect policy and the way money moves.

And I have this sneaking suspicion that the upcoming election is the only thing holding this market together.

So make sure you come join us next over the next three days.

You’ll come away with a lot of different ways to protect your money, areas to put money to work, and how this shapes the economic outlook in 2027 so you can best position for it. 3 days of VIX from the top to the bottom today

Finding the next trade

I think the rest of the earnings for Big Tech will be the same.

The stocks are so expensive they have to have more than perfect earnings to rally.

Luckily, there are 480 stocks in the SPY making money and likely will have breakout 2027’s

I hope this was helpful,

AG