Pre-Market Brief | Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Research Desk · September 23, 2026
The Nasdaq has closed at two straight records. The biggest bank in the country fell 3.4 percent on the same day. Oil is near $90 on Iran talks, and Xi Jinping lands in Washington today.
Where Futures Sit
S&P 500 futures up 0.04 percent. Dow futures flat. Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.04 percent.
Tuesday was a split tape. The Nasdaq rose 0.45 percent to another record, while the Dow slipped 0.36 percent and the S&P finished flat.
Macro Pulse
Flash manufacturing and services PMIs land at 9:45 AM ET. Mortgage applications are out early.
U.S. and Iranian officials met for several hours at the UN on Tuesday. WTI crude sits near $90, down from above $100 last week.
The ten-year Treasury yields about 4.96 percent, the two-year 4.77 percent. That gap of roughly 0.2 percent is the story for banks. Markets now price better-than-even odds of another Fed hike in October.
President Trump greets Xi Jinping today, Xi's first Washington visit in 11 years. Trade, rare earths, and AI are on the table.
Stock Highlight: JPMorgan Chase
JPM fell 3.4 percent Tuesday to about $340. Nothing broke inside the company. The market sold the shape of the bond market.
Think of a bank as a grocer. Deposits are the inventory, loans are what it sells. When long and short rates sit this close together, the inventory gets pricier faster than the selling price rises.
The franchise underneath is strong. Second-quarter revenue hit $57.3 billion, up 28 percent. Management expects third-quarter trading and dealmaking revenue up a mid-to-high teens percentage. The dividend just rose 10 percent to $1.65 a quarter, backed by a $50 billion buyback.
The honest risk: card charge-offs near 3.3 percent and a CEO saying conditions are close to as good as it gets. The stock trades near 14 times earnings. Results come October 13.
Rachel Gearhart Publisher,
The Oxford Club
Tickers To Watch
JPM: Can it hold $340 after Tuesday's bank selloff? Bank of America fell 2 percent alongside it.
GIS: General Mills reports before the bell. A read on whether shoppers are still trading down.
PAYX: Paychex reports this morning. Up 1.2 percent after hours on the setup. A clean read on small-business hiring.
CTAS: Cintas reports before the open. Steady compounder, rich multiple.
KBH: KB Home beat on earnings but slips 1.8 percent. A 5 percent ten-year is hard on buyers.
RCL: Up 1 percent after committing $3 billion to Sandals Resorts, its largest deal ever.
META: Up about 11 percent Monday on its new AI agent. The leader of this week's tech run.
Bottom Line
The market is paying up for AI and marking down the businesses that live on interest rates.
That split matters for income investors. Banks, homebuilders, and dividend payers are the part of the tape feeling the Fed's hike, while growth stocks keep setting records.
If you are drawing income within five years, today is a good day to check how much of your portfolio leans on one side of that divide. Balance is doing more work than prediction right now.
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