Pre-Market Brief | Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Research Desk · October 14, 2026
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), today's Stock Highlight. Logo shown for identification.
Two more ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, and Brent crude is back above $106.
September inflation lands at 8:30. And the defense giant Wall Street sold on peace hopes just raised its dividend for the 24th year in a row.
Where Futures Sit
Dow futures up 0.45 percent. S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent. Nasdaq 100 futures flat.
Tuesday was a bank-earnings shrug. The Dow slipped 0.35 percent to 51,670, the S&P finished flat at 7,805, and the Nasdaq gave up 0.15 percent.
Citigroup fell 5.6 percent even after beating estimates. When a beat gets sold, the market is telling you how high the bar sits.
Macro Pulse
September CPI at 8:30 AM ET. Economists expect headline inflation of 3.6 percent from a year ago, up from 3.4 percent, with a 0.6 percent monthly jump driven by fuel.
Core is expected to cool to 0.2 percent for the month. That gap matters. Gas prices hurt your wallet, but core is what the Fed steers by.
The Fed raised rates a quarter point last month. New York Fed President John Williams says one more hike may be needed this year. Traders put roughly a 22 percent chance on a hike at the October meeting.
The 10-year Treasury sits near 5.2 percent. Brent is above $106 after the overnight ship strikes, and Iranian officials are signaling new tactics against tankers. The Beige Book lands at 2 PM.
Stock Highlight: Lockheed Martin (LMT)
Lockheed closed Tuesday at $504, about 27 percent below the $692 record it hit in March when its F-35s flew in the opening strikes on Iran.
The slide accelerated in late September, when a report that Iran would reopen Hormuz knocked defense stocks down 3 percent in a morning. Investors priced in peace.
The strait did not cooperate. Ships have been hit nearly every day in October, and two more were struck overnight.
Meanwhile the business kept compounding. Second-quarter sales rose 11 percent to $20.1 billion, the backlog hit a record $230 billion, and management raised full-year guidance on sales, earnings and cash flow.
Think of a roofer after a hailstorm. The smart one does not just patch today's leaks. He signs the whole subdivision to multi-year contracts. If the storms stop next month, he is still booked for years.
That is Lockheed's biggest new deal in one sentence: a seven-year, roughly $35 billion contract to quadruple production of THAAD missile interceptors.
Last Thursday the board lifted the quarterly dividend to $3.60 a share. That is about a 2.9 percent yield, and the 24th straight annual raise. The stock trades near 16.6 times this year's earnings guidance.
The bear case has a number. The Space division cut its profit outlook after a rocket launch problem at its joint venture, and a real peace deal could cool munitions demand. The 52-week low of $437 sits about 13 percent below Tuesday's close.
Third-quarter results arrive before the open on October 22.
Tickers To Watch
BAC: Reports before the bell. Down about 1.5 percent premarket after disclosing a $1.21 billion regulatory fine.
MS: Reports this morning, up about 0.7 percent premarket. The wealth management numbers are the ones to read.
BLK: Also reports today. With markets near records, the question is how fast fees are growing.
ASML: Raised its full-year sales forecast for the third time this year. Some customers are placing orders out to 2029 and 2030.
MU: Memory names remain under pressure on reports of progress at Chinese rival CXMT.
VLO: Refiners led Tuesday's gainers, up 4.7 percent. Oil above $100 keeps the bid alive.
LMT: Today's highlight. The Hormuz headlines are pushing against the peace trade.
Bottom Line
The number that matters at 8:30 is core, not headline. A fuel-driven 0.6 percent monthly print is already expected. A hot core reading is what could put an October hike back on the table.
For anyone drawing income, the bigger lesson is in the defense trade. Wall Street sold an entire sector on a headline, and the headline has not held up.
Before you chase anything this morning, look at what you already own that got sold on a story rather than on its numbers.
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