Wednesday's rally lasted one session. The Nasdaq fell about 5.5%, leaving it more than 10% below its October record. The S&P 500 lost about 4%. The semiconductor index lost about 12%. On Wednesday, the Dow rose 1,500 points while chip stocks fell 3%. Thursday the selling reached everyone. It did not reach them equally. Bonds rallied and junk bonds barely moved. The companies that sell into the AI buildout fell hardest. The companies that pay for it fell far less. 
PREMIER FEATURE And our just-updated free report, 10 Best Stocks to Own: Fall 2026, identifies the 10 best-positioned companies to own right now. Including: - A high-yield dividend payer adding growth to their story
- AI companies monetizing the boom instead of just riding the hype
- A steady grower offering diversification for tech-heavy portfolios
- An American powerhouse growing domestically and expanding internationally
Plus six more companies turning growth opportunities into stronger fundamentals — setting investors up through year-end and into 2027. Get your FREE copy of 10 Best Stocks to Own: Fall 2026 here 3 MOVERS IN 3 MINUTES1. MasTec put a big deal on hold to make room for buybacks. MasTec (MTZ) suspended late-stage talks on "a large potentially accretive acquisition" to prioritize buybacks under an existing $250 million authorization, about 2% of its market value. The stock, down as much as 12% earlier in the session at a 52-week low, turned higher within minutes of the midday release and ended down about 5%. Contractor peers Quanta, Primoris, Comfort Systems, Dycom and EMCOR fell 7% to 13%. MasTec named no target and said talks could resume. A company that was close to buying growth put its own shares first, though it isn't obligated to buy any. 2. Bitcoin gave back the election bounce. It now sits near Strategy's cost. Bitcoin fell about 5.5% to near $76,000, erasing Wednesday's climb above $80,000. Crypto stocks fell harder than the coin. Coinbase (COIN) and Strategy (MSTR) lost about 9.5% and Robinhood (HOOD) about 10%. IREN (IREN), a miner that has pivoted toward AI computing, fell about 17%. The level to watch is Strategy's average purchase price of $75,451. Bitcoin's low Thursday was about $75,500, depending on the exchange. 3. The Bank of England hiked. America's hike bet went the other way. The BoE raised its rate a quarter point to 4%, its first increase since 2023, in an 8-1 vote. The lone dissenter, Catherine Mann, wanted a half point. Governor Andrew Bailey said that unless the Middle East conflict is resolved, it doesn't "seem likely to be the last increase." In the U.S., jobless claims fell to 189,000, matching the lowest since 1969. Kalshi's December Fed hike contract still fell to about 66 cents from 80 as stocks slid, even though the labor data pointed the other way. 3 SIGNALS FOR TOMORROW 1. Payrolls at 8:30 a.m. Economists expect about 65,000 jobs and 4.2% unemployment. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said Thursday policy "will need to move to a restrictive stance." The Fed officials who wanted a hike haven't moved. The market did. What it could change: a strong report tests whether today's drop in hike odds was about the economy or about stocks. 2. Microchip and Cloudflare tonight. Microchip (MCHP), down about 14% today, is expected to earn 94 cents a share on $1.61 billion of sales. Cloudflare (NET), down about 8%, is expected at 34 cents on $737 million. What it could change: Microchip sells microcontrollers and analog chips, not AI accelerators. A steady outlook would suggest today priced a mood, not orders. 3. Vistra before Friday's open. Vistra (VST) is expected to earn $2.98 a share and is down about 19% over two sessions. It is one of the largest power generators in Texas. What it could change: any word on data-center contracts shows whether the Texas pledge is changing customer behavior or only stock prices. Now, to the split inside the selloff. The SipWall Street sold the companies that sell AI. It went easier on the ones that buy it.The semiconductor index fell about 12%. AMD (AMD) and Micron (MU) lost about 17%, Broadcom (AVGO) about 10% and Nvidia (NVDA) about 9%. Reuters tied the drop to Qualcomm's results, covered this morning, and to worries that the Democratic sweep slows the AI buildout. UBS analysts estimated that about 30% of expected 2028 U.S. data-center additions could be at risk from construction pauses. The buyers fell leastMicrosoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) fell about 4%. Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) lost about 2%. The gap has a logic. A data center is revenue for the company selling the chips and a cost for the company buying them. Slower construction takes orders from one and spending from the other. Reuters reported that the hyperscalers rallied Wednesday "on bets that slower data-center construction could rein in Big Tech's AI spending." Thursday they fell too, at a fraction of the suppliers' pace. FROM OUR SPONSORS What is Elon Building in Texas?
Elon's mysterious Texas project will be 3X the size of Central Park… Cost $122 billion to build… And singlehandedly DOUBLE American chip production. One investment (not Tesla/SpaceX) is at the center of it all. Click here to get its name and free ticker. This ad is sent on behalf of InvestorPlace Media at 1125 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. If you're not interested in this opportunity, please click here. What hasn't happened yetTexas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa's pause on data-center approvals is still a campaign pledge. She takes office in January, the same month the new Congress is seated. The suppliers' own numbers point the other way. On Tuesday, AMD guided to 2027 revenue growth above 80%. In a Yahoo Finance interview released Thursday morning, CEO Lisa Su said, "I think the market can sometimes be a little bit short-sighted." UBS said "a lot is already priced into Semis with valuations nearing multi-year lows." What the bond market saidThe five-year Treasury yield fell about 8 basis points and the 10-year about 6. The iShares high-yield bond ETF slipped about 0.3%. That pattern looks more like one sector's growth being repriced than a funding scare. If credit starts to move with chips, the story changes. What settles itOrders, not pledges. Nvidia reports later this month. Texas lawmakers convene in January. Until then, the suppliers carry the policy risk. The buyers hold something closer to an option: they can spend less if they have to. PARTNER SPOTLIGHT This #1 stock for the next AI boom?
Behind the scenes, America's top AI scientists have been hard at work. They've been building a new category of AI-powered device so powerful… It'll trigger something AI scientists call an "intelligence explosion…" A sudden 360-fold acceleration in major AI-powered breakthroughs. That means it'd shrink AI breakthrough times from 3 years… down to 3 days. In the process, it's poised to spark a $100 trillion reset of the AI markets… starting THIS YEAR. That's why Louis Navellier believes this event could send certain AI stocks tumbling… While creating a new generation of AI millionaires and billionaires… Starting with the company he reveals here (down to the ticker) in his new presentation. This ad is sent on behalf of InvestorPlace Media at 1125 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. If you're not interested in this opportunity, please click here. The Market Sips TakeawayThe market drew a line through the AI trade today. Sellers on one side, buyers on the other. - What would confirm it: hyperscalers keep beating chipmakers on down days, or a big buyer trims its 2027 spending plan.
- What would break it: orders. Strong guidance from Microchip tonight, Vistra tomorrow or Nvidia this month would say demand hasn't changed.
- Where it shows up next: Asia, overnight. Seoul's Kospi fell 5.3% after U.S. chip stocks fell 3% on Wednesday. Thursday's drop was more than three times as large.
- The slower test: private rounds. Zipline raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation Thursday, with Fidelity and ARK Invest among the investors. Watch whether late-stage rounds keep clearing at those prices.
Thursday the market charged the companies that sell the buildout. It went easier on the ones that pay for it. UNTIL THEN, SIP SLOWLY! The Market Sips Desk If Texas does pause data-center approvals, would you rather own the chipmaker or the cloud company buying its chips? Hit reply. AI Found the Target. AI Designed the Drug. Now It's in Phase III.For years, AI drug discovery had a problem. Plenty of models. Very few medicines.
That's changing. One company says AI identified the biological target and then designed the molecule to hit it. In September, the first patient in its Phase III trial was dosed.
It isn't alone. A second AI-engineered medicine is in Phase III, and Big Pharma is now paying for the technology.
We profiled the 5 companies pushing AI into real drug development in a new FREE Special Report: AI Moves Into the Biotech Lab.
We'll text it straight to your phone. Get the Free Report by Text → | 
