Markets Pre-Open
Futures are solidly green into the open, with markets just minutes from the bell as the Fed decision looms at 2:00 PM ET. S&P futures +0.20% to 7,773.75, Dow futures +0.02% to 52,588, Nasdaq futures +0.36% to 29,920.50, Russell 2000 futures +0.11% to 2,831.50. VIX -1.14% to 17.32, continuing its grind lower ahead of the FOMC announcement.
Commodities/Crypto snapshot: Gold -0.18% to $4,067.30, Crude Oil (Dec) +1.90% to $101.80. Bitcoin +0.79% to $80,538.
Rates: 10-Yr Bond yield 4.995% (+0.04%) — holding steady ahead of the Fed decision, which markets are pricing against a prior effective rate of 3.88%.
Economic data today: MBA 30-Yr Mortgage Rate fell to 7.37% (from 7.41%), Mortgage Market Index rose to 195 (from 188.6) — modest housing-demand pickup even with rates still elevated. FOMC rate decision due 2:00 PM ET — the single biggest catalyst of the session.
Geopolitical Intel (ThinkCreate Threat Feed)
- [LVL 3/10] Israeli election aftermath — rival factions in Israel claiming triumph, but outcome remains unresolved (NYT, 5 sources).
- [LVL 3/10] Knife-wielding attacker fatally shot outside the Israeli embassy in Serbia (BBC/NYT, multiple sources).
- [LVL 3/10] Jordan’s retaliatory air strikes in Syria — casualty details emerging (AlJazeera).
- [LVL 1/10] At least 30 dead in a train collision in central Spain (NPR).
- [LVL 1/10] Cruise industry stress continues — a U.S. cruise ship ended its voyage early and passengers were stranded in Cambodia, both citing soaring fuel costs (NPR/BBC) — watch for read-through to CCL/RCL/NCLH names.
Defense stocks: RTX $194.60 (-1.46%), LMT $622.99 (-1.92%), NOC $551.23 (-2.51%), GD $354.89 (-0.60%). Defense broadly softer today — profit-taking after last week’s run, with Boeing the standout mover (see Earnings section, -10.69%).
Live data snapshot: 8,523 commercial flights / 364 military / 1,701 private aircraft airborne; 85 tracked/flagged aircraft; 21,098 vessels tracked; 243 active satellites; 2 GPS jamming events; 44 earthquakes (24h); 800 global incidents logged (GDELT).
Commodities & Currencies
Commodities: Gold -0.18% to $4,067.30, holding just under record territory. Crude Oil (WTI, Dec contract) +1.90% to $101.80 — a notable bid into Fed day, worth watching against the cruise-sector fuel-cost headlines above.
Market movers: SK Hynix +7% and Micron +3% on bullish commentary pointing to a memory shortage lasting through 2030; Seagate slipped despite upbeat guidance of its own.
Earnings — Today’s Reports (Oct 28, 218 companies)
Today is one of the heaviest earnings days of the quarter. Headliners:
Reported before/during session (beats/misses in):
- GE Vernova (GEV) — EPS $4.81 vs. $4.01 est., +19.88% surprise — beat and raised guidance, also announced the Trench Group acquisition to bolster its grid business. Stock +4.7% intraday.
- Vertiv (VRT) — EPS $2.21 vs. $1.82 est., +21.18% surprise — strong beat, stock +4.4%.
- Garmin (GRMN) — EPS $2.76 vs. $2.38 est., +15.8% surprise — solid beat.
- Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) — EPS $1.65 vs. $1.61 est., +2.26% surprise.
- TE Connectivity (TEL) — EPS $3.14 vs. $3.07 est., +2.24% surprise.
- Aon (AON) — EPS $3.36 vs. $3.30 est., +1.83% surprise.
- Boston Scientific (BSX) — EPS $0.73 vs. $0.72 est., narrow beat, but stock crashed ~11% intraday on a disclosed cybersecurity attack weighing on guidance — a reminder that headline EPS beats don’t always protect the stock when the outlook commentary is ugly.
- UBS Group — EPS $0.96 in-line, but -0.58% surprise; CEO also reportedly threatening a Swiss exit amid a regulatory crackdown — one to watch for European banking-sector read-through.
- Equinor (EQNR) — EPS $1.20 vs. $1.35 est., -10.89% miss — soft energy-major print.
After-market tonight (AMC) — the main event:
- Microsoft (MSFT) — Q1 FY27, EPS est. $4.72, market cap $3.95T. The single largest earnings event of the week.
- Alphabet (GOOGL/GOOG) — Q3 2026, EPS est. ~$3.00/$2.97, market cap ~$3.9T.
- ServiceNow (NOW) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $1.02, market cap $160B.
- T-Mobile US (TMUS) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $2.91, market cap $157.5B.
- Fortinet (FTNT) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $0.86, market cap $135.7B.
- Equinix (EQIX) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $3.96, market cap $98.6B.
- Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $1.86, market cap $53.2B.
- eBay (EBAY) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $1.41, market cap $52.4B.
- Ford (F) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $0.40, market cap $46.7B.
- Carvana (CVNA) — Q3 2026, EPS est. $0.44, market cap $42.6B.
- Also: KLA Corp (KLAC), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM).
With MSFT and GOOGL both reporting after the bell tonight, expect outsized index-level volatility at tomorrow’s open — this is arguably a bigger catalyst than the Fed decision itself for Nasdaq positioning.
Earnings — Tomorrow Preview (Oct 29, 325 companies — the biggest day of the week)
Thursday is the heaviest earnings day of the entire week (325 reports), driven largely by the overnight reaction to tonight’s MSFT/GOOGL prints plus a fresh wave of after-hours reports:
- Amazon (AMZN) — reports after the close Oct 29, the week’s other true mega-cap event alongside MSFT/GOOGL. Direct AI-capex and cloud-margin comparison point against Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, both of which report the night before.
- Expect continued Magnificent-7-adjacent earnings flow and heavy cross-currents from tonight’s MSFT/GOOGL results feeding into pre-market positioning for Thursday’s open.
- Full symbol-level detail for Oct 29 was still populating on Yahoo’s calendar as of this morning’s pull (markets not yet open); flag names of interest include continued semiconductor/memory supply-chain names given the SK Hynix/Micron shortage commentary, and any further airline/cruise names given today’s fuel-cost headlines.
Bottom Line
Fed day is almost beside the point — tonight’s Microsoft and Alphabet prints, followed by Amazon tomorrow night, are the real event risk for the week. Today’s reports already show a bifurcated tape: industrial/infrastructure beats (GE Vernova, Vertiv, Garmin) rewarded, while a cybersecurity-driven guidance cut (Boston Scientific, -11%) shows the market has zero patience for soft forward commentary regardless of the headline beat. With crude bid +1.9% into the Fed and defense names cooling off post-rally, watch for volatility to expand materially into the close as positioning shifts ahead of the 2:00 PM rate decision and tonight’s Big Tech avalanche.