Good Afternoon. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles brought The War of the Worlds to American radio. Its fake news bulletins made a Martian invasion sound real to some listeners. Later claims of widespread panic went far beyond the evidence.

—Rosie, Wyatt, Evan & Conor

In this edition

Supplied by StockTwits. ONEQ tracks the Nasdaq Composite; IEF holds U.S. Treasury bonds; GLD tracks gold. These three references are ETFs.

The read: Tech shares led another sell-off during Friday’s trading. Investors again questioned the cost of AI. The Nasdaq fell roughly 3.5%, while the S&P 500 lost about 2.3%. Amazon’s cash outflow and Intel’s weak outlook outweighed gains for some oil producers and consumer brands.

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Amazon’s cloud business is racing ahead. The bill for building it is moving faster.

AWS sales jumped 39% to $46 billion in the third quarter. That helped lift Amazon’s total sales to $201.9 billion, up 12% from a year earlier. Its operating profit reached $28.1 billion, with a record margin of 13.9%.

Over the 12 months ended September 30, free cash flow fell to negative $42.4 billion. A year earlier, it was positive $14.8 billion. Free cash flow is cash from the business after spending on property and equipment.

Those purchases rose sharply, mainly because of AI investment. The cash figure covers a full year, not just this quarter. More cloud sales are real; so is the cost of adding capacity.

Amazon still expects about $220 billion in cash capital spending in 2026. For the holiday quarter, it forecasts sales of $240 billion to $247 billion. The next earnings report will show how much of that growth turns into cash.

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💻 Intel’s rebound meets a smaller forecast

Intel’s sales rebound came with a warning about what comes next. Third-quarter revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion. Data-center and AI sales grew 78%, while its PC-focused business fell 5%. The chipmaker’s different businesses are moving at very different speeds.

Intel expects fourth-quarter sales of $15 billion to $16 billion. Even the top of that range is below the latest quarter. Its finance chief said the PC slowdown could last through the first half of 2027. Strong server demand hasn’t fixed the whole business.

💼 Benefits grow faster than paychecks

A bigger bill for employers doesn’t always mean a bigger raise for workers. Total pay and benefit costs for civilian workers rose 3.4% over the year ended September. Wages grew 3.1%, while benefit costs climbed 3.9%. Benefits include health coverage and retirement plans.

After inflation, wages fell 0.6% over that same year. That helps explain why a pay raise can still feel like falling behind. The index also showed total labor costs rising 0.8% from June to September, a separate three-month measure.

🪥 Colgate’s growth has a regional gap

Toothpaste and pet food gave Colgate-Palmolive a lift, though North America missed out. Third-quarter sales rose 4.6% to $5.37 billion. Sales excluding currency changes and deals grew 3.6%. That measure helps separate business growth from exchange rates and changes in what the company owns.

Worldwide sales volume rose 1.7%, but North American volume fell 3.7%. The company narrowed its full-year sales-growth forecast to 4%–5% and raised its profit-margin outlook. More products moved overall; the gains weren’t spread evenly across its markets.

ExxonMobil’s fuel plants ran flat out on the U.S. Gulf Coast. More cash came out the other end.

Third-quarter profit reached $15.4 billion, up from $14.5 billion in the second quarter. Cash from the business totaled $25.7 billion. After spending on long-term assets, it had $19.1 billion in free cash flow.

Its Gulf Coast refineries ran at 100% utilization. That means they used all of their capacity. Diesel output there was its second-highest on record. Making fuel added to the business of pumping oil.

Exxon paid $9.4 billion to shareholders in the quarter. Some came through dividends; the rest bought back shares. It also announced a $20 billion share-buyback plan for 2027. That is a future plan, not cash already returned.

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Japan left its interest rate alone, then stepped harder on a different brake.

The Bank of Japan voted 8–1 to keep its overnight rate around 1.25%. One member wanted 1.5%. That rate decision was separate from a unanimous vote to sell stock funds faster.

The bank will raise annual sales of exchange-traded funds from 330 billion yen to 860 billion yen. These funds hold baskets of shares. The sales figures use the bank’s recorded book values, rather than current market prices.

The faster pace starts in January 2027. The bank said trading has grown since it began selling the funds in January 2026. It now aims for sales equal to about 0.1% of market trading value.

That’s a larger withdrawal from stock-market support without an immediate rate increase. The bank can still adjust or pause sales if market conditions call for it. Faster doesn’t mean the exit runs on autopilot.

🇪🇺 Europe grows, with a few weak spots

The euro-area economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter, compared with the prior three months. That slowed from 0.6% in the second quarter. France slipped 0.1%, while Germany grew 0.2%. These are quarterly changes, not annual rates. The early figures use incomplete data; Eurostat’s next estimate is due November 13.

🇩🇪 German firms plan more price rises

More German companies plan to raise prices. The ifo survey’s price-expectations gauge rose to 25.9 points in October from 23 in September. Manufacturing showed the biggest increase, as higher oil and gas costs added pressure. This measures firms’ plans, not price rises already paid by shoppers. The squeeze could reach bills later.

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🥸 Dad Joke of the Day

Q: Why did the cookie go to the hospital?

A: Because he felt crummy.

📖 Vocab Word of the Day · Capital expenditure

Capital expenditure: Money used to buy or build assets a business plans to use for years. Think land, tools and buildings. The cost can hit cash before those assets start to earn money.

In a sentence: Amazon expects about $220 billion in cash capital expenditure in 2026.

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