Good Afternoon. On November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened on the National Mall. It gave families a place to grieve for loved ones lost in the war. The wall bears the names of those who died or went missing.

—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: AI stocks pulled U.S. indexes lower during Friday’s trading, even as more S&P 500 stocks rose than fell. Nvidia and other chip makers weighed on the market. The S&P 500 still headed for a weekly gain, while the yield on ten-year Treasury bonds moved higher.

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Cheaper diesel hasn’t stopped the cost of trucking goods from rising. That keeps pressure on the cost of getting food and other products to stores.

Prices charged for truck freight rose 3.9% in October from September. Wholesale diesel prices fell over the same month, but the effects of earlier fuel increases are still spreading through the economy.

The broader Producer Price Index rose 0.3% in October, a smaller monthly gain than in September. It tracks prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services. A slower rise still means prices went up.

Shipping is one part of the cost of putting goods on a shelf. Businesses can absorb some higher costs by keeping less profit. They may also try to charge more.

The report doesn’t tell us exactly how much of that bill shoppers will pay. Competition and demand help shape that choice. For households, the catch is simple: relief at one step of the supply chain doesn’t erase costs at every other step.

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🌐 AI needs wires as well as chips

AI needs more than powerful chips. Cisco makes the network gear that lets computers send data to each other. Its sales rose 24% from a year earlier in its fiscal first quarter, which ended October 24.

Cisco raised its yearly sales forecast and expects its AI sales to the largest cloud firms to more than double. That’s business going to a supplier behind the scenes, beyond the chip makers that get most of the attention. The forecast still depends on customers following through with spending.

🛍️ More stock for the holiday shelves

Dillard’s is heading into the holidays with more money tied up in goods. The department store chain, which sells clothes, shoes and home goods, reported 1% growth in retail sales from a year earlier in its third quarter, which ended October 31.

The value of goods it held grew faster, by 4%. That leaves more stock to sell if demand falls short. These figures don’t prove that discounts are coming. The next test is how much shoppers take home during the holiday season.

🍜 More sales per restaurant, less in total

Noodles & Company sells pasta bowls and other noodle dishes. Sales at its established restaurants rose 9.5% from a year earlier in the third quarter, which ended September 29. But total company revenue fell as it closed weaker locations.

Those two results can fit together: fewer restaurants can leave nearby stores with more business. The chain says some takeout sales have shifted to those stores. It still lost money in the quarter, and a review that could include selling parts or all of the business remains open.

Chips don’t build themselves. Applied Materials sells the machines and tools chip makers use to make them. Its latest results show more of the AI spending boom reaching the factory floor.

Sales rose 53% from a year earlier to $10.41 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended October 25. The company said demand for AI chips helped drive the growth.

Making more advanced chips means buying gear to build them, then keeping that gear running. Applied earns money from both equipment and service work. Both parts of its business grew in the quarter.

It also opened a new Silicon Valley research center to work with chip makers on future production tools. The goal is to bring new ways of making chips to factories faster. It’s a research effort, rather than a promise that tomorrow’s chips will be cheaper.

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The euro-area economy grew, but its job count stood still. Countries that use the euro produced more goods and services in the third quarter without adding more people to work.

Output rose 0.4% from July through September, after 0.6% growth in the prior quarter. These figures allow for price changes and usual seasonal swings. They measure the economy’s output, rather than a rise in everyone’s pay.

Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, said the number of people employed was unchanged from the prior quarter. That doesn’t mean nobody found a job. Gains and losses can cancel each other out in the total.

For people looking for work, this is a less helpful sign than growth paired with more jobs. These are early estimates, and later data can change them.

🛡️ Insurance grows despite bigger disaster claims

Generali sells insurance and manages savings. Its profit from running the business rose 8.5% from a year earlier. That covers the first nine months of 2026. Growth helped it bear higher costs from disasters and other large events. Higher profits don’t mean customers will pay less for cover.

🇯🇵 A brighter forecast, a smaller quarter

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is one of Japan’s largest banks. It raised its yearly profit forecast as firms kept seeking loans. Higher rates helped it earn more from lending. Yet July–September profit fell 10% from a year earlier. Last year included a gain from selling a stake in another bank, making this year’s hurdle higher.

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🥸 Dad Joke of the Day

Q: Why did the computer cross the road?

A: To get to the other website.

📖 Vocab Word of the Day · Input costs

Input costs: The cost of the things a business uses to make goods or serve customers, such as parts, power and staff time. When those costs rise, it can keep less profit, raise prices or find ways to save.

In a sentence: Higher flour and power bills raised the bakery’s input costs.

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