Steel Surge, Space Wins, and Short Pressure Mount

US Market Highlights

Steel stocks stole the show today. Nucor guided Q3 2026 EPS to $5.55–$5.65 per diluted share. That more than doubles the $2.63 posted in Q3 2025. Steel Dynamics matched the momentum. It sees Q3 EPS of $5.34–$5.38, up sharply from $3.69 last quarter and $2.74 a year ago. Both results point to a genuine steel demand recovery — not a blip.

NASA handed SpaceX a $1 billion contract today. The 10-year VADR deal covers the StarBurst mission launch in 2028. Space infrastructure spending continues to grow.

Modine Manufacturing set a September 28 record date for its Performance Technologies spin-off. It will merge that unit with Gentherm, which declared a special dividend of roughly $1.90 per share.

Short Interest Watch

Real estate and insurance are drawing the most bearish attention. Scotiabank cut targets across seven REITs today. MAA took the sharpest drop, with a new Sell rating and a $125 target. Short interest in the insurance ETF KIE jumped 25% in a week. Rate pressure is squeezing the sector from both sides — analysts and short sellers are moving together.

Lucid shorts are piling in fast. SI % of FF hit 50.1%, up 14.6 points in seven days. Hertz is at 67.2% with zero borrow availability — a squeeze setup that is building quietly.

Earnings Ahead

Homebuilders take centre stage next week. Lennar reports Thursday. KB Home and AutoZone follow on September 22. Housing data will dominate the conversation as rate uncertainty lingers.