Mega-Cap Earnings Day Arrives as Index Clocks Tick

US: Big Tech Takes Centre Stage

Microsoft and Alphabet report today after the close. Microsoft carries a $3.96 trillion market cap into its print. Alphabet follows at $1.86 trillion. Both results will set the tone for the rest of earnings season. Amazon and Intel follow on Thursday. Intel's result is the more closely watched for signals on its turnaround. Options flow on Amazon is running bullish, with analysts pricing in 33% upside to current levels. Intel, up 145% year to date, is attracting bearish sweep activity on near-term expiries ahead of its print.

Michael Burry today flagged Anthropic's IPO filing, calling out "slowing" revenue growth. He said the filing contains "nothing that changes" his view, keeping NVDA in focus as the AI supply chain story continues to evolve.

Apple is separately in the news on reports it plans a touchscreen MacBook Pro, a product category Steve Jobs once dismissed as "ergonomically terrible."

Europe: Carmakers Report Into Weak Data

Mercedes-Benz reports today against a challenging backdrop. Dutch car registrations, which ORTEX alt data shows leads Mercedes revenue by 26 days, are running 6% below the same quarter last year across all three months. Volkswagen and Renault both report Thursday. Austrian registrations, a leading indicator for Volkswagen revenue, are also down 6% year on year. Renault faces a mixed picture: Austrian registrations up 6%, but Dutch registrations down 19%.

Index Radar

Life Time Group Holdings sits on a knife edge with two sessions to the Russell rank date on 30 October. It is 0.1% below the Russell 2000 exit line and 0.1% above the Russell 1000 entry line. A forced selling flow of $937M or buying of $346M hangs on where it closes. For the MSCI World November review, McCormick faces a forecast deletion with $723M of estimated forced selling. Moderna is the largest expected addition, with $4.4B of forecast buying lined up.