Earnings Season Bites Hard, Records Broken in US Jobs

Earnings Selloffs Dominate

The week's sharpest story was the wave of post-earnings pain across US mid-caps. Fastly cratered 31% after an earnings shock. Tripadvisor fell 24%, leaving short interest at 33.4% of free float and RSI deep in oversold territory at 30.6. Dell Technologies dropped 23% in a week. Paycom fell 10% on its print, while options activity concentrated in the nearest monthly expiry, suggesting traders are making near-term directional bets. Against that, Ardent Health surged 44% after beating estimates, one of the few bright spots in a bruising reporting stretch.

Record US Jobs, Weak Canada

US nonfarm payrolls reached 159,293 thousand in October 2026. That is the largest October reading since 1997, edging past the previous record of 158,408 thousand set in October 2025. Average hourly earnings hit $38.00 in October, the highest October figure since 2006. The strong labour data adds pressure on the Fed to hold rates higher for longer. Canada tells a different story. Employment fell for a third consecutive month to 21.1 million jobs.

Europe: Petrol Era Fades, Index Clocks Tick

Europe-wide new petrol car registrations fell to 4,548 vehicles in October, the lowest October reading since 2016. Finland registered 3,404 new battery-electric cars in October, a record for that month since 2014. With Honda Motor reporting Monday, ORTEX alt data shows Japanese car registrations running 6% above the same quarter last year, a dataset with a strong historical fit for Honda's revenue.

The MSCI World November review announces Wednesday. Flutter Entertainment faces a 78% deletion probability and Textron a 79% chance of removal. Moderna carries an 88% probability of addition, with $6.4 billion of forced buying equivalent to 1.2 days of normal volume. In Italy, CVC Capital Partners' tender for Recordati carries a 93% completion probability, with a potential FTSE MIB deletion announcement expected Sunday.

Short Sellers Stay Active

Wolfspeed remains one of the most heavily shorted names in US markets, with 88.9% of its free float sold short and no shares available to borrow. Hertz Global Holdings is similarly extreme, at 73.4% short interest and a cost to borrow of 470%. Analysts lifted targets on Gilead Sciences to $174.77 from $170.88, the strongest analyst bull case in the latest round of changes.