Amazon’s Q2 print flipped the narrative that knocked mega-cap tech down all week, and Asia’s memory complex went vertical behind it — the Kospi surged +17.91%, the Nikkei +4.03%. Nasdaq futures lead (+1.07%) and the watchlist is green almost end to end. But the tape is sharply two-tiered: Apple sold the news hard (−8.02%), crypto decoupled lower, and Iran-driven oil keeps bidding. The calendar is back-loaded and second-tier — ECI at 8:30 and revised UoM inflation expectations at 10:00. Two watchlist names report before open: CCJ and ETN.
The Kospi’s +17.91% is corroborated independently by the CoinDesk feed (“Kospi’s record 17% surge leaves crypto untouched”), so it is not a data artifact — SK Hynix and Samsung posted their largest-ever rallies on memory pricing and the AWS-driven AI re-rate. The Nikkei followed +4.03%. This is the exact mirror image of the July 24 session, when the Kospi fell −5.72% and dragged the memory complex with it. Hang Seng lagged (+0.10%) — China’s July shipments to the US fell after a brief recovery.
CAC +0.79% led, DAX +0.51%, FTSE +0.28%. Eurozone July inflation rose only modestly. The BoJ held at 1% while warning core inflation may exceed its 2% target. Australia (EWA −0.64%) was the only red market on the board.
One week after Korea’s chip complex cratered, the same names have round-tripped violently higher on a single US datapoint: AWS margins holding despite the capex. That is a narrow transmission channel — semis, power, memory — and Europe’s polite +0.5% is the tell that this is a theme re-rate, not a global growth impulse.
| Market | Level | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kospi | 6,595 | +17.91% | yahoo |
| Nikkei 225 | 64,362 | +4.03% | schwab |
| Hang Seng | 25,884 | +0.10% | schwab |
| DAX | 25,742 | +0.51% | schwab |
| CAC 40 | 8,552 | +0.79% | schwab |
| FTSE 100 | 10,928 | +0.28% | yahoo |
| Europe STOXX 50 (FEZ) | 69.83 | +0.19% | schwab |
| Europe Broad (IEV) | 74.62 | +0.00% | schwab |
| Australia (EWA) | 29.63 | −0.64% | schwab |
All releases below are PENDING — no actuals reported at collection. Back-loaded and second-tier, with an inflation-adjacent print at 8:30 and revised inflation expectations at 10:00. All times ET.
| Time (ET) | Release | Consensus | Prior | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:30 AM | Employment Cost Index | — | — | Medium · Feed entry, no consensus — Pending |
| 8:30 AM | Employment Cost Index q/q | 0.8% | 0.9% | Medium · The Fed’s cleanest wage-inflation read — Pending |
| 9:45 AM | Chicago PMI | 55.9 | 56.7 | Low · Cooling but expansionary — Pending |
| 10:00 AM | Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment | 53.9 | 54.4 | Medium · Pending |
| 10:00 AM | Revised UoM Inflation Expectations | — | 4.2% | Medium · The most plausible hawkish surprise — Pending |
| — | CCJ (Cameco) Q2 — before open | — | — | High · Nuclear Tier 1 — not reported |
| — | ETN (Eaton) Q2 — before open | — | — | High · AI Infra Tier 2 — not reported |
Watchlist names flagged with ★. Earnings-driven moves carry no confirmed EPS at collection — do not infer results from price.
| Symbol | Price | Change | Sector | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CYCU | 2.73 | +69.57% | Micro-cap — noise | — |
| FLNC ★ | 14.95 | +10.99% | Energy Storage | T1 |
| AMZN | 261 | +10.90% | Mega-cap Tech | — |
| ETN ★ | 416 | +7.65% | AI Infrastructure | 2 |
| MRVL | 196 | +7.10% | AI Infrastructure | 2 |
| CRWV | 79.13 | +7.08% | AI Infrastructure | 3 |
| CCJ ★ | 94.00 | +6.54% | Nuclear Energy | T1 |
| BE | 220 | +6.42% | Energy Storage | 3 |
| INTC | 96.11 | +5.46% | Semiconductors | — |
| VRT ★ | 239 | +5.09% | AI Infrastructure | T1 |
| GLW | 142 | +5.07% | AI Infrastructure | 2 |
| AMD | 506 | +4.35% | AI Infrastructure | 3 |
| MU | 912 | +4.29% | AI Infrastructure | 2 |
| TSM ★ | 420 | +4.14% | AI Infrastructure | T1 |
| IONQ ★ | 37.22 | +4.05% | Quantum Computing | T1 |
| USAR | 15.20 | +3.75% | Critical Minerals | 2 |
| RKLB ★ | 66.95 | +3.51% | Space | T1 |
| MP ★ | 43.00 | +3.22% | Critical Minerals | T1 |
| Symbol | Price | Change | Sector | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDDT | 155 | −12.87% | Non-watchlist | — |
| AAPL | 307 | −8.02% | Mega-cap Tech | — |
| SYK ★ | 322 | −7.48% | Robotics & Automation | T1 |
SYK −7.48% is the only large Tier 1 decline on the board — and the RSI was elevated at 63 into the drop, which is what an unwind of a crowded position looks like, not a thesis break.
| Name | Move | Attributed Reason |
|---|---|---|
| AMZN | +10.90% | Q2 beat; AWS margins held despite the capex — the datapoint that reopened the AI trade. (Headline cites “12%”; the table is the pipeline print.) |
| AAPL | −8.02% | Strong earnings, sold the news on memory-cost concerns — the same “RAMpocalypse” force lifting MU and the Kospi. |
| XOM / CVX | ▲ | Profits surged on Iran-driven oil — the mirror image of the inflation risk in today’s calendar. |
| CACI T1 | +0.00% | Won a $500M JIATF-401 counter-UAS award — the tape does not reflect it yet. CACI prints flat. |
| TER | +4.13% | Robotics revenue +33% YoY — the physical-AI bid underneath a red robotics sector. |
| COIN | ▼ | Missed Q2 revenue — part of the crypto decoupling. |
| MSTR | ▼ | Booked an $8.2B Q2 loss on bitcoin. |
| DASH | ▲ | FAA drone-delivery certification. |
| Name | Sector | Pre-Market | EPS Actual | The Metric That Matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCJ T1 | Nuclear Energy | +6.54% · 94.00 | — | Contract prices (+5–10% guided for 2026) and the 20M lb production guidance — not the headline EPS. |
| ETN | AI Infrastructure (T2) | +7.65% · 416 | — | Data-center order growth (+200% YoY), the $15.3B backlog, and Boyd Thermal integration. |
Neither has a confirmed EPS actual in the briefing — results are not confirmed. CCJ has no EPS estimate either. CCJ sits at RSI 41, above its 20-DMA (90.55) but still well below the 50- (99.92) and 200-DMA (105); the thesis frames it as the safest uranium exposure. ETN trades above its 200-DMA (374).
| Symbol | Sector | RSI | Today | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VRT T1 | AI Infrastructure | 29 | +5.09% · 239 | The most stretched name on the board — 19% below its 50-DMA (307), just under its 200-DMA (246). Next earnings Oct 21. |
| LUNR T1 | Space | 31 | +2.78% | Space cohort remains washed out despite today’s bounce. |
| PL T1 | Space | 31 | +2.82% | Far below its 200-DMA. |
| TSLA T1 | Energy Storage | 31 | +1.14% | Megapack 3 shipments are the H2 2026 catalyst. |
| LYSCF T1 | Critical Minerals | 32 | flat | Lithium/rare-earth complex still washed out. |
| ALB T1 | Critical Minerals | 35 | −0.31% | One of only two red names in the minerals cohort. |
| MP T1 | Critical Minerals | 36 | +3.22% · 43.00 | Recovering off washed-out levels; Nov 2026 is the structural clock. |
| LHX T1 | Defense & Aerospace | 36 | +0.14% | Still below its 200-DMA after the missile-IPO delay. |
| RKLB T1 | Space | 37 | +3.51% · 66.95 | Another iQPS launch contract; reports Aug 10. |
| FLNC T1 | Energy Storage | 39 | +10.99% · 14.95 | The biggest Tier 1 move of the day — bouncing from an oversold base on relentless grid-scale BESS newsflow. |
VRT is the highest-signal setup in the table: a deeply oversold Tier 1 core holding bouncing on an AI-capex catalyst. Note it also carries a −3.1 z-score anomaly flag — that reflects the distance below trend, not a bad print.
| Theme | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seven Tier 1 names up >3% | FLNC +10.99%, CCJ +6.54%, VRT +5.09%, TSM +4.14%, IONQ +4.05%, RKLB +3.51%, MP +3.22%. Seven up big, one down hard — the breadth is genuinely broad, not just the semis. |
| The one Tier 1 casualty | SYK −7.48% at 322 — and its RSI was 63 going into the drop. An elevated RSI unwinding hard is the signature of a crowded position exiting, not a broken thesis. |
| Overbought / extended | RTX at RSI 70 (−0.51%, above all SMAs) and LMT at 65 are the extended defense names. HON 61. Defense is the one cohort where the bid has already run. |
| Bouncing but still below trend | Watchlist names still trading below their 200-DMA despite today’s rally: CCJ, LEU, VRT, IBM, IONQ, ISRG, LUNR, PL, RKLB, MP, ALB, LYSCF, FLNC, TSLA, SQM, VST, ZS, CACI, LHX, NOC, SYK — 21 names. The damage has not been repaired. |
SPY 700 · QQQ 645 · IWM 266 · NVDA 193 (price 197 — above, and one of the few AI Tier 1 names that is). S&P cash prev close 7,438 — futures at 7,499 need to hold above the cash close to keep the reversal intact. VIX 20 remains the rotation-vs-de-risking threshold, with 16.50 the recent floor — today’s 16.96 is close to it. On rates, the 10Y at 4.663% and 30Y at 5.208% are the constraint on any multiple expansion. Oil: WTI $85 / Brent $88, with $90 / $95 the levels that would restart the inflation conversation.
ai, cybersecurity, nuclear, space, critical-minerals, quantum, robotics, energy-storage) and CALENDAR.md.AMZN 261 (z 3.3), HII 331 (z 4.7), MSFT 449 (z 4.1), EWA 29.63 (z 3.1), PSN 43.48 (z −3.1), VRT 239 (z −3.1). These appear to reflect genuine price moves: AMZN’s is the earnings pop and VRT’s reflects a stock trading ~19% below its 50-DMA. Treat the levels as valid and the z-scores as noise.