The MadBrooks Brief

Chips are running the table this morning, and the rest of tech better keep up.

Sep 18, 2026 · 7:05 AM CT · 3:06 · The MadBrooks Brief | Pre market | Fri, Sep 18

Chips are running the table this morning, and the rest of tech better keep up. Futures first. SPY up 1.13%. QQQ leading at 1.73%. VIX sitting at 15.36 — fear is quiet. Gold adding 0.36%. Risk is on.

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Transcript

Chips are running the table this morning, and the rest of tech better keep up.

Futures first. SPY up 1.13%. QQQ leading at 1.73%. VIX sitting at 15.36 — fear is quiet. Gold adding 0.36%. Risk is on.

ETFs confirm it. QQQ up 1.73%. IWM up 0.53%. DIA up 0.61%. Growth is outpacing everything else this morning.

Now the stocks.

Intel up 7.67% to 108.80. That's the biggest move on the board and it's not close. Something structural shifted overnight — watch it.

AMD up 6.36% to 545.09. Chips are coordinated. Intel and AMD moving together like this isn't random.

Oracle up 5.19% to 150.59. Cloud numbers keep printing and the market keeps rewarding it.

Salesforce down 3.07% to 242.85. Only red name on the list. Diverging hard from the rest of enterprise software — that spread is worth watching.

Nvidia up 2.54% to 219.34. Still moving, just not leading today. Intel and AMD are stealing the headline.

Broadcom up 2.29% to 347.30. Quiet and steady. Semi infrastructure doing its job.

Tesla up 2.27% to 366.20. No catalyst, just momentum.

Amazon up 2.13% to 251.19. Broad risk-on lift, cloud tailwind from Oracle doesn't hurt.

Microsoft up 1.52% to 497.75. Steady with the rest of the mega-cap bid — nothing to chase, nothing to fade.

Apple up 1.38% to 337. Riding the risk-on wave, not leading it.

Meta up 1.34% to 682.31. Mega-cap participation is broad this morning — this isn't a one-stock rally.

Netflix down 1.44% to 75.31. Consumer discretionary sitting out while growth names run. Worth noting alongside the Salesforce weakness — two different pockets of selling in an otherwise green tape.

Semiconductor sector is the story today, full stop. Intel's move alone would make this a notable session — paired with AMD and Broadcom, it's a sector-wide push.

Economic calendar is empty. Nothing scheduled. Price action is driving this, not data.

Earnings today: AMEN, BIOQ, and UPXI reporting. UPXI consensus EPS at negative 12 cents. Small caps, low visibility — not moving the macro needle.

Asian markets data unavailable this morning — flying blind on the overnight international read, so lean harder on the futures for your directional signal.

Bottom line: tech is set up for a strong open, chips are leading, and the two outliers are Salesforce and Netflix. Watch that divergence.

Numbers don't lie. People do. Trade accordingly.

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AI generated. Not financial advice.