Markets rallied across the board. Dow up 1.4%, S&P and Nasdaq also green. Big Tech stole the spotlight again, with Alphabet hitting its 13th all-time high this month and jumping on news Meta may adopt Google’s TPU chips. Nvidia slid, but Alphabet’s year has been on 🔥. Rate-cut hopes are back as softer retail sales + cooler inflation data boosted expectations for a December cut (≈85% odds). Falling yields powered small caps higher too, with the Russell 2000 up 2%+. Earnings winners: Kohl’s, Abercrombie, Best Buy, Zoom, Analog Devices, Applied Materials, Symbotic. Loser: Burlington. Oil dipped on peace-deal reports, Bitcoin fell, gold climbed, and housing continues to cool as sellers pull listings at the fastest pace in 8 years. Today: Jobless Claims + Beige Book on deck.