Asahi shares mark weekly slide after cyberattack halts production
Stocks were mixed on Wednesday, despite Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) rising by a ridicoouls 36%. I have to admit, I have never seen a large-cap stock move like that, and it seems like peak stupidity. OpenAI apparently agreed to $300 billion deal for computing with Oracle. I’m not sure where OpenAI is getting $300 billion from, maybe Stargate?
Perhaps they will have to go public or issue a lot of debt and venture capital rounds. I mean $300 billion is bigger than the entire market cap of companies like Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO). It is equal to the market cap of two Softbanks, which has a market cap of about $160 billion. The best part is that the contract doesn’t start until 2027. 
This excitement led the S&P 500 to open higher on Wednesday, but it gave back nearly all of its gains throughout the day, only to see a final surge on a closing buy imbalance.
So, for the entire Wednesday, the S&P 500 finished up 30 basis points. The RSP equal-weight index slipped 10 basis points, the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) was flat, and the equal-weight version (QQQE) fell more than 80 basis points. This underscores a familiar theme: a handful of large-cap winners are masking weakness beneath the surface. Notably, the QQQE has moved sideways since August 1—literally sideways.
Today brings the CPI report, and based on what I see in swaps, I’m not expecting any major surprises. That said, the PPI report came in weaker than expected. I’m not sure what’s going on with the PPI data, but both the market and numerous survey indicators continue to point to higher prices, for the CPI
An inline print today would suggest the market has the CPI path right, keeping us on track for a rate of roughly 3.5% by May 2026.
Finally, the VIX 1-day closed under 14, and that would suggest a very mild volatility crush tomorrow, probably similar to what was seen following the job report.