The stock market just entered a highly dangerous new phase – which is going to have dramatic consequences for your money this summer.
The signs are everywhere:
SpaceX just went public. OpenAI and Anthropic will likely follow it.
If you're thinking of buying into any of these IPOs... PLEASE DON'T. They're likely to be disasters – the most overhyped, overvalued large-cap stocks of all time, foisted on gullible investors by Wall Street insiders.
At the same time, the President and his family are openly picking winners in the stock market... while a 24-year-old just founded his own hedge fund and made $5 billion in less than a year.
I've spent 30 years on Wall Street. I have my MBA from Harvard and spend my time in correspondence with billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Ackman. I've forecast the collapse of dozens of stocks.
But what I see happening today scares me – as a former money manager, as a father, and as an American.
Whitney Tilson
Editor, Stansberry Investment Advisory Former Hedge Fund Manager
Co-Founder, Teach for America
Harvard MBA
P.S. What's happening today will reset the financial system in a way most of us can't imagine. If I'm even half-right, it's going to have a huge impact on your money and your future. Get the details here...
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AT&T (NYSE: T) has spent years shifting away from aging copper infrastructure toward fiber internet and wireless connectivity. The strategy is showing up in its numbers, but the company needs another quarter of execution to prove that network investments can fund its dividend, buybacks, and balance sheet.
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Analysts expect third-quarter adjusted earnings of roughly 61 cents per share, up from 54 cents per share a year ago, on revenue of approximately $31.65 billion, about 3% growth. AT&T reports Wednesday, October 21, before the market opens, with its conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET.
After Q2, those estimates look achievable. The bigger test is whether growth in AT&T’s modern connectivity business can keep funding its transition as the company expands fiber, retires legacy infrastructure, and accelerates share repurchases.
AT&T’s second quarter offered evidence that the strategy is working. Revenue increased 2.3% year over year to $31.6 billion, adjusted EBITDA climbed 5.2% to $12.3 billion, and adjusted EPS reached $0.65 versus $0.54 a year earlier. Operating cash flow rose to $10.8 billion from $9.8 billion, while free cash flow improved to $4.7 billion from $4.4 billion.
Customer growth shows where the momentum is coming from. AT&T added 367,000 fiber internet subscribers, 279,000 fixed-wireless internet subscribers, and 432,000 postpaid phone subscribers. Advanced Connectivity service revenue grew 5.1% to $23.5 billion, and segment EBITDA increased 8% to $12 billion.
The segment is growing faster than AT&T’s consolidated revenue. Its convergence strategy also creates room to deepen customer relationships: 42.5% of households using AT&T’s advanced home internet services also subscribed to its wireless service.
For Q3, subscriber additions, churn, service revenue, and EBITDA will show whether that momentum held through September. Slower customer growth or weaker profitability would challenge the case that AT&T’s investment cycle is producing a durable earnings engine.
The Copper Business Is Shrinking
The transition comes with a drag. Legacy service revenue fell 25.9% in Q2 to $1.63 billion, while legacy operating income and EBITDA declined 45.5% to $523 million. AT&T is winding down its copper network, but the lost revenue and earnings must be absorbed while fiber scales.
Spending and cash flow are critical. AT&T invested $6.1 billion in capital during Q2, including $5.7 billion in capital expenditures. It ended the quarter with $144 billion in total debt and $126.4 billion in net debt. The network build-out supports future growth, but requires substantial capital before new fiber locations deliver their full economic value.
Management maintained its 2026 outlook: adjusted EPS of $2.25 to $2.35, adjusted EBITDA growth of 3% to 4%, and free cash flow of at least $18 billion. Capital investment is expected to total $23 billion to $24 billion for the year.
Management expects Q3 free cash flow to remain relatively stable year over year, followed by strong growth in Q4. A result consistent with that forecast would keep AT&T on track; weaker cash generation could raise doubts about how comfortably it can fund investment and shareholder distributions.
The Buybacks Raise the Stakes
AT&T plans to return more than $45 billion to shareholders over 2026–2028 through dividends and repurchases. It has accelerated its 2026 buyback target to approximately $10 billion while maintaining an annualized dividend of $1.11 per share.
AT&T expects free cash flow of at least $19 billion in 2027 and $21 billion in 2028, creating room for larger shareholder distributions as the investment program matures. But buybacks compete with other demands on the balance sheet. With net debt above $126 billion and annual capital investment of $23 billion to $24 billion, AT&T needs cash generation to cover the dividend, fund the network build-out, and improve leverage.
For this report, I would focus on confirmation of full-year EPS and free-cash-flow guidance, continued growth in Advanced Connectivity profitability, and updates on capital spending and debt. A beat on the $0.61 EPS estimate would help, but strong cash flow and unchanged guidance would provide firmer support for the longer-term thesis.
Anthropic — the maker of Claude AI — is preparing to go public.
Reports suggest its highly anticipated IPO could happen as soon as November. And its potential valuation could reach into the trillions.
But here's what's really exciting…
Anthropic's rapid growth has investors watching closely for what could become one of the largest technology listings in history. And some investors are exploring ways to gain exposure before the public debut.
AT&T closed at $23.22 on October 19, down 0.96% for the session. The stock trades below its 20-day simple moving average at $24.12, its 50-day at $24.92, and its 200-day at $25.10. All three sit overhead, creating resistance as the shares try to recover.
Support around 22–22.30 is the near-term level to watch, near the rising support line from July’s lows. A break below it would put the recent base at risk. Reclaiming $24.12 would be the first sign of improving momentum, followed by the 24.90–25.10 band where the 50-day and 200-day averages converge.
I’m bullish on AT&T’s underlying direction because fiber and wireless are growing faster than the consolidated business, and Q2 showed that growth reaching profitability. But the stock has yet to reflect that progress technically. My BUY thesis depends on AT&T protecting its $18 billion-plus free-cash-flow target while sustaining Advanced Connectivity growth. If Q3 confirms both, investors will have stronger evidence that the network build-out can generate dependable cash returns.
Plus, A first-of-its-kind NBC News investigation looks into students’ YouTube activity.
Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2026
In today’s newsletter: A first-of-its-kind NBC News analysis looks into students’ YouTube activity during school. Texas Senate candidates Ken Paxton and James Talarico crisscross the state in the countdown to Election Day. And the dilemma stalking the Knicks’ NBA title defense.
Over the past decade, YouTube has become ubiquitous in the American classroom. Many districts distribute their own laptops and encourage students to watch educational videos but often struggle to effectively restrict what else kids can watch.
That means millions of students have access to billions of videos on a site where they can go from math lessons to videos containing profanity or sexually suggestive scenes in just a few clicks.
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, NBC News reporters examined more than 17,000 videos viewed on students’ devices through a mix of AI and manual review. Several who have struggled with the lure of YouTube said it swallowed up the hours they were supposed to be learning.
One such student, Richard, watched a mix of sports highlights, police chase footage, and AI-generated animations — all on his school-issued laptop, often while sitting in class. His mother eventually asked administrators to block the platform, but they said too many teachers used it for instruction.
“Why can’t you see what this is doing?” she wondered. “This constant, immediate gratification on a screen all day long, instead of healthy interactions being taught by a teacher, is so unhealthy.”
Limited-time offer of 25% off the first year of an NBC News annual subscription of $59.99(+tax)/yr. Applies to web-only subscription. No redemption code necessary. Offer ends 11/05/26 at 11:59:59 PM ET. Must be 18+. After first year, you will be automatically charged $59.99 (+tax)/yr for an annual subscription until you cancel. Cancel anytime. See full terms.
With in-person early voting officially underway in Texas, Senate candidates Ken Paxton and James Talarico are crisscrossing the state to deliver their final urgent pleas to voters.
Paxton, the Republican candidate, spoke to a crowd of about 350 people yesterday in Fort Worth and touted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his event’s marquee speaker. Paxton addressed voters’ economic worries by calling for a $25,000 tax deduction for medical expenses and making Trump accounts for kids permanent.
About 45 minutes away in Denton, Talarico, the Democratic competitor, drew a crowd of 1,450, according to a campaign official, at an event that featured three cast members of the TV show “Friday Night Lights.” Talarico played up successful grassroots fundraising efforts for his campaign while calling out Elon Musk’s $150 million in donations to pro-Paxton groups.
How are things looking in Texas?See who’s running and how Republicans and Democrats fared in past elections. Then, scroll to the end of the page to explore data in other states.
More politics news:
For subscribers: NBC News’ chief data analyst Steve Kornacki examines what the polls got wrong about Maine Sen. Susan Collins in 2020 and what’s different this year in The Data Dive, a subscriber-exclusive newsletter on the numbers, trends and data shaping the biggest stories heading into the midterms.
President Donald Trump used an antisemitic slur in defending Republican Sen. Roger Moore, who is not Jewish, during a campaign rally in Kansas.
Vice President JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite Trump’s endorsement.
A federal judge said she’ll likely extend an order blocking more trees from being chopped down at the Washington, D.C., golf course that Trump wants to renovate.
The 2026-27 NBA season tips off tonight, with the New York Knicks taking on the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are fresh off a once-in-a-generation title run that united the city and captivated the country. But the financial realities of the NBA are threatening to break up the team.
Blame the second apron — a financial threshold that teams are highly disincentivized from exceeding when they acquire or sign players, or else they face with significant hurdles in building their teams. This season, that threshold is $207,824,000.
For the Knicks, not exceeding the second apron could mean seeing Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart sign to other teams. The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder are also among the teams dealing with the issue.
An Australian lawmaker is in critical but stable condition after being hit by a car in whatauthorities said was a deliberate attack, shocking a nation where political violence is extremely rare.
Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent member of Parliament, was struck Monday outside her electoral district office in Wangaratta, a town of about 30,000 people in the southern Australian state of Victoria. She underwent surgery overnight. Local media reported that one of Haines’s legs had been amputated and that she was fighting to keep her other leg.
Police charged the driver, who they said was a 43-year-old local man, today with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that according to eyewitnesses, the driver had passed Haines and then performed a U-turn, hitting her as she was standing by the trunk of her parked car.
Political violence is extremely rare in Australia, where lawmakers are often out in public with little or no security and their accessibility is a point of national pride.
“It’s an Australian tradition to have a chat to a politician that you bump into at the shops,” Josh Roose, an associate professor of politics at Deakin University in Melbourne, told NBC News in an interview.
When I was a cub reporter on the DOJ beat, there was traditionally a bit of a lull right around election time, with the Justice Department trying to avoid taking action in politically sensitive cases that could even be interpreted as seeking to influence an election. With the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home last week, that quiet period before Election Day was added to the list of norms we’ve seen broken in Trump’s second term as president.
The Columbus Day search of Omar’s Washington, D.C., home, DOJ alumni say, is exactly the type of “overt activity” that the department traditionally sought to avoid. It comes in the same year that the administration attempted to indict six sitting members of Congress over a social media video Trump didn’t like, brought an indictment they now admit was bogus against an Olympic canoeist over a botched installation job at the Reflecting Pool and indicted the former director of the FBI over an Instagram photo of seashells.
There’s still plenty we don’t know about the Omar case, and we’ll likely only see the full evidence if she’s formally charged. But what we do know, as I reported in this story with Kyle Stewart, is that the Justice Department’s actions here break with history, and that the investigation involves DOJ figures involved in other politically controversial investigations.
— Ryan Reilly, senior Justice reporter
▼ Read All About It
The World Series is set: The Tampa Bay Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers as the teams seek their first MLB title.
Voters in Alberta, Canada, rejected a proposal that would have set them on a path toward independence.
Richard Riehle, a character actor best known for his role in “Office Space,” has died at age 78.
The fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy when a Mississippi police officer fired at a vehicle during a shoplifting call was a “justified” use of force, the state’s attorney general said.
For subscribers: This year is shaping up to be one of the deadliest for firefighters battling wildfires. Some experts think a Trump administration policy is putting more people in harm’s way.
