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Update, Thursday 7:48 AM CT: Jensen Huang is out. NVIDIA announced that Huang has resigned as CEO, president, and board member, effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim CEO and keeps her finance job. Harvey Jones becomes the board's first-ever chair, and the board is searching for a permanent CEO. Earnings are still due Tuesday, November 17.
The edition below was written before the announcement. The meeting it describes is over, and the press release we warned you about showed up right on cue.
TRACKING THE TRADE MARKET UPDATES
The AI Office Party Was a Hit. Then the Board Called a Meeting.
What Happened Yesterday
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 (Veterans Day: stocks open, bond market closed)
The 30-second version: Stocks had a strong day, led by chip and AI companies after CoreWeave's upbeat report. Then, after the close, reports said Nvidia's board might push out its CEO, and the stock dropped hard in late trading. Your 401(k) had a good Wednesday. This morning, it is giving some of that back.
Market | Wednesday close | Move | Mood |
|---|---|---|---|
S&P 500 | 7,619.38 | +1.31% | Hit the dance floor |
Nasdaq Composite | 25,466.19 | +1.60% | Requested the DJ play it again |
Dow Jones | 52,486.49 | +0.49% (+255 pts) | Tapped a foot politely |
Chip index (SOX) | 10,564.11 | +5.66% | Lampshade on the head |
VIX (fear gauge) | 17.49 | -10.1% | Left early, felt great |
Small caps (IWM, fund) | $283.09 | +0.89% | Showed up for the cake |
Gold (GLD, fund) | $365.17 | -1.13% | Stuck by the punch bowl |
U.S. oil (USO, fund) | $141.47 | flat | Arguing about Iran in the corner |
10-year Treasury rate | closed | holiday | Bonds had the day off |
Bitcoin | $73,964 | +0.3% | Never left the party, never does |
The $1,000 test: $1,000 in an S&P 500 fund made about $13 on Wednesday. $1,000 in CoreWeave made about $247. $1,000 in Nvidia made $29 by the closing bell, then lost about $89 after hours. Some parties end at the coat check.
CoreWeave brought the good snacks
and every chip company ate
CoreWeave rents out data centers stuffed with AI chips. Its report Tuesday night (sales of $3.66 billion, a raised forecast for the year) convinced investors that the AI spending spree still has customers who pay their bills. The stock jumped 24.71% to $60.77.
Then the whole guest list got loud. Micron, which makes the memory chips AI servers gulp down, rose 11.89%. Oracle, which is building AI data centers on borrowed money, climbed 8.82%. Intel added 7.52%, AMD 7.32%, and Broadcom 3.99%. The chip index ripped 5.66%. For a basket of 30 giant companies, that is a conga line.
Microsoft sat in the corner and fell 2.26%, its second straight drop of more than 2%. Not every guest gets the invite.
One company's report card moved a basket of 30 chip stocks almost 6% in a day. That tells you how nervous everyone was last week. A crowded room cheers the loudest when someone finally says the snacks aren't running out.
Then, Nvidia's board scheduled a very long meeting
NVIDIA closed Wednesday up 2.87% at $173.73. Nice. Then the evening happened.
The Wall Street Journal reported the board was preparing to push out CEO Jensen Huang. The New York Times reported a second relationship, with a company executive, on top of the one Huang owned up to in a Sunday note to staff ("I was unfaithful to my wife"). That earlier relationship is the one already under investigation: reports tie it to a woman U.S. intelligence officials believe passed information to Beijing. China denies the spying claims.
The board met on Wednesday evening to decide Huang's future. As of early Thursday, no decision had been announced. (Update: Huang resigned Thursday morning. See the top of this edition.)
The stock fell more than 8% after hours and was down about 7% before Thursday's open. One analyst firm said Nvidia is worth about 25% less without Huang running it. Earnings are due Tuesday, November 17, which means somebody has to read the numbers out loud.
The chips still work. The orders are still there. What's at risk is the guy who has been the face, the salesman, and the strategist for 30-plus years. Investors pay a premium for a founder who can see around corners. They are now learning that he also has corners.
Also, on Wednesday, oil: Brent, the global benchmark, settled at $92.76 a barrel, up 1.4%. U.S. crude settled at $86.53, up 0.6%. Prices bounced off their lowest closes since August after Iran's top security official said there are no talks with Washington underway. Still nothing signed.
What to Watch Today
Thursday, November 12. Times CT.
Before the open: As of about 2 AM CT, futures (bets on where indexes will open) had the Nasdaq 100 down about 0.9% and the S&P 500 down about 0.4%, with the Dow roughly flat. AMD and Broadcom were up about 3% to 4% before the bell, as investors bet Nvidia's mess is their opportunity. CoreWeave was down about 7%.
Bonds are back. After Wednesday's holiday, the 10-year Treasury rate, the one mortgage rate follows, was sitting right around 5% early Thursday.
7:30 AM: Weekly jobless claims (how many people filed for unemployment).
8:00 AM: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack speaks. She is one of the 12 officials who vote on interest rates, and she has been pushing for hikes.
9:00 AM: Fed Governor Michael Barr (also votes) speaks. October existing home sales come out.
10:30 AM to 12:30 PM: Chicago's Austan Goolsbee, San Francisco's Mary Daly, and Kansas City's Jeff Schmid speak. None of them votes this year (the regional presidents take turns).
11:00 AM: Weekly U.S. oil inventories.
Noon: The government sells 30-year bonds. Weak demand would push long-term rates up.
5:30 PM: New York Fed President John Williams (votes) speaks.
After the close: Cisco and Applied Materials (it makes the machines that make chips) report.
Friday: Producer prices, what businesses pay for their supplies.
Also on the radar: Reports say the Commerce Department is finishing a rule to stop Chinese companies from renting top AI chips in data centers in other countries. It has been reported, not issued. Alibaba was sliding before the bell on the worry.
The one thing that could ruin everyone's day: A 7 AM press release from Nvidia. If the board announces Huang is out, the company at the center of the AI trade starts the day without its founder, and "who's next" becomes the only question on Wall Street. If it says he stays, the questions just move to Tuesday's earnings call.
Bottom line: The AI party went great until somebody checked the guest list. Clean up, get some coffee, and watch the press releases.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. We are a newsletter with opinions and a spreadsheet. Do your own homework, and please don't sell your index fund because one CEO had a bad week.
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