Nine Sectors Rose This Week. Big Tech Still Sank the Index

Brad Roth
November 01, 2026

TL;DR

• The S&P 500 fell 0.57% on the week and the Nasdaq Composite 2.00%. The Russell 2000 rose 1.29%, and nine of eleven sectors finished higher.

• The Fed held 10 to 2, with two votes for a hike. GDP grew 3.4% and September PCE inflation rose to 3.6%.

• Healthcare is the even-weight strategy's largest sector at 21.7%, and it was the week's best sector. Apple reports Monday, the midterms are Tuesday and October jobs land Friday.

Week in Review

Weekly closes, Friday 10/30/26

• The S&P 500 closed at 7,580.07, down 0.57% on the week.

• The Dow ended at 51,770.31, down 0.85%.

• The Nasdaq Composite finished at 25,437.00, down 2.00%.

• The Russell 2000 closed at 2,811.84, up 1.29%.

• The VIX ended at 19.42 against 19.45 a week ago.

The AI bill came due in two days. Alphabet reported Wednesday night. Cloud sales more than doubled, but capital spending hit $51.4 billion and free cash flow stayed negative. The stock fell 12.6% Thursday, its worst day since the 2004 IPO. Friday, Intel fell 29% on weak guidance, its worst day since the 1970s, per CNBC. Amazon missed on sales and earnings and kept its $220 billion spending plan. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.86% Friday, its worst day since June 5.

The Fed held at 3.75% to 4.00% Wednesday. Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack voted for a quarter-point hike. Thursday, third-quarter GDP came in at 3.4% against 3.1% expected. Headline PCE rose 0.5% in September to 3.6% a year, and core hit 3.1%. Friday, two more Fed presidents said rates need to go higher, per Yahoo Finance.

Most stocks went up anyway. Healthcare led at 3.12%, then materials at 2.79% and utilities at 2.04%. Only technology, down 2.03%, and communication services, down 5.32%, lost ground. The equal-weight S&P 500 rose 0.82%, about 1.4 points ahead of the S&P 500. Per Truist, those two were also the only sectors down for October.

Bonds rallied through the hike talk. The ten-year fell 5.9 basis points to 4.929%, and the two-year 10.1 to 4.581%. Brent's January contract rose 1.3% to $113.10. West Texas slipped 0.5% to $102.95. Gold fell 3.1% to $3,884.90, its third straight weekly loss. Bitcoin ended near $77,400 after a record $6.3 billion hack at Binance.

Allocation Changes

Same lineup in all three strategies. Healthcare, the even-weight strategy's largest sector, was the best of eleven this week.

The index strategy holds the Dow at 34.3%, the S&P 500 at 33.6% and the Nasdaq 100 at 32.4%. The Dow grew from 34.2% and the Nasdaq 100 eased from 32.6%.

The even-weight strategy holds healthcare at 21.7%, financials at 20.6% and technology at 18.4%, with 40.0% in Treasury bills. Healthcare grew from 21.2%. Technology eased from 18.8%.

The actively managed strategy kept all 21 positions. The dollar fund grew to 15.1% from 14.8%, and the energy sector fund to 7.7% from 7.4%. The bitcoin fund eased to 12.0% from 12.5%.

The Bigger Picture

The selling was about spending. GDP grew 3.4%, and consumer spending rose 3.8% in the quarter. It landed on the companies writing the AI checks. Alphabet, Amazon and Intel all fell on what their reports said about cost. Investors want to see the return before they pay for more of the buildout.

The even-weight strategy sizes its three sectors near a fifth each, and that kept this week's loser small. Technology is 18.4%... against roughly a third of the S&P 500. Healthcare, at 21.7%, gained 3.12%. Drugmakers and hospitals don't need a data-center budget. Financials, at 20.6%, rose 1.09%. The gap between the two-year and ten-year widened to about 35 basis points this week. Banks earn that spread.

Bills are the other 40.0%, and the hike talk works for them. The three-month bill yields 4.087%. If the Fed moves in December, new bills pick up the higher rate as the old ones mature.

The index strategy owns the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 in near-equal thirds. The Dow lost 0.85% on the week and the Nasdaq Composite 2.00%. Alphabet isn't in the Dow, and Intel left it in 2024. For October, the Dow rose 1.5% while the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 5%. It owned both sides of that gap.

THOR Risk Gauge

Neutral, same as a week ago. Nine of eleven sectors rose, yields fell and the VIX finished where it started. Brent above $113, a Fed leaning toward a hike and a fresh tech selloff keep the read in the middle. The index strategy is fully invested, and the even-weight strategy runs 60.6% in stocks.

Signal Watch

THOR Index Rotation — As of 10/30/26

Fully invested in near-equal thirds. The Nasdaq 100 piece eased as big tech sold off, and the Dow grew to the largest share.

THOR Low Volatility — As of 10/30/26

Three sectors near a fifth each, with bills at 40%. Healthcare was the best of eleven sectors this week and is now the largest piece.

THOR AdaptiveRisk Dynamic — As of 10/30/26

The mix runs 44.8% equity, 18.2% alternatives, 15.7% commodity, 15.1% specialty currency and 6.2% fixed income. The commodity fund, the energy sector fund and Exxon add up to 26.9%. Exxon and Chevron touched record highs Friday on refining margins.

Weekend Reading

Behind the Ticker — A Couple Retiring Today Needs $600,000 for Healthcare, with Adam Schenck of Milliman. Schenck joined Milliman as an intern in 2005 and became the first trader in its financial risk management group. He explains why one of the world's largest actuarial firms launched its first ETFs around healthcare cost inflation. A family of four on a typical employer plan spends about $37,000 a year. That bill has grown more than 6% a year since 2005.

Intel stock has worst day since 1970s, wiping about $12 billion off government's stake (CNBC, October 30). Katie Tarasov on Friday's chip rout. A plant shutdown in Israel and a soft PC market hit guidance, and Amazon's miss landed the same day.

Third-quarter U.S. GDP increases a better-than-expected 3.4% as September inflation accelerates (CNBC, October 29). Jeff Cox on the two numbers behind the hike talk. Growth beat, and the monthly PCE gain was the largest since March.

Alphabet Stock Suffers Nearly $500 Billion Wipeout in Worst-Ever Trading Day (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance, October 29). The report in numbers. Cloud more than doubled, Search slowed to 12% growth and capital spending more than doubled from a year ago.

Quote of the Week

"The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different.'"

— Sir John Templeton

Brad Roth / CIO, THOR Financial Technologies

This content reflects the opinions, analyses, and research of THOR Financial Technologies as of the date published. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, and all investments involve risk. For more information, please go to: thorft.com