The Nasdaq Fell Into a Correction. Then Hiring Blew Past the Forecast

Brad Roth
November 08, 2026

TL;DR

• The S&P 500 fell 2.68% on the week and the Dow just 0.94%. After Democrats swept Congress, the Nasdaq 100 lost 6.36% Thursday on data-center fears.

• October payrolls rose 165,000 against 65,000 expected, and unemployment fell to 4.1%. CME FedWatch puts a December hike near 74%.

• The even-weight strategy now owns seven sectors, from utilities to consumer discretionary. The index strategy runs half Dow, half S&P 500.

Week in Review

Weekly closes, Friday 11/6/26

• The S&P 500 closed at 7,376.86, down 2.68% on the week.

• The Dow ended at 51,285.73, down 0.94%.

• The Nasdaq Composite finished at 24,579.43, down 3.37%.

• The Russell 2000 closed at 2,754.11, down 2.05%.

• The VIX ended at 25.64 against 19.42 a week ago.

Election week came in two halves. Democrats won the House and the Senate Tuesday night. Wednesday the Dow jumped 1,569 points as West Texas crude fell about 8% on hopes for an end to the Iran war. Consumer discretionary and financials led.

Thursday took it all back. The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.36%, its worst day since April 2025, and lost $2.5 trillion in value, per Reuters. Some top Democrats called for a national data-center moratorium, per CNBC. Nvidia fell 9.3% and AMD 17.3%. The Nasdaq Composite closed in a correction. The same morning, the Bank of England raised its rate to 4.00%, its first hike in more than three years.

Friday brought the jobs report. Payrolls rose 165,000, more than double the forecast, and September was revised to 60,000. The Nasdaq Composite bounced 1.09% and the S&P 500 0.31%. The Dow slipped 0.46%.

The sector spread was wide. Communication services led at 4.89%, then real estate at 1.92% and consumer discretionary at 1.91%. Energy lost 12.00% and technology 8.23%. The equal-weight S&P 500 fell 1.04%, about 1.7 points ahead of the S&P 500.

Bonds rallied even as hike odds rose. The ten-year fell 7.0 basis points to 4.859% and the two-year 5.9 to 4.522%. West Texas fell 12.2% to $90.34, and Brent 13.6% to $97.75. Gold rose 5.0% to $4,079.50, snapping three straight weekly losses. Bitcoin ended near $75,950.

Allocation Changes

All three strategies changed this week, and all three now lean on steadier parts of the market.

The index strategy holds the Dow at 50.1% and the S&P 500 at 49.3%. The Nasdaq 100, 32.4% a week ago, is out.

The even-weight strategy went from three sectors to seven. Utilities, consumer staples, real estate, materials and consumer discretionary joined healthcare and financials, each near 14%. Technology, 18.4% a week ago, is out. Treasury bills fell from 40.0% to 2.4%, so the strategy is now 97.6% in stocks.

The actively managed strategy rebuilt around steadier names. The anti-beta fund grew to 9.4% from 3.3%. Walmart, Southern Company, Costco and a 3-7 year Treasury fund are new. The dollar fund fell to 3.1% from 15.1%, the commodity fund to 3.0% from 15.7% and the bitcoin fund to 1.0% from 12.0%. The leveraged Nasdaq 100 fund is gone.

The Bigger Picture

The selling had a target. GDP grew 3.4% last quarter, and October hiring beat the forecast by 100,000 jobs. The damage landed on companies whose growth depends on building data centers fast. Tuesday's vote raised the odds those projects get slower and costlier. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12.25% Thursday alone.

The Dow is now half the index strategy. It fell 3.44% Thursday against 6.36% for the Nasdaq 100. Thirty names, price-weighted, with banks, industrials and insurers next to the tech giants.

The even-weight strategy now holds seven sectors near 14% each, so no single group sets the result. Utilities and staples are 27.9% together, and they lost 0.71% and 0.75% Thursday. Real estate, 13.9%, rose 1.92% on the week as the two-year fell. Financials, 14.2%, rose 1.15%. The ten-year yields about 34 basis points more than the two-year, and banks earn that spread.

Healthcare, the largest piece at 14.3%, finished the week flat while technology lost 8.2%.

THOR Risk Gauge

Cautious, down from Neutral a week ago. The VIX closed at 25.64, and the Nasdaq Composite sits in a correction. Strong hiring and falling yields help, but a December hike near 74% and Tuesday's CPI keep the read guarded. The index strategy is 99.4% in stocks and the even-weight strategy 97.6%.

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Signal Watch

THOR Index Rotation — As of 11/6/26

Two broad indexes at about half each. The Dow, the larger piece, fell 3.44% Thursday against 6.36% for the Nasdaq 100.

THOR Low Volatility — As of 11/6/26

Seven sectors within 0.7 points of each other. Four of the seven finished the week higher, led by real estate at 1.92%.

THOR AdaptiveRisk Dynamic — As of 11/6/26

The mix runs 70.6% equity, 10.8% fixed income, 10.4% alternatives, 5.4% commodity and 2.8% specialty currency. Commodity and currency funds fell to 8.2% from 30.8% a week ago. The anti-beta fund, built to favor low-risk stocks over high-risk ones, is now the top holding.

Weekend Reading

AI stocks hammered by midterm shock as data center buildout becomes a 'war of attrition' (CNBC, November 6). Kai Nicol-Schwarz on Thursday's chip rout. At least 46 data-center projects worth more than $170 billion were blocked, withdrawn or stalled between January 2024 and May 2026, per the IDCA.

Opposition to AI data centers in the midterms foreshadows tougher regulations ahead (AP via PBS NewsHour, November 6). Marc Levy on how power bills and water turned data centers into a campaign issue. Local restrictions passed in 44 of 45 referendums counted so far.

Democrats may go after data centers. That's not a reason to dump all your AI stocks (CNBC, November 4). Tobias Burns makes the other side. Analysts argue slower permits could let some air out of the AI boom without ending it.

Quote of the Week

"Risk means more things can happen than will happen."

— Elroy Dimson, London Business School

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