Stock Market Today: Dow Jumps 1,500 Points as Major Indexes Surge After Decisive Victory by Democrats in Midterms; Oil Prices Plunge

Why Tesla and SpaceX Shares Are Sliding After the Midterms

FROM 1 hr 12 min ago

It will take some time to know for sure the stock-market winners and losers of yesterday’s midterm elections. Today, investors think one of the losers was Elon Musk.

Shares of both of his public companies were falling in Wednesday trading: SpaceX (SPCX) and Tesla (TSLA) were down more than 3% recently, in the wake of an election in which Democrats retook both chambers of Congress, establishing an empowered opposition to President Donald Trump during the second half of his term—and on a day when stocks broadly chugged higher.

Musk, to be sure, remains the world’s richest person, with a net worth recently estimated at more than $870 billion. His influence is still massive, spanning touchpoints across the corporate, consumer and government sectors.

But investors may now wonder whether the shift of power in Washington could bring freshly intensified scrutiny of his interests. Some Democrats have said they would seek to investigate Musk in his role as federal contractor, notably given the role SpaceX plays in satellite-based connectivity. Market watchers now wonder whether a generally expected move to merge SpaceX and Tesla might hit more roadblocks—or, at least speedbumps; some had wondered whether he might have sought to announce a deal before the elections.

Musk donated heavily to Republicans in the midterms, according to reports, including some who lost—notably, in Texas, where some of his businesses are headquartered. One analysis pegged him as the top donor this midterm cycle, with spending of over $400 million.

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Musk wrote on social media.

With today’s losses, Tesla shares are down 14% so far in 2026, making them the biggest decliner among Magnificent 7 stocks. SpaceX shares, which recently exchanged hands at $137, remain well below the $150 they started trading at in June after a record-setting IPO.

–David Marino-Nachison

What Usually Happens to Stocks After Midterm Elections?

FROM 1 hr 12 min ago

For investors, there are plenty of reasons to believe Tuesday’s electoral outcomes—the Associated Press now has the Democrats holding majorities in the House and Senate, with some races not yet called—could affect federal and lower-level U.S. policy.

Investors are already seeing near-term changes in the price of stocks viewed as helped or hurt by policy decisions and the redrawn balance of power; in commodities like oil and gold that stand to be affected by geopolitical or economic news; and even in cryptocurrency. At a market level, BlackRock recently wrote, stocks tend not to have their best results in midterm election years.

But many market experts think that, by and large, who’s in charge—President Donald Trump still has half his term to serve—may not matter much to investors’ portfolios.

Bespoke Investment Group has urged a cool head, noting that since the Great Financial Crisis, despite a range of different combinations of party primacy in Washington, stocks have continued to rise. “While power in DC has changed hands again and again, there has been one constant: the S&P 500 has risen during every one of the last nine sessions,” its analysts wrote.

And Franklin Templeton recently said that under Republican presidents, the composition of Congress after the midterms seems to have comparatively little effect on returns: The average 12-month return for stocks, no matter how the houses are arrayed, has been around 15% since the 1950s. (In that timespan, their research said, a setup like today’s, in which the Democrats have majorities in both houses of Congress, has been the most typical.)

The stock market has not declined between Nov. 1 in a midterm year through April of the next year since the 1930s, according to SentimenTrader. (All this said, however, historical precedent is just that; it’s not a prediction.)

–David Marino-Nachison

AMD Jumps After Results, Outlook Top Analysts Expectations

FROM 1 hr 12 min ago

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) climbed in early trading Wednesday after the chip designer handed in strong third-quarter results and raised its guidance.

AMD reported $13.3 billion in revenue, which beat analysts’ expectations, and nearly $2.43 billion in profit, which was roughly in line with Wall Street estimates.

The company also guided investors to fourth-quarter revenue that was higher than Visible Alpha’s mean estimate.

AMD shares, which have doubled in price over the past 12 months, were up 3% recently.

Major Index Futures Point to Big Gains at Open

FROM 4 hr 45 min ago

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 1.9%, or nearly 1,000 points.

S&P 500 futures rose 1%.

Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.4%.