The Chart Room: Meta Delivers but Markets Slide Tonight
OPTIONS WITH HANS · CHART ROOM
Tech Came Back. Meta Delivered After the Bell.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 · Charts through today's close
You’re reading the free Chart Room: four of today’s twelve charts. It was a good day inside Trader63, my VIP trade room. The wins are at the bottom of this email.
Note From Hans
Tuesday, tech sat out while everything else rallied. Today it flipped back. Technology led the board (+1.68%), chips jumped (SMH +1.89%) and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.1%, while the equal-weight S&P rose just 0.34%. The S&P 500 finished up 0.58% at 7,757.17, within 0.8% of its record close, and the Dow added 360 points (+0.69%) to 52,856.09, a few points off the high of the day.
SpaceX was the spark. It jumped 7.79% to 159.31 after posting its first profit as a public company, and on its call Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to explore a merger. Super Micro added 9.55% on its raised outlook. Not everyone was invited. AT&T fell 6.45% even after beating estimates and raising its outlook, as SpaceX’s push into mobile service rattled the carriers, and Netflix fell 5.31% on its earnings report. Add Alphabet’s 1.6% drop, and communication services was the worst tile on the board (−1.09%).
The last hour got jumpy. A report that the U.S. is preparing to order some personnel out of its Gulf embassies pushed oil and yields up and stocks down, and the State Department has since ordered non-emergency staff and their families out of Saudi Arabia only, citing Houthi attacks. The S&P recovered most of that dip. The 10-year yield index ($TNX) closed at 51.46 (5.146%), near its high of the day, and the VIX fell 3.6% to 16.68.
After the bell, Meta delivered. Revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, ahead of estimates, and it guided the fourth quarter to $73 billion to $76 billion. It also declared a one-time dividend of one new non-voting Class C share for every Class A and Class B share, which works like a 2-for-1 split. The stock traded up as much as 4% after hours. Tesla beat on earnings but slipped about 3% late in after-hours trading, roughly giving back today’s gain. Lam Research fell about 7% after hours despite a record quarter, with the low end of its guidance below estimates, and Texas Instruments rose about 1% on an outlook above consensus.
Tuesday I said I’d let Meta and Tesla tell us whether tech was ready to lead again. Tech didn’t wait. It led during regular hours, Meta backed it up after the bell, and Tesla didn’t. Credit still hasn’t confirmed: HYG rose 0.2% to 76.98, still 92 cents below its 200-day (77.90). That’s the confirmation I’m waiting on.
The Board
Eight green tiles and four red ones, and this time technology led (+1.68%), followed by industrials (+0.90%) and financials (+0.55%). The equal-weight S&P rose 0.34%, a little more than half the cap-weighted index’s gain, the reverse of Tuesday. The red tiles were the defensive and telecom corners: communication services (−1.09%), real estate (−0.79%), staples (−0.72%) and health care (−0.49%). Same market as Tuesday, opposite rotation.
TECH
QQQ Tagged the 50-Day
QQQ rose 7.57 (+1.05%) to 725.20. Its high of 727.95 poked just above the 50-day (726.75), and it closed about a point and a half under it. The 5-day average (719.80) is now below price, and the 20-day (739.07) is the next level overhead.
Sunday’s 700 line was never tested. Friday’s low (707.23), inside the 700-to-710 demand zone, is still the floor for this bounce.
Hans’s take: A close above the 50-day is the confirmation I want. Get it, and the 20-day near 739 is next. Miss it, and 707 to 727 stays the range.
SEMIS
Chips Held the Demand Zone Again
SMH gained 10.34 (+1.89%) to 556.70, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.97%. That’s a second straight day holding the September demand zone, roughly 537 to 550, after Tuesday’s brief undercut to 536.23.
It’s still well below the 50-day (577.56) and the 20-day (593.37). After hours, the chip read split: Lam Research fell about 7% despite a record quarter, with the low end of its guidance below estimates, while Texas Instruments rose about 1% on an outlook above consensus.
Hans’s take: Holding the zone is a start, not a turn. Lam’s reaction says ‘good’ isn’t good enough for chip equipment right now. I want the 50-day back before I call the chip low.
SPACE
SpaceX Lifted the Whole Space Group
SpaceX jumped 11.52 (+7.79%) to 159.31 on 219 million shares after posting its first profit as a public company. AI, which it now calls Super Intelligence, brought in about $7.6 billion, more than Starlink and the rocket business combined. On the call, Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to explore a merger.
The Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA), whose top holdings include Rocket Lab, SpaceX, Planet Labs, Firefly and AST SpaceMobile, jumped 5.22% to 21.55. It bounced off the same area near 20 that held in July (20.46), after slipping just below 20. It’s still down about half from its spring high of 42.68 and below its 20-day (23.35) and 50-day (23.84).
Hans’s take: Full disclosure: SpaceX is one of my biggest positions, and we added more income trades on it in the room today. Premiums are juicy after a move like this. For the ETF, the 20- and 50-day have to go before this is more than a one-day pop.
EARNINGS
Meta Beat, and the Stock Bounced After Hours
In the regular session, Meta rose 3.27 (+0.47%) to 697.52 after dipping to 689.68, just under the 690 line, and closing back above it. Volume was 28.2 million shares, above its 21.1 million average.
After the bell: revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, the fourth-quarter guide is $73 billion to $76 billion, and full-year capital spending was narrowed to $135 billion to $145 billion. A settlement with state attorneys general of up to about $18.6 billion, with about $9.9 billion charged in the quarter, held GAAP earnings to $3.83 a share. Excluding it, Meta earned $7.40. The stock traded as high as about $725 after hours and was up about 2% late in the session.
Hans’s take: This is the map from Sunday. Above the 20-day (729.54) puts the 770 to 788 supply zone back in view, and the after-hours high (about $725) came within a few dollars of the 20-day. We have several Meta positions on in the room that should do well on this. Now it has to hold the gain once regular hours open.
Still in the full Chart Room: eight more charts, including the Dow near the high of the day, Tesla at its 200-day, credit, the VIX, the 10-year, health care, banks and 3M, plus The Week Ahead, From The Rooms and The Through Line.
Today in Trader63
A green day in the room
Here’s what we did in Trader63 today, while the market did what you just read about:
Closed a repaired Cloudflare (NET) position for a profit.
Closed Bloom Energy (BE) for a win.
Cashed a put win on Booking Holdings (BKNG), which fell more than 3% after Europe opened formal proceedings against Booking.com. I think they’re in big trouble.
Put on more juicy income trades in SpaceX (SPCX) after its first profit as a public company.
Have several Meta positions on that should do well after its strong report.
Trader63 is $99.97 a month: every trade posted as I take it, my read on volatility all day, the Weekly Wheel program, and the full Chart Room with every chart. Spots are capped.
Trade smart, stay hedged.
Hans
Charts are end-of-day through Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Market data sourced from StockCharts.
This material is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Options carry risk and are not suitable for every investor.
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