Stories from Monday, October 26, 2026

• NBA signs a prediction-market integrity pact that, per its own text, binds no one

  The league's Oct. 26 deals give Kalshi and Polymarket NBA marketing rights. Its memorandum with the CFTC creates no legally binding obligations and leaves information sharing to each side's discretion.

  Exclusive · Oct 26, 2026, 3:50 PM EDT · Connor O'Brien

• Tesla's supervised FSD is approved in Latvia, the tenth EU country to sign on

  Latvia's road safety agency, CSDD, said it based the decision on the Dutch regulator's documentation and on changes Tesla made, including stronger driver monitoring.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 3:10 PM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Oil wavers as Saudi Arabia's defense minister holds de-escalation talks in Tehran

  Saudi Arabia's defense minister met Iran's president in Tehran after Qatari mediators visited on Sunday. Oil fell in the morning and was mixed by midday as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia continued.

  Macro · Oct 26, 2026, 2:10 PM EDT · James Mitchell

• EQT is buying Range Resources in an all-stock deal Reuters values at $12.8 billion

  Range holders get 0.987 EQT shares for each Range share. The "over $50 billion" figure is the combined company's enterprise value, debt included, not the price.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 1:05 PM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Private equity's defense tech rush is a bet on the next buyer, not the battlefield

  Buyout firms poured $4 billion into defense growth deals in nine months, per PitchBook. The money is real, but the trade only works if a later buyer pays up for promise.

  Opinion · Oct 26, 2026, 12:55 PM EDT · Connor O'Brien

• Anthropic files to list on Nasdaq as "ANT," and public buyers get at most 49.9% of the vote

  The Claude maker's S-1 shows revenue up 1,300% in the first half of 2026 and a governance setup that caps public shareholders at 49.9% of the vote. The price range isn't set yet.

  Startups · Oct 26, 2026, 11:25 AM EDT · Robert Harrison

• Meta launches a $35 billion stock sale to fund AI, with $60 billion more planned for later

  Meta is selling about $22.5 billion of common stock and $12.5 billion of convertible preferred now, and plans a roughly $60 billion Class C share program that has no agreement yet and isn't expected to start before 2027.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 8:55 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Walmart and McDonald's insist AI doesn't decide what you pay

  Walmart's CEO says it won't charge shoppers more based on who they are. McDonald's says franchisees, not AI, set menu prices, while it fights a federal lawsuit over its pricing tool.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 8:15 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Elon Musk says most of the 200-plus neoclouds face 'guppy-level death,' and his SpaceX competes with them

  Musk says debt markets have nearly cut off AI cloud companies that lack other revenue. Nebius points to a new $3.5 billion Citi facility, and Nvidia's CEO says the capital gap will close.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 7:20 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Manufacturing jobs are inching up while a study warns of a technician skills gap

  Manufacturing employment is up 72,000 since a December low, per the BLS. A Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute study says technician jobs could grow six times faster than production work through 2030.

  Macro · Oct 26, 2026, 6:15 AM EDT · James Mitchell

• Trusts tied to GoPro's founder lent it $20 million in July. Its sale would repay them and cash out their warrants

  GoPro's merger proxy says the $1.14-a-share deal repays notes held by trusts tied to CEO Nicholas Woodman and cashes out their warrants, estimated at $21.9 million. His votes alone can approve it.

  Equities · Oct 26, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT · Brandon Cole