Good morning! We're still watching the bigwigs in Washington visiting with Presidents Trump and Xi, but with fewer Chinese CEOs accompanying Xi than expected, expectations have been somewhat dampened.

The stock market's momentum, however, was stopped by the highest 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) since 2007, which crossed the 5.10% mark as the day's economic data came in hotter than expected and oil prices rose.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.8%, the Dow (^DJI) 0.7%, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) 1.1% off its all-time high.

And one more thing before we continue: We are extremely excited to see Nathan Fielder's Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos!) documentary. Trailer here, ICYMI.

What we're watching Thursday: It's the "big" earnings day on the week's calendar, with corporate reports from Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Darden Restaurants (DRI), and Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC).

Even if inflation hurts right now, we have zero doubt that Costco will be keeping its hot dog prices right where they are. 

It's still very much a bull market. But the bears are starting to have a few things to feast on. Ahead of winter, if we push the metaphor. (Getty Creative)

Say it with us now: The most important thing for long-term stock growth is earnings.

Specifically, expectations and outlooks. We know we've harped on this for a long time, but we do that for a very good reason: It's uncontrovertibly true.

This also means that when those expectations turn, it's essentially as if the economy's Boeing 777 is having engine trouble.

Tracking equity analysts' revisions is a key measure of the market's directionality, and for the first time in months, there have been more stock downgrades than upgrades.

This happens plenty, even if the Citigroup US Earnings Revision Index hasn't been negative since April. But this run since April has been the longest bullish swing of upgrades in five years, Bloomberg noted.

The reason behind the end of this streak of optimism isn't exactly subtle. High energy prices and a stressful 10-year yield that is pushing the Fed toward more rate hikes are laying bare some big risks for the S&P 500.

Morgan Stanley sees a risk of a 7% fall if trends continue. EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco went even further and noted that it "could increase the risk of a stock market correction."

CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty)

Tech industry leaders briefed ambassadors on the risks posed by AI on Wednesday, urging the United Nations Security Council to place limits on the technology that could imperil human civilization. 

"If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole," said Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic.

"We could lose control of the future to AI," said Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO.

The influential leaders urged policymakers to set safeguards to prevent a scenario where the technology becomes too powerful to control. The concentration of AI power under one country or one company was also a risk Altman and Amodei warned against. 

The UN Security Council, much like its members back in their home countries, is wrestling with the challenge of responding to the immense threats that AI models present to global society.

But as for any governing body, the broad contours of a problem are a lot easier to see than the nitty-gritty of what to do about them, like how they should be policed and monitored.

At the UN, the AI debate must also grapple with how adversarial nations might come to an understanding. Loose agreements among rival CEOs are one thing, but concrete accords among nations are another. 

And even if they agree, do they have any power to accomplish anything?

As a technology with national security implications, AI is of strategic importance to governments around the world. In the White House and in parts of Silicon Valley, its development is often viewed as an arms race, with China especially serving as a foil and justification for rapid progress. 

Nevertheless, the audience at the UN at least seemed receptive to the tech world’s stark message.

A day before the briefing, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of "killer robots,” calling for more AI oversight, as other world leaders and experts underscored the dangers of powerful technology run amok.

YouTube's star is growing. (Getty)

Call it a victory for the small screen. Or really, any screen that displays YouTube. 

Despite a new push to bring creators and podcasters onto the platform, Netflix is finding itself outmaneuvered by YouTube, which is undergoing its own blurring of mediums and styles of content to capture audience attention. 

After a Wall Street downgrade last week, Netflix is on the wrong end of another analyst note, which pins its decline on the video-sharing giant’s growth. Shares of Netflix are down 24% for the year and 11% for the month of September alone. 

“YouTube has been benefiting, in our view, from a declining reception to NFLX's original content. Near-term recovery in engagement looks unlikely,” wrote HSBC analyst Mohammed Khallouf in a new note.

There are only so many hours of the day, and if the quality is meh, you might as well not pay.

YouTube has been expanding its living room footprint, according to Khalloud’s analysis, capturing a record 14.2% share of US TV time, up 80 basis points this July. That rise, he said, is increasingly coming at the expense of Netflix, whose TV time fell to a multi-year low of 7.8%, down a full percentage point from last year.  

YouTube also appears to have an answer for Netflix’s poaching of creators and podcasters.

Khallouf said YouTube is attempting to secure top creators by offering direct financing, greater payouts, and priority marketing in exchange for exclusivity. YouTube has also added new features for creators, like its new “Shows” tab, allowing them to turn their playlists into shows, or create them from scratch, giving their audiences a more episodic, TV experience.

Netflix may be the top streamer. The reasoning behind Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros, after all, was to compete with the likes of Netflix. But clearly, the company is having troubles of its own. 

See what else is trending on Yahoo Finance.

Muse hallucinated during testing, providing a fake phone number for a local establishment. (Image: Howley) · Howley

Our tech guru Dan Howley has been testing Meta's Muse app, and he decided to go all-in and make things high stakes: letting it buy his video games (gasp) and handle his date night.

While Gary Cohn, Goldman's old COO and former director of the National Economic Council, told our Brian Sozzi that he wouldn't go near Muse with a 10-foot pole — see our quote of the day — the intrepid Howley handed the app the keys to his entire life: email, calendar, and credit card.

You should read his dispatch from tech's front lines, but things went mostly well with only a few hiccups. Some things were faster and easier, but some things were actually slower.

The big coup was in getting quotes for movers, as Muse contacted companies with details and got specific quotes to choose from.

Muse also handled some Yahoo Fantasy business and date night, but a funky hallucination proved that you have to treat it like a Cold War friend, trusting — but verifying.