{"id":"1793303996965-mix-show_open","slug":"comm-services-worst-week-in-three-years","title":"Comm Services Worst Week in Three Years","summary":"Communication services has been the worst-performing S&P sector, with XLC down about 5.7% over five days and roughly 6.2% for the week while the S&P 500 fell only about 0.5%, consistent with an underperformance near 6.3 percentage points. The exact claim that this was the largest 5-day underperformance since November 2022 is plausible and consistent with the sector's breakdown described in market commentary.","publishedAt":"2026-10-29T19:59:56.965Z","channel":{"id":"mix","name":"Oncast Mix","language":"en"},"show":"Closing Bell","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Communication services has been the worst-performing S&P sector, with XLC down about 5.7% over five days and roughly 6.2% for the week while the S&P 500 fell only about 0.5%, consistent with an underperformance near 6.3 percentage points. The exact claim that this was the largest 5-day underperformance since November 2022 is plausible and consistent with the sector's breakdown described in market commentary.\nSource: [stockpreachers.com](https://stockpreachers.com/articles/energy-and-health-care-grind-higher-while-comm-services-falls-apart/), [yardeni.com](https://yardeni.co (https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2115883047954608534)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Communication services has been the worst-performing S&P sector, with XLC down about 5.7% over five days and roughly 6.2% for the week while the S&P 500 fell only about 0.5%, consistent with an underperformance near 6.3 percentage points. The exact claim that this was the largest 5-day underperformance since November 2022 is plausible and consistent with the sector's breakdown described in market commentary.","sourceName":"[stockpreachers.com](https://stockpreachers.com/articles/energy-and-health-care-grind-higher-while-comm-services-falls-apart/), [yardeni.com](https://yardeni.co","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2115883047954608534","claim":"Communication Services stocks are under severe pressure: The Communication Services ETF, $XLC, underperformed the S&P 500 by -6.3 percentage points over 5 trading days ending October 27th, its largest 5-day underperformance since November 2022. This also marks its 3rd-biggest","author":"The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2115883047954608534","name":"[stockpreachers.com](https://stockpreachers.com/articles/energy-and-health-care-grind-higher-while-comm-services-falls-apart/), [yardeni.com](https://yardeni.co","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793303996965-mix-show_open-comm-services-worst-week-in-three-years","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/mix","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793303996965-mix-show_open-comm-services-worst-week-in-three-years","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793303996965-mix-show_open-comm-services-worst-week-in-three-years and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Sloane","text":"I'm Sloane, this is Closing Bell. Communication services just had its worst week against the S&P in three years."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Worst since November 2022? That's a real dislocation."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"The Kobeissi Letter posted the numbers on X. The sector ETF underperformed by six point three percentage points over five trading days."},{"host":"Eric","text":"That's not a dip. That's investors running for the exits."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And it's the third biggest five-day gap since twenty twenty-two. Alphabet, Meta, Netflix—all under pressure."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I think this is the AI trade finally getting repriced. Everyone's been hiding out in mega-cap tech, and now they're rotating."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Rotating? Or realizing these companies are spending billions on AI with no clear payoff yet?"},{"host":"Eric","text":"Oh, come on. Meta's ad business is printing cash. This is a valuation reset, not a fundamental break."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Then why this bad? Six point three points in a week, that's a stampede, not a rotation."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Because the market's forward-looking. It sees search traffic shifting to AI assistants, ad budgets following, and it's repricing Google and Meta before the numbers show it."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"I'm not buying it. Google's search revenue is still growing, and Meta's ad platform is the most efficient place to spend a dollar. This feels like panic, not analysis."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Panic maybe, but it's driven by real fear. If AI search takes even ten percent of queries, that's a lot of ad dollars moving."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"You're arguing the market is right because it's scared. That's not usually how you make money."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I'm not telling anyone what to do. I'm saying the fear isn't irrational. There's a reason it's the worst week in three years."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"So you're saying the worst is priced in, and I'm saying it might not be."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I'm saying the market's finally getting real about AI's cost to traditional ad models."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Then we'll see next earnings season."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Speaking of spending that doesn't add up—California's high-speed rail project just lost its CEO."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Lost? Like they misplaced him? Or he resigned?"},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Resigned, abruptly. Unusual Whales posted that the New York Times reports a state audit found the agency misused nearly six hundred thousand dollars on consultant travel."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Six hundred thousand for flights and hotels? On a project that's already burned over ten billion and has no trains running."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Careful—the ten billion number is a separate issue. The report is about misused funds, and we haven't seen the audit yet. It's being reported, not confirmed."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Fine, reported. But if true, it's another page in the same book: this project is a black hole."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"That's too easy. The CEO leaving doesn't fix the underlying problem, which is that California's rail authority has been incompetent for years. One resignation is theater."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Theater? It's accountability. Someone finally paid a price."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"For six hundred grand? When the project is this far behind? That's not accountability, that's a scapegoat."},{"host":"Eric","text":"No, wait—misusing taxpayer money is exactly the kind of thing a CEO should answer for. Even if it's a rounding error."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"I'm not saying he shouldn't resign. I'm saying don't pretend it changes anything. The next person walks into the same mess."},{"host":"Eric","text":"You're not wrong about the mess. But I'd rather have leaders who resign over waste than ones who shrug."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"The new CEO will inherit a project with no clear route, no budget, and now no credibility."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And yet California keeps funding it."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Meanwhile, in the options market, someone's making a big bet against a deal."},{"host":"Eric","text":"What deal?"},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Lumentum. A trader bought nineteen point six million dollars in puts, a day after Bloomberg reported Marvell is in advanced talks to buy the company."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Reported talks, not signed. And now someone's betting the stock falls? That's either very smart or very stupid."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"These are January twenty twenty-seven puts, strike ten fifty, all at the ask. A thousand contracts. That's not a retail trader."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And the stock's around nine thirty, so they need a serious drop to profit. That's a conviction bet, not a hedge."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Could still be a hedge against a deal collapse. If the acquisition falls apart, Lumentum could go back to seven hundred."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Would it? The company's got real fiber-optic business. It's not just the deal premium."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Maybe, but the stock jumped on the deal news. Take that away and it gives back the pop."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And we're just talking about it because the number's big. Nineteen million in options is a statement."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"It is. But remember, options expire. A lot of smart money has lost a lot of money being early."},{"host":"Eric","text":"That's the most honest thing you've said all hour."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"I'm here to provide balance."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Anyway, that's the story. Someone's making a big bet against a deal closing, and we'll see if they're right."}]}