Market News Today November 2 - Oil Dips Below $100, Stocks Bounce After Friday Rout, Strategy Buys More Bitcoin

After the worst day on Wall Street since June, there were two pieces of good news for your wallet this morning: oil dipped below $100 and the stock market started to bounce back.

But with midterm elections tomorrow, Apple and Palantir reporting tonight and a jobs report on Friday, the week could get bumpy fast, so we have picked the three market stories to know before you look at your portfolio.

Let’s start with oil, because it affects almost everything else.

Why Are Oil Prices Falling Today? Rubio Says Trump Prefers Diplomacy With Iran

Oil dropped as hopes grew that the Iran war could end at the negotiating table.

U.S. crude fell more than 3% to around $100 a barrel and Brent slipped to about $110 after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump prefers to resolve the conflict diplomatically, though he has not ruled out military action.

Iran signalled that a deal is still possible after talks mediated by Qatar, but both countries are reported to be preparing for more strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Cheaper oil eases pressure on gasoline, diesel and grocery prices, but with talks fragile and strikes possible after the midterms, relief at the pump is not guaranteed.

Oil is down, but it is a pause in the standoff, not the end of it.

Why Did the Stock Market Fall on Friday, and Will It Rebound?

Last week showed how quickly a hot AI trade can turn.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.5% on Friday, its worst day since June, with chip stocks down 7.2%, after Intel plunged 28.6% on a weak forecast and a warning that it does not expect positive cash flow this year.

Investors are losing patience with tech companies whose main businesses are slowing while AI spending soars, and the Nasdaq 100 shed more than $2.5 trillion in October.

Futures are up this morning, with Alphabet and SpaceX among early gainers, but Apple and Palantir report after the close and Friday’s jobs report is the next big test.

If your 401(k) leans on tech, one rebound day does not repair a month that cost the Nasdaq 5.2%.

A rebound after a rout is welcome, but the week’s earnings will decide whether it lasts.

Why Is Strategy Buying More Bitcoin? Saylor’s Latest Purchase Explained

Michael Saylor’s Strategy is adding to its bitcoin stack again, even as the cushion under it gets thin.

Saylor posted “We found room for even more orange” on Sunday, his usual signal before a weekly purchase filing, after a week in which Strategy bought no bitcoin and spent $204.9 million buying back its own STRC preferred shares.

It holds 848,517 bitcoin, bought at an average of about $75,446 each, and with bitcoin around $78,000, its paper profit is only about 3%.

On November 11, index provider MSCI decides whether to remove Strategy from its global indexes, which would not force it to sell bitcoin but could weigh on its share price.

Another buy keeps the habit alive, but the margin for error is thin.

Bitcoin Is Hovering Just Above Strategy’s Cost. One Call Says It Could Slip Below by Year-End.

Bitcoin is trading only about 3% above what the biggest company holding it paid, oil is swinging on every headline from the Iran talks, and tech just had its worst day in months.

Our free briefing, What Happens to Your Money Next in Q4, makes five clear calls for the rest of the year, on interest rates, the Fed, Bitcoin, gold and the dollar, with the odds on each and the date that settles it, plus one big prediction for 2027.

One of them says that biggest company holding Bitcoin could end the year underwater. Every call gets graded in public on December 31, hits and misses alike.

It lands in your inbox instantly, so you can read it tonight.

Get your free copy of What Happens to Your Money Next below.