Morning Money — Wednesday, October 21, 2026

OIL IS LIFTING TORONTO—AND KEEPING RATE PRESSURE ALIVE

Brent crude is back above US$110 a barrel as Middle East supply risks
persist. TSX futures are up 0.18%, helped by energy shares, after the
index gained 0.5% Tuesday to 36,107.96.

Why it matters for Canadians: higher oil can support Canadian
producers, jobs and the loonie—but expensive fuel also raises
household costs and makes the Bank of Canada’s inflation fight harder.
September headline inflation was 3.1%, versus 2.2% when gasoline is
excluded, putting extra focus on the Bank’s October 28 decision.

AI STOCKS BOUNCE BACK

Strong results from SpaceX and Super Micro are reviving appetite for
AI-linked shares after last week’s selloff.

• SpaceX: +7.2% premarket after posting its first profit as a public
company. Quarterly revenue jumped 161% to US$14.58 billion, with AI
revenue reaching US$7.56 billion.
• Super Micro: +10.9% after forecasting revenue and margins above expectations.
• Nvidia: +2.1%; Dell: +5.5%; HPE: +4.5%.
• Elon Musk confirmed that independent committees are discussing a
possible SpaceX–Tesla merger, but no terms have been agreed and a deal
may not happen.

NETFLIX DISAPPOINTS

Netflix is down more than 6% premarket after weaker-than-expected
fourth-quarter profit guidance and a cut to its advertising outlook.
Revenue rose 11.8%, its slowest growth in nearly three years.

BEFORE THE BELL

• TSX futures: +0.18%
• S&P 500 futures: +0.27%
• Nasdaq-100 futures: +0.67%
• Dow futures: +0.12%
• Gold: about US$4,128 an ounce, near a one-week low
• Brent oil: above US$110 a barrel

WHAT TO WATCH

Meta and Tesla report after the close. Investors will be looking for
evidence that AI spending is producing real profits—and for Tesla’s
outlook on margins, robotics and any potential SpaceX combination.

For Canada, oil remains the swing factor: good for energy earnings,
but risky for inflation, gasoline prices and borrowing costs.