October’s puzzle: the S&P 500 lost 0.93% while the average stock gained 4.95%. Where did the money leaving AI go?

October 2026 looked like a month of declines: the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.30%, gold 6.77%, silver 18.81%, and Bitcoin 7.22%. Yet consumer staples and health care posted their best months in our records since 2021, utilities had its second-best month, the ten-year Treasury yield fell 35 basis points, and the December Brent contract rose 20.00%. We measured 48 assets, mostly using EL7’s price database, to map the month: where money left and where it went.

−0.93%

October change in the market-cap-weighted S&P 500

+4.95%

Gain in RSP, the fund holding the same companies at equal weights

+10.94%

Consumer staples’ gain, its best month in our records since 2021

−35

Basis points, the monthly decline in the ten-year Treasury yield

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EL7 Research · Markets

1 November 2026 · From the 30 September close to October’s final close