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The Morning Dispatch
Seattle's Morning Paper · Friday, October 23, 2026 · No. 9
Page 1: Front Page
Chip Stocks Crater as Wall Street Sours on A.I. Spending
Nasdaq Drops 2.6 Percent; Semiconductor Index Loses Over 6
The Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York, in 2021 (file photo). Photo: ajay_suresh / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
NEW YORK. Technology shares tumbled Thursday as investors questioned the enormous sums companies are pouring into artificial intelligence. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.6 percent to 26,008.86, and the S&P 500 lost about 1.2 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average finished essentially unchanged at 52,867.98.
Super Typhoon Champi Veers Off Taiwan, Takes Aim at Japan
Year's Strongest Storm Brings Heavy Rain to Philippines and Okinawa
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 21. Super Typhoon Champi, the most powerful storm on the planet so far this year, was forecast Wednesday to turn sharply north off Taiwan's east coast and spare the island a direct hit. Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said the turn should come Friday as the storm reaches cooler waters.
Late goal settles it, 5-3, after Utah erases a two-goal lead
SEATTLE. Mackie Samoskevich scored with 5:25 left Thursday night to give the Kraken a 5-3 win over the Utah Mammoth at Climate Pledge Arena, after Seattle had let a two-goal lead slip away in the third period.
Justices Keep Care in Place for Transgender Inmates
Court Turns Down Administration's Emergency Plea on Wednesday
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21. The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused the Trump administration's emergency request to stop gender-affirming care for transgender people in federal prisons. The brief, unsigned order leaves a lower court's injunction in place while the lawsuit continues.
Pledges Put World on Track for 2.6 Degrees, Wednesday Report Finds
GENEVA, Oct. 21. The world's climate pledges, even if kept in full, would let global temperatures rise about 2.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, the U.N. Environment Programme said Wednesday in its annual Emissions Gap Report. The report said any chance of holding warming to 1.5 degrees has been lost.
France Sends In Troops as Unrest Spreads; Italy Posts 500 Soldiers to Milan
Paris Admits Failures on Tuesday After Weekend Riots
PARIS, Oct. 21. France will put soldiers alongside its police for protests planned for Saturday, the government said Tuesday, as it admitted failures in handling the rioting and looting that swept Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on Oct. 17. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the deployment "will be massive."
Candidates in Both Parties Scramble as Local Opposition Spreads
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21. With the Nov. 3 midterm elections two weeks away, the rush to build data centers for artificial intelligence has become one of the hottest issues on the campaign trail, and candidates of both parties are scrambling to answer voters who do not want the sites near their homes.
17 Million Death Dates Added in Largest Cleanup in Agency's History
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20. The Social Security Administration said Tuesday that it has corrected nearly 50 million records in what it called the largest cleanup of its data in the agency's 91-year history, work it says will help prevent fraud and identity theft.
DETROIT. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed holds 50 percent to Republican Mike Rogers's 48 percent among likely voters in Michigan's open Senate race, a Marist poll taken Oct. 15 to 18 found, a gap well inside the margin of error of 4.3 points.
CLEVELAND, Oct. 20. Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, defended her refusal to debate Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in an interview with 19 News published Tuesday, saying she has been answering voters' questions on the campaign trail. She outlined a tax cut for working families, lower electric bills and wider property-tax relief for seniors. Ramaswamy says she has refused to face him. He has accepted debate invitations from WLWT and CNN. Ohio last held a governor's debate in 2018.
Musk Ordered Slowdown of Ukraine's Satellite Link, Report Says
Zelensky Calls Starlink Speed Cap a 'Planned Operation'
Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, in 2018 (file photo). Photo: Debbie Rowe / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
KYIV, Ukraine, Oct. 20. Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of the military-grade satellite service that Ukraine's armed forces depend on, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter. The limits on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Starlink network, began Oct. 14 and hampered Ukrainian drone missions against Russia.
Woman Who Arrived From Uganda Is Isolated in Abuja; Case Confirmed Tuesday
ABUJA, Nigeria, Oct. 20. Nigeria confirmed a case of Ebola in its capital, Abuja, on Tuesday, in a woman who had traveled from Uganda. It is the country's first known case since the West Africa epidemic of 2014 to 2016, and the latest sign of an outbreak spreading across the continent.
Flavio Bolsonaro and Lula Within the Margin of Error
SAO PAULO, Brazil. Brazilians vote Sunday, Oct. 25, in a presidential runoff between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who surprisingly finished ahead of Lula in the first round of voting earlier this month.
Pope Leo Needs No More Cancer Treatment, Doctors Say
Lung Tumor Had Not Spread, Doctors Said Wednesday
VATICAN CITY, Oct. 21. Pope Leo, the 71-year-old American-born pontiff, needs no further treatment after surgery on Oct. 13 that removed the lower lobe of his right lung, his doctors said Wednesday. Final tests showed the adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, had not spread, said his lead surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, and his physician, Luigi Carbone.
U.S. Orders Diplomats Out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi Attacks Go On
Order Came Wednesday; Iran's Guard Says It Struck Four Tankers in the Gulf
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia. The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonessential diplomats and the families of U.S. government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, citing continuing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saudi airports and other civilian infrastructure. The order covers the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates.
What It Means: Wall Street Asks What A.I. Will Cost
By Claude W. Hargrove, Editor in Chief
Wall Street sent a plain message on Thursday: it wants to know what all the spending on artificial intelligence will earn. The Nasdaq fell about 2.6 percent and the S&P 500 about 1.2 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average finished little changed.
Why would one corner of the market fall so hard while the Dow stood still? The answer lies in where the money had gone. Chipmakers and the big technology companies rose on the promise of A.I., they carry great weight in the Nasdaq, and so when doubts arrive, that index feels them first.
Page 5: Business and Technology
Lam Research Tops Its Own Forecast on Chip-Equipment Demand
Quarterly Sales Jump 22 Percent to $8.2 Billion
A Lam Research building in Fremont, Calif., in 2023 (file photo). Photo: Olaf2 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 21. Lam Research, which makes the machines used to manufacture computer chips, said Wednesday that its sales rose to $8.22 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 27, up 22 percent from $6.72 billion in the June quarter.
NEW YORK. Blackstone, the investment firm, reported Thursday distributable earnings of $1.32 a share for the third quarter, above the $1.26 analysts expected. Its shares rose about 8 percent, according to the Capp Notes market summary.
CINCINNATI. Procter & Gamble said Thursday that its sales rose 4 percent to $23.3 billion in the July-to-September quarter, with growth in all 10 of its product categories and all six of its regions.
Lockheed Sales Climb 11 Percent; Backlog Hits Record
$52.5 Billion Patriot Interceptor Award Swells Order Book
BETHESDA, Md. Lockheed Martin said Thursday that its third-quarter sales rose 11 percent to $20.7 billion, and its backlog of orders reached a record $292 billion.
PHILADELPHIA. Comcast said Thursday that its Peacock streaming service made money for the second quarter in a row, earning $261 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the three months ended Sept. 30.
NEW YORK. Amalgamated Financial reported record quarterly core earnings Thursday of $1.14 a share, above the $1.08 analysts expected, Investing.com reported. Core net income was also a record, at $34.6 million. The company raised its full-year guidance and now expects net interest income of $341 million to $342 million. Its shares rose about 4 percent after the report.
Education Department drops appeal; Public Service Loan Forgiveness protected, says Attorney General Brown
OLYMPIA. Washington and other states have won their lawsuit protecting the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Attorney General Nick Brown said Thursday, after the U.S. Department of Education dropped its appeal.
Contest for state Supreme Court Position 4 could be among the costliest in Washington history
SEATTLE. The race for Position 4 on the Washington Supreme Court could become one of the most expensive state Supreme Court contests in Washington history, The Seattle Times reported Thursday. The two candidates have raised just over $1 million between them.
Down 24.4 percent from a year earlier, the steepest drop of any major metro, Redfin says
SEATTLE, Oct. 20. Pending home sales in the Seattle area fell 24.4 percent in September from a year earlier, the steepest drop among major U.S. metro areas, according to Redfin data reported by Axios on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Los Angeles was next, down 16 percent. Redfin pointed to Seattle's bumpy job market and high prices as reasons buyers have pulled back.
TACOMA. Tacoma police said Thursday that detectives arrested a fourth suspect, a teenage boy, on Wednesday in the Oct. 18 killing of 16-year-old Josiah Midgyett in a downtown parking garage. He was booked into the Remann Hall juvenile detention center for first-degree murder. His name and age were not released because he is a minor. Three adults arrested earlier also face first-degree murder charges. They are Davion Campos, 20, Jose Campos, 18, and Alina Guillen, 19.
Nearly three weeks of concerts close Sunday, Oct. 25
SEATTLE. The Earshot Jazz Festival heads into its last three days this weekend, closing Sunday, Oct. 25, after nearly three weeks of concerts at venues around Seattle. The festival opened Oct. 7.
Immersive dance and art installation runs through Dec. 12
SEATTLE. Sensorium, an immersive work that blends dance with art installation, opens today, Friday, Oct. 23, at Base Camp Studios 2 in Seattle. It runs through Dec. 12.
SEATTLE. Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform twice at the Paramount Theatre next week, Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m., presented by Seattle Theatre Group.
Response to proposed 2026-27 Office of Arts and Culture budget
SEATTLE. The Seattle Arts Commission is urging the City Council to reject Mayor Wilson's proposal to permanently shift $1.5 million a year in admission tax money away from the Office of Arts and Culture to parks programs and Seattle Center. The office posted the commission's letter on Oct. 19.
Charbonnet practices fully; Bradford may return Sunday night
Lumen Field, where the Seahawks host the Chiefs on Sunday, in July 2023 (file photo). Photo: PCN02WPS / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
RENTON, Wash. The Seahawks expect two key players back for Sunday night's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Running back Zach Charbonnet practiced fully on Wednesday and Thursday, and guard Anthony Bradford, back from a short stay on injured reserve, was a full participant Thursday.
Caleb Williams and Drake Maye both top 300 yards passing on Thursday night
CHICAGO. The Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots 30-24 on Thursday night at Soldier Field, recovering an onside kick in the final seconds to seal it. Chicago improved to 5-2, and New England fell to 4-3, ending a three-game winning streak.
MILWAUKEE. The World Series opens tonight, Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, where the Brewers meet the Tampa Bay Rays at 5 p.m. Pacific on FOX. Neither franchise has ever won a championship.
Seattle, seventh in the West, has four matches left
SAN DIEGO. The Sounders visit San Diego FC on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific at Snapdragon Stadium, still chasing a better playoff position with four matches left in the regular season. The match streams on Apple TV.
Portland opens with a 124-83 win after a 21-0 start
PORTLAND, Ore. Damian Lillard scored 25 points in his first regular-season game since rejoining Portland, and the Trail Blazers opened their season Wednesday, Oct. 21, by beating the Phoenix Suns 124-83.
PULLMAN, Wash. Washington State hosts ranked Boise State on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 3 p.m. at Martin Stadium, with the game on USA. It is the Broncos' first trip to Pullman since 2017, when the Cougars won 47-44 in triple overtime.
