The September jobs report was BAD.

Only 29,000 jobs were added.

Unemployment ticked higher.

And the stock market?

IT RIPPED HIGHER.

Welcome to a market where:

GOOD NEWS = BAD NEWS

BAD NEWS = GOOD NEWS

And there's one reason for it:

INTEREST RATES.

For weeks, rising rates have been the villain bullying this market.

The 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 5.26%, its highest level in years.

The 30-year reached levels we hadn't seen since 2004.

And investors became increasingly worried that the Federal Reserve wasn't finished raising rates.

Then this week...

THE VILLAIN FINALLY BROKE.

Three economic reports chipped away at the rate-hike story.

And Friday delivered the knockout. Weekly Read #35

MONDAY & TUESDAY — RATES STILL RULE

We entered the week with rates firmly in control.

📈 10-year Treasury → 5.26%

📈 30-year → Highest levels since 2004

The fear was straightforward:

THE FED ISN'T DONE.

Higher rates continued putting pressure on stocks and valuations.

Then Wednesday brought the first crack.

WEDNESDAY — THE VILLAIN BLINKED

Core PCE—the Fed's preferred inflation measure—came in cooler than expected.

For the first time in a while:

📉 Yields eased.

📈 Stocks got some relief.

But the rest of the economic data complicated the story.

Economic growth was revised higher.

Private hiring remained strong.

Normally?

That's good news.

But this market interpreted it differently.

A strong economy gives the Fed more room to keep rates high—or raise them again.

So Wednesday gave us:

GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS...

THAT WORRIED THE MARKET.

Then Friday flipped the story completely.

FRIDAY — THE KNOCKOUT

The government's September jobs report came in weak.

Only:

+29,000 JOBS.

That was barely a third of what had been expected, while unemployment ticked higher.

Suddenly the prospect of an October rate hike faded dramatically.

And stocks?

TOOK OFF.

Bad economic news produced a bullish market reaction.

Why?

Because this market is looking at virtually everything through one lens:

THE FED.

Wednesday:

🔥 Strong economy → Fed might keep hiking → BAD for stocks.

Friday:

❄️ Weak jobs → Fed may back off → GOOD for stocks.

That's the signature of a market being ruled by interest rates. Weekly Read #35

THE MONTH'S BIG LESSON

At the beginning of this story, the market's villain was:

🛢️ OIL

Then the driver changed.

Oil fell, but stocks weren't responding.

Why?

Because the villain had become:

📈 INTEREST RATES

And this week, enough softer economic data finally accumulated to crack the rate story.

That's the lesson:

FIND THE ONE THING

THE MARKET IS HANGING ON.

Then watch for the moment it turns.

This week...

IT TURNED.

THE WINNERS

The market's leadership was loud and clear:

🤖 AI + SEMICONDUCTORS

NVIDIA announced an enormous buyback and reached new highs by Friday.

Teradyne, Arm and Marvell were among the chip names showing major strength.

Tesla also jumped following a strong delivery report.

Capital is moving aggressively toward AI and technology leadership. Weekly Read #35

THE LOSERS

A roaring market doesn't rescue a bad company-specific story.

Nike plunged following a weak outlook.

Seagate and Western Digital were hit by competition news involving Toshiba.

That's an important reminder:

EVEN IN A STRONG MARKET,

BAD STORIES STILL GET PUNISHED.

What Happens Next?

The backdrop has clearly improved.

📉 Rate pressure is easing.

🛢️ Oil is back near $90.

🤖 AI and chips are breaking out.

📈 Market leadership is showing conviction.

That's constructive.

But it isn't an all-clear.

Inflation remains above the Fed's target.

And a weakening labor market can eventually become something considerably less bullish than a reason for the Fed to stop hiking.

Next week I'm watching:

📈 10-Year Treasury

👷 Labor-market data

🤖 AI & chip leadership

💰 Beginning of Q3 earnings season

Friday's jobs number answered one question.

Now we need to know:

WAS IT A BLIP?

OR THE BEGINNING OF A TREND?

Hey, everyone.

Welcome to another episode of a Friday weekly read here

on Exit Rich, Retire Free.

My name is Jeff Kikel, and we'll cover the week it ends here on October 2nd, 2026.

So this week was the week of the villain.

It's bullied the market all month, and it finally broke.

For weeks, it's been rising interest rates.

This week, three economic reports in a row chipped away at the fear, and by Friday,

the whole market was off to the races.

So let's walk through the week.

We came in on Monday and Tuesday with rates still firmly in charge.

The 10-year yield had climbed to 5.26%,

the highest in years, and the 30-year hit levels that we hadn't seen since 2004.

The fear was simple: The Fed isn't done raising rates.

Then Wednesday, the villain blinked.

The Fed's favorite inflation gauge, core PCE, came in cooler

than expected, and yields eased for the first time in a while.

But it was mixed.

That same morning, economic growth got revised up, and private hiring looked

strong, which kept the Fed in play.

Then Friday delivered the knockout.

The official September jobs report was weak.

Just 29,000 jobs, barely a third of what was expected, with

the unemployment ticking up.

That was enough to take the October rate hike off the table

entirely, and the market ripped.

Now, here's my take on it.

I still think we could see a rate raise just because I never put it

past the Fed to do the dumbest thing at the poss-- at any possible time

So here's the thread that lies or that kinda ties the whole week together.

It's worth really understanding this entire market is being read through

one lens, the Federal Reserve.

Watch how it played out.

On Wednesday, good economic news, strong growth, sto- or strong hiring

actually worried the market because it meant the Fed might keep hiking.

Then Friday, bad economic news, weak jobs thrilled the market because it

means the Fed can finally ease off.

Good news, bad.

Bad news, good.

That's the signature of a market ruled by rates.

So the lesson for the whole month come or came together this week.

Back at the start, the villain was oil, then it rotated to rates.

And this week, with enough soft data piling up, that rate fear finally cracked.

And find, find the one thing the whole market is hanging on.

This fall, it was rates, and watch for the moment that it turns.

This week, it turned

So the scoreboard tells the same story.

The winners all week, artificial intelligence and chips.

Nvidia announced a stunning two hundred and fifty billion dollar buyer back,

then broke out on n- new highs by Friday.

Chip names like Teradyne, Arm, Marvell ripped higher.

Tesla jumped on a strong delivery report.

The money is flowing loudly into the AI trade.

The losers were a cautionary tale.

Nike plunged after a weak outlook, down eight percent Friday, more

than fifty percent off of its highs.

A great brand the market still isn't buying.

And the disk drive maker, Seagate and Western Digital, got crushed

on competition news from Toshiba.

The lesson here even if the market's roaring, a bad story still gets punished

So where does that leave you?

The rate pressure that defined this fall is genuinely easing.

Oil's back down near $90, and the market's leaders, AI and chips, are

breaking out with real conviction.

That's a constructive backdrop.

But keep your balance.

The Feds the Fed is still focusing on inflation, which is still

above target, and weakening job market is a double-edged thing.

Next week, watch whether that soft jobs number was a blip or a trend.

Keep an eye on the 10-year yield, and watch the chip leaders.

And the Q3 earnings season starts ramping up, our next

real test beginning next week.

So that's your weekly read.

This week the rate villain finally broke.

Weak jobs, easing yields, and the AI trade off to the races.

Again, bad news is good news for now.

Watch the route, and watch it turn.

I'm Jeff Kickel with Exit Rich Retire Free.

As always, this is education and not advice.

We'll see you here next time.