Summary

Carl Quintanilla, David Faber and Sara Eisen discussed the AI trade that sparked the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 to record highs. Meta is one of the big catalysts: Shares continued their week-to-date double-digit surge on news surrounding the company's "Muse" AI agent. McDonald's Investor Day: Hear Carl's exclusive with the company's CEO Chris Kempczinski. Also…

Key takeaways

• Meta's Muse AI personal assistant is driving a major market rotation, with NASDAQ hitting all-time highs while 'agentic roadkill' stocks (Expedia, Airbnb, Booking, Applovin) sell off on fears that AI agents will disintermediate travel, insurance, and e-commerce middlemen.
• Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 cut workload costs ~40% and token prices 20%, reinforcing a Jevons Paradox debate: as token prices collapse, will consumption scale fast enough to justify $278B in projected cumulative negative free cash flow through 2026 for leading AI labs?
• Record diesel prices ($6.52/gallon vs. $3.69 a year ago) are acting as a core inflation shock embedded in every physical good's supply chain, keeping the 10-year near 5% and the Fed hawkish, while flash September S&P Global PMIs hit cycle highs (composite 58.4), adding further rate-hike pressure.

Why this matters

The simultaneous emergence of agentic AI (Meta Muse, OpenAI, Anthropic) and persistent commodity-driven inflation is forcing B2B investors to reprice the entire stack—from ad-dependent platforms and fintech intermediaries to energy infrastructure and enterprise software—as machines begin transacting directly and macro tightening filters unevenly across sectors.

Entities

Related reports

• 11AM Hour: Box CEO on AI, Meta Muse Gains Popularity & Oil Market Outlook 9/22/26

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• 9AM HOUR: Nasdaq Extends Record Run,  AI Trade Goes "Meta," Paramount Settlement 9/22/26

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• 9AM HOUR: Stocks Rally As Oil Retreats, Huang Slams AI "Doomsday Narratives," Paramount and WBD Surge 9/21/26

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Show notes

Carl Quintanilla, David Faber and Sara Eisen discussed the AI trade that sparked the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 to record highs. Meta is one of the big catalysts: Shares continued their week-to-date double-digit surge on news surrounding the company's "Muse" AI agent. McDonald's Investor Day: Hear Carl's exclusive with the company's CEO Chris Kempczinski. Also in focus: KB Home and General Mills fall on earnings; "Faber Report" on an activist hedge fund urging Devon Energy to explore strategic altern

Themes

• agents
• investing