Microsoft outage downs Outlook

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Before The Bell

Change over the last 24 hours · as of Nov 13, 2026, 6:09 AM ET

Microsoft outage downs Outlook email worldwide LINK

• A global Microsoft 365 outage stretched into Friday, knocking out Outlook email and some Teams scheduling features for businesses and government agencies worldwide.
• Microsoft traced the failure to an overloaded process handling secure connections, which caused affected servers to stop responding; it said a patch improved stability on some servers but gave no timetable for full restoration.
• The disruption rippled beyond Microsoft, hitting a suite with more than 450 million paid commercial seats and breaking email, calendar and search requests through ChatGPT's and Claude's Microsoft 365 connectors, while Japan's Finance Ministry and Singapore's government reported email problems.

Tesla and SpaceX may announce merger in December LINK

• Tesla and SpaceX could announce a merger as early as December, according to a Bloomberg report, though the two companies have not agreed on final terms and an announcement could slip into early 2027.
• The combined business could be worth about $3.5 trillion, based on October valuations that put SpaceX above $2 trillion, uniting electric vehicles and robotics with aerospace, satellites and AI.
• Any deal needs shareholder approval, with Musk saying it requires support from at least 50% of Tesla's outstanding shares; he has stepped back from talks given his stakes in both firms, and no vote has been scheduled ahead of Tesla's December 3 meeting.

US seizes $1.2B from North Korea's Binance hack LINK

• The U.S. Justice Department has won court approval to seize or freeze more than $1.2 billion in crypto stolen from Binance, part of a theft it blames on North Korean military hackers known as TraderTraitor.
• The $1.2 billion is a slice of the more than $2.7 billion frozen so far, with investigators still tracing the stolen funds as hackers move them through crypto bridges, mixers and exchanges.
• Binance, which pegged its losses at roughly $6.3 billion, said it has fully covered the affected assets using $6.34 billion of its own funds and published a fresh proof of reserves snapshot.

Lutnick stalled Nvidia China chip curbs Trump approved LINK

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick repeatedly delayed export restrictions on Nvidia chips that President Trump approved three times this year, leaving a Singapore company suspected of funneling the chips to China off the US trade blacklist, Axios reported, citing six senior sources.
• The suspected intermediary, Megaspeed, saw its assets jump to about $3 billion in 2024 from $33 million a year earlier, yet Commerce has not added a single company to its Entity List in over a year; a listing would force US suppliers to seek licenses before shipping to it.
• Lutnick warned the curbs "will start a trade war with China," and on Nov. 5 Commerce pushed a related rule extending restrictions to firms at least half-owned by blacklisted companies to January 10, 2027, as Republican lawmakers press him to testify over the chip sales.

Reports reveal affairs, spy scandal behind Huang's Nvidia exit LINK

• Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia's CEO following reports of two affairs, including one with a woman U.S. intelligence has identified as a Chinese spy, in a departure Wall Street sources say could threaten an inflating AI bubble.
• Nvidia shares fell more than 10% on the news, reflecting how central Huang has been not just to the company but to the broader AI buildout, the stock market and the economy, according to the article.
• The board named longtime CFO Colette Kress, who joined in 2013, as interim CEO while searching for a permanent successor, and said it expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption.

Macro News

• Treasury yields rose as traders increased December Fed hike bets. LINK
• Fed confirmed seven rate decisions in 2027, down from eight. LINK
• Yen weakened to 159.94, nearing level traders see prompting intervention. LINK
• Trump said US needs no Iran deal, ending diplomatic efforts. LINK
• Singapore opened 500-ton gold vault to foreign sovereign entities, offering tax breaks. LINK
• Europe entered winter with decade-low gas storage, well below averages. LINK
• Yttrium's 125-fold price gap threatens to overshadow Trump-Xi summit talks. LINK
• Trump threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops migrant caravans. LINK
• DTCC will add Solana tokenization, covering stocks, ETFs and Treasurys in 2027. LINK
• White House nominated four crypto-regulation specialists to open SEC and CFTC seats. LINK

Corporate News

• Samsung is negotiating to acquire data-center cooling supplier Modine, reports say. LINK
• Cisco beat forecasts and raised outlook as networking demand accelerated growth. LINK
• Applied Materials beat estimates and raised outlook on AI-driven chip demand. LINK
• Cerebras beat estimates and secured Microsoft deal, but data-center limits constrain growth. LINK
• HubSpot shares rose as co-founder Brian Halligan returned as CEO. LINK
• Kalshi ended Trump Jr.'s advisory role after his firm backed rival Polymarket. LINK
• Western Union stablecoin can now settle Visa network balances, Anchorage says. LINK
• Norwest raised a record $4 billion fund to expand AI investments. LINK
• Nonprofits sued five AI firms seeking to halt allegedly dangerous technology development. LINK
• Investors can now swap BlackRock tokenized Treasury shares for stablecoins anytime. LINK
• Nebius shares fell over 10% despite strong results and surging revenue. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

HubSpot rose 6% after co-founder Brian Halligan returned as CEO. LINK

Tetra Tech rose 5% after beating Q4 adjusted EPS estimates by $0.02 and reporting record $4.67B backlog up 13% YoY. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Global Payments fell 12% after Reuters reported CD&R and GTCR dropped their pursuit of the payments company. LINK

Super Micro Computer fell 11% after a Bloomberg report on a DOJ probe into whether entities linked to Alice Huang helped smuggle Super Micro products into China. LINK

Millicom International Cellular fell 10% after Q3 2026 EPS of $0.58 missed consensus forecasts. LINK

Research & Reports

• Crypto sectors show greater volatility than Bitcoin as markets diverge, Grayscale finds. LINK
• Three Fed banking stress gauges showed rising vulnerabilities, remaining below pre-crisis levels. LINK
• Hackers stole 57 cents per dollar blockchain protocols earned since 2017. LINK
• Stripe urged EU to cut red tape as tech compliance burdens rise. LINK
• Data centers covered just 38% of grid costs, leaving residents most expenses. LINK
• Bernstein favored payment stocks, naming Adyen and Affirm its top picks. LINK

Market Calendar

Earnings  ·  Economic events