Key Highlights

● Mike Wilson said the sell-off is likely the final stage of the correction.

● The Nasdaq Composite slipped into correction territory on November 5.

● Monday looked like a turn.

● Futures point heavily toward a December Fed rate hike.

Mike Wilson of Morgan Stanley offered one of the more closely watched assessments of the pullback. According to news reports, Wilson said the recent sell-off "is likely the final stage of this correction."

A correction, in market shorthand, is a meaningful drop from a recent high that falls short of a full bear market. The Nasdaq Composite slipped into that territory on Thursday, November 5, reports said, as AI and chip stocks were hammered after the midterm elections. The remark, as reported, did not include a timetable or an upside target.

Monday looked like a turn

The session of Monday, November 9, 2026, gave his view some ammunition. The S&P 500 jumped 173.08 points to 7,549.94, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,104.02 points to 52,389.75 and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 673.71 points to 25,253.14. The Russell 2000 of smaller companies climbed 86.71 points to 2,840.81.

The breadth was the most persuasive part. According to market coverage, 423 S&P 500 members rose and just 78 fell. Some 158 index members posted outsized gains, the most since August, while only six suffered steep drops. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues beat decliners by 4.06 to 1, reports said. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, sank to 19.92, back below 20.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by industrials, consumer discretionary and technology. Volume on US exchanges was slightly above its 20-session average, reports said, a sign that the buying was not just a thin, holiday-style drift.

The supporting cast of bulls

Wilson was not alone. A Bank of America strategist added a condition, "so long as Recession odds stay low," according to market reports. A Truist strategist captured the swing in sentiment: "The mood is changing from a fear of downside to the fear of missing out on the upside." A Franklin Templeton strategist added: "Buying on pullbacks makes sense. Volatility is your friend."

Investors also got help from oil. Brent Crude sank $5.75 to $92.57 on hopes of a US-Iran peace deal, easing Inflation worries. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) saw its shares climb alongside the financial sector, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) helped lead the Dow.

Reasons for caution

Final stages are only obvious in hindsight. The S&P 500 is still below its October record, reports noted, and both it and the Nasdaq remain slightly below their Election Day closes. A Wolfe Research strategist warned: "We believe markets are likely to remain very news flow driven and need to hold critical technical support levels."

The macro backdrop is also tricky. Futures pricing points heavily toward a Federal Reserve rate hike in December, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said AI spending is "starting to look like old fashioned Demand overheating," and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) slid amid an independent review by its board involving CEO Jensen Huang.

Earnings Decide the Thesis

The October Consumer Price Index on Tuesday, November 10, is the first big test, since a hot reading could firm up hike bets and pressure richly valued stocks. Producer prices follow on Friday. Earnings from Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) this week, then Nvidia on November 17, will show whether AI demand supports Wilson's thesis. A government funding deadline on December 11 hangs in the background, with prediction markets putting the odds of a shutdown at nearly two in five.