10 things that mattered on Tuesday, September 22, 2026
The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record while the S&P 500 finished flat. At the pump, diesel reached a record $6.53 a gallon even as oil fell for a fifth straight day.
- 01
The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record
QQQ rose 0.8% to $747.46, just above its June 2 high. The S&P 500 was flat at $773.38, still 0.6% below its own record, and the equal-weight S&P gained 0.1%.
QQQ, last six months QQQ, last six months - 02
Diesel hit a record $6.53 a gallon
The EIA's weekly survey put retail diesel up 24 cents on the week and 74% above a year ago, the highest in data back to 1994. Oil kept falling: USO lost 2.8% and is 11% below its September 15 close.
Retail diesel ($ per gallon), last five years Retail diesel ($ per gallon), last five years - 03
Valero fell 4.1% on a downgrade
Jefferies cut the refiner to Hold with a $401 target. Marathon Petroleum fell 3.2% alongside it.
VLO, last six months VLO, last six months - 04
Money supply grew at its fastest pace since 2022
M2 rose to $23.34 trillion in August, up 5.7% from a year earlier. That is the quickest annual growth since June 2022.
M2 money supply ($ billions), last five years M2 money supply ($ billions), last five years - 05
Viking Therapeutics jumped 36% on obesity-drug data
In a maintenance study, patients switched to every-other-week doses of VK2735 kept up to 97% of their weight loss. The stock closed at $40.85 on 20 times its usual volume.
VKTX, last six months VKTX, last six months - 06
Monolithic Power rose 8.1% for a fifth straight gain
StoneX started coverage with a Buy rating and a $1,800 target. The chip fund SMH added 1.9%, its highest close since July.
MPWR, last six months MPWR, last six months - 07
New lows eased but still outnumber new highs
On the NYSE, 97 stocks made new 52-week lows and 21 made new highs. The net reading of −76 was the mildest since September 17.
NYSE-listed new highs minus new lows, last twelve months NYSE-listed new highs minus new lows, last twelve months - 08
The 2-year yield fell back to 4.71%
Short rates dropped 5 basis points while the 10-year held near 4.97%. The gap between the two widened to 0.25 points.
10-year Treasury yield (%), last twelve months 10-year Treasury yield (%), last twelve months - 09
The VIX fell to its lowest close since December
Volatility dropped 0.66 points to 14.21, the lowest close since December 29, 2025. Three-month implied volatility sits at 17.6.
VIX, last six months VIX, last six months - 10
Due Wednesday: Cintas and Paychex
Both report before the open. The EIA's weekly oil inventory report is also due.
Data as of the Tuesday, September 22, 2026 close. The ten items are picked by fixed rules from the site's daily data (the size of each move, signals that changed state, and economic releases weighted by importance), then checked and written by hand. Charts end on the brief's date. Research and education, not financial advice.