Oct 11, 2026 · 37 min
Micron’s fundamentals face a market ruled by sentiment
SpaceX, telecom sell-off, Micron's A grades, Steve Cress origin story
The discussion tests whether strong quantitative signals can withstand macro shocks, geopolitical risk and headline-driven reactions across technology and telecom stocks.
- 1Micron’s strong fundamentals may still be overwhelmed by sentiment, interest rates and geopolitical developments around earnings.
- 2Steve Cress traces his path from Morgan Stanley and proprietary trading to CrestCap and Seeking Alpha’s quantitative system.
- 3SpaceX’s spectrum acquisition raises competitive questions for telecom stocks, while T-Mobile’s improving revisions complicate the headline risk.
Don't miss
Steve Cress’s account of moving from institutional sales into quantitative proprietary trading provides the episode’s clearest explanation of how the investing system emerged.
The brief
Micron’s upcoming earnings anchor the discussion, but the central question is broader: how much can strong fundamentals matter when rates, geopolitics and sentiment drive market reactions?
Steve Cress explains how institutional sales, proprietary trading and the technology bubble’s collapse shaped the quantitative approach that later led to CrestCap and Seeking Alpha.
The Quant Strong Buy system is presented as a daily-rebalanced, historically tested framework, while the hosts acknowledge the difficulty of deciding when a stock’s gains have peaked.
SpaceX’s planned acquisition of nationwide low-band spectrum shifts the market update toward Starlink’s potential telecom disruption and the danger of trading on headlines alone.
T-Mobile’s improving analyst revisions sit against competitive concerns, while Meta’s ByteDance advertising ban and Apple’s production cuts show how quickly narratives can reshape technology stocks.
What was said on this episode
23 statements · 9 positive · 10 negative · 2 mixed · 2 neutral
Micron currently has strong fundamentals.
“So the stock still looks really great from a fundamental perspective.”
Listen at 5:12
Micron is expected to report another quarter of record revenue and earnings.
“you're going to have another quarter of record revenue and record earnings.”
Listen at 5:48
Future stock highs cannot be reliably identified in advance.
“nobody frankly knows what a high is going to be with any stock”
Listen at 6:56
The system sells stocks when valuation, growth, or profitability conditions deteriorate.
“It's being sold because the valuation framework has changed or the growth framework or the profitability.”
Listen at 7:25
Micron’s stock could decline despite record revenue and earnings.
“Micron reports today, they could have record revenue and record earnings, and it's quite possible the stock can still come down.”
Listen at 8:35
Current market sentiment is influencing prices more heavily than fundamentals.
“we're clearly in a market where sentiment gets a heavier weight than fundamentals.”
Listen at 8:52
Micron’s stock could perform well if earnings beat and economic data avoids alarming markets.
“perhaps if we do have a good number and we don't have an economic data point tomorrow that scares everybody, we could be in good shape of micron beats today.”
Listen at 10:40
Micron shares could perform well if earnings beat and economic data remains reassuring.
“if we do have a good number and we don't have an economic data point tomorrow that scares everybody, we could be in good shape of micron beats today.”
Listen at 10:40
The Volcker Rule ended proprietary trading at large tier-one investment banks.
“it ended the era of crop trading for the large tier one firms.”
Listen at 17:53
CrestCap’s system could generate investment research autonomously from current data.
“it would generate an autonomous investment research on the spot using data from that day.”
Listen at 19:03
Stocks graded B-minus through A-plus for dividend safety avoided cuts 98% of the time since 2010.
“if you own a stock that has that dividend safety grade of B minus to an A plus, historically going back to 2010, you would have avoided a dividend cut 98% of the time.”
Listen at 21:50
The quant system should diversify across multiple investment characteristics.
“We believe in diversification”
Listen at 23:26
AI-related technology stocks that sold off are rebounding in the morning session.
“a lot of the technology stocks that sold off yesterday that are AI related are bouncing back this morning”
Listen at 25:15
SpaceX’s $8 billion spectrum acquisition triggered a sell-off in major telecom stocks.
“SpaceX's $8 billion deal to buy a nationwide low band spectrum portfolio sparked a sudden sell off.”
Listen at 26:02
Investor anxiety over SpaceX’s spectrum deal may be unjustified, creating telecom buying opportunities.
“I'm not sure that anxiety is actually justified, so we might find there could be buying opportunities here.”
Listen at 27:15
SpaceX’s spectrum can connect existing phones, but only compatible 4G smartphones.
“It does offer, obviously, by buying the Spectrum, a way to connect existing phones, but only through compatible 4G.”
Listen at 28:37
Telecom shares may offer buying opportunities before SpaceX builds its network.
“we might actually find this to be more of a buying opportunity until SpaceX can actually build out a network.”
Listen at 30:02
Starlink mobile service will not provide the same services as 5G phones.
“It is not going to provide the same services as a 5G phone.”
Listen at 30:13
T-Mobile’s roughly 10% decline could represent a buying discount under its Quant Buy rating.
“Stock coming off about 10% today. It is a quant buy, so this could be viewed as a discount.”
Listen at 31:31
Large companies should generally avoid letting competitors advertise on their platforms.
“I would be very reluctant as a CEO of a company of that size to just let our competitors advertise on the platform.”
Listen at 32:06
Apple is currently expensive relative to its limited growth.
“we view the stock as very expensive with limited growth.”
Listen at 33:24
Apple trades at 38-times GAAP P/E versus the sector’s 22-times P/E.
“For this, for PE on a gap basis, it's trading at 38 times versus the sector at 22 times.”
Listen at 33:32
Investors should hold Apple shares rather than accumulate them.
“hold the shares, I would not be in an accumulation phase for Apple.”
Listen at 35:40
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
