Lula wins Brazil runoff as Bolsonaro rejects the result

Brazil’s electoral court declared President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reelected to a fourth term after the final count showed him defeating Flávio Bolsonaro 51.8% to 48.2%, a margin of nearly 4.4 million votes. Bolsonaro refused to concede and asked that the result be annulled after polls were extended by two hours at both campaigns’ request because of transport and weather problems.

Sources: Associated Press live report, Oct. 26, 2026; AP analysis.

World

BRAZIL
Lula secures a fourth presidential term; Flávio Bolsonaro seeks to annul the runoff result.AP • Oct. 26 MIDDLE EAST
Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish delegations meet Iranian officials in Tehran to avert renewed fighting.AP • Oct. 26 UKRAINE
Zelenskyy says trilateral peace talks with the United States and Russia are expected to restart in November.The Guardian • Oct. 26

U.S.

FOUR CORNERS
Flood cleanup continues in New Mexico as evacuations and power outages persist and officials warn of contamination.AP • Oct. 26 update CALIFORNIA
Ninth Circuit judges question the Justice Department’s effort to set aside 20,000 mail ballots.AP • Oct. 26 JUSTICE
Federal contractor arrested and charged with leaking national-defense information.U.S. Department of Justice • Oct. 23

Politics

MIDTERMS
Persistent 3.7% inflation and record diesel costs sharpen the affordability fight one week before Election Day.AP • Oct. 26 HOUSE MAP
Redistricting has reshaped the congressional battlefield as both parties contest a razor-thin House majority.AP • updated Oct. 26 SENATE
Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas remain central to the fight for Senate control.AP election guide • updated Oct. 26

Economy

WEEK AHEAD
Markets brace for inflation, GDP, consumer-confidence and Federal Reserve updates alongside major earnings.AP • Oct. 26 outlook HOUSEHOLD COSTS
Fuel, food and housing costs remain the defining pocketbook issue as wage gains struggle to keep pace.AP • Oct. 26 ENERGY
Oil retreats more than 1% from last week’s highs, but geopolitical risk keeps prices elevated.AP • Oct. 26 morning

Technology

AI SECURITY
Researchers accessed sensitive Anthropic systems through weaknesses in third-party business software.Washington Post • Oct. 26 AI SPENDING
Investors look to Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon earnings for evidence that heavy AI investment is paying off.AP • Oct. 26 SATELLITE NETWORKS
Ukraine says Starlink and Starshield performance is restored after operational restrictions.Office of the President of Ukraine • Oct. 24

AI Incident Headlines

Security researchers breached Anthropic’s third-party business systems, exposing internal transcripts, personnel data and limited customer and employee records; Anthropic says Claude chats, source code and model weights were not reached.

Security

REGIONAL SECURITY
Tehran meetings address U.S.–Iran diplomacy, Yemen and the risk of renewed Iran–Israel fighting.AP • Oct. 26 THIRD-PARTY RISK
Anthropic disables affected software and notifies federal officials after researchers enter sensitive systems.Washington Post • Oct. 26 CYBER DEFENSE
CISA continues to urge immediate patching of critical PHP remote-code-execution flaws.CISA • updated Oct. 23

Culture

FOLK ART
California’s “Picasso of Pumpkin Carvers” marks 40 years turning giant gourds into temporary sculpture.AP • Oct. 26 STREAMING
The week’s releases span “Minions & Monsters,” a Matthew Perry documentary and “The Gilded Age.”AP • Oct. 24 WORLD SERIES
Milwaukee carries a 2–0 Series lead into Game 3 after rallying past Tampa Bay 5–4.AP • Oct. 25

Markets

GLOBAL MARKETS
World shares mostly advance while oil falls and investors await the Fed, inflation data and Big Tech earnings.AP • Oct. 26 morning PRECIOUS METALS
Gold bids at $4,012.00 and silver at $53.86 in early Monday trading.Kitco • Oct. 26 morning AGRICULTURE
Overnight grain trade is mixed: corn and soybeans ease while Chicago wheat edges higher.Farms.com • Oct. 26, 5:15 a.m. CT

Dow Jones52,215.16−1.23%

S&P 5007,623.68−0.52%

Nasdaq25,955.34−0.21%

10-year Treasury4.99%+3.5 bp

Friday, Oct. 23 U.S. cash-market closes. Sources: Associated Press and Portfolio Terminal. Monday’s pre-open edition carries the latest completed U.S. cash session.

Regular unleaded$4.29/galAAA national retail average

On-highway diesel$6.35/galAAA national retail average

As of Oct. 26, 2026. AAA’s precise daily figures are $4.2858 for regular and $6.3492 for diesel; display values are correctly rounded to the nearest cent. These are U.S. national averages, not local prices. Source: AAA Fuel Prices.

Gold and Silver Market Snapshot for Monday, October 26, 2026

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Daily silver value

Using Kitco’s Monday morning spot bid of $53.86 per ounce: circulated U.S. 90% silver equals 38.51× face value ($53.86 × 0.715 = $38.5099), and the silver melt value of a Morgan or Peace dollar equals $41.66 ($53.86 × 0.7734 = $41.655324). The gold/silver ratio is 74.49. Values exclude premiums, wear, numismatic value and transaction costs.

Metal bids and ranges: Kitco gold, Oct. 26 at 6:43 a.m. ET; Kitco silver, Oct. 26 at 6:38 a.m. ET; Kitco platinum, Oct. 26 at 7:00 a.m. ET; Kitco palladium, Oct. 26 at 6:42 a.m. ET. Gold $4,012.00, silver $53.86, platinum $1,537.00 and palladium $1,028.00.

Contract / benchmark	Latest	Session	Move
WTI crude	$101.08/bbl	Oct. 26 morning	−2.1%
Brent crude	$109.86/bbl	Oct. 26 morning	−1.7%
Natural gas	$2.51/MMBtu	Oct. 26 morning	more than −4%
COMEX copper	$6.4990/lb	Oct. 23 close	+1.6%
Gold spot bid	$4,012.00/oz	Oct. 26, 6:43 a.m. ET	+0.43%
Silver spot bid	$53.86/oz	Oct. 26, 6:38 a.m. ET	+0.12%

Sources: Associated Press, Oct. 26; Trading Economics, Oct. 26; Daily Commodity Wire, Oct. 23 copper close; and Kitco.

Dec. corn$4.53¾−2¼¢

Jan. soybeans$12.51¾−16¾¢

Dec. Chicago wheat$6.26½+1¼¢

Dec. soybean meal$340.60−$5.50

Monday pre-dawn trade: Corn and soybeans are lower while Chicago wheat is modestly higher; soybean meal is down $5.50 per short ton. Livestock futures do not trade overnight, so the latest completed Friday settlements remain December live cattle at $231.20/cwt, feeder cattle at $348.10/cwt and December lean hogs at $65.575/cwt. USDA’s Oct. 23 Cattle on Feed report put the Oct. 1 inventory near 11.4 million head, slightly below a year earlier; September placements fell 12% and marketings fell 7%. The latest available weekly crop report, released Oct. 19, had corn harvest at 44% and soybeans at 64%; the next report is due Monday afternoon.

Sources: Farms.com, Oct. 26 at 5:15 a.m. CT; Farms.com soybean meal, Oct. 26; USDA report summary via DTN, Oct. 23; USDA Crop Progress, Oct. 19.