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Futures Edge Up as Nvidia Steadies; PPI and Fed Speakers Ahead: Desk Notes for Friday

· Desk Notes 0DTE

Desk Notes card, Nov 13, 2026: Nvidia steadies, PPI next. Tiles: S&P 500 futures up 0.30% pre-market, VIX 18.21, down 0.49 points, 10-year yield 5.137% this morning.

Friday, November 13, 2026: futures are trying to steady after a rough Thursday for tech. At 7:07 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures were at 7,637.75, up 22.50 points or 0.30%; at 7:08 a.m. ET Nasdaq 100 futures were at 28,460.25, up 75.75 or 0.27%, and Dow futures at 52,480, up 90 or 0.17% (CNBC). Nvidia is bouncing before the bell, and the day turns on one number: October producer prices at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by three Fed speakers. Last session in detail: Closing Notes for Thursday.

Before the bell

  • Futures. The CNBC readings above are measured against the prior settle. Yahoo Finance showed S&P 500 futures at 7,637.25, up 0.29%, in the same window. Trading Economics described US futures as higher across the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 as selling pressure on Nvidia eased.
  • Nvidia. Shares were at $168.86 in pre-market trading at 7:19 a.m. ET, up $2.67 or 1.61% from Thursday’s close of $166.19 (Yahoo Finance). CFO Colette Kress has taken over as interim chief executive after Jensen Huang’s departure (Trading Economics).
  • Cisco. Shares were at $97.82 pre-market at 7:19 a.m. ET, down $4.19 or 4.11% from Thursday’s close (Yahoo Finance), after the company reported quarterly earnings of $1.40 a share, above expectations (Trading Economics). A beat on the numbers and a lower stock the next morning is a familiar pattern when the market was positioned for more.
  • VIX. 18.21, down 0.49 points or 2.62%, at 7:18 a.m. ET (CNBC); Yahoo Finance showed 18.22.
  • Yields. At 7:17 a.m. ET the 10-year Treasury yielded 5.137%, up 0.034 point; the 2-year 4.857%, down 0.007; and the 30-year 5.469%, up 0.039 (CNBC). The curve is steepening slightly, with long yields rising while the 2-year holds.
  • Oil. WTI crude for December was $88.54 a barrel, down $0.20 or 0.23%, at 7:08 a.m. ET (CNBC), pausing after Thursday’s jump.
  • Rates backdrop. A hotter-than-expected consumer inflation reading earlier this week and hawkish Fed remarks have pushed expectations toward more aggressive rate increases (Trading Economics).

Thursday in one line: the S&P 500 fell 0.35% to 7,592.40 and the VIX closed at 18.70 as Nvidia’s leadership change weighed on tech.

On today’s calendar

  • 8:30 a.m. ET: October producer prices. Headline PPI consensus 0.4% on the month after 1.3%; core PPI 0.3% after 0.7%. On the year, headline PPI consensus 6.6% after 6.3%, and core 5% after 5% (Trading Economics).
  • 10:30 a.m. ET: EIA natural gas storage (Trading Economics).
  • Fed speakers: Bowman at 10:50 a.m., Daly at noon and Jefferson at 7:00 p.m. ET (Trading Economics).
  • 1:00 p.m. ET: Baker Hughes rig count (Trading Economics).
  • Looking to next week: October retail sales on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, consensus 0.6% after 0.8%; a 20-year bond auction at 1:00 p.m. and the FOMC minutes at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday (Trading Economics).

What it means for options traders

What an 18.21 VIX prices. Dividing by 16 gives about 1.14% a day, or roughly 87 points on S&P 500 futures at this morning’s level. It is a rule of thumb, not a forecast. Thursday’s 0.35% move came in well under the move priced the day before, yet implied volatility rose. This morning the VIX is giving a little of that back, but it is still above where it sat on Wednesday.

An inflation print before the open. PPI lands an hour before the cash open, so much of the reaction can show up in futures before most options on the index even start trading. Implied volatility in Friday expirations already carries that event. If the print is close to consensus, part of that premium can bleed out early in the session; a surprise in either direction can do the opposite. After Tuesday’s hot consumer inflation reading, the market is watching whether producer prices tell the same story.

Rates and equity volatility are linked right now. With the 10-year above 5.1% and the 30-year near 5.47%, a move in yields after PPI or during the Fed remarks can feed straight into equity volatility, as it did Thursday when small caps fell hardest. That is a reason to watch the bond market during the session, not just the index.

Single names after the news. Nvidia’s rebound and Cisco’s drop show how a stock’s implied volatility can stay well above index volatility while news is still being digested. After an event, implied volatility in a name often falls even when the stock moves sharply; what matters for an option holder is the size of the move against what was priced.

0DTE conditions today. Friday expirations carry the 8:30 a.m. print, two Fed speakers inside the session and a weekend gap after the close. A defined-risk structure, such as a vertical spread or an iron butterfly, fixes the worst case before entry. Size from that worst case, not from the premium collected, and remember that a weekend follows.

Desk rule for today: when the data comes out before the open, judge the options by what is left to happen, not by what already has.

Sources

Related reading

This post is for education only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or option. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Figures are from the sources listed and may be revised; check primary sources before relying on any number.

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