Lam Research Corp (LRCX) — Quality & forensics

Dailies

• Asian Chips — Korea’s chip exports more than tripled and the Kospi touched 7,000, with Tokyo shutMorning 10 · 21 Sept 2026The equipment three rose hard on Friday and still lost the week: Applied Materials $444.57, +6.5% on the day and −2.6% over five sessions; Lam Research $288.11, +7.0% and −3.4%; KLA $176.99, +4.7% and −2.0%.
• Expiry Friday — the equipment names join at last: Applied +4.4%, Lam +5.2%, memory ETF over $58, 10-year back at 5%Midday 10 · 18 Sept 2026Applied Materials +4.4% to $435.73, Lam Research +5.2% to $283.41, KLA +2.7% to $173.56 — the equipment three that only stopped falling on Thursday are leading the semiconductor ETF +1.1% to $524.57 at midday, above the $505 and $517.43…
• Yen — the Bank of Japan hikes and the dollar holds 157: the carry trade pays, the lines held, chips +3.4% over $505Morning 10 · 18 Sept 2026The design side was bought wide — Arm +8.6%, Intel +7.7%, AMD +6.4% to $545.09, Micron +5.5% to $977.50, Marvell +4.8%, TSMC +3.0%, Nvidia +2.5% to $219.34, Astera Labs +9.1% — and the equipment three only stopped falling: Applied…
• Rates — the Fed hikes and the 10-year closes above 5%: the belly sold, the relief unwound, chips back under $505Morning 10 · 17 Sept 2026The sort we have carried since Monday held its shape: the design names were bought, AMD +1.6% to $512.50, Marvell +3.6%, TSMC +1.2%, Arm +0.9%, Nvidia +0.8% to $213.90; the equipment names were sold a third session, Applied Materials…
• Fed day — relief before the decision: 10-year 4.96%, Brent under $107.63, chips reclaim $505, Nasdaq-100 above $708.69Midday 10 · 16 Sept 2026The reading we set on Tuesday — equipment against design as the volume question — leans the right way today: KLA +1.5%, Lam Research +0.8%, Applied Materials +0.2%, all green, none leading.
• Rates — Fed day at a 5% 10-year: the hike is priced, the cycle is not; Yardeni cuts the S&P target to 7,900Morning 10 · 16 Sept 2026Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA, each down 1% to 2% at noon, all closed flat; the design names kept their bounce — AMD +2.8% to $507.32, Marvell +2.4%, Arm +1.7%, Nvidia +1.1% to $213.38 — and Micron +0.9% and the memory ETF +1.9%…
• AI trade — sellers of compute sold, buyers bought: chips −5.6%, software +5%, SoftBank +7% in TokyoMorning 10 · 15 Sept 2026
• Rates — the 10-year hits 5.01%: Dow −0.9%, Russell −1.2%, the AI sort pauses, Oracle and Adobe hold their linesMidday 10 · 15 Sept 2026Inside chips the split we flagged yesterday as the one that leans toward a volume question is still there: the equipment names are sold again — Lam Research −2.3%, Applied Materials −1.2%, KLA −0.9% — and Broadcom is −1.4%, TSMC’s US line…