POWER PLAYERS MAGAZINE — LIVE ON THE HOUR

September 22, 2026 • 12PM ET | Editor Troy T | ThePowerPlayersMagazine.com
The midday wire is live. Here's your on-the-hour power briefing.

1. THE LEAD — UN WEEK LIVE
President Trump is addressing the 81st UN General Assembly in New York right now — live updates coming from the UN floor. Topic: reforming the UN to be "leaner, more focused" and talks on Iran and Ukraine wars, plus rising tensions with Canada and Europe over trade. World leaders gathering includes Xi, EU leadership, and Middle East envoys.

2. MARKETS — TECH RALLY RUNS
Stocks surged on the hour. Nasdaq Composite closed at a record 27,122.09 yesterday, up 2.26%, S&P 500 up 1.49%, Dow +0.71%. Today tech is extending — information tech sector set to close at fresh record high for first time since June.

• Meta (META) jumped 8.6% pairing market mood with fresh product wins

• Oil retreating — Brent below $100 on Middle East export optimism, helping tech run

• AMD hit an all-time high Monday, pushing its market cap over $1 trillion, with memory chip ETFs up 2%

Power Players Investment Take: AI infrastructure is the trade — chips, memory, and data center names leading.

3. SPORTS — MONDAY NIGHT AFTERMATH
No NFL games today — it's the calm before Week 3. Last night: Rams 28, Giants 6 on MNF. Matthew Stafford threw 4 TDs for 327 yards, passing Philip Rivers for 6th all-time with 427 TDs. Giants lost rookie QB Jaxson Dart to knee injury.
Power Players Week 3 watch: Seahawks and 49ers tied atop NFC West, Chiefs heading to Miami 0-2 Dolphins.

4. TECHNOLOGY — AI AT A CROSSROADS
OpenAI Astra crossed critical cybersecurity threshold, Instagram now throttles unlabeled AI accounts, and Apple iOS 27's new AI Siri rolls out. Meta's latest success paired with market rally makes it the biggest contributor to S&P today.

5. ENTERTAINMENT — TONIGHT ON STREAMING
Nimesh Patel: Buy The Dip premieres tonight globally on Netflix — filmed at Lincoln Theater in DC.

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From Editor Troy T: That's your 12PM on-the-hour. I'm sipping from the Power Players Online mug and keeping the wires hot. Next update at 1PM with Power Rankings and Tech Investment Boom breakdown.