Free weekly stock market newsletter
The Sunday note is the free weekly stock market newsletter from Stock Market Classroom. It lands before Monday’s open so you can do the homework while the market is closed. You get three things, every week, and nothing else: one lesson you can teach a neighbor, one income fact you can check against a 12% covered-call ETF ad, and one earnings watch with defined risk — not a lottery ticket.
This page is the front door for the list. Start Here stays free and never paywalled. The Weekly Playbook is the paid desk. If you want twenty-five names, that is the playbook. If you want one honest page before the open, that is this note.
A ticker is a nickname on a screen. Coca-Cola’s ticker is KO. Broadcom’s ticker is AVGO. NVIDIA’s ticker is NVDA. The Sunday note does not start with a ticker. It starts with a sentence you can use on Monday.
What arrives every Sunday
Same three-line format, every week. That is how a beginner stock market email stays useful instead of turning into a tips dump.
01 · One lesson
One idea from the six-step path: accounts in order, what a stock is, DRIP compounding, the Rule of 5%, or debit spreads under $50. A definition lives in the sentence that needs it.
02 · One income fact
One number from dividend investing or a covered-call ETF — JEPI, JEPQ, SPYI, QQQI. Yield means how much cash a fund pays in a year, written as a percent. It is not a withdrawal rate.
03 · One earnings watch
One liquid name reporting this week, the question the print has to answer, and — if we sketch a trade — a debit spread where max loss is the debit.
EXAMPLE
- A 12% yield on $10,000 would mean $1,200 of cash in a year — if that percent were real and lasted.
- Most covered-call ETF ads skip the “if.”
- The Sunday note writes the “if” in the same paragraph as the yield.
This week’s sample — week of August 31, 2026
Issue 04 · Sunday, August 30, 2026 · a Sunday stock market recap you can reuse.
STOCK MARKET CLASSROOM — One lesson · one income fact · one earnings watch
The tape is not empty this week. It is concentrated. NVIDIA reported last Wednesday. Dell Technologies and Palo Alto Networks report Tuesday after the close. Broadcom reports Wednesday after the close. Friday is August nonfarm payrolls. The note does not try to call all of that. It picks three lines.
One lesson: a beat is not a buy
NVIDIA reported fiscal second-quarter results on August 26, 2026. Revenue was $96.2 billion, up 106% from a year ago. Data-center sales were $89.0 billion, up 117%. Adjusted earnings were $2.22 a share versus a $2.10 estimate. That is a beat.
A beat is an accounting fact. The price that night is mood. Value is still the business — customers, cash, and whether next quarter’s guide holds. If you cannot explain why you own NVDA the morning after the print, you own a hope, not a plan.
EXAMPLE
- Beginners often buy the cheapest call that expires the same week as earnings and hope. Many of those contracts go to zero by Friday.
- We study the print. We do not chase it.
- A stock is a small piece of a real company. Price is the number on the screen. Those are different sentences.
One income fact: 11% is not a paycheck
As of late August 2026, JPMorgan’s Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) was showing a trailing twelve-month yield in the low teens — about 11% on some screens, higher on others. The S&P 500 sibling, JEPI, sat closer to 8%. NEOS funds SPYI and QQQI still print headline yields around 12% to 14%. That is the current covered-call ETF income tape. It is not a retirement plan.
Do the arithmetic on $10,000. An 11% yield is about $92 a month. Jeff Rose’s Rule of 5% on the same $10,000 is about $42 a month. The 11% ad looks like a raise. The catch is NAV — net asset value, the real worth of one share of the fund.
A covered-call ETF owns stocks and sells call options on them to collect extra cash. A call option is a contract that lets someone else buy those stocks at a set price. The fund gets paid for selling that right. Selling those calls caps how far the stocks can rise. The monthly check can look fat while the share price slowly leaks.
Covered-call ETF income vs the 5% ruler · late August 2026
| What you are looking at | Approx. yield | $10,000 / month |
|---|---|---|
| JEPI (S&P 500 covered-call ETF) | ~8% | ~$67 |
| JEPQ (Nasdaq covered-call ETF) | ~11% | ~$92 |
| SPYI / QQQI headline yield | ~12–14% | ~$100–117 |
| Rule of 5% withdrawal | 5% | ~$42 |
Compare three things in the same sentence: the yield, the total return, and the tax character. JEPI and JEPQ often pay ordinary income. SPYI and QQQI use index options that can be more tax-efficient in a taxable brokerage account. None of that is a 5% retirement paycheck. On $500,000, a 5% withdrawal is $2,083 a month. A 12% headline yield looks like $5,000 a month. If the NAV is leaking, you are spending the pile and calling it a paycheck. We do not sell a 12% covered-call fantasy.
One earnings watch: Broadcom, then Dell and Palo Alto
The earnings calendar this week is an AI-infrastructure test, not a beginner’s shopping list. This is how an earnings watch is supposed to read: one name, one question, and the price of guessing.
Earnings watch · week of August 31, 2026
| When | Name | The question |
|---|---|---|
| Tue Sep 1, after close | Dell (DELL) | AI-server revenue vs $15.5B guide; backlog vs $51.3B exit |
| Tue Sep 1, after close | Palo Alto (PANW) | Next-Gen Security ARR vs $8.9–$8.95B range |
| Wed Sep 2, after close | Broadcom (AVGO) | AI semis near $16B; total revenue guided ~$29.4B |
Tuesday, September 1, after the close: Dell Technologies (DELL) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Dell is the AI-server print. Last quarter’s bar was high. Palo Alto is the cybersecurity print. Both names have had a loud year. A loud year is not a reason to buy a same-week call.
Wednesday, September 2, after the close: Broadcom (AVGO). This is the week’s main event. Management already guided about $29.4 billion of revenue, up 84% year over year, with AI semiconductor revenue alone near $16 billion. Street earnings sit around $3.20 a share. Broadcom has beaten EPS estimates for eight straight quarters. The question is not “did they beat.” The question is whether custom accelerators and AI networking still compound from here — and what the implied move in the options market is asking you to pay to guess.
EXAMPLE — A DEBIT SPREAD, NOT A LOTTERY TICKET
- Snowflake, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, MongoDB, Credo Technology, and Ciena also report. We do not need all of them.
- One name, one question, one defined-risk sketch if the debit is under $50.
- A debit spread means you buy one option and sell another. The money you pay up front is the debit. The most you can lose is that debit.
- If the 25th name is junk, we publish fewer than 25.
How to read the Sunday note
Read it on Sunday. Do the homework before Monday. If a sentence needs a definition, we put the definition in the sentence — the same way Start Here does. Ticker, yield, NAV, debit, strike: no assumed vocabulary. That is what a beginner investing newsletter owes you.
Then walk the six-step path if you have not. Fill the 401(k) match first. Then a Roth IRA if you qualify. Then a taxable brokerage account. A stock is a business second. Options last. The Sunday note assumes you will do that work. It will not skip it for you.
What this is not
- Not the Weekly Playbook. The playbook is the product: defined-risk names, debit spreads under $50, fewer than 25 if the 25th is junk.
- Not a hot-tips list. If you want a ticker without homework, this is not your room.
- Not a 14% covered-call retirement plan. Headline yield is not a withdrawal rate. Read How we get paid.
Get the note
Leave an email. One lesson, one income fact, one earnings watch. Free. Then the desk, if you want it. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Education only — not investment advice.
Recent notes
The archive is short on purpose. The format does not change.
- Aug 23, 2026 — NVIDIA week: study the print, don’t buy the rumor. Lesson. A beat is an accounting fact. Price is mood. Income. JEPI near 8% is still not a 5% paycheck. Watch. NVDA after the close, August 26.
- Aug 16, 2026 — Three times you turn DRIP off. Lesson. Need the cash, one holding is too big, or you are about to sell. Income. QQQI’s tax character vs JEPI in a taxable account. Watch. Quiet tape. Do nothing is a valid earnings watch.
- Aug 9, 2026 — Accounts first. Tickers later. Lesson. 401(k) match is a 100% return before the market opens. Income. $1 million at 5% is about $4,167 a month. Watch. No forced name. If the 25th is junk, we publish fewer.
Beginner questions
Is the Sunday note really free?
Yes. Start Here, the Sunday note, and the covered-call ETF / 5% explainers are free. The Weekly Playbook is the product.
I already trade. Is this too basic?
Use the note for the income fact and the earnings watch, then the desk if you want defined-risk structure. Debit spreads under $50. Max loss is the debit.
Will you sell me a 12% covered-call ETF as a retirement plan?
No. Headline yield is not a withdrawal rate. Compare JEPI, JEPQ, SPYI, and QQQI to the Rule of 5% before you treat the check as a paycheck.
Education only — not investment advice. Figures as of late August 2026 and will move. Walk the six steps in order. Then read the Sunday note. The weekly playbook is the paid product. This path stays free.