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Government scorecards and spectrum are doing the talking this morning. A fresh round of Medicare ratings produced both the day’s biggest winner and its biggest loser, with one insurer surging and another cratering on the same release.

Meanwhile, a space company’s spectrum purchase is lifting tower owners and knocking the wireless carriers back on their heels, and an optics supplier says it’s sold out for years. On the losing side, an airline’s fuel problem forced a guidance cut.

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Humana (HUM): +14%

The insurer is surging after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rolled out its 2027 Star Ratings ahead of open enrollment, and Humana’s largest Medicare Advantage contract came away with a higher rating. The release split insurers into clear winners and losers this morning, and an upgrade on its biggest contract put Humana firmly on the winning side.

Crown Castle (CCI): +7%

Tower stocks are moving in the opposite direction from the wireless carriers on SpaceX’s spectrum news, with Crown Castle leading the group and American Tower (AMT) up 6%. The market is drawing a sharp line between the networks facing a potential new competitor and the infrastructure that sits underneath them.

Lumentum (LITE): +6%

Lumentum is jumping after CEO Michael Hurlston said the company’s optical components are sold out through 2029, and that it may be unable to meet as much as 70% of demand for some products through next year. When demand outruns supply by that much, the bottleneck becomes the story, and Lumentum owns the bottleneck.

SpaceX (SPCX): +3%

SpaceX is climbing after Grain Management agreed to sell it a nationwide 800 megahertz spectrum portfolio, a deal expected to bolster Starlink Mobile’s capabilities. More spectrum means a stronger mobile offering, and the selloff in wireless carriers this morning shows the market is taking that ambition seriously.

Alignment Healthcare (ALHC): -19%

Alignment Healthcare landed on the wrong side of the same Medicare Star Ratings release that sent Humana soaring, and the stock is cratering. With the ratings published for open enrollment this fall, a move this violent shows how much investors think rides on a single government scorecard.

T-Mobile (TMUS): -7%

The wireless carriers are selling off as SpaceX’s spectrum deal raises the prospect of increased competition, and T-Mobile is taking the hardest hit, with AT&T (T) down almost 6% and Verizon (VZ) off more than 5%. The selloff is a bet on what SpaceX could become rather than anything that has hit carrier results yet, which makes how that competition actually plays out the question to watch.

Delta Air Lines (DAL): -2%

Delta is sliding after third-quarter earnings came in below expectations and the airline cut its full-year earnings outlook, pointing to higher fuel costs that continue to weigh. For an airline, a guidance cut matters more than one quarter’s miss, and fuel is the one cost Delta can’t control.

A cheap warrant isn’t automatically a bargain. Strategic Trader editor John Pangere asks three questions: how much time is left, how good are the stock’s prospects, and whether the warrant trades actively enough.

Learn more in his free guide to warrants.

McDonald’s (MCD)

McDonald’s mentions on r/wallstreetbets more than doubled over the past day, pushing it into the top 20 most-discussed tickers, and StockTwits has turned into a running debate over whether the fast-food giant has finally bottomed. Dip buyers are calling a stock pinned near its 52-week low cheap, while skeptics argue fast food has a customer problem that a lower share price doesn’t fix.

The pressure is coming from the company’s own turnaround plan: Bloomberg reported this week that US franchisees are balking at upgrade costs of at least $800,000 per restaurant under the NEXT plan, and Bernstein cut its price target to $250 from $295 on Thursday. With shares down about 20% this year, the question traders seem to be weighing is whether the bad news is fully priced in or still being digested.

✌️That’s it for today.