The cut's worst names got worse, and two of them finally crossed into capitulation. $HRL fell to RSI 23.0 and $XLU to 23.5 — the first time either has printed below 25 in this scan's recent run — while $VZ, called two scans ago as the one name with a level to defend, broke that shelf: it closed the week at $46.52, below the $47.53 line this scan flagged, and now sits just 0.7% above its 200-day, down from a 4.3% cushion two scans back. Against that, $WMT is the one name with a real, dated reason to have had a good week: it raised full-year guidance on September 22, citing a 750-basis-point tariff-refund boost to operating income, and the stock rose 2.82% to RSI 57.6. $TGT pulled back slightly but remains the cut's only name with a working long-term trend.

Data as-of the 2026-09-23 close (Wednesday's settled session) — every name in this cut carries a fresh bar.

The capitulation band opened for the first time this scan has recorded in this cohort. $HRL fell 4.14% to $19.92, RSI 30.0 to 23.0, with its news file last pulled August 31 — three weeks before this move, so the silence there is a coverage gap, not an answer. $XLU dropped 3.80% to $39.75, RSI 31.3 to 23.5, again the worst sector fund of the week on the desk's macro board; its own news pull failed on a rate-limit error back in April and has never been refreshed, so there is genuinely no coverage on this name at all, not even a stale one. $MCD sits just above the line at RSI 25.9 after a 4.81% weekly decline, its news file last pulled August 4.

$VZ is the week's most consequential move because it resolves a question this scan asked directly two scans ago. The September 18 scan called $47.53 the level that "decides whether that lasts" — hold it and $VZ stays a pullback in the cut's healthiest name, lose it and the cohort has no working trend left outside $TGT. $VZ closed this week at $46.52, below that shelf, with its cushion above the 200-day now down to 0.7% from 4.3% two scans back and its year-over-year return shrinking from +10.12% to +7.31%. Its news file, last pulled September 22, holds nothing but aggregator quote pages — no cause established, but the level broke regardless.

$WMT is the one clean positive story in the cut. It rose 2.82% to $110.53, RSI 45.8 to 57.6, and the desk's news file — pulled fresh September 22 — carries the reason directly: Walmart raised its full-year sales and operating income outlook, reporting adjusted operating income up roughly 17% in constant currency, with a 750-basis-point boost from tariff refunds. That is the rare case in this cut with an actual dated driver behind the move. $ECL also improved meaningfully, up 0.96% to RSI 49.9, exiting the oversold band, though its own news file has not been refreshed since June 21 and offers no explanation.

$TGT pulled back 1.74% to $156.26, RSI 51.7 to 48.4, but it remains the only name in this cohort clearing both the long-trend tests with real margin — a +79.51% year and a price 23.4% above its 200-day. $PPC fell hard, down 6.84% to $27.63, RSI 32.9, deepening an already broken trend (-32.01% year, 18.7% below its 200-day). $SBUX continued sliding after losing its 200-day two scans ago — now 4.3% below it, RSI 26.3, with a year-over-year return that has shrunk from +14.88% to +9.86%.

• $HRL and $XLU both fell into capitulation for the first time this scan has recorded. HRL: RSI 30.0 → 23.0, price $20.83 → $19.92 (-4.4%). XLU: RSI 31.3 → 23.5, price $41.10 → $39.75 (-3.3%) — the worst sector fund of the week again.
• $VZ's defended shelf broke. Price $48.09 → $46.52 (below the $47.53 level flagged two scans ago), RSI 42.0 → 34.6. The cushion above its 200-day shrank from 4.3% to 0.7%, and the year-over-year return fell from +10.12% to +7.31%.
• $WMT had the cut's one sourced positive week. RSI 45.8 → 57.6, price $106.73 → $110.53 (+3.6%), on a September 22 guidance raise citing a tariff-refund boost to operating income.
• $ECL exited the oversold band. RSI 36.4 → 49.9, price $269.46 → $276.72 (+2.7%).
• $PPC dropped hard into deeper oversold. RSI 48.8 → 32.9, price $29.85 → $27.63 (-7.4%) — a new entrant to the distressed group, still 18.7% below its 200-day with a -32.01% year.
• $MCD deepened toward capitulation. RSI 31.6 → 25.9, price $248.24 → $238.32 (-4.0%), now -21.4% on the year.
• $COST improved out of the oversold band. RSI 35.9 → 41.9, price $895.31 → $904.70 (+1.05%).
• $TGT pulled back slightly but remains the cut's one working trend. RSI 51.7 → 48.4, -1.74% on the day to $156.26; still +79.51% on the year and 23.4% above its 200-day.
• The distressed count held roughly steady but shifted deeper. Ten of fifteen names were in the oversold band a week ago with capitulation empty; this scan has two names in capitulation and seven in oversold — nine total, but two of them are now at the true bottom of the RSI scale for the first time.
• No stale bars this scan — every name carries a fresh 2026-09-23 close. Universe unchanged at 15 tickers.

RSI is a fourteen-session stretch gauge: under 30 is oversold, under 25 is capitulation. In this cut a low RSI has been a poor buy signal for months, because most of the names carrying one are also below their 200-day with a negative year — that combination is a downtrend, not a discount. Twelve of the fifteen names here fail at least one leg of the long test. Only $TGT (+79.51% year, 23.4% above its 200-day) passes both with real margin. $VZ, which passed by a thin margin two scans ago, now sits barely above its 200-day (+0.7%) with a shrinking year — the margin this scan warned "one more week like this would erase" has very nearly gone. $WMT and $ECL carry positive-but-modest years with negative alpha and sit below or near their 200-day — one of them ($WMT) has a real catalyst behind this week's gain, which is the exception in this cohort rather than the rule.

$HRL (23.0) and $XLU (23.5) — both new this scan, neither with an established cause. $XLU's own news pull failed months ago and has never been refreshed.

$MCD (25.9), $SBUX (26.3), $HD (32.3), $PPC (32.9), $TSN (33.7), $VZ (34.6), $LOW (34.7) — seven names. All seven are below their 200-day; six carry a flat-to-negative year. $VZ is the newest entrant, having just broken the shelf this scan flagged as the level to watch.

• Negative year despite a decent RSI: $T (49.3, -12.12% year) — the recurring misleading-RSI pattern in this cut.
• Flat year, weak alpha, below the 200-day: $XLP, $ECL — capital preservation, not defense.
• Below the 200-day but with a sourced positive catalyst: $WMT — the one name here with an actual dated driver behind its gain.
• Genuinely working: $TGT — the only name in the cut clearing both the 200-day and the one-year test with a real margin.

• $VZ's defended shelf broke this week. The next question is whether $41.44, the next support level down, holds if the slide continues, or whether the 200-day itself — now only 0.7% below the price — goes next.
• $HRL and $XLU are both in capitulation for the first time this scan has recorded, and neither has an established cause: $HRL's news file predates the move by three weeks, and $XLU's pull failed months ago and has never been refreshed. Getting a fresh pull on $XLU specifically should be a priority before the next scan.
• $WMT's guidance raise is the one real catalyst in this cut this week. Whether the market keeps rewarding it or treats the tariff-refund boost as one-time is worth watching on the next print.
• $TGT remains the cut's only working trend but pulled back for a second week. If it holds above its 50-day at $153.09 through a third weak week, that is the test of whether the trend itself is intact or just resting.
• $MCD sits one bad session from joining $HRL and $XLU in capitulation. Whether it crosses that line or stabilizes is the next thing to check.

• Tape data (price, RSI, moving averages, returns, long-horizon fields): pre-computed summaries as of the 2026-09-23 close — defensive.
• $WMT guidance raise: latest (pulled 2026-09-22; article dated 2026-09-22).
• News checks with nothing on this week's move: latest (pulled 2026-09-22, aggregator pages only), HRL (pulled 2026-09-02, newest article August 31, predates the move), XLU (last pull failed on a rate-limit error 2026-04-29, never refreshed since), MCD (pulled 2026-08-04, predates the move), PPC and ECL (both last pulled 2026-06-21, predate the move). Event record research/stock-events/ checked for the 2026-09-18 to 2026-09-23 window: only ABVX, AIR, SFIX, GIS and MU earnings are filed, none in this cut.
• Prior scan for comparison: 2026-09-18-defensive-scan.