S&P 500 – 6,664.01 (+0.53%)

Dow Jones – 46,190.61 (+0.52%)

NASDAQ – 22,679.98 (+0.52%)

• U.S. stocks rebound: U.S. stocks reversed early declines to finish mostly higher on Friday, recovering from a rough premarket session in which major indexes were down about 1%, amid renewed fears over credit stress and bad loans among regional banks.
• Bank stocks under pressure: Bank shares whipsawed as rising bad loans and auto-sector bankruptcies revived credit concerns, putting renewed focus on lending quality.
• Morgan Stanley earnings surge: Morgan Stanley crushed Wall Street forecasts with a blockbuster Q3 earnings beat, driven by strong performance in equities trading, investment banking, and wealth management.
• Apple lands Formula 1 rights: Apple struck an exclusive 5-year Formula 1 deal, bringing all races, including practice and qualifying sessions, to Apple TV in the U.S. beginning in 2026.
• GLP-1 pricing pressure hits pharma: Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk tumbled after President Trump proposed a $150 monthly cap on brand-name weight-loss drugs.
• Chinese tech halts stablecoins: Chinese tech giants Ant Group and JD.com froze plans to launch stablecoins in Hong Kong following intervention from Beijing regulators.
• Treasury yields rebound: In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield bounced back to 4% on Friday.
• Gold eases, dollar strengthens: Gold prices pulled back from record highs, and the U.S. dollar strengthened as investors rotated back into risk assets.
• Atlanta Fed GDPNow revised up: The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow "nowcast" for Q3 GDP was revised higher to 3.9% from last week’s 3.8%.
• Nvidia technical support holds: Nvidia (NVDA) remains above an upward trend line at $180, which has acted as technical support since early September.
• Oracle AI margins under scrutiny: Oracle (ORCL) fell despite reporting a 35% gross margin on its AI cloud server-rental business, contrasting with last week’s margin concerns.
• Zions Bancorporation sees charge-offs: Zions Bancorporation (ZION) dropped amid credit worries, despite beating earnings expectations. The bank is taking a $50 million charge-off tied to two commercial and industrial borrowers. Baird upgraded the stock to Outperform, noting market fears likely exaggerated the $1 billion market-cap decline.
• Western Alliance rebounds slightly: Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL) fell over loan-book concerns but gained 2% in early trading. The company reports after the close Tuesday.
• Jefferies rises on upgrade: Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) climbed following an upgrade to Outperform from Oppenheimer, despite exposure to recent auto-industry bankruptcies.
• American Express posts strong EPS: American Express (AXP) inched higher after reporting EPS above expectations. Growth was supported by strong spending from wealthy cardholders, with credit card spending up 9% year-over-year. AXP also raised the lower end of its full-year earnings and revenue guidance.
• Eli Lilly drops on policy news: Eli Lilly (LLY) fell after President Trump promised significantly lower prices for weight-loss drugs.
• CSX gains after earnings: CSX (CSX) rose after earnings exceeded expectations, though revenue was roughly flat. Volume increased 1% year-over-year to 1.61 million units, while revenue fell 1% due to lower export coal prices and weaker merchandise volume.
• Bitcoin dips below $106,000: Bitcoin futures (/BTC) fell below $106,000, levels last seen in June, amid a risk-off environment. Short-term momentum turned negative, credit spreads widened, and Fed liquidity tightened. Crypto-related stocks dropped 1–2% in early trading.
• Interest rate expectations: Futures markets fully price in a 25-basis point Fed cut this month, with only a 1% chance of a 50-basis point reduction. A December cut is possible but uncertain due to stubborn inflation.
• Volatility and valuations: The VIX fell 6% but remains above 23, near five-month highs, compared with 14.12 in late August. The S&P 500 forward P/E ratio stands at 22.5, suggesting the market remains historically expensive.
• Earnings season update: So far, 78% of S&P 500 companies have beaten analyst estimates, with a blended Q3 earnings growth rate of 9%. Investors await updated projections from FactSet later today.

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“I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”
— Thomas Jefferson

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Notable Stocks

• 3M Company (MMM)
• Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG)
• Applied Materials, Inc. (AMT)
• The Walt Disney Group (DIS)
• Nike, Inc. (NKE)

Weekly Notables

Morgan Stanley Posts Blowout Q3 Earnings, Crushing Wall Street Estimates

Morgan Stanley delivered a blockbuster third-quarter performance, posting earnings that exceeded analyst expectations by the widest margin in nearly five years. The results were fueled by surging activity in equities trading, investment banking, and wealth management. The bank reported earnings per share of $2.80, far above the $2.10 consensus estimate from LSEG. Revenue soared 18% from a year earlier to a record $18.22 billion, topping the expected $16.7 billion. Net income surged 45% to $4.61 billion. Shares of Morgan Stanley jumped nearly 5% on Wednesday and are now up about 30% year-to-date.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk Stocks Slide After Trump Pushes for $150 Price Cap on GLP-1 Drugs

Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) fell sharply on Friday after President Donald Trump announced that his administration plans to slash the price of brand-name GLP-1 weight loss drugs to $150 per month—a dramatic cut from current list prices that can exceed $1,000. Speaking during a White House event on in vitro fertilization, Trump compared U.S. drug prices to those overseas, noting, “In London, you’d buy a certain drug for $130 or even $88 as of a month ago. And in New York, you pay $1,300 for the same thing. Instead of $1,300 you’ll be paying about $150—and they’ll be paying $150—so we’re going to pay the same thing.”mpany statement on Monday, LendingTree said it is “grieving the unexpected death” of Lebda, calling him a “visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation, and passion.

Earnings Spotlight: General Motors (GM)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) will report Q3 results on October 21 before the market opens. Analysts expect revenue to fall 8% to $45 billion, while EPS is projected to drop 23% to $2.28. Despite the softer fundamentals, the stock is up 7% year to date and nearly 50% since April.

What to Watch Ahead:

Economic:

• Monday (Oct. 20): Leading Indicators
• Tuesday (Oct. 21): no reports
• Wednesday (Oct. 22): EIA Crude Oil Inventories, MBA Mortgage Applications Index
• Thursday (Oct. 23): Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Existing Home Sales, Initial Claims
• Friday (Oct. 24): Consumer Price Index (CPI), New Home Sales, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment

Earnings:

• Monday (Oct. 20): AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF), Crown Holdings (CCK), Dynex Capital Inc. (DX), Steel Dynamics (STLD), WR Berkley Corp. (WRB), Zions Bancorporation (ZION)
• Tuesday (Oct. 21): Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), Chubb Ltd. (CB), EQT Corp. (EQT), GE Aerospace (GE), General Motors Co. (GM), Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), Texas Instruments (TXN)
• Wednesday (Oct. 22): Amphenol Coro. (APH), AT&T Inc. (T), CME Group Inc (CME), Crown Castle Inc. (CCI), GE Vernova Inc. (GEV), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Lam Research Corp. (LRCX), Moody's Corp. (MCO), SAP SE (SAP), Tesla Inc. (TSLA), United Rentals Inc. (URI)
• Thursday (Oct. 23): ACNB Corp. (ACNB), Blackstone Inc. (BX), Decker's Outdoor Corp. (DECK), Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR), Freeport McMoRan Inc. (FCX), Honeywell International Inc. (HON), Intel Corp. (INTC), Newmont Corp. (NEM), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), Valero Energy Corp. (VLO)
• Friday (Oct. 24): Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH), General Dynamics Corp. (GD), HCA Healthcare Inc. (HCA), Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), Natwest Group PLC (NWG), Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG), Sanofi SA (SNY)