S&P 500 – 6,552.51 (-2.71%)

Dow Jones – 45,479.60 (-1.90%)

NASDAQ – 22,204.43 (-3.56%)

• Stock Activity - U.S. stocks ended the week sharply lower on Friday, wiping out earlier gains after President Trump warned the U.S. could impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports.
• Bond Yields Ease, Supporting Market Sentiment – The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell over five basis points early today, slipping below 4.10% and staying under its 50-day moving average of 4.18%. Yields mirrored declines in global bond markets, with no clear domestic catalyst. Sustained lower yields could offer support for equities going forward.
• Oil Prices Slide as Ceasefire Takes Hold – Crude oil (/CL) declined 1.5% to $60.57 a barrel after the Gaza ceasefire reduced geopolitical risk premiums. Traders are eyeing last week’s four-month intraday low of $60.40 as a potential support level.
• Rate Cut Odds Near Certainty – Futures markets are pricing in a 95% probability of a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s October 28–29 meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, as investors anticipate policy easing amid moderating inflation and global growth concerns.
• S&P 500 Technicals Remain Positive – From a technical standpoint, the S&P 500 continues to show resilience. Each test of the 20-day moving average has held since late April, a sign of ongoing bullish momentum. The index’s 20-day average now sits near 6,669, serving as an important near-term support level for traders.
• Crypto news - On Monday U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $1.8B in inflows, which represents the second-largest single-day inflow for the 11 U.S.-based spot bitcoin ETFs since November 7th, 2024, the day after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. The money flow coincided with the price of bitcoin registering a fresh all-time high above $126,000 per coin.
• Applied Digital (APLD) Surges on Strong Results and AI Growth Momentum – Applied Digital shares skyrocketed more than 28% after the company reported late Thursday, easily topping Wall Street expectations with a much smaller-than-anticipated loss. The stock has been steadily climbing since early summer following the signing of two long-term AI data center lease agreements with CoreWeave (CRWV), fueling optimism around Applied Digital’s role in powering the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
• Levi Strauss (LEVI) Slides Despite Beating Expectations – Shares of Levi Strauss plunged nearly 7% in pre-market trading even after the apparel maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year outlook. Management cited robust consumer demand as the reason for lifting guidance, but the market reaction suggests investors may have already priced in strong performance or are concerned about broader retail pressures.
• Micron (MU) Slips on Samsung-Nvidia Chip News – Micron fell over 2% Thursday after Samsung announced its high-bandwidth memory chips had been approved for use by Nvidia (NVDA). Micron, a direct competitor to Samsung in this segment and also an Nvidia supplier, faced pressure on concerns over future market share. Nvidia, meanwhile, hit new all-time highs following upbeat September revenue data from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), which highlighted continued strength in AI chip demand.
• Oracle (ORCL) Rebounds After Analyst Upgrades – Oracle bounced 3% Thursday, recovering from earlier weakness tied to reports of thin margins on Nvidia-related chip sales. The rebound followed new bullish coverage from two Wall Street firms. Baird noted Oracle’s strong positioning to benefit from accelerating AI infrastructure spending and the ongoing convergence of AI, data, and real-world use cases as the industry transitions from training to inference.
• Japan Markets Decline Amid Political Turmoil – Japanese equities fell 1% Friday after the country’s leading political coalition collapsed, threatening Sanae Takaichi’s historic bid to become Japan’s first female prime minister, according to Barron’s. Her victory last week had pressured the yen to seven-month lows amid expectations she’d favor fiscal stimulus and resist rate hikes. The dollar, which had surged on that news, pulled back slightly in early trading.
• Nvidia (NVDA) Extends Record Run – Nvidia added another 0.7% in early trading, continuing its record-breaking climb. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. government recently approved billions of dollars in Nvidia chip exports to American firms for projects based in the United Arab Emirates, reinforcing Nvidia’s dominant global position in AI computing.
• Qualcomm (QCOM) Falls on Chinese Antitrust Probe – Qualcomm dropped 1% in early trading after Barron’s reported that Chinese regulators launched an antitrust investigation into the company for potential violations of the nation’s competition laws, raising new uncertainty for one of the world’s top smartphone chipmakers.

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“Remember that time is money.” – Benjamin Franklin 

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Notable Stocks

• Applied Digital Corp. (APLD)
• Nvidia (NVDA)
• Intel (INTC)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Qualcomm (QCOM)

Weekly Notables

Apple Nears Deal to Acquire Talent and Technology from Computer Vision Startup Prompt AI

Apple is reportedly in advanced discussions to acquire the core team and technology of Prompt AI, a young computer vision startup, according to sources familiar with the matter. The deal would bring Apple both engineering talent and proprietary software from the 11-person company, founded in 2023 by Tete Xiao, an AI researcher with a PhD in computer science from UC Berkeley, and Trevor Darrell, co-founder of the university’s renowned Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) lab.

Diane Keaton, Iconic Star of “Annie Hall” and “The Godfather,” Dies at 79

Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress celebrated for her wit, individuality, and emotional depth in classics like Annie Hall, The Godfather trilogy, and Father of the Bride, has died at the age of 79. Her daughter, Dexter Keaton White, confirmed the news to NBC News, saying, “We are looking for privacy right now. No further comment.” People Magazine first reported Saturday that Keaton passed away in California, surrounded by her loved ones.

Earnings Spotlight: Wells Fargo (WFC)

Wall Street analysts forecast that Wells Fargo (WFC) will report quarterly earnings of $1.54 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year increase of 1.3%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $21.17 billion, exhibiting an increase of 4% compared to the year-ago quarter.

What to Watch Ahead:

Economic:

• Monday (Oct. 13): -no reports-
• Tuesday (Oct. 14): -no reports-
• Wednesday (Oct. 15): Consumer Price Index (CPI), EIA Crude Oil Inventories, Empire State Manufacturing, MBA Mortgage Applications Index
• Thursday (Oct. 16): Retail Sales, Producer Price Index (PPI), Business Inventories, Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Initial Claims, NAHB Housing Market Index, Philadelphia Fed Index
• Friday (Oct. 17): Building Permits, Capacity Utilization, Export Prices, Housing Starts, Import Prices, Industrial Production, Net Long-Term TIC Flows

Earnings:

• Monday (Oct. 13): Fastenal Co. (FAST), Lifecore Biomedical Inc. (LFCR), Spire Global Inc. (SPIR)
• Tuesday (Oct. 14): Albertsons Companies Inc. (ACI), America Movil SAB de CV (AMX), BlackRock Inc. (BLK), Citigroup Inc. (C), Domino's Pizza Inc. (DPZ), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)
• Wednesday (Oct. 15): Abbott Laboratories (ABT), ASML Holding NV (ASML), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citizens Financial Corp. (CFG), J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JGHT), Morgan Stanley (MS), PNC Financial Services (PNC), United Airlines Holdings (UAL)
• Thursday (Oct. 16): Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), CSX Corp. (CSX), Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (IBKR), KeyCorp (KEY), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV), US Bancorp (USB)
• Friday (Oct. 17): Ally financial Inc. (ALLY), American Express Co. (AXP), Autoliv Inc. (ALV), Comerica Inc. (CMA), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN), Regions Financial Corp. (RF), Schlumberger NV (SLB), State Street Corp. (STT), Truist Financial Corp. (TFC)