News

It was a lively day in terms of price action as US stocks started very strongly, then sold off and eventually fell into negative territory in the mid-afternoon. Bids arrived late though and US stocks marched all the way back close (but not above) the intraday highs. In the last 10 minutes of trading, there was more selling.

• S&P 500 +0.3%
• Nasdaq Comp +0.7%
• DJIA +0.1%
• Russell 2000 +0.7%
• Toronto TSX Comp +0.3%

On the week:

• S&P 500 +0.7%
• Nasdaq Comp +2.2%
• DJIA +0.7%
• Russell 2000 -1.2%
• Toronto TSX Comp -0.3%

On the month:

• S&P 500 +2.3%
• Nasdaq Comp +4.7%
• DJIA +2.5%

The six-month winning streak in the S&P 500 is the longest since 2021.

I continue to think the Russell 2000 remains the most-compelling chart but I fear it’s being driven by a couple dozen meme stocks that are now the largest components.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

I love it when a new month starts on a Monday and that’s the just the beginning of the good news for November. The clocks go back this weekend and the weather gets worse but it’s a great month for risk assets.

• Best month for the Nasdaq
• Second-best month for the S&P 500
• Second-best month for the MSCI world index
• Second-best month for the German DAX
• Best month for the Nikkei 225
• Best month for USD/JPY
• Third-best month for the US dollar
• Worst month for WTI crude
• Worst month for CAD

There is something for gold bugs as well as the November through February period is a particularly strong time for gold, a pattern that’s worked for more than 15 years and I’ve touted in every one of those. Generally, the trade is to buy any mid-November dip and ride it but there’s no harm in being early.

In terms of stock markets, the FTSE 100 is a bit of a relative dog as it averages declines.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

Here is a look at the week ahead from Earnings Whispers.

I can’t believe D-Wave Quantum is getting top billing there above ConocoPhillips. The first is a company that reported $3.1 million in revenues last quarter and the second had $14 billion. That goes to show that we’re alot closer to the top than the bottom.

To be honest, I see way too many memes on this list and not enough real companies. I wouldn’t want to own many of these.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos reports:

Trump told Xi chip sales are “between you and Nvidia.” Huang must clear antitrust, backdoor H20 risks, and energy failures. By then, a source says B30A launching mid-2026 is 50% performance and a generation behind Rubin. Beijing stalling lets developers migrate to Huawei.

I think there is some worry in US circles that if Nvidia doesn’t provide chips to China, then they could develop their own and export to the rest of the world at much lower costs; and then it would be China that has the leverage elsewhere instead of the US.

Then again, I don’t think that genie is going back in the bottle anyway. Like rare earths, once you threaten supply, it’s incumbent that new supply chains are developed.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

95-year-old Warren Buffett already announced that he will be stepping down from Berkshire Hathaway at year end. In February, successor Greg Abel will pen a annual shareholder letter but the WSJ reports today that Buffett will publish two letters on November 10 — one to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and one to his three children, presumably about his wealth.

Buffett will step down as CEO but will remain chairman.

Buffett is known for a willingness to pay up for quality but here is a chart showing that his big bets were at levels far below what major companies are trading at now. That helps to explain why Berkshire is holding so much cash.

We will have to see if Greg Abel operates differently.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

As London/European traders head for the exits, the major US stock indices are trading at Lowe’s for the day.

• The Dow industrial average is now down -0.18% or -89 points. At session highs the index was up 150 points.
• S&P index is up 3.24 points or 0.05%. At session highs the index was up 52.26 points.
• NASDAQ index is up 87 points or 0.36%. Added session highs the index was up 365.09 points.

Fed officials speaking today have been more hawkish and suggest that a December cut is certainly in question. Having no data is starting to become more problem as well.

US yields are mixed with the

• 2–year yield at 3.602%, -1.2 basis points
• 5 year yield 3.707%, -1.2 basis points
• 10 year yield 4.09%, unchanged
• 30 year yield 4.661%, +1.4 basis points

In Europe, the major indices are all closing lower.:

• German DAX -0.67%
• France’s CAC -0.44%
• UK’s FTSE 100 -0.44%
• Spain’s Ibex -0.05%
• Italy’s FTSE MIB -0.06%

Looking at other markets:

• Crude oil is trading up $0.21 or 0.39% at $60.78.
• Gold is down $38 or -0.93% and back below the $4000 level at $3986.10.
• Silver is trading down $0.34 or -0.70% at $48.55.
• Bitcoin is up $500 at $108,850.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.

Fed’s Bostic is saying:

• Eventually got behind the cut this week
• Dual mandates are in tension
• supported a cut because it still feels we are in restrictive territory.
• Need to get inflation to 2%.
• Lesson half of upward price pressure is being reported as from tariffs.
• We have to see more progress before comfortable getting rates to neutral.
• Really like Powell’s fog analogy, preferable to go lower one uncertain
• Also we are not completely flying blind.
• Some of the labor market shift is due to structural changes like technology, immigration, trade policy
• Recession risk is not on people’s minds
• Glad chair Powell added words saying December rate cut not a foregone conclusion.
• Accurately reflected range of views on the committee.
• That info needed to be out in public domain.
• Every meeting is live
• The median of the Dot plot is math, it’s not decision process.
• We are going to be data -dependent and make sure decision is appropriate.
• Difficult to make a forecast now, everyone trying to do their best, we may have different interpretations.
• Data can help us come to a closer agreement on where the world is so we can coalasce on policy.
• We will need to double down on that effort to get data in coming weeks.

Meanwhile Cleveland Fed’s Hammack is also speaking and she says

• She would not have cut rates.
• Challenged on both sides of mandate.
• Some emerging signs of softness in the labor market, including layoff announcements.
• Now around estimate of neutral rate
• Says that rates are barely restrictive
• Need to maintain some restriction to bring down inflation.
• Tariffs are just one piece of inflation puzzle, also electricity, insurance.
• Little to no progress on core services ex housing, which plus the tariff creates more concerning picture
• All of us going out into Fed districts, getting a robust picture of economy.
• Don’t want to under state importance of gold standard government data.
• September cut was because of sharp drop in payrolls.
• Since September, data to me says it’s not obvious shift in the labor market. The change is on demand-side.
• Still time until December meeting, more data to come.
• Consumption data has been healthy, though seen K-shaped economy.
• Hearing more about pressure from lower income families.
• Want to be attentive to labor picture.
• Want to be open-minded to seeing signs of labor market softness.
• We are missing on inflation side more than on labor side.
• We need to stay restrictive.
• Market tends to over focus on medium Fed rate path dot.
• The Dot plot gives you a sense of range of viewpoints.
• You are hearing different viewpoints because it’s not clear what the right answer is.
• It’s a robust conversation at the Fed.
• In the FOMC room, people change their viewpoints, adapt

Both Bostic and Hammack are nonvoting members in 2025. Hammack will be a voting member in 2026, while Bostic will be a voting member in 2027. However both are leaning toward the hawkish camp – or less dovish. .

Stocks are dipping with the Dow industrial average now negative at -0.08%. The S&P is still up by 0.21% while the NASDAQ index is up 0.64%.

The Fed is driving in the fog.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.

Millions of households logging on to enroll in a health plan via the Affordable Care Act marketplace will see much higher premiums.