Stocks End Sharply Higher to Begin Week; Apple Hits All-Time High; Gold Recovers as US Government Shutdown Drags On

Noteworthy S&P 500 Movers on Monday

1 hr 57 min ago

Advancers

• Apple (AAPL) shares climbed nearly 4% to a closing record after a report revealed strong demand in the U.S. and China for the tech giant’s new iPhone 17 series. According to Counterpoint Research, sales of the latest smartphone in the company’s two key markets over the first 10 days of availability significantly outpaced those of the previous model.
• Shares of server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) popped 5.5% as a technical analyst suggested that the stock could be forming a bullish cup and handle pattern. While Supermicro has drawn attention for massive opportunities related to AI infrastructure, the stock slumped in August after the company missed sales and profit forecasts in its latest earnings report.

• Natural gas prices pushed higher as forecasts for colder weather over the coming weeks bolstered expectations for heating-related demand. Shares of Expand Energy (EXE), the largest natural gas producing company in the U.S., surged 6% to log the top performance in the S&P 500 Monday. Shares of natural gas peer EQT Corp. (EQT) gained more than 4%.

Decliners

• Reporting over the weekend highlighted intensifying regulatory scrutiny on adtech company AppLovin (APP) following reports earlier this month that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating the tech firm’s data-collection practices. AppLovin stock dropped 5.6% Monday to lead decliners in the benchmark index.
• Oracle (ORCL) shares sank close to 5% Monday, extending losses last week after the enterprise software giant shared lofty targets at its Oracle AI World conference in Las Vegas. While the company is targeting robust AI-driven growth, several Wall Street analysts raised concerns about the company’s capital expenditure plans, and reliance on revenue from OpenAI.
• Shares of hard disk drive manufacturers Seagate Technology Holdings (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) fell 4.9% and 3.7%, respectively. Analysts at UBS recently lifted their price targets but maintained “neutral” ratings on the stocks of both data storage companies. The UBS team suggested that strong demand trends driven by the buildout of AI infrastructure into 2026 could give way to a potential cyclical downturn in 2027.

–Michael Bromberg

Shutdown Could Be Opportunity to Buy Defense Stocks

2 hr 15 min ago

The government shutdown hasn’t been great for defense stocks. But it could be time to buy them.

Companies that supply the U.S. military and other areas of the government have faced near-term uncertainty this month as the shutdown has stretched into its fourth week. That’s weighed on the shares: The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) and Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA), for example, were largely left out of last week’s broader market gains, finishing about flat while the S&P 500 rose close to 2%. Both are down from early October highs.

That could mean a chance to buy stocks that stand to get a boost when more clarity around government funding becomes available, according to some Wall Street analysts. Some companies may offer muted outlooks during the shutdown, analysts said, which could be revised upward.

“We’d be buyers of tepid Defense outlooks as upward revisions should materialize as the funding picture clears up,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a recent note.

Northrop Grumman (NOC), which is set to report earnings Tuesday, could set the tone. Morgan Stanley’s price target of $720 suggests roughly 20% upside from Monday’s close at $602 and is well above the mean of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha around $635. 

Northrop Grumman shares, while down about 1% since the shutdown began at the beginning of October, have climbed about 28% in 2025, outperforming the S&P 500’s close to 15% rise over the same period.

The analysts also said they like Lockheed Martin (LMT), which is set to report Tuesday along with RTX Corp. (RTX), and GE Aerospace (GE). CACI (CACI) is due to follow later in the week. Boeing (BA) and L3Harris (LHX) are scheduled to post results next week.

Shares of Northrop Grumman, RTX, and others were higher Monday afternoon amid broader market gains. In an interview with CNBC, White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett said he expects the shutdown “is likely to end sometime this week.” On Polymarket, bettors current see the shutdown ending between Thursday and Sunday as slightly more likely than by next Monday-Thursday

–Kara Greenberg

Starbucks’ Turnaround: Watch for AI Ordering, New Drapes—and Teens

4 hr 5 min ago

Getting your morning caffeine fix may soon be as simple as grumbling into your phone about your need for coffee.

AI could some day allow the Starbucks (SBUX) app to handle voice orders and do a better job of remembering customers’ preferences, CEO Brian Niccol said recently. He said the cafe chain was eager to use artificial intelligence to “remove friction” in how customers interact with the coffee-and-beverage giant.

“You could just literally talk into your phone, like: ‘Hey, I need my Starbucks order. I’ll be there in 10 minutes,’ and everything just seamlessly goes through the app,” Niccol said on a Yahoo! Finance podcast recorded at a technology conference. “You show up at Starbucks, and your drink is ready.”

Starbucks (SBUX) is mostly experimenting with AI and other new technologies behind the scenes as it tries to cultivate a warm, social vibe in cafes, Niccol said. The business is about a year into a turnaround effort, an attempt to jumpstart sluggish sales without offering widespread promotions. The Back to Starbucks campaign aims to serve customers at the counter within four minutes—and oit revitalize a stock that’s down about 7% this year.

Read the full article here.

–Sarina Trangle

Watch These Bitcoin Price Levels as Cryptocurrency Is Back Above $110,000

4 hr 40 min ago

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) climbed back above the closely watched $110,000 level Monday as investors looked past the recent massive liquidation event in the crypto market and ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions. 

The pioneer cryptocurrency received a boost after President Donald Trump seemed to soften his tone recently regarding trade disputes with China. The latest comments came a little over a week after the president imposed steep tariffs on all Chinese imports, which sparked a $19 billion wipeout of leveraged crypto bets.

Bitcoin was trading at $110,900 recently, after dropping below $104,000 on Friday. The digital currency has gained 18% since the start of the year, though is still down substantially from the record high of around $126,000 set two weeks ago. Looking ahead, the outlook for nterest rates, prospects for favorable crypto legislation, and upcoming trade developments between Washington and Beijing will likely drive crypto investor sentiment.

Bitcoin has found buying interest near a confluence of support from the lower trendline of a three-month trading range and the rising 200-day moving average (MA).

While the move also coincided with the relative strength index rising from its recent floor, the indicator remains below its neutral threshold to signal lackluster price action. Looking ahead, investors should watch for trading volume to confirm whether the latest rebound has the potential to gain momentum or simply reflects short-term speculative activity.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Here’s How Much Traders Expect Tesla Stock To Move After Earnings This Week

5 hours ago

Tesla (TSLA) is scheduled to report third-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, and some traders are betting the electric vehicle maker’s stock will jump to its highest level since last December on the results. 

Options pricing suggests traders expect Tesla stock could move about 7% in either direction by the end of this week. A move of that size off last week’s close would put shares at about $470, their second-highest closing price ever, or at about $409, their lowest price in over month. 

Tesla stock tends to be volatile after the company’s earnings. Shares have moved an average of 9.6% the day after its four most recent reports. The stock soared more than 20% this time last year after Tesla topped analyst estimates and said it was on track to deliver a long-promised lower-cost vehicle. (Those models were finally announced earlier this month.) The reception to Tesla’s three reports since has been slightly more muted, but shares still tumbled more than 8% after its results came up short in July. 

Tesla shares have been on a wild ride this year, starting 2025 near an all-time high amid optimism about CEO Elon Musk’s relationship with President Donald Trump. Shares were dragged down throughout the first quarter by President Trump’s tariffs on cars, aluminum, and steel, as well as a public backlash against Musk’s political efforts. They’ve rebounded in the months since Musk had a fallout with the president and vowed to spend more time focusing on Tesla and his other businesses. The stock is up nearly 10% since the start of the year, as of Monday afternoon. 

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Beyond Meat Stock Collapsed. Meme-Stock Traders Have Brought It Back to Life

5 hr 17 min ago

Whatever the investor appetite for meat alternatives is, plenty have a hankering for risk. Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND) show it.

Retail investors are crowding into the name, bidding to revive the plant-based burger and sausage maker’s beaten-down stock as a meme. Trading volumes in its shares and options started to surge last week, and are now at multiples of their 30-day averages, according to Yahoo Finance. Beyond’s shares recently traded at just under $1, climbing more than 50% on Monday to reverse much of last week’s drop. (At their post-IPO highs, they changed hands above $200 apiece.)

Penchant for high-risk/high-return plays is back among retail inverstors even as others are turning cautious. A Deutsche Bank research report last week said that the “momentum-chasing trade” has grown less popular with some of its clients. But those who crowdsource and evangelize stocks have lately tapped the beleaguered company as their meme darling once more.

“Today’s reversal and high short-interest will put it back on meme traders’ radars,” said Tom Bruni, head of markets and retail investor insights at investing-focused social-media platform Stocktwits.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

As the Government Shutdown Drags On, These Major Economic Reports Are Stuck in Limbo

5 hr 55 min ago

As the government shutdown drags on, the list of skipped economic reports grows longer by the day, leaving the public and policymakers in a data fog.

The government shut down Oct. 1 after Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill couldn’t come to a funding agreement. The shutdown closed much of the federal government, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and other statistical agencies.

Forecasters don’t expect the impasse to be resolved any time soon, and betting markets are banking on the shutdown lasting for at least a couple more weeks, according to Polymarket.

At 20 days, the shutdown is the third-longest in history as of Monday. The longer shutdowns of 2018 (34 days) and 1995 (21 days) were considered “partial” shutdowns because certain departments remained open. The current shutdown is a “full” shutdown because Congress has not passed funding resolutions for any departments, although it is continuing to carry out certain critical functions including the military operations and Social Security payments.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

This Wall Street Firm Says Alphabet Stock Is a Better Bet Than Meta. Here’s Why.

6 hr 9 min ago

You don’t necessarily have to choose between the stocks of two Big Tech giants—but if you must, Oppenheimer has a pick for you.

Shares of both Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META), owner of Facebook and Instagram, have been strong performers this year, outpacing the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) and the S&P 500.

Still, Oppenheimer’s analysts prefer the former’s shares to the latter’s. On Sunday, they put a $300 price tag on Alphabet, about 18% above Friday’s close and the highest on Wall Street, and an $825 target on Meta, 15% higher than last week’s finish and below Visible Alpha’s analyst average. The Oppenheimer analysts cited what they considered “more conservative” Street estimates on Alphabet, along with a lower valuation on the shares.

“While we are positive on the long-term benefits from Meta’s push into AI and proven ability to outgrow peers,” they wrote, “we are more bullish on [Alphabet] near term, given more conservative estimates and lower valuation.”

While the Magnificent 7 is running ahead of the S&P 500 this year, it’s not surprising that investors might be looking to pick and choose among the group these days: Three of the seven stocks have underperformed the benchmark index year-to-date.

Read the full article here.

–David Marino-Nachison

Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Says It Wants to Get Into Rare Earths. Its Stock Is Soaring

6 hr 33 min ago

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) popped 20% Monday afternoon after it shared some news along with its third-quarter earnings: The steelmaker said it wants to get into the rare earths mining business.

CEO Lourenco Goncalves said “the renewed importance of rare earths has driven us to re-focus on this potential opportunity at our upstream mining assets.” He added that after looking at its mines, the company believes sites in Michigan and Minnesota show the most promise.

Goncalves said that if the company is successful in producing rare earths, “it would align Cleveland-Cliffs with the broader national strategy for critical material independence, similar to what we achieved in steel.”

Most of the world’s rare earths are produced in China, and American companies that produce them have seen their shares soar recently as the key minerals used in a wide range of high-tech products from electric vehicles to smartphones have become a major source of contention in U.S.-China trade tensions. Shares of other companies in the sector were also higher in recent trading, as President Trump met with Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sign an agreement on rare earths.

Read the full article here.

–Bill McColl

USMCA Talks Could Shape Next Phase of US Trade Policy

6 hr 48 min ago

President Donald Trump is about to get another chance to massively shape the U.S.’s trade policies.

It’s been six months since Trump upended years of U.S. trade policy with his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Now, the U.S., Mexico and Canada are about to review a major trade agreement Trump secured in his first term. This time, the negotiations over the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) could focus on more than tariffs, as trade barriers, migration, drug trafficking and continental defense will all be part of the talks. 

“How the three nations navigate this moment will shape the region’s economic future for decades,” wrote Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) analysts Diego Marroquín Bitar, Christopher Hernandez-Roy, and Earl Anthony Wayne.

Mexico is the U.S.’s largest trading partner, followed closely by Canada, Census Bureau data showed.

The two countries provide almost 30% of total U.S. trade, with third-place China accounting for less than 8%. While the U.S. has applied additional tariffs on some goods from Canada and Mexico, a broad swath of products that meet USMCA guidelines were exempt from the new import taxes. But that could change if the negotiations alter those guidelines, said Georgetown University government and business professor Marc Busch.

Read the full article here.

–Terry Lane

Tesla Kicks Off Magnificent 7 Earnings This Week After Its Stock Kicked Into High Gear

7 hr 31 min ago

Halfway though 2025, Tesla stock looked like a big-time laggard.

The EV maker’s shares were down more than 20% through the first six months of the year—a stretch that was rough for just about everyone, though by the end of it the S&P 500 and Magnificent Seven group of tech shares had moved back into the green even as Tesla lagged. Then the third quarter happened: Tesla (TSLA) was the best-performing stock in the group of Big Tech elites, and here we are—with the shares now up some 10% since the start of 2025.

Where to next? Investors, at least for now, have signaled that they’re willing to look at the longer-term picture. Non-car-sales things—including optimism about robotaxis and robots, as well as a new pay proposal for Elon Musk and a big stock purchase by the CEO—were tailwinds. Several Wall Street analysts whose price targets hadn’t kept up finally got with it.

“The Tesla story going forward is around the AI transformation being led by the autonomous and robotics initiatives,” Wedbush’s bullish analysts wrote in a note published Sunday.

There will, however, undoubtedly still be plenty of attention on its third-quarter earnings, due Wednesday afternoon.

Deliveries are already in hand, with the company turning in better than expected quarterly numbers, though an update to Tesla’s car lineup will likely mean renewed attention on signs about car demand. (Analysts have dutifully issued estimates: Visible Alpha’s means for revenue and net income are $26.6 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.)

Read the full article here.

–David Marino-Nachison

Moderna Leads S&P 500 Monday After Flu Vaccine Data

8 hr 34 min ago

Moderna (MRNA) shares were up roughly 7% to pace the S&P 500 Monday, a day after the pharma firm announced data for two influenza vaccine candidates at the IDWeek 2025 conference in Atlanta.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said that mRNA-1010, an mRNA-based flu vaccine, “is safe and efficacious” in adults 50 years or older. It added that a Phase 1/2 clinical study of mRNA-1018, a candidate to prevent H5N1 pandemic flu in healthy adults at least 18 years old demonstrated that across all dose levels, it was “well-tolerated with no safety concerns identified, and demonstrated rapid and persistent immune response.” 

Despite today’s advance, Moderna shares have lost roughly a third of their value this year.

Apple’s iPhone 17 Sales ‘Far Outpace’ Prior Lineup in US and China, Report Shows

9 hr 14 min ago

Apple shares climbed Monday following a report suggesting strong demand for the company’s new iPhone 17 series in the U.S. and China, which account for the bulk of the company’s phone sales.

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 17 outsold the iPhone 16 by 14% during the first 10 days of availability in the U.S. and China, according to a report from tech product research firm Counterpoint Research.

Shares of Apple climbed close to 3% in recent trading following the news to lead gains on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Counterpoint found the base model of the iPhone 17 was a big driver of sales in China, while the premium iPhone 17 Max saw strong demand in the U.S.

Counterpoint Senior Analyst Mengmeng Zhang pointed to the iPhone 17 base model’s “great value” for its performance, with “a better chip, improved display, higher base storage, selfie camera upgrade—all for the same price as last year’s iPhone 16.” Sales of the iPhone 17 base model in China were nearly double those of the 16 over a comparable period.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max saw sales surge in the U.S., as Counterpoint said those who purchased Apple phones during the COVID-19 pandemic moved to upgrade and large carriers enticed buyers with higher subsidies.

–Bill McColl

Amazon Web Services Outage Causes Widespread Disruptions—What You Need to Know

10 hr 6 min ago

Companies that use Amazon Web Services are recovering after a problem with the cloud service disrupted operations at a wide range of companies Monday.

Some of the firms affected included trading platform Coinbase Global (COIN), and Snap’s (SNAP) social media site Snapchat, along with major airlines like Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL).

Amazon (AMZN) confirmed the glitch at 3:51 a.m. ET, and by 6:35 a.m. ET, said the issue had been “fully mitigated,” with most AWS Service operations back to normal. However, it added that it continued to work on some lingering disruptions.

As of 8:40 a.m. ET, website problem reporting company Downdetector reported nearly 2,000 reports of outages possibly linked to AWS.2

The news sent Amazon shares tumbling in premarket trading, but shares rose close to 1% slightly after the open. They’ve lost about 2% of their value in 2025, compared to a 14% gain for the S&P 500.

–Bill McColl

USA Rare Earths Stock Pops as William Blair Initiates Coverage at ‘Outperform’

10 hr 30 min ago

Analysts from William Blair see plenty of upside for USA Rare Earths (USAR) shares.

The analysts initiated coverage of the stock and four others in the sector with an “outperform” rating, writing in a note to clients that “while many rare earth stocks have hit the cover off the ball in recent weeks, we believe there is still material future upside.”

William Blair noted that the Trump administration recently announced investments in MP Materials (MP), Lithium Americas (LAC), and Trilogy Metals (TMQ), and said that it believes “significant new financial backing and direct government stakes in rare earth companies could provide a second meaningful leg up for several rare earth stocks.”

USA Rare Earths shares, which entered Monday up more than 140% this year, surged 7% at the open.

Trump Aims To Cure High Medicine Prices, But Experts See Serious Side Effects To His Moves

11 hr 23 min ago

The Trump administration has issued a flurry of orders aimed at lowering pharmaceutical prices, but experts are leery that the actions will achieve that goal.

The latest move in Trump’s ongoing campaign to reduce drug prices came late last month when the White House announced a deal between the government and Pfizer (PFE), the multinational company that makes COVID-19 vaccines, Viagra, and other widely used products.

Under the deal, which could serve as a model for agreements with other major manufacturers, the company will sell its products to Medicaid at prices on par with those offered to other developed countries. In addition, the company will offer medications directly to consumers at a discount on Trumprx.gov, a website scheduled to launch in 2026. In return, the company will be exempt from the punishing 100% tariffs Trump is threatening to impose on pharmaceutical imports.

The deal appears to address a longstanding complaint from Trump and U.S. consumer advocacy groups: the sticker prices for many drugs are significantly higher in the U.S. than in Europe. In some cases, drugs that cost thousands of dollars in the U.S. are available for low cost or for free to Europeans. For example, in 2021, a single injection of the arthritis drug Humira cost American patients $3,000, when a generic version was available in Germany for $10, according to reports.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Americans Are Already Holiday Shopping. Will They Find the Deals They Hope For?

12 hr 23 min ago

Americans aren’t expected to slash their holiday budgets this year. But they may spend more time hunting for bargains—and find smaller ones than they hoped.

Consumers are expected to approach the year-end shopping season with the same thrifty ethos they’ve adopted for much of 2025 as they look to deal with tariff-fueled price increases, analysts told Investopedia. Keen-to-save shoppers have already started surveying deals well ahead of “Black Friday,” surveys show, but many are holding off on buying.

New National Retail Federation research shows what others have already spotted: Americans plan to shop resale markets, hunt for deals and cut back on some purchases. On average, Americans plan to spend about 1.3% less on gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items this November and December than a year earlier, the NRF said.

“It’s certainly going to be a weirder holiday season, at least form a consumer and brand perspective,” said Andrew Waber, who studies U.S. transactions on Amazon for PMG, a marketing and digital services company. “Purchase behavior may be a little different than what you expect.”

Read the full article here.

–Sarina Trangle

Stock Futures Tick Higher to Begin Week

13 hr 1 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.3% higher.