CLOSING BELL
Best Start Believin’ in Trade Wars: You’re In One

The market fell Thursday, despite quarterly earnings beats from massive banks and Taiwan Semiconductor. Just two days after JPMorgan Chief Jamie Dimon warned that there were more lenders with bad loans, two regional lenders said they were exposed to bad loans to the tune of tens of millions.

Gold, Silver, climbed to record highs on the news, while bond yields fell. President Trump said, “We’re in one now,” about a U.S.-China trade war. Treasury Secretary Bessent said there was hope the November tariff threats could again get a pause if Trump and President Xi meet in Korea.

The rare earth grappling might turn out great: G-7 leaders meeting in Washington this week talked up a coordinated defense against China’s control of the refining economy. Japan turned 15 years and $450M into ¾ of rare earth production outside of China, according to Bloomberg’s David Fickling, and Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato called for the G-7 to band together and go for the remainder.

Let’s hope it happens soon. Goldman Sachs found that Americans are set to pay more than half of tariff increases by the end of the year. 👀

Today’s RIP: We’re in a trade war, Regional Banks feeling the pain, TSMC falls despite beat, and more. 📰

One of 11 sectors closed green, with tech $XLK ( ▲ 0.18% ) leading and financials $XLF ( ▲ 0.99% ) lagging.

 $SPY ( ▲ 0.62% )  $QQQ ( ▲ 0.72% )  $IWM ( ▼ 0.67% )  $DIA ( ▲ 0.62% ) 

SECTORS
Banking Sector Falls On More Bad Loan Fears 🪳 

Zions Bancorp $ZION ( ▲ 5.91% ) fell after the regional bank disclosed a $50M loss for a bad loan underwritten by its San Diego-based subsidiary, California Bank & Trust. Western Alliance Bancorp $WAL ( ▲ 2.09% ), another regional lender out of Arizona, said it was liley in trouble for making the same types of bad loans to the same borrowers.

“As of now, those seem isolated to those two relatively sizeable regional banks,” Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg. “Although they are similar in size and scope to Silicon Valley Bank… there is nothing (at least so far) to indicate that these are anything systemic.”

Banks tend to be good with money, but as Dimon highlighted, banks sometimes give money to someone who then gives money to someone who then gives money to someone who ends up having no money, and it all falls apart. A story as old as time, and a funny joke if it weren’t a growing concern for the three-year-long and $28T bull run S&P 500. After September’s dual auto lender bankruptcies of Treicolor Holdings and First Brands, this new loan blow-up makes three, and in journalism, three is a trend.

CIO Ashol Bhatia of fund manager Neurberger Berman found the bankruptcies were more of a one-off thing than systemic problems. He found the Michigan-based First Brands had spent 2018-2025 rolling up 20 M&A deals, soaking up $5B in debt. Rating agencies underestimated the risk.

Tricolor, over in Dallas, racked up $945M in debt in the form of auto sales financing, and two-thirds of borrowers lacked credit scores. The Fed is investigating, as some loans were allegedly duplicated across multiple dealerships for the same car sale, Bhatia wrote.

$KBWR ( ▲ 1.56% ) KBW Regional Banking Index fell, as did larger banks like $BAC ( ▲ 2.2% ), and asset managers like $BLK ( ▼ 0.24% ). End of the trend, or more to come?

SPONSORED
$100s of Millions Flow Into Robotics Stocks

The thing is, most of those stocks aren’t public yet. Big investors are trying to gain an early edge in private companies. With Ark Invest saying robotics is a $24T opportunity, it’s no shock that a non-household-name like Figure AI just got $1B.

But one robotics startup raised $130M+ another way: inviting investors like you to share in their growth.

Already partnered with both NVIDIA and Amazon, Miso Robotics’ AI-powered kitchen robots have logged 200K+ hours in kitchens for brands like White Castle. 

Now, after selling out initial units of their newest robot in one week, Miso is leveraging a new manufacturing partnership to scale into a $4B/year revenue opportunity. 

And you can join 39k+ people as an investor. Just hurry. Invest before October 23, the final day to invest this year.

This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com.

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.

EARNINGS NEWS
Taiwan Semi Beat, With Record Profit, Why Did The Stock Fall? 💻️ 

TSMC fell nearly 2% Thursday, despite a beat to estimates and forward guidance that shows unrelenting AI chip demand. The stock hit an all-time high, but then pulled back.

The company pulled in $33B in revenue, up more than 30% from a year ago, and profit climbed 39%. The company said its full-year revenue is on track to grow near 35% this year, raising its spring estimate. Gross margins were a mouth-watering 60%, and operating margins 51%. The company said its highest-end chips for 5G and AI compute applications made up nearly two-thirds of revenue.

So why the sell-off?

The stock is up 50% this year, and maybe the weight of an all-time high on a down day helped contribute to the sell-off. Not to mention politics: the Taiwanese company is right in the middle of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, and made the mistake of reporting on yet another major pullback day.

"Our business in the third quarter was supported by strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies," Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said. "Moving into fourth quarter 2025, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies."

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
GraniteShares Expands Leveraged Suite with ISUL and NBIL Single-Stock ETFs

GraniteShares 2x Long ISRG Daily ETF (ISUL) and GraniteShares 2x Long NBIS Daily ETF (NBIL) Launch Today.

 GraniteShares, a provider of exchange traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of two new leveraged single-stock ETFs: 

GraniteShares 2x Long ISRG Daily ETF (NASDAQ: ISUL), and

GraniteShares 2x Long NBIS Daily ETF (NASDAQ: NBIL)

An investment in these ETFs provides investors daily leveraged exposure to the two respective underlying stocks: Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) and Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ: NBIS).

 GraniteShares’ leveraged ETFs seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to 2 times (200%) the daily percentage change of the respective common stocks. These funds are designed for investors looking to capitalize on short-term movements in the underlying stocks.

New GraniteShares 2x Leveraged Single-Stock ETFs

 Underlying Companies

• Intuitive Surgical, Inc., (NASDAQ: ISRG) founded in 1995 and based in Sunnyvale, California, develops and markets robotic-assisted technologies that advance minimally invasive care. Its flagship da Vinci Surgical System supports procedures across specialties such as general surgery, urology, gynecology, cardiothoracic, and head and neck, while the Ion endoluminal system enables minimally invasive lung biopsies and extends its reach into diagnostic procedures. The company also provides stapling, energy, and core instruments, training programs, technical support, system monitoring, and digital solutions that enhance hospital performance. Its products are sold worldwide through direct capital and clinical sales teams.

• Nebius Group N.V., (NASDAQ: NBIS) headquartered in Amsterdam and rebranded from Yandex N.V. in 2024, is a Netherlands-based technology company building full-stack infrastructure for the global AI industry. Its offerings include GPU clusters, cloud platforms, and developer tools supporting AI workloads like generative AI and autonomous vehicles. The company also operates three brands: Toloka for AI data services, TripleTen for tech career reskilling, and Avride for autonomous driving and robotics, serving markets across Europe, North America, and Israel.

Designed for Tactical Traders

The new leveraged ETFs provide traders with a tool to gain leveraged exposure to these stocks, making them a potential consideration for those looking to execute short-term tactical trades.

“We continue to expand our suite of leveraged ETFs to meet the demand for high-conviction trading opportunities,” said Will Rhind, Founder of GraniteShares. “With the launch of ISUL, and NBIL, we are providing investors with targeted tools to access some of the most exciting companies in financial services, online brokerage and digital investing.”

For more information on the new GraniteShares leveraged ETFs, read the Prospectus.

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.

POPS & DROPS
Top Stocktwits News Stories 🗞️ 

• United Airlines fell 6% after Q3 revenue missed estimates.

• American Battery Technology fell 40% after $50M share offering.

• Bitfarms fell 17% after announcing $300M share offering.

• Praxis Precision Medicines rose 188% after positive drug trial results.

• Bitcoin fell 4% after Fed called for tighter stablecoin rules.

• Critical Metals fell 21% despite announcing $50M rare earth deal.

• Rare Earth Miners flat, U.S. Trade Rep signaled possible stake increases.

• Fed Miran signaled three rate cuts in 2025 amid China tensions.

Don’t miss a story! Follow @StocktwitsNews for a live feed in real time. ✍️ 

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WHAT’S ON DECK
Tomorrow’s Top Things 📋

Economic data: Hourly Earnings YoY (8:30 AM), Import Price Index (8:30 AM), Housing Starts (8:30 AM), Unemployment Rate (8:30 AM), Industrial Production YoY (9:15 AM), Atlanta Fed GDPNow (1:00 PM), TIC Net Long-Term Transactions (4:00 PM) 📊
Pre-Market Earnings: American Express ($AXP), SLB ($SLB), Ally Financial ($ALLY), Regions Finl ($RF), Huntington Bancshares ($HBAN), and Truist Finl ($TFC). 🛏️

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls on Stocktwits.

Links That Don’t Suck 🌐

📈 IBD Digital Free Access Week is here! Get the tools you need to invest smarter *

👀 US budget deficit falls 2% to $1.775 trillion in fiscal 2025

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, indicted

😨 Trump says he and Putin will hold second summit on Ukraine in Budapest

🎩  Starbucks CEO says artisanal pastries, protein drinks, voice app ordering are next on tap

🤖 Waller calls for October cut and then caution as he competes for Fed chair post

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here. 

Get In Touch 📬

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