NEWS
Breaking A Streak Of Sh*tty Septembers

U.S. stocks persevered through the seasonally weak period and closed in positive territory for the first September since 2019. With the market holding onto strong gains through the third quarter…investors and traders are now asking whether that strength will continue into year-end. 👀

Today's issue covers China’s bull market behavior, Stellantis's failure to regain traction, and surprising quarter-end stats. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 8 of 11 sectors closed green, with real estate (+0.86%) leading and materials (-0.56%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

Most bullish/bearish symbols on Stocktwits at the close: 📈 $EMKR, $PRME, $TTEC, $ZCMD, $KZR 📉 $HUBC, $UAVS, $PSTV, $OTLY, $ANF*

*If you’re a business and want to access this data via our API, email us.

STOCKS
SoftBank’s Soft Spot For Moonshot Bets 😄

Domestic investors and traders in China finally got the memo about the government’s stimulus efforts and are rushing to buy stocks, causing the biggest single-day rally since 2008. 🤩

Domestic A-shares registered their highest-ever turnover, with foreign vehicles like U.S. ETFs experiencing the most call volume since 2020, trading 3.40 million contracts last week alone.

The stimulus program outlined last week is designed to not only prop up the economy, but the markets as well. A new swap program allows funds, insurers, and brokers easier access to capital to buy stocks.

What could possibly go wrong there, right? 🙃

Hong Kong’s market will be closed on October 1st, while Shanghai’s Stock Exchange will close from October 1st to 7th for the “Golden Week” holiday. That should cool the recent fervor a bit, but investors and traders alike will be closely watching the action to see just how far this new bull run can go. 🐂

Meanwhile, its neighboring market, Japan, tumbled after Shigeru Ishiba’s surprise victory in the ruling party’s leadership race dampened bets on a boost of more monetary stimulus. After decades of a low-rate policy, Japan’s new leadership is taking a more hawkish approach to stabilize the yen while not cutting off economic growth. 💹

With Chinese stocks (and global stock markets) roaring back, Japan’s SoftBank reportedly plans to invest $500 million in OpenAI’s latest round from its Vision Fund. SoftBank has had a rough bout of timing its other high-flying investments, so many market participants view this as another sign that conditions are getting a bit “frothy” in markets once again.

Time will tell if their move is prudent or foolish. But for now, Asia’s investors are partying on … when they return from their holiday, that is. 🎊