The Weekend Rip
Happy Weekend!

Markets defied shutdown fears this week, with the S&P, Nasdaq, and Dow all hitting fresh records as AI, crypto, and pharma stocks led the charge. Nvidia soared past $4.5T, OpenAI hit $500B, and Plug Power and Fermi surged on green energy deals. EA confirmed a $55B buyout, Pfizer launched TrumpRX, and Bitcoin rallied near all-time highs. Despite the Fed going dark, private data showed job cuts and weak hiring, while ETF flows neared $1T YTD. Pharma posted its best week in a decade, even as tech wobbled on Palantir’s Army comms setback.

Let's recap and prep you for the week ahead. 📝

◀️ Markets climbed Monday despite looming shutdown risks, as VP JD Vance confirmed a Wednesday stoppage was likely and gold broke $1T in U.S. reserves amid safe-haven demand. EA finalized its $55B buyout with Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, marking the largest levered deal in history. Robinhood, Shopify, and weed stocks rallied on product launches and presidential support, while MoonLake and Kala Pharmaceuticals plunged on trial failures. Meanwhile, Trump floated tariffs on foreign-made furniture and films, and Fed agencies prepped to furlough 400k workers.

🌏️ Markets closed out September with their best monthly performance since 2010, as Nvidia hit a $4.5T market cap and CoreWeave surged on a $14B Meta deal. UiPath rallied 10% on partnerships with Nvidia, OpenAI, and Google, while Nike beat earnings thanks to apparel strength despite falling margins. Pfizer climbed after announcing $70B in U.S. investment and launching TrumpRX, an imagined discount drug website, just as the government prepared to shut down at midnight amid stalled budget talks.

⚡️ Markets soared Wednesday despite the government shutdown, with the S&P breaking 6,700 and pharma stocks leading gains on tariff clarity from the Pfizer deal. Plug Power surged 30% after shipping a hydrogen array to Portugal, and Fermi jumped 60% on its Nasdaq debut, touting a massive energy campus plan. Reddit slipped as OpenAI deprioritized its data, raising concerns over future LLM revenue. Meanwhile, ADP reported a surprise drop of 32,000 private jobs, and SCOTUS upheld Lisa Cook’s Fed role, preserving central bank independence.

🐂 Markets shrugged off shutdown fears Thursday as the S&P, Nasdaq, and Dow all hit record highs, fueled by Bitcoin’s surge past $120K and OpenAI’s $500B valuation. Tesla posted record Q3 deliveries, but shares fell on concerns over expiring EV tax credits, while crypto stocks like Coinbase and Bakkt rallied on stablecoin momentum. ETF flows neared $1T YTD, and rumors swirled about Trump using tariff funds for stimulus checks. Meanwhile, Plug Power soared 30% on a hydrogen shipment to Portugal, and Fermi jumped 60% on its IPO debut.

😢 Markets held steady Friday despite the lack of Fed jobs data, with the S&P and Dow hitting new records and Bitcoin nearing all-time highs on shutdown momentum. Pharma capped its best week in a decade, while tech pulled back after Palantir dropped on reports of flaws in its Army comms system. With the Senate rejecting another funding bill, the shutdown rolls into next week, leaving investors reliant on private data showing job cuts and weak hiring plans. Spending and small business sales rose modestly, but the Fed remains flying blind ahead of its next rate decision.

🤩 This week's Stocktwits Top 25 showed outperformance vs. the indexes.

Here are the closing prices: 

THE BRIEF

Need a concise summary of what's going on this week? Look no further. Here’s a rundown of this week’s earnings and economic data.

Earnings This Week

Earnings season is chugging along, with over 46 stocks reporting this week.

Above is a quick summary. Check out the full Stocktwits earnings calendar for the other names reporting this week.

Economic Calendar

It’s a busy week of economic data, with investors focused on macro data that may not come during the Gov shutdown.

In addition to the above, check out this week's complete list of economic releases.

Links That Don’t Suck 🌐

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⚠️ ‘There will start to be layoffs’ if Trump decides shutdown talks have stalled, Hassett says

🥧 Investors aren’t the market’s biggest loser if Trump, SEC end quarterly reporting

🤷 'All news is good news': Wall Street shrugs off government shutdown, jobs report delay

🪴 Million-dollar homes are the fastest-moving part of the housing market as wealth gap grows

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