Wall St ends higher amid mixed earnings, Trump-Xi meeting confirmed

Wall St ends higher amid mixed earnings, Trump-Xi meeting confirmed

By Stephen Culp

Thu October 23, 2025 5:36 PM  

Yesterday, with the draconian announcement that Trump was curbing electronic exports to China, the whole market tanked, not only due to that but to skepticism that next Tuesday’s Trump-Xi meeting would happen at all. Today came the announcement that the meeting was on and all three indexes soared from the open and all day. Q3 is moving right along with now over a quarter of companies reporting and with 86% beating estimates.  

Wall Street ends lower on mixed earnings, revived US-China trade tensions

Wall Street ends lower on mixed earnings, revived US-China trade tensions

By Stephen Culp

Wed October 22, 2025 4:20 PM  

It was a real rout today with all three indexes going immediately and deeply into the red, some of it triggered by an upcoming inflation report not expected to be good and thus motivating profit-taking. But the sell off was also greatly aggravated by Trump really cranking up the China rhetoric today, this time curbing sales of many U.S. products that contain U.S.-made software.  

Wall Street ends mixed as earnings lift the Dow

Wall Street ends mixed as earnings lift the Dow

By Stephen Culp

Tue October 21, 2025 4:30 PM

Upbeat Q3 reports from industrials shot the Dow right up and it stayed up the whole day, but disappointment from chip companies generated a lot of volatility in tech leaving the Nasdaq down and the S&P near flat. Today’s weakness is explained by today’s expert, “We’re at a little bit of a point of indecision, where nobody feels particularly strongly about anything,” thus muting the reaction to earnings. With the indexes at record highs and valuations stretched, the positive Q3 is no longer sufficient for risk taking.  

Wall St ends sharply higher as earnings optimism fuels risk appetite

Wall St ends sharply higher as earnings optimism fuels risk appetite

By Stephen Culp

Mon October 20, 2025 4:16 PM

All it took was a few more positive Q3 reports to change sentiment to seeing the big sell-off late last week over an impending credit crisis as an overreaction. More positive banking reports came in as well as a big boost from tech which shot all the indexes way up from the outset and staying there all day. This week will also include reports from Tesla, Netflix, IBM, Intel, GM and Ford along with a mix of other high profile industrial firms. More regional bank results are also coming which will hopefully ease the fear of credit stress.  

Wall Street ends higher as investors digest Trump trade comments

Wall Street ends higher as investors digest Trump trade comments

By Noel Randewich and Twesha Dikshit

Fri October 17, 2025 4:43 PM  

It was another herky-jerky day with all the indexes up and down like crazy, but at least they were all mostly in the black all day and closed well above the earlier lows which were near-flat up until about 2 pm when suddenly everything shot up.  There were a couple of triggers to the afternoon rally. First, Trump backed off a little on his China rhetoric in regards to the 100% tariff stating that these would not be sustainable or, in other words, if they happen at all it’ll be very short term. Then there were more Q3 from more regional banks that were not nearly as disappointing as yesterday’s, leading analysts to conclude that there was no serious credit crisis looming or, as one expert put it, “There’s a lot more bark than bite on the credit fears.”  

Wall Street ends down; Zions sparks worries about regional banks

Wall Street ends down; Zions sparks worries about regional banks

By Noel Randewich

Thu October 16, 2025 6:25 PM  

It was another very jagged day but mostly on a downward trajectory as all three indexes went south in a substantial way. Whereas the first two days of Q3 reporting showed the banks and the subsequent economy doing well, that all changed on Day #3 with weak reports from regional banks triggering fears that the resilience may not be there after all, highlighting possible problems in the credit markets. Even AI took a dip today.  

S&P 500 ends higher after strong bank earnings, chip stocks rally

S&P 500 ends higher after strong bank earnings, chip stocks rally

By Noel Randewich

Wed October 15, 2025 7:06 PM  

Volatility was certainly the order of the day with the indexes way up in the morning, the Dow up over 330, only to start a dive around 10 a.m. that continued into a 240 point loss into the red by 1 pm only to bounce back again to break-even a mere hour later and then close basically flat. It’s the continuing tug-of-war between Q3 reporting which so far from the banks has been very positive, and the trade conflict with China.  

Wall Street ends mixed; banks rally on upbeat results

Wall Street ends mixed; banks rally on upbeat results

By Noel Randewich

Tue October 14, 2025 4:28 PM

 

Even though all the indexes started in the red and stayed there most of the morning, at least there was a solid upward trajectory right away that led at least the Dow to an over 400 point gain by 2 pm. Then this afternoon Trump announced not only were the Chinese tariffs back on the table but he was considering ending some trade ties with China altogether, one item being cooking oil.  

Wall Street ends sharply higher on Trump China comments; Broadcom surges

Wall Street ends sharply higher on Trump China comments; Broadcom surges

By Sukriti Gupta and Noel Randewich

Mon October 13, 2025 5:07 PM

The gains today were huge following Friday’s carnage in which Trump announced an additional 100% tariff on China. But today he announced that he was going to South Korea to meet with the Chinese leader to try and iron out differences and that’s all it took for the market to come back big time. Of course the real proof will be in the pudding. Will there be a new agreement after this meeting?  

Wall Street sells off as Trump hits China with more tariffs

Wall Street sells off as Trump hits China with more tariffs

By Stephen Culp

Fri October 10, 2025 6:22 PM  

Yesterday there was the threat of a wildly increased tariff on China. Today the threat became a reality with an extra 100% tariff announced likely at 11 a.m. as that was the precise moment that all three indexes went into freefall resulting in a huge sell off that continued all day. That’s 100% in addition to the already steep tariffs on the world’s second largest economy. Between the two days, the Dow lost over 1100 points, the Nasdaq nearly 840, the S&P a whopping 200+.  This was all completely predictable and should have been a heyday for the short sellers. The damage to tech was enormous, with the chip index falling 6.3%. It was the largest single day percentage drop since the so-called “Liberation Day” April 2^nd, a pullback that took months to recover from.  

Wall Street closes lower, pausing record-setting rally as earnings approach

Wall Street closes lower, pausing record-setting rally as earnings approach

By Stephen Culp

Thu October 9, 2025 7:27 PM

Yesterday it was a straight shot up, today a straight shot down as, after the recent record highs combined with the uncertainty of no data to drive the markets as we are in the ninth day of the shutdown with everyone in pause mode as we await the first Q3 reports next week, there was more than sufficient incentive to take profits today. The exception to this was the Nasdaq that, though there were 3-digit losses all around, the AI driven index managed to recover to near break-even by close.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher as tech strength outweighs Fed concerns

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher as tech strength outweighs Fed concerns

By Stephen Culp

Wed October 8, 2025 4:37 PM

It was a shot straight up for tech continuing to ride the AI craze and pushing the Nasdaq up 3-digits, the S&P and Nasdaq once again achieving new record highs. The Dow was not as lucky, the index pushed up over 200 by noon but then immediately sliding back to close flat. Among other things, one trigger that caused the plunge was a 4.7% dip in home loan demand, this despite the easing interest rates. The shutdown, now in its eighth day, continues to be shrugged off.  

Wall Street retreats from record closing highs as economic worries mount

Wall Street retreats from record closing highs as economic worries mount

By Stephen Culp

Tue October 7, 2025 4:16 PM

The day began with all three indexes ever so modestly in the black but began an immediate withdrawal that sank all three, the Nasdaq down 3-digits, the Dow close to that, reaching a bottom around noon and then staying there all day with no further recovery. With the shutdown depriving analysts of any new data, a lot more uncertainty has been produced about what’s happening and secondary sources must now be used.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq reach all-time closing highs on AI dealmaking boost

S&P 500, Nasdaq reach all-time closing highs on AI dealmaking boost

By Stephen Culp

Mon October 6, 2025 4:20 PM

All the indexes took a shot straight up today putting the S&P and Nasdaq at still new records. The Dow was the exception that took a steep 350-point dive right out the gate but started a recovery as early as 10 a.m. but still never quite made it to breakeven. The shutdown is in its 6^th day and for a 6^th day the markets are shrugging it off, namely due to the impetus of AI, particularly today when chip leader AMD struck a deal with OpenAI that the market liked very much, boosting the chip index by 2.9% and AMD’s stock value by a whopping 23.7%. But, as one expert cautioned, “AI is a wave and waves don’t go on forever; it will eventually crest and decline.  

Dow, S&P 500 manage record closing highs; Nasdaq falls in volatile session

Dow, S&P 500 manage record closing highs; Nasdaq falls in volatile session

By Reuters

Fri October 3, 2025 5:24 PM

In the third day of the shutdown, the resulting analysis paralysis is working to the market’s favor as, even though there was no jobs report today, the assumption of a continuing weakening labor force only bolstered the case for more rate cuts, another example of bad news taken as good news. An October cut is now virtually certain while the odds of a December cut are at a whopping 84%. All three indexes were up in the morning, the Dow up some 530 points by 1 pm, before declining to a much more modest close but still in the black.  

Wall Street closes with records as tech support offsets labor, shutdown uncertainties

Wall Street closes with records as tech support offsets labor, shutdown uncertainties

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Thu October 2, 2025 4:53 PM  

Given the historical track record of government closures not really seriously impacting the stock market, plus the continuing optimism that there will be two more rate cuts this year, the market just keeping pushing up and up. Because of that, the Nasdaq had a better day. But the soft employment numbers we’ve been seeing for a while now plus the shutdown has at least kept the advances elsewhere modest in this already greatly overvalued market. The S&P for instance rose just 4 points but it was already at a 5-year record high so the 4 points sent it to still another record high, as did the Dow.  

Wall Street closes higher, boosted by healthcare as investors shrug off jobs data, US shutdown

Wall Street closes higher, boosted by healthcare as investors shrug off jobs data, US shutdown

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Wed October 1, 2025 4:38 PM  

The groundwork had already been laid for a boost in healthcare stocks when Trump announced yesterday he had a deal with drugmakers to lower their prices for Medicaid. Today that modest boost was apparently all investors cared about as sentiment returned today to brush off the government shutdown and even ignore a weak payrolls report that showed 85,000 fewer jobs than forecast. To be fair, history is on our side. According to Deutsche Bank, the markets have historically been resilient during closures, the S&P rising in each of the last six shutdowns.