MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks slid and the Nasdaq Composite completed its biggest monthly loss since March 2025 after disappointing earnings reports from Amazon and Intel.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields fell after the tech selloff sparked a flight to safety.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar weakened slightly, as traders weighed the impact of market stress on the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose to six-week highs in New York after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi rebels claimed more infrastructure strikes in Saudi Arabia.
HEADLINES
How Binance Is Racing to Cover Losses in the Biggest Heist in Crypto
History
Binance executives are racing to cover billions in losses from the
biggest crypto heist in history, a breach that blew past everything the
exchange had set aside to cover such an incident.
The hackers plundered $6.3 billion from the exchange's digital wallets
by breaking into a Binance engineer's laptop, among other breaches,
Binance said. Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle, along with other
crypto firms, managed to freeze about $3 billion of that sum, leaving
roughly $3.3 billion under the hackers' control.
Binance has an emergency reserve called the Secure Asset Fund for
Users, or SAFU, set up for cyber incidents like this. As of Thursday, the
SAFU held $1.23 billion in bitcoin, blockchain data shows.
Fed Officials Signal More Interest-Rate Increases Ahead, and Markets
Believe It
Three Federal Reserve presidents called for higher interest rates on
Friday, pushing back against Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's more dovish outlook
as persistent inflation raises questions about whether the central bank
has done enough to bring prices under control.
The clear messaging shifts the odds of a December interest rate
increase higher. About 73% of investors anticipate that there will be a
hike at the next meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Their comments came just two days after the Fed voted to hold interest
rates steady at 3.75% to 4.0%. Warsh suggested Wednesday that rates might
already be at an appropriate level, but a growing contingent of
policymakers appears unconvinced.
American Oil Giants See Profits Soar as Wars Crimp Energy Supplies
America's two biggest oil companies banked huge third-quarter profits,
benefiting from the disruption in energy markets after drones took out
major oil refineries in Russia and the Middle East.
The fuel-making divisions at ExxonMobil and Chevron turned in their
highest quarterly earnings ever, while churning out fuel for a global
market buffeted by supply disruptions. Both companies are taking steps to
boost their output of diesel, prices of which hit records in the U.S. in
September.
"The higher fuel prices clearly put real pressure on families and
businesses, and the most meaningful response that we can make to higher
global commodity prices is to pull every lever available to us to
increase supply," Neil Hansen, Exxon's chief financial officer, said.
"That's what we've been doing."
Chinese Executive Close to Nvidia CEO Suspected of Giving China
Information
Officials in the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan have grown concerned that
a data-center industry executive with close ties to Nvidia Chief
Executive Jensen Huang is a Chinese intelligence source, according to
people familiar with the matter, potentially giving Beijing access to
information about the world's most valuable artificial-intelligence
chips.
U.S. officials last year concluded that Chinese citizen Alice Huang,
then a top executive at Megaspeed International, was sharing information
with the Chinese government while working with Nvidia to build data
centers in Asia, the people said. Huang, who also goes by Huang Le, isn't
related to the Nvidia CEO.
Authorities in Singapore, where Megaspeed is based, and in Taiwan had
separately investigated Alice Huang's ties to China, at one point putting
physical surveillance teams on her, some of the people said. Officials
involved in those investigations suspected she was recruited by Chinese
intelligence services after they learned of what they saw as a close
relationship between her and the Nvidia chief, the people said.
Ford CEO Aims for a 20% Sales Jump by 2032
Ford Motor expects to sell 5 million cars a year by early next decade,
Chief Executive Jim Farley told workers this week, a sales volume the
company hasn't reached since before the pandemic.
Farley announced the target-a roughly 20% increase over its current
volume-in a town hall meeting Thursday, saying Ford aims to reach it by
2032, people familiar with the comments said. He said the company will
generate the uptick in sales on the back of several new models in the
coming years, the people said.
The company's global strategy turns on Farley's emphasis to no longer
make "boring" vehicles, which for now has left it without the
budget-friendly small sedans and SUVs it used to give priority to. Farley
has said that making affordable vehicles remains a priority, however, and
Ford is planning to launch five new models priced below $40,000 by the
end of the decade, including an all-electric pickup truck.
Kenvue Profit, Revenue Rise as Turnaround Efforts Continue
Kenvue reported higher profit and revenue, boosted by strength in its
self care and essential health divisions.
The results come as the maker of over-the-counter health products
works to turn around its business ahead of its $40 billion acquisition by
consumer-products company Kimberly-Clark.
The Tylenol and Listerine maker posted a third-quarter profit of $430
million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $398 million, or 21 cents a
share, a year earlier.
AbbVie Revenue Rises on Strength in Immunology, Neuroscience
AbbVie's third-quarter revenue gained, bolstered by higher sales for
its immunology and neuroscience drugs.
The pharmaceutical company also Friday boosted its profit outlook for
the year, and raised its quarterly dividend. Both the third-quarter
results and full-year guidance came in above Wall Street's expectations.
AbbVie's third-quarter revenue rose 10% to $17.4 billion, compared
with FactSet analyst estimates of $17.32 billion.
General Dynamics Logs Higher Profit, Revenue
General Dynamics notched higher profit and revenue in the third
quarter, as performance once again improved across all of the company's
lines of business.
The defense company on Friday posted a profit of $1.23 billion for its
three months ended Oct. 4, compared with $1.06 billion in last year's
comparable period. Quarterly earnings came in at $4.49 a share, ahead of
the $4.12 a share that analysts polled by FactSet had expected.
Revenue climbed 13% to $14.57 billion, topping Wall Street estimates
for $13.72 billion.
Colgate-Palmolive Sales Rise Despite U.S. Consumer Challenges
Colgate-Palmolive logged higher sales in the latest quarter, as
strength in international markets offset continued weakness in North
America, where consumer spending remains under pressure.
The maker of Irish Spring soap and Ajax cleaning products on Friday
reported third-quarter net sales of $5.37 billion, up 4.6% from last year
and ahead of Wall Street estimates. Sales increased across all
geographical regions except North America, where net sales fell 1.7%.
"The U.S. market backdrop remains challenging," Chief Executive Noel
Wallace said. "Consumer behavior is volatile, and sentiment is weak given
increasing fuel prices. Overall, categories remain under pressure."
Canadian National Railway's Profit Rises as Freight Demand Lifts Revenue
Canadian National Railway reported higher third-quarter profit after a
surge in revenue, driven by strong pricing gains across freight segments
and increased shipments of grain, automotive and energy products.
The Canadian railroad on Friday posted a rise in net income to 1.21
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