The S&P 500 ekes out a gain with almost no help from megacap tech

Despite five of the Mag 7 stocks closing lower, the S&P 500 managed to post a gain after struggling for direction.

Investors were optimistic about the government reopening and an end to delays on economic data. Though Microsoft and Nvidia were the only Mag 7 stocks to close higher, the S&P 500 managed to post a gain. The Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 2000 fell. For anyone who cares about a price-weighted index of 30 arbitrary blue-chip companies, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a second consecutive record close.

SPDR Gold Shares ETF rose as many volatile retail darlings were crushed, and the hot momentum-seeking money seems to be flowing out of those speculative pockets of the market and back into gold.

Stocks that moved higher:

On Holding sprinted ahead this morning, as the Swiss running shoe company raised its full-year guidance after reporting record net sales and profitability for the third quarter.
High-flying retail favorite Oklo rose as analysts shrugged off the wider-than-expected loss the developer of modular nuclear reactors reported after the close yesterday.
Advanced Micro Devices rose after CEO Dr. Lisa Su said she sees its AI business growing more than 60% a year for the next three to five years.
US-listed ADRs of Sony reached their highest point since the early 2000s as investors continued to digest yesterday’s second-quarter earnings results.
Shares of Starbucks and Dutch Bros popped after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview that tariff relief on coffee is imminent.
DraftKings ticked up as two of its directors bought over $1 million in company stock yesterday, a vote of confidence that better times are coming for the online sports betting company.

Stocks that moved lower:

Lucid sank following an announcement that it plans to raise $875 million through a private offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031.
Stablecoin issuer Circle reported earnings that beat expectations, but the stock fell as investors didn’t like its forecast for higher expenses.

Cisco reports quarterly results networking equipment

Cisco’s AI orders from hyperscalers accelerate

The networking equipment maker has underperformed rivals amid an explosion in AI-related data center investment.

Matt Phillips3h

Luke Kawa6h

Gold gets to be a meme stock again

A ton of volatile retail darlings are getting crushed on Wednesday.

And the hot momentum-seeking money seems to be flowing out of those speculative pockets of the market and back into gold.

Daily call volumes in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF had already outstripped 1 million by 1:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, roughly triple their 334,000 average over the last 10 full sessions.

As of 1:30 p.m. ET, retail traders had poured $82.4 million into commodity ETFs, per JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain — inflows that are in the 95th percentile relative to their one-year average.

Retail had been exiting gold in late October, per JPMorgan data, after a torrid run in the price action and trading activity in precious metals were exactly what you’d expect from a meme stock.

Analysts shrug off Oklo’s deeper-than-expected loss

They’re giving the company — which still has zero revenue and widening losses — credit for getting crucial support and approvals from the US government.

Matt Phillips7h

Max Knoblauch7h

Lucid on pace for lowest close ever following $875 million debt offering

Shares of luxury EV maker Lucid are down about 97% from their all-time highs in 2021, and the stock isn’t exactly showing signs of improvement.

The stock was down about 6.5% and on pace for its lowest closing price ever Wednesday following an announcement that it plans to raise $875 million through a private offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031. Earlier this year, Lucid raised $1.1 billion through an offering of convertible senior notes due in 2030.

The stock’s previous lowest close ever was September 4, after Lucid executed a big reverse stock split, at $16.16.

In its third-quarter earnings report, which was released last week, Lucid posted an adjusted net loss of more than $828 million, significantly deeper than Wall Street expected. The company reported negative free cash flow of $955 million for the quarter.

Max Knoblauch8h

Sony hits highest point in decades on PS5 sales improvement, cheaper Japan console

US-listed ADRs of Sony reached their highest point since the early 2000s on Wednesday as investors continued to digest the tech giant’s second-quarter earnings results.

On Tuesday, Sony reported that it had sold 3.9 million PlayStation 5s in the quarter ended September 30 — a period that included a $50 US price hike. That sales figure moves the 5-year-old console’s lifetime sales number (now 84.2 million) ahead of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and just shy of the PS3. The PS5 is still narrowly behind the sales pace of the PS4.

During a State of Play showcase on Tuesday evening, Sony announced it would begin selling a Japanese-language-only version of the console for about 25% cheaper than the standard version. The move mirrors Nintendo’s Switch 2 pricing strategy from earlier this year, when it priced the new handheld console about 35% cheaper in Japan than in the US.