Markets
markets
Luke Kawa

US private sector job creation is sputtering

The August non-farm payrolls report showed the private sector added just 118,000 jobs in April, lower than the 140,000 estimate, with downward revisions taking July’s figure down to a paltry 74,000.

On average, private sector job growth is running at a little over 96,000 from June through August. Excluding the COVID-induced job losses, the US economy hasn’t added this few private sector jobs in a three-month span since 2012.

We can’t really hand-wave away prior bouts of weakness as due to bad weather. This is a trend and the latest addition to the pattern of lackluster US jobs data.

Traders are pricing the odds of a 25 versus a 50 basis point cut at this month’s Federal Reserve meeting as a coin flip following this release.

The optimistic spin on the August jobs data is that the unemployment rate edged lower this month (from 4.3% to 4.2%) and initial jobless claims are subdued, with both metrics well below their historical averages. As well, the prime-age employment rate (that is, the share of 25-54 year olds who have a job) is at 80.9%, tying its cycle high. This could lead you to believe that we’re in a state of maximum employment, and simply running out of people to fill the jobs.

But… we have to take off the rose-colored glasses. That line of thinking is completely undermined by the upward trend in the unemployment rate over the past year and a half. That’s telling us a greater share of people who want a job are unable to find one, and is in direct opposition to the idea that the labor market is doing the best it can do.

More Markets

See all Markets
Toby Bochan, Luke Kawa
Market Wrap
15h
S&P 500 ends the week with record closing high

What’s up? Stocks up.

Caricature illustration depicting three French bulls in a field. 'Le Rire' magazine 1902.
markets
Luke Kawa

Opendoor surges on bullish options bets as traders look to potential real estate tokenization

Opendoor Technologies is surging on Friday amid bullish options bets and social media posts referencing unconfirmed rumors about the company.

The stock moved higher in the premarket session after the soft inflation report boosted stocks and briefly pushed long-term bond yields lower (positive for a real estate company). But the real gains came after the opening bell rang and options demand picked up.

As of 12:11 p.m. ET, roughly 664,000 call options have changed hands versus a 10-day average of about 364,000 for a full session.

What seems to be galvanizing members of the “$OPEN Army” is the potential for the company to pursue the tokenization of real-world assets, with Robinhood often bandied about as a potential partner in this endeavor.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Opendoor bulls have often pointed to signs that Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev appears to be fond of the company, from what appeared on-screen during a demo of a social trading feature at HOOD’s conference in Las Vegas in September to offering support to Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian in setting up an opportunity for retail shareholders to ask questions during the online real estate company’s next earnings call.

Opendoor is currently in a quiet period ahead of earnings, which restricts what type of announcements a company can make.

The call options seeing the most demand expire this Friday with strike prices of $8, $8.50, and $9.

Intel Earnings Researchers

Wall Street analysts see some issues with Intel’s earnings

Even with the US government as a partial owner, Intel’s turnaround has a long way to go.

Matt Phillips20h
J. Edward Moreno
20h
Grindr discloses buyout proposal at $18 per share

While two huge shareholders are hoping to buy out Grindr stock at a premium, it was above $20 as recently as July.

LGBTQ Dating App Grindr Goes Public On The NYSE
markets
Luke Kawa

Beyond Meat gains amid slightly better-than-expected Q3 sales, positive commentary on legal issues

Shares of Beyond Meat built on their premarket gains after the plant-based meat seller reported preliminary Q3 sales a bit ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, before paring this advance after the market opened.

For the three months ended September 27, management said net revenue would be approximately $70 million. That’s in line with their guidance range of $68 million to $73 million, but Wall Street was expecting sales to skew toward the lower end of that range, at $68.7 million.

However, its anticipated gross margin of 10% to 11% is lower than analysts had been expecting (13.8%). That’s still the case even adjusting for expenses related to its downsizing of operations in China, which would have left margins around 12% to 13%, per Beyond.

Perhaps more importantly, the company provided positive commentary regarding arbitration discussions with a former co-manufacturer that appear to bring it closer to a resolution while limiting potential damages:

“As previously disclosed, in March 2024, a former co-manufacturer brought an action against the Company in a confidential arbitration proceeding claiming that the Company inappropriately terminated its agreement with the co-manufacturer and claimed damages of at least $73.0 million. On September 15, 2025, the arbitrator issued an interim award (the ‘Interim Award’) and found that the Company had a valid basis to terminate the agreement with the Manufacturer. The details of the Interim Award are confidential, and a final arbitration award has not been issued. Additional proceedings will be held to determine the award of attorneys’ fees, prejudgment interest and costs, if any, before a final arbitration award will be issued. On September 25, 2025, the Manufacturer filed a request with the arbitrator to re-open the arbitration hearing. On September 29, 2025, the Company opposed this request. On October 20, 2025, the arbitrator denied the Manufacturer’s request.”

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.
©2025 Sherwood Media, LLC