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Wall Street opened mixed Friday after a blowout October jobs report showed hiring far stronger than economists expected. The economy added 165,000 jobs last month – nearly triple the roughly 59,000 economists forecast – and the unemployment rate slipped to 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The Nasdaq Composite bounced 1.2% to 24,601.93 and the S&P 500 rose 0.38% to 7,381.99 in early trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 449.65 points, or 0.87%, to 51,073.41 as of 9:36 a.m. Eastern.

By 10 a.m. the bounce had broadened: the Nasdaq Composite traded up 1.7% at 24,732.09, the S&P 500 up 0.9% at 7,421.33, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average pared most of its opening loss to trade down 127.38 points, or 0.2%, at 51,395.68 as of 10:01 a.m. Eastern. Figures are intraday snapshots.

Job gains were led by professional and business services with 70,000, followed by health care at 42,000, transportation and warehousing at 25,000 and manufacturing at 19,000. August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000 – August to 186,000 and September to 60,000. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% on the month and 3.1% from a year ago, and 421,000 people joined the labor force, lifting participation to 61.9%, according to the report’s breakdown.

That strength is exactly what makes the open a split screen. The 10-year Treasury yield rose about 3 basis points to 4.87% as the numbers landed, while traders increased bets on a December rate hike, according to CME FedWatch data cited in the jobs report coverage. The Dow lagged even as growth stocks climbed.

Technology led the upside. Nvidia jumped about 6% to $192.92 in early trading, extending a premarket rebound across chip stocks after Thursday’s rout sent the Nasdaq Composite to its steepest one-day drop in 19 months and confirmed its second correction of the year. The index closed Thursday 11.9% below its October 6 record.

What it means for you: the jobs number is good news for paychecks – hiring tripled expectations, unemployment ticked down, and the civilian labor force expanded by 421,000. The flip side runs through borrowing costs: hot hiring and faster wage growth push Treasury yields up, which is why the 30-year mortgage rate – 7.18% in this week’s Freddie Mac survey, down three weeks running – could face renewed upward pressure if rates rise. For retirement savers, tech-heavy funds are bouncing this morning after yesterday’s selloff.

Market Level Change As of (ET)
Dow Jones 51,073.41 -449.65 (-0.87%) 9:36 a.m.
S&P 500 7,381.99 +28.26 (+0.38%) 9:36 a.m.
Nasdaq Composite 24,601.93 +286.94 (+1.18%) 9:36 a.m.
Nvidia $192.92 +6.23% 9:36 a.m.
10-Year Treasury 4.87% +3 bps 9:36 a.m.

Early reads from market data pages, Friday, Nov. 6. Movers shown in the chart below.

Stock and index changes as of 9:36 a.m. Eastern on November 6, 2026
Chart: JBizNews Desk

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Americans poured money into cash-like savings at the fastest pace in six months last week, a sign of caution ahead of the midterm elections and over heavy AI spending by big technology companies.

U.S. money-market funds took in a net $117.97 billion in the week ended November 4, the largest weekly inflow since May 6, according to LSEG Lipper data reported by Reuters.

For savers, the flows show investors parking cash in money-market funds – a common destination for money people want to keep accessible while earning yield – rather than committing it to stocks or bonds during an uncertain stretch.

It was not a retreat from stocks altogether. U.S. equity funds drew a net $14.81 billion in the same week, reversing the prior week’s $6.54 billion outflow, as falling energy prices and a pullback in Treasury yields from their October highs supported sentiment. Bond funds took in a net $7.31 billion, a four-week high.

The survey week ended Wednesday – before Thursday’s stock-market rout, when the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow fell 5.52%, 4.36% and 3.44%. The caution showing up in the flows was tied to Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House, and to concerns that regulatory scrutiny and continued AI cash burn at major tech companies could slow the sector’s expansion, Reuters reported.

Within equity funds, large-cap funds drew a net $10.35 billion while investors sold mid-cap and sector funds tied to technology, industrials and communication services. Financial and health-care funds attracted inflows.

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Commerzbank said Thursday it is convinced a tie-up with UniCredit can create value, striking a warmer tone on the Italian bank’s approach as the German lender posted a 45% jump in third-quarter profit.

“We are convinced that together with UniCredit, we can create value by consistently leveraging the strengths of both banks,” Chief Executive Bettina Orlopp said as the bank reported results, according to Reuters.

Net profit rose to 859 million euros in the third quarter from 591 million a year earlier, slightly below the 864 million euro consensus forecast published by the bank, its earnings report shows. Nine-month profit climbed 41% to a record 2.67 billion euros.

The bank trimmed its 2026 net interest income forecast to 8.5 billion euros from 8.6 billion, citing intense competition for deposits.

Commerzbank said it expects UniCredit’s takeover offer to be completed “in the coming months,” subject to further approvals. The deal is not done: the European Central Bank cleared UniCredit’s stake above the key threshold on October 15, and remaining approvals are expected in the fourth quarter or early 2027. UniCredit has disclosed control of a nearly 48% stake in Commerzbank, built through its roughly 45 billion euro approach.

The friendlier tone marks a shift after months in which Commerzbank resisted any takeover. Tensions remain: UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel does not want Orlopp to stay on as Commerzbank CEO and opposes the German government keeping two supervisory board seats, according to Reuters. Berlin still holds a 13.3% stake acquired through a bailout during the financial crisis, and employees worry about job cuts.

JBizNews Desk | Frankfurt, Germany

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Tel Aviv stocks closed Friday sharply higher, recouping a large part of the prior two days’ losses: the TA-35 jumped 3.09%, the TA-125 rose 2.81% and the TA-90 added 1.84%. Among the sector indexes, banks led with a 4.48% surge, followed by finance, up 4.25%, insurance, up 3.98%, and defense, up 3.37%.

The TA-35 had its strongest day since March and the TA-125 its best since May, according to Globes’ Friday closing update at 2 p.m. Israel time (7 a.m. Eastern). Even after the rebound, all three major indexes finished the week down about 2.9% to 3%.

For the week, technology shares fell 6.6%, insurance lost 5.2%, oil and gas dropped 3.2% and construction declined 3.5%, Globes reported. Banks were the only sector index to finish higher, gaining 1.8%. The dollar traded around NIS 3.19 as of that 2 p.m. Israel-time update.

Trading opened with moderate gains, and the advance accelerated after Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman said there was no choice but to compromise on a series of issues, including the military draft law, in order to form a government, Ynet reported. Immediately afterward, the chairman of the Democrats issued a statement saying there was “real progress” toward forming a government.

Tel Aviv stocks fell sharply in Thursday morning trading, with defense and technology shares leading the decline, Globes reported as of 10:25 a.m. Israel time.

The TA-35 index was down about 1.6% and the TA-90 about 1.1%, while the defense and technology indexes each fell more than 2% and the bank index was close to 2% lower. El Al shares were falling after the airline reported earnings at 10:00 a.m., the report said.

The drop in Israeli defense stocks matched losses in defense companies globally, as investors weighed whether a Democratic Congress could limit or slow U.S. defense spending. Chip and technology shares fell after Wall Street’s semiconductor selloff on concerns the new Congress could move to restrict data centers and AI infrastructure.

The TA-35 closed Thursday down 3.69%, completing a two-day drop of about 5.6%, and the TA-125 lost 3.38%. Thursday morning figures were intraday moves. The declines follow a two-year rally in Israeli defense stocks and come as dual-listed companies weighed on trading. Thursday’s equity turnover reached about NIS 19.4 billion, the second-highest of the past decade, which Maariv attributed to index rebalancing as index and tracking funds adjusted their holdings.

JBizNews Desk | Tel Aviv

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U.S. stock futures held most of their early moves after a blowout October jobs report Friday, with technology shares pointing to a rebound a day after the artificial-intelligence trade’s worst rout in years.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.4% and S&P 500 futures added 0.1% in early trading Friday, while Dow futures fell about 528 points, or 1.1%, as the strong jobs report sent Treasury yields higher and held back gains, according to CNBC’s live market coverage. The benchmark 10-year yield rose about 6 basis points to roughly 4.90%, the 30-year about 5 basis points to roughly 5.30% and the 2-year about 6 basis points to roughly 4.54%.

The economy added 165,000 jobs in October, nearly triple the roughly 59,000 economists expected, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000. Read the full JBizNews jobs report.

Chip stocks extended a premarket rebound that began well before the 8:30 data. Lam Research surged about 11% before the open after its board approved a $25 billion share repurchase authorization and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 a share, the company announced. Micron Technology jumped 9% and Nvidia rose 3% in early trading Friday.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite posted its steepest one-day drop in 19 months and closed nearly 12% below its October 6 record, putting it in correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,833 points, or 3.4%, and the S&P 500 lost about 4.4% in its worst day since April 2025.

What the jobs report means

The strong hiring reading gives the Federal Reserve more room to keep raising interest rates – a scenario that could mean more pressure on stocks. The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points in September, and traders had been pricing in a better-than-65% chance of a December hike ahead of the report, according to CME FedWatch data cited in early market coverage.

Weekly jobless claims fell to 189,000 in the week ended October 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. The report breaks a long stretch of slow hiring but few layoffs, with employers reluctant both to add staff and to cut workers.

Homebuyers enter the day with mortgage rates lower for a third straight week. The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 7.18% as of November 5, down from 7.24% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s survey.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Asian stock markets tumbled Friday as Wall Street’s artificial intelligence selloff swept across the region, knocking Tokyo’s Nikkei below 60,000 for the first time in nearly half a year, triggering a circuit breaker in Seoul and sending Taiwan’s benchmark to its fourth-largest single-day point loss.

The Nikkei 225 closed down 5.96% at 57,434.77, a 3,643.13-point loss that ranks as its third-largest single-day point drop on record and its lowest close since mid-April. SoftBank Group and memory-chip maker Kioxia each fell more than 10% intraday, while chip-testing firm Advantest dropped more than 8%.

South Korea’s Kospi plunged more than 8% after the open, tripping a 20-minute trading halt, before recovering to close down 6.02% at 5,059.69 as the finance minister temporarily eased rules on retail investors’ leveraged bets. SK Hynix closed down 10.44% and Samsung Electronics 6.35%, and the Kospi has now lost almost half its value since hitting a record in mid-June. In Taipei, TSMC recovered from an earlier 10% decline, the maximum daily drop allowed, to close down 4.69%, and the Taiex ended down 1,873 points, or 4.51%, at 39,701.64, its fourth-largest single-day point loss, after the finance ministry called in state-owned bank executives to support the market. For the week the Taiex lost 12.2%, its biggest weekly decline since 1991.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell about 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite about 1.1% in afternoon trading, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.5% lower at 9,020.80. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down more than 2% by late morning, with semiconductor firms AEM Holdings and UMS Integration falling as much as 13% and 15.2% intraday.

The rout followed Wall Street’s worst session in months. The Nasdaq fell 5.5% Thursday, its steepest percentage drop since April 2025, while the S&P 500 lost more than 4% and the Dow more than 3%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has collapsed about 16% this week, its worst run since April of last year.

Investors are pricing in the risk that Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories will bring tougher regulation of artificial intelligence and new curbs on data-center construction, a buildout that has powered markets to record highs. Many midterm winners campaigned on slowing such projects, and Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for a national moratorium on data-center construction.

“The blood is in the streets, folks,” said Neil Wilson of Saxo Markets. “The fear is a total momentum unwind as Democrats pace the frontier and kibosh data centre buildout… this looks totally overdone but the nature of sell-everything of this market means we need to look for some stability first.”

Michael Hewson of MCH Market Insights said the Texas results added a specific worry: that politicians there might target Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX over his support for President Donald Trump.

JBizNews Desk | Tokyo

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China’s three biggest state-owned airlines reported third-quarter results showing profits nearly wiped out, with one carrier swinging to a loss, as surging jet fuel prices drove up operating costs.

Air China’s quarterly filing shows net profit attributable to shareholders of 270.6 million yuan (about $38 million) for the three months ended September 30, down 92.6% from a year earlier.

Profits nearly erased

China Eastern’s filing shows net profit of 64 million yuan for the quarter, down 98.2% from a year earlier.

China Southern fared worst of the three, swinging to a 609 million yuan net loss for the quarter from a 3.84 billion yuan profit in the same period last year.

For the first nine months of the year, the three carriers posted combined net losses attributable to shareholders of about 8.4 billion yuan (about $1.2 billion): 4.31 billion yuan at China Southern, 2.12 billion yuan at China Eastern and 2.02 billion yuan at Air China.

Fuel costs squeeze margins

The profit collapse came even as revenue grew at all three carriers. Air China’s third-quarter revenue rose 5.4% to 51.7 billion yuan, China Eastern’s climbed 8.2% to 42.8 billion yuan and China Southern’s added 2.3% to 52.5 billion yuan.

China Eastern said in its filing that crude oil prices fluctuating at high levels in the Middle East caused a significant surge in jet fuel prices, directly driving up operating costs and weighing on results. China Southern likewise blamed the adverse impact of volatile fuel prices for its operating loss.

Full-year outlook

The nine-month losses put all three carriers on course for annual deficits. Any full-year figures remain forecasts, not final results, until the companies publish audited annual reports early next year.

JBizNews Desk | Beijing

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World Liberty Financial plans to buy back its WLFI governance token, with possible funding from fees earned on the reserves behind its USD1 stablecoin and other sources, as the Trump-family-backed crypto venture seeks to strengthen participation among long-term holders.

The company announced the buyback plan Thursday evening. It said purchases would begin with an initial allocation and that it would evaluate the program over time, making buybacks an ongoing part of its strategy.

As of Friday, WLFI was down about 10% since Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections and more than 60% this year. The token’s decline has added pressure on a venture whose business includes both the governance token and the USD1 stablecoin.

Reserve earnings could fund purchases

The proposed funding would draw on fees or revenue generated by USD1’s reserves, alongside other potential sources. The company described an initial allocation rather than setting a fixed spending target for the program.

WLFI said its goal is to encourage active participation in governance and concentrate more voting power among committed long-term holders. It said the pace and scale of purchases would be guided by growth in the ecosystem and their effect on governance participation.

“We intend for buybacks to be an ongoing part of our long-term strategy with the pace and scale guided by ecosystem growth and impact on governance participation,” the company said.

A new round after earlier buybacks

The latest plan follows earlier purchases. In April, World Liberty disclosed past buybacks totaling $65.6 million in the open market over the preceding six months. That figure refers to the earlier activity, separate from the new program.

World Liberty was co-founded in 2024 by President Donald Trump, his three sons and a group of partners. The Trump family owns 38% of the venture, whose WLFI token gives holders a role in its governance.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Equinix says its smaller data centers could be less exposed to potential U.S. construction restrictions as regulators scrutinize the rapid buildout of artificial-intelligence infrastructure, its Asia-Pacific president says.

The company’s facilities typically range from 30 to 60 megawatts, below the roughly 100-megawatt threshold that U.S. proposals generally target, Cyrus Adaggra, Equinix’s Asia-Pacific president, said. The assessment is the company’s own; the proposals and their thresholds are not settled law.

“We will invest in markets where we see customer demand,” Adaggra said, adding that the company’s footprint typically falls under the thresholds regulators have discussed.

Capex rises on customer demand

Equinix has increased capital spending from about $2 billion a few years ago to $7 billion, driven by customer demand, Adaggra said. Annualized gross bookings exceeded $500 million for the first time in the third quarter, up 35% from a year earlier. The company serves about 60% of Fortune 500 companies, he added.

Potential restrictions on U.S. data center development could raise costs across the AI infrastructure supply chain, and slower U.S. construction could weigh on demand for semiconductors and other equipment, including from Asian suppliers, according to Russell Investments.

JBizNews Desk | Ashburn

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Elon Musk’s paper wealth fell about $113 billion over two days as Tesla and SpaceX shares slid following Democrats’ midterm-election sweep, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.

Musk lost about $33.5 billion on Wednesday and another $79.7 billion in Thursday’s selloff, as of the Nov. 5 market close. Tesla shares fell 3.3% and SpaceX shares fell 3.8% on Wednesday even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its best day after a midterm election in 44 years. On Thursday the Dow gave back those gains, falling 1,833 points, about 3.5%, in a broader technology-stock selloff that took the S&P 500 down about 4.4% and the Nasdaq about 5.5%.

About $456 billion in company value erased

Combined, the two companies’ market value fell from about $3.5 trillion to about $3.04 trillion over the two days, a loss of roughly $456 billion, the companies’ closing values show. Tesla ended the two days at about $1.36 trillion in market value, about 86% of its level before the slide, and SpaceX at about $1.68 trillion, about 87%.

Investors are weighing the prospect of closer congressional scrutiny of Musk’s businesses after Democrats’ election gains. Democrats have signaled plans to investigate Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and potential conflicts of interest, as SpaceX holds billions of dollars in federal contracts. A spokesperson for Rep. Robert Garcia, the incoming House Oversight Committee chair, said last month that Musk’s DOGE role “is something we plan to investigate.”

“The nail that sticks out gets hammered first, and Musk has certainly stuck out,” Keith Snyder, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said. Snyder called the selloff a “knee-jerk reaction” to the election, noting that President Donald Trump retains veto power over major AI restrictions and remains friendly toward Musk.

Musk spent an estimated $427.5 million to $483 million backing Republicans in the midterms, the spending estimates show.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in front of displayed Binance logo in this illustration taken November 10, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)

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REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO

North Korea rewards its top hackers, tasked with heists like the Binance crypto hack that netted a cool $6.3 billion, with perks such as a spacious apartment in the capital of Pyongyang and huge hard currency awards, despite grueling hours of work.

Leader Kim Jong Un has assembled an army of world-class hackers using such incentives in a program more than a decade old that picks 200 of the smartest middle school students each year to study computer engineering, defectors and analysts say.

A fraction eventually become hackers in an investment that has paid off dramatically, as the group has evolved from the early days when it ran illegal gambling websites to pulling off the world’s biggest cyber heist last month.

“They are actually one of Kim Jong Un’s secret weapons,” said Kim Heung-kwang, a North Korean defector who trained hackers on behalf of the state before fleeing to South Korea in 2004.

“There is no other country grooming hackers like this, systematically searching for the smartest children, solely to turn them into operatives,” he added. “Whether they want to be a hacker or not does not matter.”

FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in front of displayed Binance logo in this illustration taken November 10, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)

What happened in the Binance hack?

The FBI and Binance have said North Korea was responsible for the Binance hack, but Pyongyang has denied that. Blockchain investigation firms have attributed it to a North Korean group known as “TraderTraitor.”

The denial is part of a pattern in which the North dismisses such blame over the years as fabricated political provocations.

North Korea set up a cyber unit in 1998 but elevated its status after Kim came to power and declared in 2013 that cyber warfare was, along with nuclear weapons and missiles, an “all-purpose sword” crucial to the country’s strike capability.

Candidate selection begins in middle school as early as 11 or 12 years of age, with authorities picking about 150 to 200 children a year to study computer science, said Kim Heung-kwang, the former trainer, and two defectors who worked in IT.

At 17, the top performers are sent to North Korea’s best universities and undergo further screening before a chosen few finally enter the military’s cyber unit as hackers, they added.

They are trained in areas such as cryptocurrency protocols and reverse-engineering foreign hardware devices, in addition to more conventional topics such as advanced mathematics and foreign languages, one of them said.

Those who do not become hackers are trained to develop software or apps for Western firms via remote jobs.

“While South Korea’s best students may pursue medicine or other prestigious careers, North Korea channels top talent into nuclear and cyber programs and essentially guarantees their future,” said Lim Jongin, professor emeritus at the school of cybersecurity at Korea University.

Other privileges on tap for the hackers are travel abroad to allied countries, such as China, where they can more freely access the internet.

Successful exploits can earn as much as 30% of the heist’s profits in US dollars for the hackers’ military unit, and they can even receive a flat in the capital where their parents can also stay, Kim said.

“There are accounts that successful cyber personnel are given apartments in Pyongyang,” Lim said, adding that the flats could range to as much as 132 sq m (1,420 sq ft).

Such performers are also eligible for membership of the ruling party and high-status marriages into elite families, said one of the defectors.

But it is a small group. The North’s cyberwarfare operations employ about 8,400 people, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated in 2024.

North Korean state media do not publicly celebrate such hackers’ achievements, but they regularly highlight students who show talent for programming.

In 2015, North Korea opened the Mirae Scientists Street in the capital, in the construction of which Kim Jong Un had been closely involved, state media said.

Hackers’ formal designation in the North was “scientist” or “researcher,” said one of the defectors.

Other hacking groups associated with North Korea include the Lazarus Group, also known as APT38, which the US accused in 2022 of having stolen hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from the Ronin blockchain network. The FBI has said TraderTraitor is affiliated with Lazarus.

State backing makes the North’s hackers more dangerous and harder to repel, as they face no consequences for hack after hack, enabling them to perfect their strategies, analysts said.

“In the world of cybercrime, often, if you make a mistake … that is all law enforcement needs to get you,” said Alec Zebrick, senior manager for Asia-Pacific global services at Chainalysis.

But North Korea’s hackers “are doing this for the regime, so they’re going to continue, even after successes,” he added.

“Even after failures, they’ll continue, because it’s very hard for the international community to take action against them.”

North Korean hackers use AI to fake their identities

Other groups that have engaged with North Korean IT workers who earn funds for the Kim regime by landing remote technology jobs at Western companies describe them as highly organized, polite in their interactions, and avid users of AI.

“There clearly was a structure you would see in military. Strict times, cleaning boots, very orderly,” said YouTuber Deeveeaar, who has claimed to have hacked into cameras watching North Korean IT workers at their jobs.

“To say they ‘use a lot of AI’ is an understatement. AI is the very backbone of their operation,” he said, citing the use of paid ChatGPT accounts, Claude Code and Cursor, among many AI tools.

“They write code with it, alter their resumes and help make new ones. And even forge documents and identities.”

Binance said the hackers used a bogus job interview and software hidden in an advertisement to compromise staffers’ computers before using an internal AI tool to seize control of systems.

In 2025, a sanctions monitoring team drawn from 11 United Nations members said TraderTraitor had obtained both ChatGPT and DeepSeek accounts.

Yet the lifestyle of a hacker or elite technology worker for North Korea is grueling, particularly when given a mission or sent abroad, say former IT workers and human rights groups.

Living in cramped spaces, often working stretches longer than 10 hours a day, constant surveillance and strict targets are among the downsides, said former IT workers interviewed for a report last year by advocacy group PSCORE.

“There is always pressure to keep earning money,” said the group’s executive director, Nam Bada. “The stress is extreme, and because of the psychological strain people develop health problems they didn’t have before.”

IT workers must meet a monthly target in dollars, or face humiliation and other punishments, he said.

Still, the hackers’ success is likely to embolden the North Korean leader as they get better and grow more ambitious, analysts say.

“We see more and more them leaning towards what we call ‘big game hunting’,” said Zebrick.

“So they’re targeting some of these larger organizations, potentially have larger vaults of funds, that they could potentially get. These are harder targets,” he added.

“However, as we can see with the Binance case, the payout certainly can make it worth their time.”

This post was originally published on here. 

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Photo: Stanislav Kondratiev / Pexels

JFrog raised its full-year outlook Thursday after third-quarter revenue grew 31%, with cloud sales and spending by large enterprise customers driving growth at the software supply-chain company.

Revenue reached $179.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, while adjusted earnings were 32 cents a share, the company’s November 5 results announcement shows. GAAP earnings were 5 cents a share.

Shares jumped more than 20% in after-hours trading following the results. The move was an after-hours snapshot, following the regular trading session.

Cloud business accounts for most revenue

Cloud revenue increased 60% from a year earlier to $101.5 million, representing 57% of total revenue compared with 46% a year earlier. The number of customers with annual recurring revenue above $1 million rose to 112 from 71, an increase of 58%.

Trailing four-quarter net dollar retention reached 124%, up from 118%. The measure reflects how spending by an existing group of customers changes over time, including expansions and reductions.

JFrog’s platform helps companies manage, secure and distribute software components and AI assets. For businesses buying those tools, the results show rising spending on the infrastructure used to control software delivery as developers and AI systems produce more code.

“AI agents are writing code faster than any developer can review it. Every output becomes an artifact that must be stored, secured, and governed,” CEO and co-founder Shlomi Ben Haim said in the company’s release.

Full-year outlook rises

JFrog now expects full-year revenue of $680 million to $682 million and adjusted earnings of $1.14 to $1.16 a share, the company’s release distributed by Business Wire shows. The previous forecasts were $648 million to $652 million in revenue and adjusted earnings of 96 cents to $1 a share.

For the fourth quarter, JFrog forecasts revenue of $183 million to $185 million and adjusted earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share.

The company generated $69.3 million in operating cash flow and $66.5 million in free cash flow during the third quarter. Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $880.9 million at September 30.

JBizNews Desk | Israel Business & Technology

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A Securities and Exchange Commission proposal addressing how broker-dealer financial and recordkeeping rules apply to crypto assets has reached White House regulatory review, a federal review record shows.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs received the proposal on November 3. The record lists it as a proposed rule under pending Executive Order 12866 review and classifies it as economically significant.

Financial responsibility and records

The proposal is titled “Amendments to Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility and Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules Regarding Crypto Assets” and carries regulatory identification number 3235-AN48.

The SEC’s regulatory agenda entry says its Division of Trading and Markets is considering recommending changes to Rules 15c3-1 and 15c3-3 and other broker-dealer financial responsibility rules, along with Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4, to address their application to crypto assets.

The review puts the rules governing brokers’ handling of crypto assets on the federal rulemaking agenda, connecting digital-asset activity with the financial safeguards and records firms maintain. The docket remains at the proposal stage and lists no legal deadline.

JBizNews Desk | Business & Crypto

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Photo: U.S. Senate

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is expected to chair the Senate Banking Committee when Democrats take control of the chamber in January, putting a prominent critic of Wall Street and industry-backed crypto legislation in line for one of Washington’s most influential financial oversight roles.

Reuters reports that Warren is the frontrunner to lead the panel after the Democratic congressional sweep. Her selection remains pending. The committee’s current leadership page still lists Republican Tim Scott as chairman and Warren as ranking member.

Wall Street prepares for closer oversight

For banks, crypto companies and investors, the change would put decisions on hearings and proposed financial legislation under a different leadership team. The committee’s official remit includes banking, insurance, financial markets, securities and economic policy.

Reuters reports that banks are preparing for closer scrutiny of consumer fees, lending practices and the effects of looser financial oversight. Financial-services firms have been assessing their dealings with the Trump administration and identifying areas that could draw congressional interest, according to attorneys and advisers cited in the report.

Crypto legislation faces a different chair

Warren’s position could make the next round of crypto legislation more contentious. In September remarks published by the committee, she opposed the Republican-led Digital Asset Market Clarity Act while calling for a bipartisan crypto bill.

Her stated objections included investor protection, financial stability, national security and conflicts of interest. Those positions point to a fight over the terms of regulation as Democrats prepare to set the committee’s agenda.

JBizNews Desk | Crypto & Washington

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Archive photo: Steve Jurvetson / CC BY 2.0

Tesla and SpaceX shares fell again Thursday as investors weighed the prospect of tighter oversight of Elon Musk’s businesses following Democrats’ election gains, with the losses unfolding during a broader technology-stock selloff.

Business Insider and CNBC both reported a second day of pressure on the companies, pointing to investor concerns about future policy and congressional scrutiny.

Texas computing plans face political uncertainty

One focus is Texas, where both companies are based and have plans for additional computing infrastructure. CNBC reported that Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned for stronger controls on data-center development, including protections covering water use, electricity costs, local authority and incentives.

Deutsche Bank analysts said the political shift could bring delays or additional costs for SpaceX’s Texas computing expansion, according to CNBC. The analysts said tighter regulations could raise the cost of building data-center capacity.

Merger scrutiny adds another question

A possible combination of Tesla and SpaceX is another source of uncertainty. Investors interviewed by Business Insider said the election result could increase scrutiny of any proposed transaction. Shareholder approval would be required for a merger, CNBC reported.

For people holding the stocks directly or through investment funds, the immediate impact is a lower quoted value for those holdings. The longer-term business questions concern project approvals, infrastructure costs and any future congressional demands for documents or testimony.

The latest market move is separate from the FAA’s proposed launch-rule changes, which concern commercial spaceflight approvals.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Step 1: What is changing?

The IRS is raising the income limits for the 0% tax rate on most long-term investment profits in 2027. For single filers, the limit rises to $51,050 of total taxable income. This is an annual inflation adjustment, not a new 0% tax rate on salaries.

Step 2: Is this for profits or salary?

It is for qualifying capital gains: profit from selling stock or other investments held for more than a year. It is not a 0% tax rate on your salary. Wages still follow the regular income-tax brackets.

Step 3: Why does my salary matter?

Think of the income limit as a bucket. Your other taxable income, including wages, goes in first. Investment profits go in after that. Only the profits that fit under the limit get the 0% rate.

Step 4: A simple example

Single and selling stock? If your income after deductions is $45,000 and you make a $6,050 long-term profit, you would pay $0 in federal capital-gains tax on that profit in 2027.

Why? Add the two amounts: $45,000 + $6,050 = $51,050. That is the new top of the 0% band for a single filer. Your other income still faces the usual income-tax rules.

The key is taxable income: income left after deductions. A $45,000 gross salary is different. First subtract the deductions you qualify for, then work out how much room is left for gains.

This chart shows how other taxable income fills the band first, with investment profit stacked on top.

2027 single-filer example: $45,000 ordinary taxable income plus $6,050 long-term gains fills the $51,050 zero-rate band.

Who gets the 0% rate?

The IRS’s 2027 limits depend on how you file your return. Count your other taxable income and your gains together. This is not a separate allowance for tax-free stock profits.

For most long-term gains, the part that fits below the first limit gets the 0% rate. The next part gets 15%, up to the second limit. The part above that generally gets 20%.

Long-term usually means you owned the investment for more than one year before selling it, as the IRS explains.

Filing status Maximum 0% amount Maximum 15% amount
Single and other individuals $51,050 $563,200
Married filing jointly and surviving spouses $102,100 $633,600
Head of household $68,350 $598,400
Married filing separately $51,050 $316,800

These are the old and new income limits for single filers and married couples filing jointly.

2026 and 2027 total taxable-income ceilings for single filers and married couples filing jointly.

What changed from 2026?

A single filer’s 0% limit rises from $49,450 in 2026 to $51,050 in 2027. For a married couple filing jointly, it rises from $98,900 to $102,100. The IRS’s 2026 limits show the starting point.

These are annual inflation adjustments, not new tax rates. The usual rates stay 0%, 15% and 20%. The higher limits give some investors more room to sell at a profit before a higher rate applies.

The next chart keeps income and profits the same in each year. It shows how the bigger 0% band can mean less federal tax on the profit. The IRS’s 2025 limits provide the first year’s figures.

For a single filer with the same income and profit each year, the federal tax on the profit falls from $405 to $240 to $0.

Single-filer example: federal tax on $6,050 long-term gains is $405 in 2025, $240 in 2026 and zero in 2027.

For a married couple filing jointly with the same income and profit each year, the tax on the profit falls from $810 to $480 to $0.

Joint-filer example: federal tax on $12,100 long-term gains is $810 in 2025, $480 in 2026 and zero in 2027.

Higher income? An extra tax may apply

Some investors also pay the Net Investment Income Tax, or NIIT. It is an extra 3.8% tax on certain investment income, including some capital gains.

It can apply when modified adjusted gross income, called MAGI, is above these amounts:

  • $200,000 for a single filer or head of household.
  • $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse.
  • $125,000 for a married person filing separately.

MAGI is an income figure calculated before the standard or itemized deduction, with certain adjustments. It is different from the taxable income used in the capital-gains table.

The extra tax is 3.8% of whichever amount is smaller: your net investment income, or the amount your MAGI is above the limit. It does not automatically apply to all your income.

This extra tax is separate from the capital-gains rates above.

The extra 3.8% net investment income tax can apply above the modified adjusted gross income threshold.

The standard deduction rises, too

A deduction lowers the income you pay tax on. For 2027, the standard deduction rises to $16,600 for single filers and $33,200 for married couples filing jointly, the IRS announced.

The 2027 rules generally apply to tax returns filed in 2028. If you are planning an investment sale, check the year of the sale, your filing status, deductions and other income.

JBizNews Desk | Taxes & Investing

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Photo: U.S. Senate/Dan Rios

Sen. Ron Wyden says he plans to press Wall Street bankers for answers about their dealings with Jeffrey Epstein when Democrats take control of the Senate, putting JPMorgan Chase’s past relationship with the financier back in the congressional spotlight.

“I have a list of Wall Street bankers who need to answer questions,” Wyden said in a Thursday statement reported by POLITICO. “As Finance Committee chair, every tool will be on the table to get answers.”

Wyden is currently the Senate Finance Committee’s top Democrat and is expected to lead the panel in the next Congress. He plans to build on an inquiry he has led for four years.

JPMorgan executives face closer scrutiny

CNBC reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the committee’s thinking, that Democratic staffers intend to focus on decisions made by senior JPMorgan executives, including Mary Callahan Erdoes, who leads its asset and wealth management division. CNBC said that specific probe had not been formally announced.

In an August 4 report announcement, Wyden’s office said its staff had spent four years reviewing suspicious-activity reports, court records and information sought from banks and the Treasury Department. The senator’s report alleged failures by banks to report suspicious transactions and called for changes to federal anti-money-laundering rules.

Bank rejects allegations it assisted crimes

JPMorgan disputes that it helped Epstein commit crimes. In a statement reported by POLITICO and the New York Post, the bank said the government possessed information about Epstein that it had not shared with banks, adding: “We regret any association we had with him, but we did not help him commit his crimes.”

For the banking industry, Wyden’s planned oversight raises the prospect of congressional testimony, document demands and renewed scrutiny of anti-money-laundering controls.

JBizNews Desk | Washington & Wall Street

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Hedge funds are cutting investment positions and staff as market pressure builds, The Wall Street Journal reported in a report listed by BizToc. Stock-picking funds unwound positions last month at their fastest pace in more than a decade, according to the Journal’s report.

The retrenchment began before Thursday’s steep stock-market drop. It points to strain inside professional money managers, where reducing risk can mean selling investments, closing teams or returning capital to clients.

Walleye cuts its stock-picking operation

In independently reported evidence of the pullback, Business Insider reported that $17 billion Walleye Capital was parting with its equity long-short leadership and a substantial portion of that business’s investment teams after losing 5.9% in October.

Business Insider said it reviewed a letter from chief executive and chief investment officer Will England. The firm described the changes as a simplification of its internal stock-picking business. Remaining internal teams would report to England, and Walleye planned to continue using outside stock managers.

Risk reduction reaches beyond trading desks

The changes affect how some professional investors staff and finance their strategies. Selling positions lowers a fund’s market exposure, while reducing teams changes who makes investment decisions and which strategies receive resources.

For households following the market, the performance of funds held in a 401(k) or IRA depends on their own investments. The institutional pullback adds another development to watch alongside company earnings, interest rates and the broad stock-market decline.

JBizNews Desk | Markets & Business

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The S&P 500’s annualized returns exceeded housing-price gains in every state and local market over the past 40 years, according to a Wall Street Journal research article by Derek Horstmeyer.

The finding compares a broad stock-market benchmark with changes in home prices. It raises a practical question for households that count heavily on their home as their main source of wealth: how much of their long-term financial plan depends on one property rather than a mix of investments?

Price gains and the cost of ownership

Price appreciation is one part of a housing decision. A homeowner’s own result also depends on financing, taxes, insurance, upkeep and selling costs, as well as the value of having somewhere to live.

A 2021 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland analysis examined housing as a wealth-building strategy and described trade-offs including price risk, the concentration of wealth in one property and the difficulty of turning home equity into cash. Its historical comparison covered a different period from the Journal’s research.

Stocks carry their own risks

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investor guide explains that stock investors can gain from price increases and dividends, but share prices can also fall. Investing across different stocks and other assets can offset part of that risk.

The time when money is needed matters alongside its expected return. A household saving for a near-term down payment faces a different decision from a worker investing over decades for retirement.

For readers weighing a home purchase against investing, the reported research puts two goals side by side: paying for a place to live and growing long-term savings. The costs, liquidity and risks attached to each belong in the household’s calculation.

JBizNews Desk | Real Estate & Markets

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Wall Street’s Thursday selloff left investors with few places to shelter inside the stock market: every S&P 500 sector finished lower, every Dow component fell and the Nasdaq 100 suffered its worst day since the Covid crash in March 2020.

The Nasdaq 100 lost more than 6%, Bloomberg reported in coverage republished by BusinessLine, a scale of decline also reported by investingLive. The damage spread beyond the technology companies at the center of the artificial-intelligence boom into industrial, financial and consumer businesses, including defensive stocks investors often turn to during market stress.

Why there was nowhere to hide in stocks

CNBC and Reuters reported losses across all 11 S&P 500 sectors. That meant a portfolio spread across industries still faced a down day, even if it avoided the hardest-hit chipmakers.

  • Technology: Information technology fell 7.3%, according to CNBC and Reuters. Chipmakers and the data-center supply chain were the epicenter as investors questioned the pace of AI investment after the midterm elections.
  • Industrials and materials: Manufacturers, transport companies, equipment suppliers and materials producers were part of the broad sector retreat. The selling reached beyond software and semiconductors to the physical economy.
  • Financials and real estate: Both sectors finished lower, extending the losses to banks, financial firms and property-related companies rather than containing them within the AI trade.
  • Consumer businesses: Consumer discretionary and consumer staples both fell. Bloomberg reported that even Walmart, a defensive fallback, was pulled down. That made shifting from growth shares to everyday-goods businesses an imperfect shelter.
  • Health care, utilities, energy and communication services: All joined the decline. Businesses serving essential needs and energy producers shared the negative sector close, though the severity differed across industries.

A warning for retirement savers

The breadth matters for workers and retirees holding stock funds in 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement accounts. A broad stock fund spreads money across businesses, but that spread cannot prevent its stock holdings from losing value when sectors fall together.

The S&P 500 fell about 4.4% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.5%, according to CNBC and Reuters. Stock funds tracking those benchmarks were exposed to that day’s market losses; an individual’s account result depends on its mix of stocks, bonds, cash and other assets. Investors drawing on retirement savings face particular pressure when withdrawals coincide with a sharp fall in stock values.

The retreat went beyond AI

Bloomberg reported that investors moved into Treasuries as a haven, while Reuters reported gains in gold. The “nowhere to hide” picture was especially stark within equities: different industries were falling together, even as some assets outside stocks offered shelter.

The Nasdaq 100’s Covid-era comparison is distinct from the broader indexes. CNBC reported that the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq Composite had their worst days since April 2025. The concern on Thursday was the combination of a severe technology shock and losses reaching the rest of the stock market.

For the closing figures and company-by-company moves, read JBizNews’s full market-close report.

JBizNews Desk | Markets & Economy

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Potential investors are questioning whether Anthropic can launch its planned investor roadshow next week and complete an initial public offering in November, a Reuters report carried by the New York Post on Thursday, citing four people familiar with investor discussions.

Some investors regard a recently discussed valuation of $1.5 trillion as being at the high end of expectations and want a more attractive price before committing, the people told Reuters. Anthropic declined to comment on those investor doubts.

Company filing leaves price and share count open

Anthropic announced its public registration filing on October 26, saying it intended to list Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ANT. At that point, the company said the number of shares and the proposed price range had not been determined.

The company’s November 2 amended registration statement still leaves the offering price range and share count blank. Its cover says there had been no public market for the Class A shares before the proposed offering.

Reuters had previously reported that the roadshow was expected during the week of November 9, with pricing expected the following week.

Investor appetite faces a tougher test

According to Reuters, the discussions reflect the sharp technology-stock selloff and geopolitical uncertainty surrounding new offerings. The people familiar with the discussions said Anthropic might need to offer a larger discount to win commitments, given its capital needs, quarterly losses and commitments to partners involved in building AI infrastructure.

Two of the people told Reuters that investors were awaiting the company’s October revenue figure, which they said was left blank in the updated filing, as they assessed whether growth had improved following a slowdown.

Anthropic describes itself as an AI research and product company and a public benefit corporation. Its products include Claude. The proposed listing would give public investors access to a business whose funding needs are tied to the costly expansion of advanced AI systems, making the terms of the offering an important test of investor appetite.

A prospective investor should distinguish a proposed valuation from an actual available public-market share price.

Investors question timing and valuation

The potential outcomes remain open. Reuters reported that continued weakness in AI-related assets could lead the company to wait for a steadier market, even if it and investors agree on valuation.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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South Korea’s benchmark Kospi fell more than 8% and broke below 5,000 early Friday, November 6, prompting the Korea Exchange to halt trading in Kospi-listed shares for 20 minutes. The circuit breaker added to a wave of technology-stock selling that had battered Wall Street during Thursday’s U.S. session.

The exchange activated the halt at 9:03 a.m. Seoul time. That was 7:03 p.m. Thursday in New York.

Trading resumes after a 20-minute pause

The stage-one circuit breaker temporarily suspended Kospi trading after the steep fall. Trading resumed at 9:23 a.m., following the 20-minute pause.

A first-stage halt is triggered when the index stays at least 8% below the previous close for a minute. A separate sell-side sidecar took effect in the Kosdaq market at 9:06 a.m. That measure suspends the effect of program-trading orders for five minutes and is different from the broader Kospi circuit breaker.

The Kospi fell more than 8% and passed below 5,000.

AI concerns spread beyond Wall Street

The selling reflected concerns that the Democrats’ U.S. midterm-election gains could slow artificial-intelligence data-center expansion, along with investor worries about AI regulation.

Japan’s Nikkei was down more than 6% in the early Friday session as of 7:44 p.m. Eastern Thursday. The decline remained above 6% at 9:39 a.m. Tokyo time.

The Nikkei entered bear-market territory, more than 20% below its June peak. Technology-related shares led the regional selling.

Korea Exchange data showed the Kospi’s fall of more than 8% and the 20-minute circuit breaker as of 9:40 a.m. Seoul time.

Asian chip shares extend the selling

As of Thursday at 7:59 p.m. Eastern, early-Friday intraday declines included SK Hynix more than 8%, Samsung Electronics 7%, Advantest 12.2%, Tokyo Electron 7.3%, SoftBank Group 11.6% and TSMC 9.6%.

The breadth of the selling matters to readers with chip-stock or AI-supplier exposure: sentiment surrounding AI spending can reach Asian equipment, memory and contract-chip companies as well as U.S. names such as Nvidia.

For readers whose retirement or international index funds hold Korean equities, including Samsung or SK Hynix, the selloff can affect those holdings even without direct stock ownership. Exposure depends on the fund’s actual portfolio.

South Korea’s latest move follows a separate selloff during Thursday’s Asian session. The immediate development is the sharp early-session decline and the exchange’s temporary market-stabilization response.

How the day ended

The Kospi climbed back above 5,000 after trading resumed but still closed down 6.02% at 5,059.69, a loss of 324.11 points. The Kosdaq closed down 5.03% at 644.27.

For the rest of the region’s close – Tokyo’s Nikkei and Topix, Taipei’s Taiex and TSMC, and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 – see our Asia markets wrap.

JBizNews Desk | Global & Markets

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The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52% Thursday in its worst session since April 2025, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833.06 points and the S&P 500 dropped 4.36% as a selloff in artificial-intelligence and semiconductor shares spread across Wall Street.

The Nasdaq closed at 24,315.00, down 1,421.52 points. The Dow closed at 51,523.06, down 3.44%, and the S&P 500 at 7,353.73. These are closing results, confirmed in the CNBC closing report and Fox Business’s closing market table.

Nasdaq’s own index page also displays the Composite’s 24,315.00 level and 5.52% decline. All three major indexes had their worst day since April 2025. The Dow’s decline more than erased its prior day’s post-election rally.

AI spending concerns drive the selling

CNBC and Reuters’ closing market review described investors reassessing the outlook for data-center construction and AI infrastructure after Democrats’ election victories.

Orion investment chief Tim Holland told CNBC investors were stepping back while assessing the implications for AI capital spending. Truist Wealth investment chief Keith Lerner said the size of the technology selloff was feeding into the broader market.

Nvidia falls as chip and data-center shares retreat

Nvidia, which supplies chips and networking technology used in AI computing, closed at $181.60, down 9.26%.

AMD fell 17.3% and Micron Technology dropped 17.5%. Qualcomm declined 9.5%. SpaceX fell 9.1%.

AppLovin moved the other way, climbing 31% to $356.10, a close shown by ETF.net and Investing.com. The marketing technology company reported record third-quarter revenue of $2.18 billion in its November 4 results release.

Both CNBC and Reuters described steep losses across semiconductor and data-center companies. Concerns about the cost and pace of AI infrastructure spending affected suppliers as well as companies building and operating computing capacity. The decline also spread beyond technology into other stock-market sectors.

Nasdaq ends in correction territory

The Nasdaq ended 11.9% below its October 6 record close of 27,599.79, confirming its second correction of the year.

Oil and gold rise as investors watch Iran and interest rates

Oil prices rose as investors assessed tanker attacks and the outlook for the Iran war. Brent crude also settled higher.

Gold futures settled higher as the dollar and Treasury yields weakened, with investors awaiting Friday’s U.S. employment report for clues about interest rates.

December gold futures settled at $4,113.50 an ounce and Brent crude settled at $98.29 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate settled at $90.52, while the 10-year Treasury yield was around 4.84%.

Initial unemployment claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 in the week ended October 31, down 6,000 from the revised prior week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calendar schedules the October employment report for Friday, November 6, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Individual investors turn net sellers

Individual investors sold a net $257 million of individual U.S. stocks Thursday, Vanda Research data showed. Vanda ranked it as the fifth-biggest single day of retail net selling since March 17, 2020.

Late-session buyers reduced the earlier net selling, Vanda said. “This is what we would call a total capitulation by retail investors,” Vanda global macro strategist Viraj Patel told Yahoo Finance in emailed comments.

What the reversal means for investors

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite track different groups of shares and use different construction methods. For retirement savers, the effect depends on an account’s holdings across stocks, bonds and other assets.

Thursday’s close marks a sharp reversal in sentiment following Wednesday’s broad rally.

For the broader sector impact and retirement-account exposure, read why the selloff left investors with few places to hide inside the stock market.

Friday premarket: futures mixed in partial rebound

Futures pointed to a mixed, partial rebound on Friday: as of 6:48 a.m. ET, Nasdaq 100 futures were up 443 points, or 1.7%, S&P 500 futures were up 23 points, or 0.3%, while Dow futures were down 481 points, or 1.0%. Nvidia rose about 4% in premarket trading, AMD and Micron gained about 7% and 8% respectively, and data-center firm CoreWeave jumped more than 9%. These are futures and premarket snapshots as of 6:48 a.m. ET, a partial rebound rather than a broad recovery, and not a cash-session move. The October jobs report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, could be the next catalyst for rate expectations.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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U.S. stocks plunged Thursday afternoon, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 1,700 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sliding about 5% as a sharp selloff in AI stocks rattled Wall Street.

The Dow was down about 1,730 points, or 2.25%, while the Nasdaq fell 5.2%.

The Nasdaq entered correction territory during the session, meaning it had fallen at least 10% from its Oct. 6 record closing high.

Technology and chip stocks were among those hardest hit as investors weighed what Democrats’ sweeping midterm election victories could mean for AI regulation and data center development.

BUSINESS LEADERS, INVESTORS WEIGH IMPACT OF DEMOCRATS’ MIDTERM SWEEP ON MARKETS, AI AND TRAVEL

Nvidia sank about 8%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged more than 9%.

The selloff came just one day after stocks rallied following the midterm elections.

“The obvious catalyst for the sharp selloff is that markets are pricing in the midterm results, after yesterday saw markets rise across the board as the political risk premium unwound,” eToro market analyst Jakub Rochlitz said.

Rochlitz said that rising electricity prices helped turn the rapid construction of power-hungry data centers into a political issue during the midterm campaign, with some Democrats calling for restrictions or pauses on new projects.

TRUMP ADMIN NAMES NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ZONES TO SPUR PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN STRUGGLING COMMUNITIES

“The market’s interpretation is that the AI infrastructure buildout will become slower and more expensive, which is rewriting growth expectations across the whole supply chain,” Rochlitz added.

The losses extended beyond chipmakers.

Meta Platforms fell more than 4% and Amazon and Google parent Alphabet also declined. Data center operators IREN, Applied Digital, CoreWeave and Nebius Group each fell more than 12%.

Companies tied to supplying power and equipment to the AI boom were also caught in the rout, including GE Vernova and Constellation Energy.

Tesla shares plunged about 12%, while SpaceX dropped roughly 8%.

GOOGLE EXPANDS VOLUNTARY BUYOUTS TO 5 COUNTRIES AS AI SPENDING FUELS COST CUTS

The broader market also suffered heavy losses, with the S&P 500 falling about 4%.

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“This feels like the capitulation phase for the data center capex beneficiary stocks, especially the semiconductors,” Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management, told Reuters. “But I think the magnitude of the moves is outsized.”

FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Reuters contributed to this report.

This post was originally published here. 

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Generic Lower Manhattan skyline, not Goldman Sachs headquarters. Photo: Alev Takil / Unsplash (resized).

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2026 – Goldman Sachs has invited 109 employees to become partners effective Jan. 1, 2027, the bank announced Thursday, creating its largest partner class since 2010, according to Reuters.

The selections are internal promotions to the firm’s senior partnership ranks, not the hiring of 109 new employees. The appointments take effect at the start of Goldman’s next fiscal year rather than immediately.

The class is larger than the 95 selected in 2024. Goldman makes the appointments every other year, Reuters reported. The partner title remains a central part of the bank’s culture more than two decades after its 1999 stock-market listing.

Most selections come from revenue-producing businesses

About 85% of the incoming class works in the revenue-producing Global Banking & Markets and Asset & Wealth Management divisions, Reuters reported. Those businesses put investment banking and markets activity alongside the management of client assets and wealth at the center of the new class.

About 30% of the class comes from Asset & Wealth Management, and a record 13 engineers were selected, according to figures reported by the New York Post from the bank’s briefing. The figures describe the mix of employees being promoted; they are not a new headcount target or a hiring announcement.

Goldman’s announcement said the selected employees had distinguished themselves through their impact on the firm’s global business, risk management and investment in colleagues’ development. The bank also acknowledged the work of employees who were not selected.

A global class with long service at the firm

The new partners average 17 years at Goldman and hold 20 citizenships, according to the Post’s account of the briefing. It reported that 62 are based in the Americas, 27 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 20 in Asia Pacific.

The same report said 39% joined as campus hires and 28% began as summer interns.

The service and recruiting figures show that the class includes employees who built careers inside Goldman over many years. They do not establish the reason for every individual promotion or the terms of each person’s compensation.

Goldman omits a demographic breakdown

Unlike previous announcements, Goldman did not provide a demographic breakdown of the new class, Reuters reported. An unnamed executive cited changes in the legal environment in recent years, while saying the firm still regards workforce diversity as important to its commercial success.

In 2024, Goldman disclosed that women accounted for 27% of the partner class, Hispanic executives for 6% and Black executives for 4%, Reuters reported. Without comparable figures for the incoming class, the new announcement does not support a conclusion that its members are more or less diverse.

The missing breakdown is a change in disclosure. It is not, by itself, evidence that the bank abandoned a policy, that a policy was unlawful or that particular candidates were selected or passed over because of their backgrounds.

A private-firm tradition at a public company

Goldman’s partnership traces back to its years as a private firm, when partners pooled their own money to support trading and investment banking and shared profits or losses, Reuters reported. The title has survived the transition to public ownership.

For the incoming class, Thursday’s announcement sets a future effective date for joining that senior group. The verified change is the promotion of 109 employees, with the bank identifying client service, risk management and development of its people as the basis for its selections.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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A sharp stock-market drop can shrink a retirement account without changing an existing fixed-rate mortgage payment. Thursday’s selloff puts that distinction in focus: families face different effects depending on what they own, what they owe and whether they are shopping for a new loan.

In CNBC’s November 5 market report updated at 2:40 p.m. Eastern, the S&P 500 was down about 4%, the Nasdaq Composite 5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1,670 points, or 3.1%.

Your 401(k): the investments inside it matter

As a simple illustration, a 4% decline means about $4 less in market value for each $100 invested in an S&P 500-tracking fund before fees, contributions and differences in tracking. An account’s result depends on its mix of stock funds, bonds, cash and other investments.

A decline in a holding’s market value reduces its worth at that moment.

Your mortgage: a weekly average is not today’s selloff

Bond markets moved in a different direction. CNBC’s Thursday Treasury report, checked at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, showed the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.827%, down more than six basis points, as investors moved into government bonds during the technology selloff. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Mortgage pricing is linked to bond markets. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has explained that the gap between Treasury yields and mortgage pricing can change with conditions in mortgage-backed securities markets.

Separately, Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 7.18%, its third straight weekly decline, from 7.24% the week before. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.57%. The 30-year average remained above the 6.22% recorded a year earlier.

It covers conventional, conforming home-purchase loans for borrowers with excellent credit and 20% down, rather than every borrower or refinance offer.

Illustrative estimate: on a new $400,000 loan repaid over 30 years, a rate of 7.08% rather than 7.18% would lower the monthly principal-and-interest payment by about $27. That calculation holds the loan amount and term fixed and excludes taxes, insurance, fees and closing costs.

The scheduled principal-and-interest payment on an existing fixed-rate mortgage stays fixed when market interest rates move. Refinancing is a separate transaction with its own costs.

Your job: a separate set of numbers

The Labor Department’s Thursday release showed initial unemployment claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 in the week ending October 31, down 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. Continuing claims rose by 23,000 to 1,718,000 for the week ending October 24.

The next scheduled national employment report covers October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calendar lists it for Friday, November 6, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Stock prices, a weekly mortgage-rate average and unemployment claims measure different things. A rough afternoon on Wall Street can affect household wealth without by itself changing a paycheck or an existing fixed-rate loan.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Generic circuit-board hardware, not an identified SanDisk or Micron product.

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File photo: Albert Stoynov / Unsplash

SanDisk and Micron shares suffered double-digit losses Thursday as the selloff in artificial-intelligence stocks spread through the memory and storage companies that supply the technology behind data centers and consumer devices. Corning, Lumentum and CoreWeave also fell sharply as investors sold across the AI-infrastructure supply chain.

SanDisk’s CNBC quote showed $837.67 at 1:29 p.m. Eastern on November 5, down $199.73, or 19.25%. Micron’s quote showed $683.20 at 1:10 p.m. Eastern, down $112.03, or 14.09%.

The two quotes were recorded at different times, and prices can change sharply before the closing bell.

Memory stocks caught in the AI retreat

The declines were part of a much wider retreat across the technology sector. Reuters reported that SanDisk and Micron were among more than a dozen large technology stocks falling by double-digit percentages. Its report said the semiconductor index had fallen as much as 11% during the session.

Reuters linked the broader retreat to concerns about the pace and financing of the AI data-center buildout, alongside post-election restrictions that could limit construction. Strategists interviewed in that report offered differing assessments of the policy impact and the selling.

CNBC’s midday roundup also described steep losses across semiconductor and AI-infrastructure companies. Its earlier snapshot put SanDisk down about 20% and Micron down almost 13%, illustrating how the figures shifted during the session.

What the companies make

Micron makes DRAM, NAND and NOR memory and storage products. Its business includes cloud and data-center memory, making it part of the supply chain for AI and other computing-intensive applications.

SanDisk makes storage products based on NAND flash technology, including solid-state drives, removable memory cards and USB drives. Its products reach data-center, edge-computing and consumer markets.

Fiber, photonics and rented computing power fall too

In CNBC’s midday roundup, first published at 1:06 p.m. Eastern, Corning was down 13%, Lumentum 14% and CoreWeave 12%.

Corning supplies optical fiber, cable and connections used to move data through AI networks. Its exposure is to the physical links that let computing equipment communicate, rather than memory chips themselves.

Lumentum makes optical and photonic technology, including lasers, modules and optical subsystems used in data-center connections. CoreWeave provides AI cloud computing, including GPU computing, networking and storage used to train and run AI models.

Together, the declines show selling reaching beyond chipmakers into the equipment and computing services around them.

What the drop means outside Wall Street

The immediate impact is on the value of shares held directly by investors or through funds that own these companies.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Generic network illustration, not an Amundi or Ethereum product image. Photo: Conny Schneider / Unsplash.

PARIS, Nov. 5, 2026 – Amundi announced Thursday that it has launched a tokenized share class of a flagship European equity index fund on the public Ethereum blockchain, using technology and infrastructure developed with asset-servicing company CACEIS.

The new share class remains integrated into the fund’s existing operating model, and investors can still access the fund through traditional channels, Amundi said. The announcement extends the company’s tokenization work beyond cash-management products into equity index investing.

Fund units on a blockchain, not a cryptocurrency portfolio

Tokenization means issuing fund units in digital form on a blockchain. In this case, the underlying investment remains a European equity index strategy. The Ethereum network provides the infrastructure for the digital share class; the announcement is not the launch of an Ether investment or cryptocurrency trading fund.

It also does not mean that Amundi is moving all its assets onto a blockchain. The change concerns a share class within an existing fund, with the traditional route continuing alongside it.

Cointelegraph reported that the fund tracks the STOXX Europe 600 Index, covering 600 large-, mid- and small-cap companies across developed European markets. The publication described Amundi as Europe’s largest fund manager by assets. Amundi’s announcement described the product as a flagship broad-market European equity index fund without naming the benchmark.

Connecting existing funds with digital distribution

CACEIS provided the technology and infrastructure for tokenizing the units, according to Amundi. The structure allows the manager to add a blockchain-based format without replacing the fund’s established operating model.

Amundi says it wants to develop a wider range of tokenized funds for institutional clients and digital platforms. It cites potential benefits from automating some processes, improving accessibility, accelerating settlement and increasing transparency. Those are the company’s stated aims, not guaranteed results from this launch.

The initiative follows Amundi’s earlier tokenized money-market fund share class and work on stablecoin subscriptions and distributed-ledger applications. The company presents equity index investing as a further step in connecting traditional investment products with digital-market infrastructure.

JBizNews Desk | Paris

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NEEDHAM, Mass. – Tripadvisor announced Thursday morning that its chief executive and chief financial officer will leave the company, as the travel platform reported an 11% drop in third-quarter revenue and a large noncash charge against the value of its hotel-related business.

Shares were down 22% in midday trading, according to CNBC’s November 5 report. That is an intraday percentage change, not a closing result or a quoted share price.

Tripadvisor provides travel reviews, guidance and booking services and owns Viator, the marketplace for tours, activities and attractions. The announcements describe a leadership transition and pressure on revenue and profitability.

Goldberg stays through February as board searches

The board and Matt Goldberg agreed that he will depart as president, chief executive officer and a director, according to the company’s management announcement. Goldberg will remain CEO through February 16, 2027, to support the transition. The board is working with an executive search firm.

Michael Noonan, the chief financial officer, plans to leave for another opportunity and will continue in his role through December 31, 2026. Kristen Dalton, currently chief of strategy and operations, will become interim CFO on January 1, 2027. Dalton joined Tripadvisor in 2019 and has held several roles at the company.

Revenue falls, with the sharpest decline in hotels

For the quarter ended September 30, revenue from continuing operations was $436.4 million, down 11% from a year earlier, Tripadvisor said in its earnings release. Experiences revenue fell 3% to $284.8 million, while Hotels and Other revenue declined 23% to $151.6 million.

The loss from continuing operations was $316.9 million, or $2.70 per diluted share. That is distinct from the consolidated net loss, including discontinued operations, of $313.1 million.

The continuing-operations loss was driven primarily by a $369.5 million noncash goodwill impairment in Hotels and Other. Goodwill is an accounting asset, and this charge reduces its recorded value rather than representing a cash payment of that amount during the quarter.

Tripadvisor attributed the impairment to a sustained decline in financial performance and lower forecast profitability, largely because of worsening traffic pressures caused by changes in the search landscape.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 37 cents per diluted share from continuing operations. Adjusted EBITDA, a measure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization with additional company adjustments, fell 34% to $71.1 million. These adjusted measures exclude items included in the reported accounting loss and should not be confused with it.

Restructuring aims for $40 million in annual savings

Tripadvisor began a restructuring on November 4 to simplify Hotels and Other, including reducing roles in non-core revenue lines, while directing investment and certain product, engineering and data-analysis roles toward Experiences.

The company expects approximately $40 million in gross annualized savings and $15 million to $20 million in pretax restructuring and related costs, mainly severance and benefits, primarily in the fourth quarter. Those are company estimates, not savings already delivered.

CNBC separately reported that Tripadvisor forecast a fourth-quarter revenue decline in the low teens compared with the third quarter. That is a sequential comparison, unlike the year-over-year third-quarter revenue declines reported above.

JBizNews Desk | Needham, Massachusetts

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Historic open-wheel racing car at Donington Park; archive photo published in 2021, not a current race. Photo: Stephen Kidd / Unsplash.

Liberty Media has acquired the high-vote shares held by entities related to John Malone in a completed stock exchange that cuts their combined voting power from about 48% to about 3%, the Formula 1 and MotoGP owner announced Thursday.

The deal changes who can exercise influence over shareholder votes at Liberty. It is not a cash takeover, and it does not mean Malone has sold all of his economic interest in the company. The Malone-related holders received new shares with lower or no voting rights in exchange for their high-vote stock.

How the share exchange works

Immediately before the deal closed, the Malone-related entities held about 2.3 million Series B shares, representing approximately 97% of that share class and about 48% of Liberty’s voting power, according to the company.

Series B is Liberty’s high-vote class. That structure allowed the holders to wield voting influence far greater than their economic ownership alone would suggest. Liberty also has low-vote Series A shares and non-voting Series C shares.

Each Series B share held by the Malone-related entities was exchanged for 0.26 Series A shares and 2.34 Series C shares, or 2.6 shares in total. The company said the exchange was intended to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

After the transaction, the Malone-related holders have about 3% of voting power, and no holder has more than 9%, Liberty said. Those figures are based on shares outstanding as of October 30, 2026. Malone said in the announcement that the transaction allows him to increase his economic ownership while spreading voting power more broadly among other shareholders.

Outside offers prompted the talks

Liberty said negotiations began after Malone received unsolicited third-party offers for his high-vote shares. Acquiring that stock itself prevents the large voting block from passing to an outside buyer in a transaction that other Liberty shareholders would not participate in, the company said.

A special committee made up solely of disinterested and independent directors negotiated and approved the deal with its own financial and legal advisers. Deadline reported that Liberty Chief Executive Derek Chang declined to provide details of the outside offers during the company’s earnings call.

Malone will step down as chairman emeritus but remain a senior adviser. The change therefore reduces his formal voting influence without ending his advisory relationship with Liberty.

What it means for Formula 1 and MotoGP

Liberty’s portfolio includes its Formula 1 and MotoGP subsidiaries, linking the ownership change to two major international motorsport businesses. The transaction concerns Liberty’s share structure and corporate voting power, rather than a sale of either racing business.

Liberty says the new structure could broaden its institutional investor base. That is a potential benefit the company is seeking, not an announced result of the exchange.

Rights plan follows the voting change

The board also adopted a shareholder rights plan on the special committee’s recommendation. Liberty says it is designed to promote stability and give the board an opportunity to evaluate an attempt to build a significant voting position or take control.

The rights expire on November 3, 2027, unless redeemed, exchanged or terminated earlier under the plan’s terms. The company said further details would be included in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: Rana Kaname / Unsplash

MasTec is suspending late-stage negotiations for a large acquisition to give priority to buying back its own shares, the infrastructure contractor said Thursday. The company said the entire $250 million under an existing board repurchase authorization remains available.

The announcement is a shift in how MasTec plans to allocate capital, not the cancellation of a signed acquisition or the creation of a new buyback authorization. The company did not name the acquisition target, disclose a proposed purchase price or announce that it had bought shares Thursday.

Acquisition talks paused, not permanently ruled out

In a company release distributed by Business Wire and carried by TMCnet and Market Newsdesk, MasTec described the potential acquisition as large and “potentially accretive.” That is the company’s assessment of the opportunity, not a disclosed forecast of earnings benefits.

MasTec left open the possibility of resuming negotiations if conditions warrant. The release did not give a timetable for restarting talks or identify what would need to change before they resume.

The $250 million is permission, not a spending commitment

The board authorization gives MasTec room to repurchase shares, but it does not require the company to spend a specified amount in any period. MasTec said it can modify or suspend the program at its discretion.

Actual purchases will depend on market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, cash flow, liquidity needs, acquisitions, capital spending and other factors. Repurchases would be funded with cash on hand and availability under MasTec’s revolving credit facility, the company said. A revolver is a source of borrowing capacity, not the same thing as cash already spent.

Purchases could take place in the open market or through private transactions. MasTec also listed derivative contracts, structured repurchase agreements and trading plans among the possible methods. It did not set a deadline for using the authorization.

What MasTec builds

MasTec, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MTZ, is a North American infrastructure engineering and construction company. Its work includes building, installing, maintaining and upgrading communications networks, energy facilities and utility infrastructure.

The company describes four main business segments: Communications, covering wireless and wireline or fiber networks; Power Delivery, serving utility transmission and distribution customers; Pipeline Infrastructure, including natural-gas pipelines and distribution as well as large-load electrical infrastructure; and Clean Energy and Infrastructure, which includes renewable-energy construction, heavy civil work and other industrial projects.

For shareholders, the immediate development is a choice to prioritize repurchases over an unnamed acquisition opportunity. Whether the authorization produces actual purchases, and whether acquisition talks restart, remain separate decisions that the company has not committed to on a fixed schedule.

JBizNews Desk | Business

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Photo: Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash (archive photo)

Lemonade’s third-quarter revenue jumped 73% to $336.1 million and the insurer raised its full-year revenue forecast Thursday, but its net loss widened as expenses climbed. The company continued to forecast positive adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter, a different measure from a profit under standard accounting rules.

Lemonade shares traded at $42.40, down $3.50, or 7.63%, in regular-session trading Thursday as of 11:45:03 a.m. Eastern, according to Yahoo Finance. That is an intraday snapshot, not a closing price. The decline followed the earnings report, despite the higher full-year revenue outlook.

In its shareholder letter, Lemonade reported an in-force premium base of $1.5508 billion, up 34% from a year earlier. Its customer count rose 23% to 3,520,555, and premium per customer increased 9% to $440. Lemonade sells insurance including home, renters, car and pet coverage.

Why revenue outpaced premiums

The 73% revenue increase was substantially faster than the growth of its premium base. Lemonade attributed revenue growth to higher gross earned premiums and retaining a greater share of premiums because it ceded less business through quota-share reinsurance. In plain terms, less of the premium was passed to reinsurers. The revenue growth rate should therefore not be read as a 73% increase in customers or insured business.

Gross earned premium, which reflects premiums earned during the quarter rather than the annualized premium base at quarter-end, rose 33% to $364.1 million. Gross profit increased 48% to $118.1 million.

Net loss widened while adjusted loss narrowed

The net loss was $43.7 million, compared with $37.5 million a year earlier. Lemonade attributed the increase primarily to higher stock-based compensation and interest expense. Operating expenses, excluding net loss and loss-adjustment expense, rose 36% to $191.9 million.

The company said higher spending on customer acquisition was a major driver. Growth spending and interest expense together increased $28 million from a year earlier, including $24.5 million in additional growth spending. That helps explain how strong revenue growth could coexist with a wider net loss.

Its adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $20.4 million from $25.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that excludes items included in net income, so the improvement does not mean Lemonade has already become profitable under standard accounting.

Revenue outlook raised, fourth-quarter target unchanged

Lemonade explicitly raised its full-year revenue guidance to $1.231 billion to $1.235 billion. For the fourth quarter, it forecast revenue of $342 million to $346 million and positive adjusted EBITDA of $5 million to $9 million. Those are management forecasts, not completed results or a promise of net income.

The company also said it ended the quarter with 1,321 employees, fewer than four years earlier, while its premium base had grown more than 2.5-fold over that period. Management described AI efficiencies as part of the explanation. The staffing comparison is the company’s claim and does not by itself establish how much of the change AI caused.

For investors, the next test is whether premium growth and gross profit can outpace the cost of acquiring customers enough to deliver the projected adjusted result. For policyholders, an earnings report is not a change in an individual premium or coverage: those depend on the policy’s terms and renewal offers.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: Kevin Payravi, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (archive photo)

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said in a speech given Thursday morning that U.S. monetary policy needs to become restrictive to bring inflation back to 2%, and that she favors smaller, more frequent adjustments when possible rather than a more disruptive path.

Hammack, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, delivered the remarks at the SNB and Its Watchers conference in Zurich. The Cleveland Fed posted the speech text at 8:50 a.m. Eastern on November 5. She said the views were her own, not those of the Federal Reserve System or her colleagues on its rate-setting committee.

Why she wants a restrictive stance

Inflation has been above the Fed’s goal for nearly six years, Hammack said, with relatively broad pressures reflecting both supply and demand. She cited September headline personal consumption expenditures inflation of 3.6% and core PCE inflation of 3.1%, both above the 2% goal and higher than at the start of the year.

“I expect that monetary policy will need to move to a restrictive stance to bring inflation back to 2 percent in a timely manner,” she said. A restrictive stance means policy intended to restrain economic activity and inflation pressures, rather than support faster demand growth.

Smaller moves, more often

Hammack said she preferred reaching that stance through “more frequent smaller adjustments when possible.” She said that approach would be less disruptive to households, businesses and financial markets, and would reduce the risk of policy falling behind and an inflationary mindset taking hold. The Cleveland Fed’s release repeated those remarks.

That is a preference for the pace of future policy adjustments, not an announced rate increase or a promise about the next meeting. Reuters, reporting via U.S. News, described her position as a gradual rate-hike path and noted that she did not say when she wanted the Fed to raise rates next.

What it could mean for borrowers and savers

One policymaker’s speech does not change borrowing rates today. If the Fed eventually raises its policy rate, some variable-rate loans could become more expensive, while banks might offer higher yields on some savings products. Neither outcome is automatic: loan terms, competition for deposits and lenders’ pricing decisions also matter.

For a business weighing a loan or refinancing, the remarks are a reason to test whether a budget can absorb higher interest costs, not evidence of a new rate already in effect. Borrowers should compare actual lender offers and fixed-versus-variable terms rather than treat a speech as a lending quote.

The policy comments came within a wider discussion of reserve currencies and stablecoins. Hammack said the dollar’s international role depends on strong institutions, deep markets and central-bank independence, and linked the Fed’s credibility to its commitment to price stability.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: InvadingInvader / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. Apple Park, September 2022. Resized; adaptation under the same license.

CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple is seeking about $7 billion in a U.S.-dollar bond offering, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The proposed borrowing would span seven series of debt maturing from 2028 through 2036.

The amount is not final. Bloomberg reported that the sale’s size could change with investor demand, according to Reuters’ account of the report. Reuters said it could not independently verify the report and that Apple had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

A seven-part offering, with terms still open

Apple’s preliminary prospectus supplement, dated November 5, describes two floating-rate notes due in 2028 and 2029, plus five fixed-rate notes due in 2028, 2029, 2031, 2033 and 2036. It leaves the principal amounts and interest-rate terms blank and says its information is incomplete and may change.

The distinction matters: the filing establishes the structure of the proposed offering, but it does not confirm the roughly $7 billion figure reported by Bloomberg or show a completed sale.

Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities and J.P. Morgan are the joint book-running managers listed in the document. Reuters reported that Goldman declined to comment on the offering’s size, while the other banks did not immediately respond to its requests.

Proceeds for general corporate purposes

Apple says it intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. The filing lists stock repurchases and dividends, working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and repayment of debt among the possible uses. It also says money not immediately needed could be held in short-term investments.

The document does not earmark the borrowing for an artificial-intelligence project. Although large technology companies have been raising debt amid an expansion in AI spending, that broader industry backdrop is not the same as a designated use of Apple’s proceeds.

The proposed notes would be senior unsecured debt, ranking equally with Apple’s other senior unsecured and unsubordinated obligations. The filing says the company had $78.1 billion of unsecured senior notes and $2 billion of unsecured short-term promissory notes outstanding as of September 26.

Apple last sold bonds in May 2025, raising $4.5 billion in a four-part transaction that attracted $10 billion in orders, Reuters reported. For the new offering, the final amount, pricing and allocation across maturities remain the details to watch.

JBizNews Desk | Cupertino, California

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A fund affiliated with Kraken parent Payward and its clients have bought an undisclosed amount of AAVE tokens, adding exposure to decentralized lending as the exchange group expands beyond cryptocurrency trading.

The purchases were made through Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, and clients, according to an Aave announcement published Thursday. The tokens were bought in the secondary market, and Payward may make additional purchases.

The distinction matters: this is a purchase of tokens from market sellers, not an announced equity acquisition of Aave or a direct capital injection into Aave. Neither the number of tokens acquired nor the amount paid was disclosed.

From trading to onchain lending exposure

Aave lets users lend and borrow digital assets through blockchain-based smart contracts. Its AAVE token gives holders governance rights over the network and its treasury, according to Aave. Buying the token provides exposure to that ecosystem, rather than ownership of ordinary company shares.

For Payward, the investment advances an asset-management business that connects clients with digital assets, structured yield and tokenized investments. The company’s infrastructure powers Kraken as well as other financial products. The purchase signals a major exchange group’s interest in the lending infrastructure behind crypto, beyond the trading activity that made exchanges familiar to consumers.

Gurpreet Oberoi, Payward’s vice president of asset management and institutional, said the investment reflected its long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and decentralized finance, as well as growing client demand for exposure. Those are the company’s stated investment reasons, not a guarantee of returns.

What remains unknown

CoinDesk reported that Payward and Aave are also exploring future collaboration, without disclosed details. Thursday’s announcement does not set out a timetable or size for additional token purchases.

The announcement establishes a new token investment and a direction for its asset-management business.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond / Ben Schumin, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

A top Federal Reserve official said Thursday that he expects the U.S. central bank will have to raise interest rates again, though not necessarily quickly. “Unemployment’s near record lows, and inflation is too high. That means the path is pretty straightforward. The question, of course, is pace,” Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said in an interview with CNBC’s Steve Liesman at the Richmond Fed’s 2026 CFO Summit.

“Gradual makes sense if you think there’s uncertainty in the world, and if you think that there’s information you’re going to get in the period. And I think that’s still a pace that makes sense to me,” he added.

Barkin does not hold a vote on interest rates this year, so his remarks are one official’s outlook, not a decision. He becomes a voting member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee in 2027, CNBC reported. A little more than a week ago, the committee held its benchmark rate in a range between 3.75% and 4%. When officials approved a quarter-point increase in September, most expected another hike before the end of 2026.

Barkin said current policy is close to neutral, the level that neither slows nor stimulates the economy, and may even be “a little bit accommodative,” because consumer spending, roughly two-thirds of the economy, remains elevated. Inflation, he said, “is the most important risk right now,” adding that he hopes the September move “and whatever else we might choose to do in the future will have some impact on inflation.” Artificial intelligence is one source of price pressure today, he said, though he expects it eventually to boost production and help ease prices.

Traders are pricing a better than 80% chance of a rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting, then one more move in 2027, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

What it means for you: nothing changed today. Barkin was sharing his own view, and no rate decision was made. But if the Fed does raise rates again, borrowing gets more expensive: credit-card and auto-loan rates tend to follow, and mortgage rates can stay higher for longer. Savers, meanwhile, keep earning more on bank deposits and money-market funds.

JBizNews Desk | Richmond

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By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

The selloff that started in chip stocks spread across Wall Street within minutes of Thursday’s open. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 672.25 points, or 2.6%, to 25,064.26 as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern, and the S&P 500 fell 1.4% to 7,580.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 288 points at the open, reversed to trade down 229.09 points, or 0.4%, at 53,127.03 – giving back a slice of Wednesday’s 1,569-point post-election surge.

Chip stocks remain the epicenter. AMD crashed 10.8% to $436.05 as of 9:42 a.m., erasing all of Wednesday’s earnings-driven gain and more. Micron Technology sank 7.9% to $732.42, Intel dropped 6.3% to $54.59, and Nvidia fell 4.4% to $191.33. SpaceX slid 5.8% to $128.10, extending its post-election decline. The trigger is Washington: Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, called Wednesday for a pause on advanced AI development, regulation of the industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence – a signal the incoming Democratic Congress intends to act. Investors are repricing the data-center building boom that has driven chip-sector revenue, on expectations that new rules will slow construction and constrain AI computing capacity.

Energy stocks bucked the tape. Exxon Mobil rose 2% to $172.57 and Chevron gained 1.9% to $221.07 as of 9:50 a.m., as U.S. crude climbed 1.7% to $89.65 a barrel, rebounding after a steep five-day slide driven by Iran-deal hopes. Gold rose 1.5% to $4,132.10 an ounce, and the 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.90%.

The morning’s economic data pointed the other way from the market. Initial jobless claims fell to 189,000 last week, the fewest since mid-July, the Labor Department reported at 8:30 a.m. Economists had expected about 196,000, after 194,000 the prior week. The strong readout sets the stage for Friday’s October jobs report, due at 8:30 a.m. from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Market Last Change As of (ET)
Dow Jones 53,127.03 -229.09 (-0.43%) 9:50 a.m.
S&P 500 7,580.59 -108.03 (-1.40%) 9:50 a.m.
Nasdaq 25,064.26 -672.25 (-2.61%) 9:50 a.m.
10-Year Treasury 4.902% +0.8 bps 9:33 a.m.
WTI crude $89.65 +1.74% 9:31 a.m.
Gold $4,132.10 +1.45% 9:38 a.m.

Live reads from market data pages, Thursday, Nov. 5.

Market movers Thursday morning
Chart: JBizNews Desk

What it means for you: this morning is a split screen for your money. If your 401(k) leans on tech-heavy index funds, the chip selloff is pulling it down – but funds holding energy companies are up. The best news for most families is the jobs number: 189,000 claims means very few people are being laid off, the strongest job-security reading since July. And while oil bounced today, it is still down sharply for the week, so relief at the gas pump should keep trickling in. Mortgage rates are holding steady, with the 10-year Treasury near 4.9%.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Oil refinery in Houston, Texas

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Photo: Antony-22 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (archive photo)

U.S. oil futures rebounded about 2% Thursday morning after Wednesday’s steep selloff, as traders weighed the unresolved war with Iran and the limits of hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough. The recovery lifted crude back toward $90 a barrel, but left it well below the price before the post-election drop.

December West Texas Intermediate crude traded at $89.92 a barrel, up $1.80, or 2.04%, from the $88.12 prior settlement, in CME Group’s quote stamped 8:23:58 a.m. Eastern on November 5. The data are delayed at least 10 minutes; the reading was viewed around 8:33 a.m. This is an intraday futures price, not a new settlement or a retail fuel price.

The contract ranged from $86.65 to $90.35 in the same CME table. Wednesday’s settlement had been down $7.97, or 8.3%, Reuters reported via CNBC. Thursday’s rebound therefore recovers only part of that decline.

The election did not end the war

Democrats’ victory in both chambers of Congress has changed expectations for Washington’s next steps, but the new Congress does not take office until January. A change in political control is not a ceasefire, a signed peace agreement or a guarantee that oil shipments will normalize.

The Reuters report said investors were weighing both the possibility of diplomacy and the risk that the White House could use its foreign-policy powers to escalate. Qatar has been mediating, while a senior Iranian official said earlier this week that the sides remained far from a deal.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire after using unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. That is an Iranian claim, not an independently established account of the incidents. It is another reason to separate expectations for a deal from confirmed changes in shipping conditions.

Why prices can bounce after a sharp fall

Oil prices reflect expectations about future supply and demand as well as barrels delivered today. When expectations change quickly, a rebound can follow a selloff even without a new agreement or a confirmed disruption. The futures quote alone does not identify a single cause.

The uncertainty matters for businesses buying fuel. A lower benchmark can help purchasing costs if it lasts, but a one-day decline followed by a rebound is not a stable budget assumption. Shipping routes, insurance, refining capacity and the type of fuel being purchased can all affect the price a business actually pays.

What it means for drivers and businesses

Crude oil is a major component of gasoline prices, but taxes, refining, distribution and marketing also matter, as the EIA explains. Pump prices do not move dollar-for-dollar with a futures contract, and local stations need not reflect an intraday change immediately.

For delivery companies, retailers and other fuel-heavy businesses, the useful question is whether lower oil reaches refined-fuel prices and purchasing contracts over time. Thursday’s bounce is a reminder to compare actual supplier offers rather than treat Wednesday’s selloff as a guaranteed saving.

For investors, a recovery toward $90 is different from a return to the earlier price level. Both the sharp decline and the partial rebound fit a market still responding to uncertain political and supply developments.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington / AgnosticPreachersKid, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

U.S. banking supervisors have been calling banks to ask whether last week’s $6.3 billion hack of crypto exchange Binance caused any unusual activity or disruption in their systems, Reuters reported, citing several people familiar with the matter.

Supervisors at the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency started the calls on Monday morning, Reuters reported. One bank that regulators contacted said it found no disruptions, and that customers have asked few questions.

Banks are also checking themselves. Two people told Reuters that lenders are running diagnostics to see whether they could withstand a similar attack. A cybersecurity team at one of the largest U.S. banks contacted Binance within hours of the hack and is writing an internal report that will lead to a review of its own systems, one of the people said.

The checks are precautionary. There is no confirmed breach of any U.S. bank and no reported customer losses tied to the hack. The Fed and the OCC declined to comment, Reuters reported. Binance said it was unaware of the conversations between bankers and regulators or of any impact on U.S. banks.

The episode shows how closely crypto markets and traditional banking are now linked: a theft at a crypto exchange, believed to be the largest financial heist in history, quickly became a question for bank regulators. Binance last week revoked some API keys linked to trading firm SignalPlus as a precaution after a security warning, JBizNews reported.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: Aerial view of petroleum storage tanks at Europoort, Rotterdam / Rik Schuiling / TropCrop-TCS, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, India’s largest port operator, agreed to buy 100% of Evos B.V., Europe’s second-largest independent liquid storage operator, from Igneo Infrastructure Partners, Adani said in a statement.

The all-cash transaction values Evos at an enterprise value of €2.56 billion and an equity value of €1.18 billion, funded through debt, the company said. MUFG is the sole underwriter and has committed financing of up to €2.8 billion for the deal, the company said.

Evos runs eight port terminals across five countries – the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Malta – with 6.3 million cubic meters of storage capacity, Adani said. Its tanks hold gasoline, diesel, marine and jet fuel, as well as newer fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel and biofuels.

The deal is not closed. Regulatory approvals and a works council consultation process will start immediately, Adani said.

The purchase marks Adani’s first major entry into European liquid storage and would expand its global footprint to 28 ports and terminals across 10 countries, the company said. Evos reported revenue of €392 million and core earnings of €219 million in 2025, a 56% margin, with average commercial occupancy of 99%.

Adani shares closed down 1.3% at 1,884.6 rupees in India on Thursday, Reuters reported.

JBizNews Desk | Mumbai

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Photo: The Binance logo / Binance, Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

Binance said it revoked all API keys linked to the trading platform SignalPlus as a precaution after a third party reported a potential security issue, CoinDesk reported.

Binance said its own systems are unaffected and that customer funds are safe.

The exchange told users to review their positions and open orders directly and to wait before reconnecting their accounts, CoinDesk reported.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Photo: A Wendy’s restaurant in Santa Rosa, California / Missvain / CC BY 4.0

By: JBizNews Desk 🌎

Wendy’s said the independent directors of its board unanimously rejected a $7.35-a-share cash takeover offer from a group led by activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners, saying the bid “substantially undervalues” the hamburger chain, according to a company statement Thursday.

The unsolicited, nonbinding proposal came from Trian, Flynn Group, BlueFive Capital and Sixth Street. CNBC reported the offer values the deal at about $1.4 billion.

Wendy’s also adopted a one-year shareholder-rights plan on Nov. 4, effective immediately and set to expire Nov. 3, 2027. The plan, often called a poison pill, kicks in if any investor buys 15% or more of the company’s shares, making an unapproved takeover more expensive.

Trian declined to comment, CNBC reported.

The decision means shareholders are not being offered an accepted cash exit for now, and the board keeps control of its own turnaround plan while making an unapproved takeover harder.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Wall Street’s post-election rally is splitting in two. Dow futures rose 336 points, or 0.6%, as of 7:07 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, pointing to a second straight strong open after Wednesday’s 1,569-point surge. Nasdaq 100 futures went the other way, down 0.6%, as a Democratic push to regulate artificial intelligence hit chip stocks for a second day. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.2%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday up 1,569.40 points, or 3%, at 53,356.12, extending the rally that followed Democrats’ sweep of both chambers of Congress. The S&P 500 gained 1.58% to 7,688.62, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.44% to 25,736.51, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.58%. Consumer discretionary and real estate stocks led the Dow, helped by a sharp drop in oil prices and lower Treasury yields.

Chip stocks are the clear exception. Nvidia fell 3.2% on Wednesday and slipped another 0.9% in pre-market trading. AMD, which jumped nearly 5% early Wednesday after a record quarter, faded to a 1% close and fell 3.3% before the open Thursday. Micron Technology hit a three-month low. The trigger: Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, wrote on X that “top of the Democratic agenda on day 1 needs to be a pause on advanced AI development,” along with regulation of the industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence. Investors broadly expect new rules from the incoming Congress to slow the rapid buildout of data centers and constrain AI computing capacity.

SpaceX’s stock extended its slide, down 1.4% in pre-market after a 3.8% drop Wednesday, as investors weighed Elon Musk’s $474 million in midterm spending – $224 million of it in Texas – on candidates who lost, including Ken Paxton’s Senate bid and Gov. Greg Abbott’s re-election campaign.

Premarket movers. Tesla fell 2%, and data-center names extended their slide: CoreWeave fell 2.9%, Nebius shed 3.6% and Iren slid 2.5%. Qualcomm dropped about 8% despite beating estimates, as its profit outlook disappointed, while AppLovin jumped almost 17% after results and guidance beat forecasts, as of 6:34 a.m. ET Thursday.

Overseas markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.8% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.7% and Shanghai’s composite was little changed. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX each rose about 0.8% by early afternoon.

Oil rebounded: U.S. crude rose 1.8% to about $89.70 a barrel as of 7:06 a.m., after a 10.7% five-day slide driven by hopes for an Iran deal. Gold rose 1.5% to about $4,135 an ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.894% after falling nearly 6 basis points Wednesday, and the dollar index was little changed at 101.57. Bitcoin held near $77,700.

Thursday brings the weekly initial jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m.; economists expect about 196,000 new claims, versus 194,000 the prior week. The main event comes Friday at 8:30 a.m., when the Labor Department releases the October jobs report, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics release schedule. Wednesday’s ADP report showed a steady 86,000 private-sector hires in October.

What it means for you: if you have a 401(k) or an IRA, the last two days likely added real money to your account – the Dow’s two-day gain is now about 4%. If you drive, this week’s 10% drop in oil should start showing up as lower gas prices in the coming weeks. And the Washington fight over AI is not just a Wall Street story: if new rules slow data-center construction, that could mean fewer building and electrician jobs in states like Texas and Arizona – and, for families near those sites, possibly smaller jumps in local electric bills. Friday’s jobs report is the next big test: steady hiring gives the Federal Reserve room to keep rates where they are, which helps hold down mortgage and car-loan costs.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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United States Treasury building in Washington.

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Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid / CC BY-SA 3.0

U.S. Treasury yields fell again early Thursday as investors digested Democrats’ midterm sweep of Congress and waited for jobs data. The 10-year note yielded 4.865%, down about 3 basis points, while the 2-year was flat at 4.581% and the 30-year fell 3 basis points to 5.245%, CNBC reported as of 4:11 a.m. ET Thursday. One basis point is 0.01%, and yields fall when bond prices rise.

The drop extends Wednesday’s move, when the 10-year ended the session 6 basis points lower after the election result. Oil prices have also fallen on expectations that escalation in the Iran war has become less likely, easing the inflation pressure that had pushed yields higher this year, CNBC reported.

Next up: weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday and the October jobs report Friday morning. Neither has been released yet.

For borrowers, sustained declines in the 10-year feed directly into mortgage and business-loan rates; the moves so far are small but set the direction lenders watch.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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NextDC’s M3 data center in Melbourne at dusk.

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Photo: NextDC’s M3 data center in Melbourne / Courtesy of NextDC

NextDC shares closed 50.84% higher in Australian trading Thursday after a vehicle jointly owned by Goodman Group and Digital Realty sought to buy up to 9.9% of the data-center operator through an aftermarket bookbuild, CNBC reported.

Ackland Investments No.1 Trust, owned equally by Goodman and Digital Realty, sought shares at A$9.50 apiece after Wednesday’s market close. The targeted holding is a minority stake, not a takeover of NextDC.

NextDC says outcome is not known

In its November 5 statement, NextDC said it did not know the outcome of the bookbuild and had no takeover proposal before its board. The company described the move as opportunistic.

NextDC also noted that Goodman and Digital Realty had told investors through their broker that they did not intend to submit a control proposal or takeover bid at this time, while reserving the right to do so later.

The A$9.50 bookbuild price was a 45.5% premium to Wednesday’s close. Data Center Dynamics put the proposed stake purchase at about A$715 million in its report on the offer. Neither the targeted percentage nor that reported value should be read as confirmation of a completed acquisition.

Power delays set the backdrop

The approach follows NextDC’s October 21 disclosure of a power delay at its M3 Melbourne facility and revised fiscal 2027 guidance. That earlier setback had sharply reduced the company’s share price.

The rally ran against the tide: U.S. data-center stocks sold off overnight, with CoreWeave down about 9% and Iren down roughly 11% on Wednesday, after the Democratic midterm sweep raised expectations of tighter oversight of data-center development, CNBC reported.

NextDC appointed Barrenjoey and UBS as joint lead financial advisers, Cadence Advisory as an independent financial adviser, and Mallesons as legal adviser.

JBizNews Desk | Sydney

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Copper ingots at the El Teniente mine in Chile

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Photo: Copper ingots at the El Teniente mine in Chile / Nicolas Schubert, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Chinese factories that need copper right now are paying the biggest premium in years to get it, a sign that supplies of immediately available metal are running short in the world’s biggest copper market.

The premium for spot copper in Shanghai jumped to 1,900 yuan a ton over futures on Wednesday, the highest since 2021, Bloomberg reported, citing Shanghai Metals Market data. SMM put the average premium in a range of 1,700 to 2,100 yuan a ton, up 600 yuan from the day before.

In plain terms: when a factory needs copper delivered today, it has to pay extra on top of the futures price. That extra amount keeps climbing because smelters in China have cut production and less metal is arriving from overseas suppliers in places like Africa and Russia. “Fabricators are buying hand to mouth,” Zhou Xiaoou, an analyst at Zijin Tianfeng Futures, told Bloomberg.

The squeeze is showing up in futures trading too. December copper in Shanghai is trading at an $880-a-ton premium to January, the widest gap since 2022. Traders call that “backwardation” — buyers pay more for sooner delivery, the opposite of a normal market — and it happens when near-term supply is tight. The Yangshan premium, a gauge of what Chinese buyers will pay for imported copper, has hit a record.

Copper prices have rallied to record levels this year, partly because expectations of U.S. tariffs on refined metal pulled huge volumes into the American market, squeezing supply elsewhere. The rally has cooled in recent weeks as investors question how long the data-center building boom, a big source of copper demand, can last.

JBizNews Desk | Global

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Photo: Seoul’s Yeouido financial district at night / Ox1997cow, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

South Korea’s stock market closed out its worst day of the year Thursday as the chip selloff deepened through the session, while investors kept rotating money into China.

The Kospi closed down 5.28% at 5,383.80, a 300-point drop, with Samsung Electronics falling about 7% and SK Hynix about 9% at the close, Chosun Biz and Aju News reported. The slide triggered a sell-side sidecar, a brief trading curb, after Kospi 200 futures fell more than 5%, Yonhap reported.

In Tokyo, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest plunged more than 13% and Tokyo Electron lost about 9% intraday, Calcalist reported in its running market updates.

The mirror image: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up about 3.5% in afternoon trading at 24,755, extending the rally that earlier sent the Hang Seng Tech Index up as much as 5.9%, with e-commerce giants Tencent, Alibaba and Meituan leading, Bloomberg reported.

Why the election is splitting Asia’s markets

The Democratic sweep of Congress has investors weighing whether the new House and Senate will tighten regulation of AI data centers, hitting the chipmakers that supply them. “The reality is markets hate uncertainty, and now with the election out of the way, we are seeing buyers step in across the board,” said Ryan Detrick, a strategist at Carson Group. Others, like KCM Trade’s Tim Waterer, see the rotation into China continuing.

Oil keeps falling; U.S. futures slip

U.S. oil fell another 1.6% to $86.67 a barrel and Brent traded at $93.61 after Wednesday’s 8% plunge, Calcalist reported, while Nasdaq futures slipped 1%. U.S. government bonds rose for a second day, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.84%, its lowest since Sept. 10, and gold rose 2.1% to $4,144 an ounce, according to Bloomberg.

For American households, cheaper oil can mean lower gas prices, and lower bond yields can eventually mean lower borrowing costs. Investors now turn to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for the next read on the economy.

JBizNews Desk | Global

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Photo: A Dutch Bros Coffee stand / Dutch Bros Coffee, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

The closing bell did not end the action on Wall Street Wednesday. A wave of earnings reports released after the market closed sent some well-known stocks soaring and others tumbling in extended trading, setting up a jolted opening for Thursday.

The swings matter to anyone with a retirement account or index fund, because after-hours moves usually carry into the next trading day. They also offer one of the clearest scorecards of how American companies, and the shoppers and businesses that spend with them, are holding up.

The winners: an ad-tech standout and an optics maker

AppLovin, a software company best known for placing advertising inside mobile games, was the night’s biggest winner. Its shares jumped more than 20% after the company reported third-quarter revenue of $2.18 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1.84 billion, both ahead of what analysts expected, CNBC reported.

Coherent, which makes optical materials used in lasers and data-center equipment, rose about 7% after beating profit estimates and forecasting a stronger current quarter than analysts had penciled in. E.l.f. Beauty, the budget cosmetics maker, gained more than 4% after its quarterly profit roughly doubled Wall Street’s expectations, according to CNBC’s roundup of the after-hours session.

The losers: a coffee chain, a real-estate site and a chip giant

Dutch Bros, the fast-growing drive-through coffee chain, sank about 19% after trimming its full-year profit outlook and reporting weaker growth at stores open at least a year than analysts expected. Zillow, the online real-estate marketplace, dropped more than 16% after missing revenue and profit estimates. Snap, the company behind Snapchat, fell about 7% after reporting slightly less revenue and fewer daily users than forecast.

Qualcomm slid almost 6% even though its quarterly results slightly beat estimates. The chip designer, whose processors power many smartphones, forecast current-quarter earnings of $2.15 to $2.35 per share, a range whose midpoint sat below what analysts were hoping for, as a handset slowdown offset gains in its automotive business.

Cava, the Mediterranean restaurant chain, fell more than 11% after missing expectations. MercadoLibre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce company, slipped about 7% on weaker-than-expected profit, and travel site Expedia dropped more than 7% after issuing cautious guidance for the holiday quarter even as its summer results beat estimates.

A high bar for tech

Some of the night’s steepest drops hit companies that actually beat expectations. Design-software maker Figma fell almost 7% and marketing platform Klaviyo slid about 5% despite topping estimates, and chip designer Arm dipped nearly 2% on a strong report. The pattern, analysts noted, is that investors have bid many technology stocks so high that merely good news is no longer enough.

Traders will get the next read when regular trading resumes Thursday morning, with the after-hours moves pointing to a mixed open. For everyday investors, the lesson of the evening is an old one: in earnings season, what a company says about the future often matters more than what it just earned.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Richard Branson speaking at the 2015 Our Ocean conference

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Photo: Richard Branson / U.S. Department of State / Public domain

Some billionaire investors saw a threat to the artificial intelligence boom in Tuesday’s Democratic election victories. Stock investors delivered a different verdict Wednesday: they bought shares.

The split matters to anyone with technology stocks in a retirement account, a business counting on AI investment or a community weighing a new data center. A slower building boom could hurt some operators while reducing the spending pressure on the biggest technology companies.

That tension ran through the reactions of major donors and investors after the midterms, CNBC reported Wednesday evening. The network described both a dispute over billionaire political giving and warnings about what new political resistance could mean for AI infrastructure.

The AI worry: fewer data centers

Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman warned on CNBC before polls closed Tuesday that slowing AI development could put America’s technological edge at risk.

During an election-night livestream of the All-In podcast, investor Chamath Palihapitiya linked the future of the AI trade to data-center construction. Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner warned on the same livestream that the Democratic wave could keep at least 10 to 15 gigawatts of expected AI data-center capacity from coming online in 2027, CNBC reported.

Those are investors’ warnings, not confirmed project cancellations. CNBC also cited analyst Dan Ives’ estimate that 10% of planned U.S. data centers would no longer proceed. That figure is a forecast, not a measured total of abandoned projects.

Texas was one focus of the concern. Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, who defeated Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, has proposed a moratorium on new data-center construction until stronger safeguards are in place, according to CNBC. A proposal is not an enacted statewide ban.

AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su told CNBC that technology companies need to show local communities the benefits of AI’s expansion. Her response put the practical challenge in focus: winning public support for the facilities behind the technology.

Wall Street bought anyway

The Dow rose 1,569 points, or 3%, Wednesday, while the S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%, CNBC reported. Big Tech companies added more than $750 billion in market value at one point during the session, the network said. That was an intraday figure, not a closing-market-value claim.

CNBC described a possible upside to slower construction for large technology companies: a lighter spending burden and greater value for existing data centers. Smaller operators that depend heavily on borrowing faced a different market reaction, with their shares falling, according to the report.

The rally does not settle whether particular AI projects will be delayed, or whether Wednesday’s gains will last. It shows that concern about the building pipeline did not produce a single verdict across the stock market.

Branson challenges the money race

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson criticized the billions spent trying to influence the election and called for campaign-finance reform, CNBC reported. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also called for getting money out of politics while defending his own Democratic donations.

CNBC’s analysis of campaign-finance records put Elon Musk’s giving at $474 million nationwide, including $224 million in Texas, where his preferred Republicans lost the Senate and governor’s races. Those totals are attributed to the network’s analysis, rather than an independent JBizNews tally.

The donors’ argument and the market rally point to different questions after the vote: how much political money can achieve, and which businesses gain or lose if the AI construction boom slows. Neither answer can be read from one day’s share prices alone.

JBizNews Desk | Business

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Lisa Cook at the Federal Reserve in May2022.

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Photo: Federal Reserve

The White House’s fight to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve is getting a later hearing date, not a resolution.

A committee appointed by President Donald Trump has moved its planned hearing from Thursday, November 5, to Monday, December 14, CNBC reported Wednesday evening, citing a White House official. Cook’s attendance has not been confirmed.

The panel is investigating allegations that Cook made false statements connected to mortgage applications. She denies wrongdoing. The new date does not remove her from the Fed or settle those allegations.

For borrowers, savers and investors, the issue is who gets to make decisions at the central bank that sets U.S. interest-rate policy. This delay extends the fight over the Fed’s independence; it does not change interest rates or announce a change in anyone’s mortgage payment.

A date is not an agreement to appear

The White House official told CNBC that the postponement came at Cook’s request. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, had said questions about the panel’s fairness and objectivity needed answers before a hearing could go ahead.

Reuters, citing the New York Times, also reported the December 14 date. It said Lowell had told the White House that Cook was unavailable for the original November 5 hearing and could not attend until after the Fed’s December 8-9 policy meeting.

Trump adviser Kevin Hassett, a member of the three-person committee, said last week that Cook’s lawyers had agreed to a December date, according to Reuters. That does not establish that she has agreed to attend this particular hearing. Both reports said her lawyer had not provided a fresh response to their requests for comment.

The firing fight remains open

Trump first tried to dismiss Cook in August 2025. She challenged that effort in court and argued that the mortgage allegations were a pretext to remove her because she would not support his demands for lower interest rates, CNBC reported.

In June, the Supreme Court left in place a lower-court order protecting her from removal while the case proceeds. CNBC reported that the justices found she had not been given due process in the first attempt to fire her; they did not decide whether a president ultimately has the power to remove a Fed governor in these circumstances.

Trump established the inquiry committee in October. Its job is to hold a hearing and recommend whether Cook should be fired, Reuters reported. That process, Cook’s objections to it and the separate court fight remain distinct from the Fed’s decisions on interest rates.

Cook remains listed as a governor on the Federal Reserve’s official website. For now, the confirmed change is the hearing calendar, not the composition of the Fed’s board.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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