Bonds Tighten the Screws, Equities Hold Their Ground
Markets opened weak on Thursday but briefly found relief after reports that U.S. and Iranian negotiators were exploring a phased path toward de‑escalation. The bounce didn’t last. By the close, stocks were essentially unchanged, unable to shake off the pressure coming from the bond market. Index performance: Dow: –0.31% $S&P 500(.SPX)$ : –0.02% $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ : +0.01% The resilience is notable: despite the noise, all three benchmarks remain near record highs. Yields Stay Elevated - And Equities Feel It Treasury yields continued their march upward: US3OY 10‑year: highest level since 2007 7‑year: highest since 2009 The drivers are stacking up-rising oil, expectations of more Fed tightening, and weak d
Just 5 Stocks Drove More Than 80% of August’s Major Index Gains
A remarkably small group of stocks did most of the heavy lifting for U.S. equities in August. In the Nasdaq-100, the top five contributors accounted for 86% of the index’s 3.47% gain, led by Palantir Technologies $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$ , Micron Technology $美光科技(MU)$ , NVIDIA, Tesla $特斯拉(TSLA)$ and Apple. The S&P 500 told a similar story. Its five biggest contributors generated 84% of the index’s 2.00% gain, with NVIDIA, Apple, Palantir, Micron and Microsoft at the top. Headline index strength can sometimes hide how narrow the underlying participation really is. It also cuts both ways: Amazon, Alphabet Inc., Broadcom and Applied Materials were among
$SBUX doesn’t have the excitement of AI chips or data centres. And that’s exactly why it’s interesting. Starbucks has been trying to reset the business after a difficult period — improving stores, simplifying operations and getting customers back more frequently. The big question now is whether this becomes a genuine earnings turnaround, rather than just a story investors are buying into. ☕ More customers 🏪 Better store productivity 🌎 Improving international performance 💰 Margin recovery 📈 Stronger comparable sales If those pieces start moving together, Starbucks could have a very different earnings profile over the next few years. But there’s still plenty to prove. Consumer spending matters. Competition is intense. And fixing a huge global store network doesn’t happen overnight. That make
$NKE has been one of those stocks where the story has gone from “iconic brand” to “prove it.” But that’s exactly what makes it interesting. Nike has been dealing with weaker demand, tougher competition and the need to refresh its product pipeline. The stock has spent a long time trying to rebuild investor confidence. Now the question is whether the turnaround is finally starting to show up in the numbers. The interesting part about Nike is that it doesn’t need an AI narrative. It needs better execution. 👟 Stronger product launches 🌎 Improving international growth 📱 Better direct-to-consumer performance 💰 Margin recovery 📈 A return to more consistent sales growth If those pieces start falling into place, the market could begin valuing Nike on what the business can become rather than what we
New Micron 5x Long DLC Expands Leveraged & Inverse Exposure to Memory Stocks
Societe Generale has further expanded its US Stock 5x DLC shelf beyond the Magnificent 7 with a new $Micron Technology(MU)$ 5x Long DLC (OLUW), which has started trading on 25th September. This expansion to 5x Micron DLCs complements the existing 3x Long and Short Micron DLCs range to offer investors more choices in terms of leverage factors. With up to 5x leveraged and inverse exposure to Micron's daily percentage performance, investors can express their bullish or bearish views to capture opportunities in both directions of the market. In addition to the newly listed $Applied Materials(AMAT)$ , $Intel(INTC)$ , and $SanDisk C
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Tesla Semi: The Nine-Year Wait Is Finally Overhas finally reached a milestone that has been almost nine years in the making. Tesla unveiled the Semi in 2017. Now the electric truck is moving into commercial deliveries from its new Sparks, Nevada factory.  And this could be more important for Tesla than it initially looks. The Semi isn’t just another vehicle. It’s Tesla entering a massive commercial trucking market where fuel costs, operating efficiency and total cost of ownership matter enormously. The Nevada facility is designed for up to 50,000 trucks a year once fully ramped. Tesla has also started deliveries to customers including PepsiCo, DHL and US Foods.  But here’s the part I’m watching 👀 50,000 units is c
Meta Is Betting That Your Next Computer Could Be on Your Face
Meta just made its smart-glasses strategy a lot more interesting. At Connect, the company unveiled Ray-Ban Meta Audio, its first camera-free AI glasses, alongside the new Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 and a cheaper Meta-branded option. The bigger story, though, may be what Meta is putting inside those glasses: Muse, its personal AI agent. The camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio starts at $349, weighs as little as 43 grams and offers up to 12 hours of battery life. The idea is simple: get the AI, audio and hands-free convenience without the privacy concerns that come with putting a camera on your face.  Then there’s the Gen 3. It starts at $449, adds a 12MP camera, 3K video, up to nine hours of battery life and a customisable action button for quick access to Meta AI.  But Muse could be the real game cha
Stocks Fall, Rate-Hike Fears Return. On Wed, 23 Sep 2026 - US market fell big time across the board. By the time 4pm arrived, (see below) DJIA : -0.68% (-352.10 to 51,511.59. S&P 500 : -0.75% (-58.61 to 7,706.03). Nasdaq: -1.13% (-308.241 to 26,936.037) Strong Economic Growth Brings Fresh Inflation Risks. Rising inflation and a strengthening US economy are pushing the US Federal Reserve toward yet another interest hike. This timing comes right before the crucial US mid-term election. On Wednesday, market traders heavily bet that a 2nd consecutive rate hike will take place in late October 2026 when the Fed convenes. On Wednesday, the closely watched preliminary S&P Global's flash US Composite PMI Output Index report for September 2026, jumped to its highest level since July 2021. Th
Muse takes a cut per transaction. Whose front door does it touch? My ranking, and how I'm trading the fallout with sell puts Written Thursday, 24 Sept (SGT), using Wednesday's US close. What Meta actually announced Meta Connect opened on Wednesday with $1,299 VR glasses, camera-free smart glasses, and the first real answer to the question everyone has been asking about Muse: how does it make money? The answer is a toll. Meta says Muse will be free for a large number of tokens, and over time it expects to profit by taking a small fee on transactions. It hasn't said how big the fee is. There's also a subscription layer, with monthly plans from $20 to $100 above a free option. The plumbing is already in place: Payments and checkout: Stripe handles the payment rails, Shop Pay covers Shopify's
$NVIDIA(NVDA)$ NVIDIA (NVDA) — Outlook Conclusion: the fundamental growth engine is still running at full speed and the stock is not expensive relative to its own history, but the near-term technical picture is soft and the market is already pricing in a very large forward ramp. The risk-reward looks moderately positive on a 12-month view, with the main tension being execution risk on the 2027–2028 estimates rather than valuation. 1. Growth is still compounding at a high rate Metric FY2026 (actual) FY2027 (est.) FY2028 (est.) FY2029 (est.) Revenue (USD bn) 215.9 410.8 695.6 913.8 YoY growth +65.5% +90.3% +69.3% +31.4% EPS (USD) 4.77 9.28 15.78 20.96 YoY growth +59.5% +94.6% +69.9% +32.9% EBIT (USD bn) 137.3 268.4 455.5 609.7 The consensus is
Three Markets, One Rulebook: How I Sell Volatility SPY closed almost flat at 767.40. A calm index often hides big moves in individual stocks, and that's where option sellers get paid. I've run the Wheel for over five years. The idea is simple: Sell a put and collect premium. If assigned, sell covered calls above my cost. When the shares get called away, start again. How I match the tool to the market Bullish: I sell puts on pullbacks, but only on stocks above their 200-day moving average. Delta stays between 0.15 and 0.25. Sideways: This is the best regime for sellers. Time decay does the work, and if I'm assigned, covered calls keep collecting. Bearish: I stop opening new puts. If the 200-day breaks, the trade fails my rules, however rich the premium looks. If you hold stock into a risky
Meta has spent years turning attention into advertising revenue. Now it may be testing something different: Getting paid when AI actually completes the transaction. That’s what makes the Muse story interesting to me. Imagine asking an AI: “Find me the cheapest flight next weekend.” Instead of sending you ten links and leaving you to do the work, Muse could search, compare and eventually book it for you. If Meta takes a fee when that transaction happens, the business model starts looking very different. And the opportunity could extend well beyond travel. 🛒 Shopping ✈️ Travel 🍔 Food delivery 💳 Payments 🎟️ Tickets The interesting part for $META is that it already has something many AI competitors don’t have at the same scale: billions of people already using its apps. The challenge is gettin
Share of the Day: Intel — Is the Turnaround Finally Getting Real?
$INTC is interesting again. Intel has spent years trying to prove it can become more than a legacy chip company. Now the market is watching whether its manufacturing strategy can actually translate into a stronger business. What makes the story interesting is that Intel doesn’t need to beat Nvidia at its own game. The bigger opportunity could be foundry + manufacturing. If Intel can successfully produce advanced chips for outside customers, it could create a second growth engine alongside its traditional CPU business. That would make the investment case less dependent on PC demand and more about whether Intel can become a serious alternative in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. And the market is already paying attention. Intel recently became one of the most actively traded large-cap n
Everyone is talking about how much electricity AI data centres will consume. But who actually builds the equipment needed to deliver that power? That’s where $GEV gets interesting. GE Vernova sits across power generation and electrification, giving investors exposure to a theme that goes beyond AI itself. AI data centres are one source of rising electricity demand, but the bigger story could be the broader need to upgrade ageing power infrastructure while adding new generation capacity. That creates a potentially powerful combination: ⚡ More electricity demand 🏭 New generation projects 🔌 Grid investment 🌎 Energy infrastructure upgrades 📈 Long-term demand for electrical equipment The interesting question is whether investors are starting to realise that the AI infrastructure trade isn’t jus
AI Is Going to Space — Is This the Next Data-Centre Frontier?
Google is about to take one of the strangest steps yet in the AI race. Next week, Alphabet’s $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ Google plans to send its Tensor Processing Units into orbit as part of Project Suncatcher, an experiment exploring whether AI computing could eventually move into space. The prototype is scheduled to fly on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.  And no — Google isn’t putting a giant data centre in space just yet. This first mission is basically a reality check. Can AI chips survive radiation? Can they handle extreme temperatures? Can they be cooled in a vacuum? Can satellites eventually communicate fast enough to work together? Those are some of the questions Google wants to answer.  The bigger idea is fascinating
$NVO 20261023 43.0 PUT$ short sell PUT. unfortunately, i think this PUT will be exercised 😔😔 it was hovering near 40s for the longest time, I believed the low would be 40-43. Now it's 37... Let this be a lesson on risk management - position sizing is key. Do not have highly concentrated positions otherwise you risk big losses.
$Novo-Nordisk A/S(NVO)$ 1️⃣ Why am I making this trade now? Nvo share price has declined after the presentation earlier this week. Got early exercised before i could roll it down. Although demand has weaken for its products and continued pressure from its competitor Eli Lily, i am good to hold on to this for a while at this price point. Which is why i sold a put at this strike previously. No gamble, no future. 2️⃣ What's my plan from here? With the patents expiring in some countries, probably high short term volatility, i will continue to hold and probably add more if the price declines furthur, and to look upon their 2027 launch. Probably wait for clearer support levels before i add and lower down my average though.
$1-Ounce Gold - Dec 2026(1OZ2612)$ 1️⃣ Why am I making this trade now? Buying gold as a debasement hedge. Rising 10y yields look like fiscal stress, not hawkish Fed worries. BTC’s bounce from the mid-70ks to above 80k backs the same bid. Price is retesting the Aug 5 breakout around mid-4.2k. 2️⃣ What’s my plan from here? Hold if that mid-4.2k breakout holds and BTC stays firm. Add on a reclaim higher. Exit or reassess if gold loses mid-4.2k, BTC rolls over, or gold ETF flows turn negative again.