My CPI’s back — and it’s cooler than ever.

September’s inflation print, delayed by the government shutdown, finally dropped today. And, okay, it may not be cooler than ever. But it is, technically, cooler than expected. The headline rate ticked up 0.3% month-over-month, below the 0.4% forecast, reaching 3% annually.

Investors believe it’s enough to all but guarantee a Federal Reserve rate cut next week. These days, the best news is boring news.

Plus, Silicon Valley Bad Ideas… In Space! Scroll down for more.

— Brooks & Cas

One quant trader spent decades studying human behavior in the markets before building an AI that learns like a trader — spotting patterns, testing reactions, and adapting in real time.

“What used to take me weeks to find the right setup,” he says, “this AI now finds in minutes — sometimes seconds.”

The result? A “Genetic AI” that thinks with discipline and trades with machine speed — turning chaos into clarity and data into measurable edges.

Ford $F ( 0.0% ) posted stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue.

Comfort Systems $FIX ( 0.0% ) soared on a big quarterly beat and a dividend hike.

Alaska Air $ALK ( 0.0% ) missed earnings estimates and reported a tech outage that grounded flights.

Alphabet $GOOGL ( 0.0% ) announced a multi-billion-dollar cloud partnership with AI unicorn Anthropic.

Boyd Gaming $BYD ( 0.0% ) slipped after its results, boosted by a FanDuel stake sale, failed to impress.

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Municipal bonds have spent most of the year lagging Treasuries. But according to Manulife John Hancock Investments (JHIM), it’s not because of weak fundamentals.

A surge in new issuance — about $424 billion through September, 15% above last year and 29% above the five-year average — has weighed on prices. With so many new bonds flooding the market, technical pressure has been the main drag.

But beneath that surface, the wealth management firm argues, muni credit looks solid.

State and local governments remain well capitalized, supported by strong tax receipts, healthy property values, and record rainy-day reserves. Fiscal discipline, not fragility, defines this market. For investors willing to look past short-term volatility, the selloff could mark the start of a buying window, per JHIM.

Not every muni has escaped turbulence. Some high-yield issuers missed payments in recent months, causing sharp markdowns. Still, analysts say these were isolated cases rather than signs of systemic weakness. The broader market’s fundamentals remain intact.

This environment favors active management and diversification. Experienced managers can avoid speculative projects while leaning into strong issuers with dependable revenue streams. With yields near 3.7% — historically attractive — the muni market offers solid, tax-advantaged income potential.

As the Federal Reserve begins easing policy, the technical picture could improve fast. Lower rates tend to revive demand for tax-free income, and new issuance is expected to moderate into year-end.

Short-duration municipal bonds stand out. Their yields remain competitive with money markets and could prove more resilient as short-term rates fall. For cautious investors sitting in cash, munis could potentially offer the best of both worlds — income today, and upside tomorrow.

A 25-year market quant’s AI model just flipped a switch inside the market — where early money is flooding a sector no one is talking about.  

More importantly, it shows how AI is redefining market edges — giving everyday investors the speed to spot new rotations as they happen.

Trained on decades of market data, this new “genetic AI” evolves thousands of trading rules until only the strongest survive.

CNBC: The Social Security Administration set a 2.8% cost-of-living increase for 2026, raising average monthly benefits by about $56 starting in January.

Engadget: Amazon $AMZN ( 0.0% ) said its AWS outage stemmed from a DynamoDB software bug that erased DNS records.

GuruFocus: Disney $DIS ( 0.0% ) warned that ESPN, ABC, and other channels could be pulled from YouTube TV by Oct. 30 if they can’t agree on new carriage fees.

TechCrunch: Rivian $RIVN ( 0.0% ) agreed to pay $250M to settle a shareholder lawsuit over misleading IPO disclosures tied to 2022 R1 price hikes.

BI: GM $GM ( 0.0% ) laid off workers at its Warren Tech Center as part of a design engineering restructure, days after posting strong Q3 earnings.

The final frontier of bad ideas.

Like every once-great movie franchise, Silicon Valley has run out of good ideas for sequels, and stumbled into its Moonraker stage. Just tack on “…In Space!”

Are you bullish or bearish on Amazon $AMZN ( 0.0% ) over the next 12 months?

▇▇▇▇▇▇ 🐂 Bullish

▇▇▇▇▇▇ 🐻 Bearish

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