HAPPY THURSDAY TO THE STREET.
Intel’s $INTC ( ▲ 3.78% ) stock is up more than 50% in a month — a rally that’s turned the Trump administration’s $9B bet into a $16B stake. Turns out, nothing can turn a cold stock hot like a cosign from the highest office.
🟩 | US stocks eked out gains today — and fresh records — despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s assertion that domestic production could “see a hit” amid the shutdown.
📈 | One Notable Gainer: Starbucks $SBUX ( ▲ 2.75% ) served after boosting its quarterly dividend by one cent to $0.62 per share.
📉 | One Notable Decliner: Occidental $OXY ( ▼ 7.31% ) dropped after Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B ( ▼ 0.46% ) agreed to buy its OxyChem unit for nearly $10B.
Finally, read to the end for the chart that puts OpenAI in rarefied air…
— Brooks & Cas
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Smart diversification: Gain broad exposure to private equity, real estate, private credit, and more — all in one place.
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STOCK HEATMAPS
S&P 500 Heatmap. Credit: Finviz
All Stock Heatmap. Credit: Finviz
Global ADR snapshot. Credit: Finviz
Market Movers
INTEL, FAIR ISAAC, EQUIFAX
$INTC ( ▲ 3.78% ) Intel Stock Blasts Up Again as it May Have a Huge New Client (TipRanks)
$FICO ( ▲ 17.98% ) FICO provider is shaking up its credit score business. Its stock is surging (CNBC)
$EFX ( ▼ 8.47% ) Why Equifax Stock Is Falling Today (StockStory)
$ACAD ( ▲ 0.66% ) Acadia Healthcare stock soars after activist investor urges company sale (Investing.com)
$SRPT ( ▲ 15.68% ) Sarepta Therapeutics Surges After FDA Greenlights Duchenne Gene Therapy – Is a Rebound Ahead? (TS2)
OVERHEARD ON THE STREET
CNBC: Amazon $AMZN ( ▲ 0.81% ) paused its Prime Air drone deliveries in Arizona after two MK30 drones collided with a crane in Tolleson, prompting federal probes.
Stockwits: Tesla $TSLA ( ▼ 5.11% ) delivered a record 497,099 vehicles in Q3, up 7.4% year over year, boosted by buyers rushing ahead of the expiring federal EV tax credit.
Reuers: UnitedHealth $UNH ( ▲ 1.56% ) said it would drop Medicare Advantage plans in 109 US counties in 2026, affecting 180K members.
Fortune: Netflix $NFLX ( ▼ 0.72% ) is hiring a fully remote generative AI product manager for its Productivity Assistant team, with a salary range of $240,000–$700,000 per year.
CNN: Taiwan vowed to resist US pressure to move half its chip production, defending TSMC’s $TSM ( ▼ 0.13% ) role as a critical “silicon shield.”
Tomorrow's Trade Idea, Today
SEED MONEY
A Sharp Drop
Corteva $CTVA ( ▲ 3.29% ) shares fell more than 9% yesterday after the agricultural technology company said it would split into two publicly traded entities by the second half of 2026. The move will separate its seed business from its crop chemicals operation, a structural shift that initially spooked investors.
The selloff added to an already sluggish year. Corteva shares are up nearly 13% in 2025, lagging behind the S&P 500’s nearly 15% gain.
But JPMorgan $JPM ( ▼ 1.02% ) doesn’t see weakness — just a buying opportunity.
JPMorgan Turns Positive
JPMorgan’s Jeffrey Zekauskas upgraded Corteva to Overweight from Neutral after the pullback.
He said the decline had left the stock undervalued, even as his year-end target of $70 stayed unchanged. That implies about 10% upside from today’s close.
“We do not believe that the split announcement has lowered the value of Corteva,” Zekauskas wrote. “We do think that the sharp decrease has created undervaluation.”
Valuation Case
Zekauskas argued that Corteva’s breakup could ultimately unlock more value. By his math, the seed business — which carries gross margins above 50% — currently trades around 13.5x EBITDA. The crop chemicals side, however, trades closer to 6x on 2025 estimates and just 4x on 2026 forecasts.
He sees a more “normal” multiple for the crop chemicals business at 9x–10x EBITDA, more in line with peers such as FMC. If investors come around to that view, Corteva’s spinoff may look less like a risk event and more like a long-term value driver.
In Partnership With Yieldstreet
If you’re only invested in stocks and bonds, you may be leaving performance on the table. Private markets offer:
Smart diversification: Gain broad exposure to private equity, real estate, private credit, and more — all in one place.
Prominent managers: Invest alongside some of the world’s largest private markets sponsors.
Personalization: Build your own portfolio — or let our automated investing solution handle everything for you.
Discover what private markets can do for your portfolio.
ON OUR RADAR
The Verge: Perplexity has made its AI-powered browser Comet free for all users, ending its $200 monthly subscription requirement.
Bloomberg: Bitcoin climbed back to $120,000 for the first time in seven weeks as investors sought safe-haven assets ahead of the US government shutdown.
AP: The Trump administration cancelled $76B in clean energy grants across 16 Democrat states, affecting battery plants and grid projects.
Axios: A survey of 1,084 US voters found people trusted CEOs, management, and employees far more than spokespeople or platforms.
TechCrunch: OpenAI’s Sora app hit 164K installs in two days, ranking No 3 on the US App Store.
STREET TWEET
OpenAI is officially the world's most valuable private company.
— #Exec Sum (#@exec_sum)
3:18 PM • Oct 2, 2025
OpenAI takes the crown.
At a $500B valuation, OpenAI is now the world’s most valuable private company — leapfrogging SpaceX, ByteDance, and every other unicorn on the planet.
It’s a milestone that underscores just how central AI has become to markets and geopolitics — and how hard it has become for everyday investors to tap into those gains.
WEDNESDAY POLL RESULTS
Are you bullish or bearish on federal contractor stocks over the next 12 months?
▇▇▇▇▇ 🐻 Bearish
▇▇▇▇▇ 🐂 Bullish
And, in response, you said:
🐂 Bullish — “Economy is recovering.”
🐻 Bearish — “The government's executive and legislative branches do not inspire confidence in their understanding of compromise and the art of the possible.”