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An Alternative To Money Market Funds

November 2025

MARKET OVERVIEW
October is behind us and what a choppy month it was. The Federal Government shutdown took a toll on both sentiment and spending for consumers. Nevertheless, the market rebounded strongly on hopes Congress will agree to end the shutdown. As a result,  the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all reached record highs on October 29.

Some items of note: Tesla shareholders overwhelmingly approved Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package, Pfizer won the takeover battle for Metsera, Fifth Third Bank will acquire Comerica Bank in an all stock deal, Verizon named Dan Schulman as its new CEO replacing Hans Vestberg, AMD surged on news OpenAI seeks to take a stake in the company, Apollo has reportedly backed away from acquiring Papa John’s, GM took a $1.6 billion charge as it reduces its EV production plans, Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its orthopedics business, Hologic is being taken private by Blackstone and TPG, Nestle plans to cut 6% of its workforce and finally, the long awaited spinoff of Solstice Advanced Materials by Honeywell was completed.

ECONOMIC SUMMARY
Due to the Federal Government shutdown, the October Nonfarm Payroll Report was not released. As of this writing, it is unclear when the US Government will reopen and when this report will be released.

FEDERAL RESERVE
The Fed met October 28-29 and announced a quarter point rate cut. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled a cut in December is not certain as the Fed remains data dependent. There is hope the government shutdown will be long over by then when the Fed meets for its final time in 2025 on December 9-10.

STOCKS TO WATCH
The world of professional sports has made a lot of headlines recently. Within the past few weeks, the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA club was completed in a deal valuing the team at $10 billion. Private Equity firm Apollo has acquired a majority stake in the famous Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid. Truly, these are exciting times for sports fans around the world.

One troubling development has emerged which could lead fans to lose interest in professional sports. The culprit is legalized gambling. Last month, the National Basketball Association was rocked by the news of a widespread gambling ring by the Mob, along with players and coaches. Miami Heat starTerry Rozier, along with NBA Hall of Famer and current head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, Chauncey Billups have been indicted due to the federal probe and have been placed on leave without pay by the NBA.

Over the weekend, it was reported that two pitchers in Major League Baseball have been indicted on gambling charges as well. Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are accused of taking bribes to rig pitches. This activity is known in gambling circles as “prop bets” where a bettor wagers on the performance of a particular player in a game, whether or not the next pitch will be a ball or strike, fouled off, fly out etc

Clearly, the temptation is enormous. This is why the players and owners need to reach agreement quickly on the types of wagers permitted. Otherwise, Congress may need to get involved. A real worry among members of the sports media is whether these gambling scandals reach the athletes in college sports. That would be tragic!!

My weekly radio show is now on holiday and should return soon on WWPR 1490 AM. My prior radio shows and columns are available on our website (www.amescapmgmt.com).

If you are unhappy with the returns now offered by money market funds feel free to contact us.

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