ARTICLES

An Alternative To Money Market Funds

October 2025

MARKET OVERVIEW
September continued the market’s strong rebound after a very difficult month of April. That strength has carried over throughout September and into early October with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all reaching record highs.

Some items of note: PNC will acquire FirstBank Holding Company to expand its presence in Colorado and Arizona, GM is pausing production of several EV models due to slowing sales, Teck Resources and Anglo American plc announced plants to merge, Conoco, BP and Exxon have all announced sizable layoffs as the US shale industry faces mounting challenges, Novo Nordisk announced plans to trim 9,000 jobs, Oracle’s shares surged after the company disclosed its remaining performance obligations will soar 359% from a year earlier, Potbelly Sandwich Works  will be taken private by the convenience store chain RaceTrac, Spanish banking group Sabadell has urged its shareholders to reject an acquisition proposal from BBVA, Brookfield is in talks to acquire manufactured homes developer YES! Communities, Verizon increased its quarterly dividend for the 19th straight year, and finally, Eli Lilly announced plans to build a $5 billion facility in Virginia.

ECONOMIC SUMMARY
Due to the federal government shutdown, the September 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 September 16-17 and announced a quarter point rate cut. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled two more quarter point cuts were likely before the end of this year. As a result, interest rate sensitive sectors such as the homebuilders, utilities and banks rallied strongly.

STOCKS TO WATCH
As of the close of trading on Friday, Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) comprised over 20% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization. Clearly, this is an extraordinary development!! NVDA became the first publicly traded company in the world to reach a market cap of $4.5 trillion. To put this amount into perspective, ASML, the largest European company by market cap, ended trading on Friday with a market capitalization of just over $400 billion, less than 10% of NVDA!! The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is being compared to the impact the internet had on the stock market 30 years ago.

Another notable development recently has been the big increase in the number of announced mergers and acquisitions. The current Trump administration is viewed as being far more business friendly than the prior Biden administration. As a result, the number of deals announced going forward should grow steadily. Sectors that are viewed  as ripe for consolidation include the financials (banks and insurance companies), utilities and large retailers.

My weekly radio show is now on holiday and should return soon on WWPR 1490 AM. My prior radio shows and newspaper columns are available here.

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