Mid-Morning Look

Monday, October 20, 2025

U.S. stocks ripping to start the week as trade tensions between the US and China appeared to have eased over the weekend, buoying markets with renewed hopes for a tariff truce. Nearly all eleven S&P sectors start the day higher, with biggest gains in Technology (XLK), Consumer Discretionary (XLY) and Industrials (XLI) while defensive sectors lag like Consumer Staples (XLP). Apple (AAPL) nears record highs following two positive analyst comments and one positive data point. A big story overnight was Amazon saying its cloud services unit AWS was recovering from a widespread outage that knocked out thousands of websites along with some of the world’s most popular apps and disrupted businesses globally (appears to still be an issue for some, but many cases resolved). Fed officials are now in their “quiet period” with no comments until next week’s FOMC rate decision where a 25-bps rate cut remains expected, while economic data remains non-existent in the US with the government shutdown into Day 20 – though CPI data is expected to be released Friday. Earnings season picks up this week with some heavy hitters on deck including TSLA, NFLX, IBM, KO, TXN, while banks rebound as the credit concerns raised last week by ZION, WAL have since dissipated. A good start to the week after major averages jumped last week – no fear still from investors. US-China trade tensions appear to be cooling ahead of talks to take place later this week ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting expected to be held at the end of the month. December gold extending morning gains, surging over 3% or $133 to $4,345 an ounce after Friday’s profit taking move lower (all-time highs remain at $4,392 last week). Crypto also rebounding up over 2% topping $111,000.

• In Crypto: GLXY files for offering of up to 12.8M shares of Class A common stock by the selling stockholders; MSTR disclosed a weekly purchase of bitcoin, buying 168 tokens for a total of $18.8M during the Oct. 13-19 period with the average purchase price for the latest batch was $112,051 per coin; BMNR announced crypto BitMine crypto + cash + “moonshots” holdings totaling $13.4B. As of October 19th, the Company’s crypto holdings are comprised of 3,236,014 ETH at $4,022 per Ethereum.
• In Metals & Mining: After a day of profit taking Friday for precious metals after the meteoric rise in gold and silver prices to record highs, gold miners (AEM, AG, CDE, NEM) and precious metal prices resume their upward trajectory; CLF reported mostly in-line Q3 results, but shares popped higher after the company said it is seeking to expand its presence in the production of rare earth metals, and that it is examining existing mining sites in Michigan and Minnesota that show key indicators of rare earth minerals.

• BA 1%; after the FAA said that it would allow Boeing to raise production from 38/month to 42/month; FAA says Boeing passed extensive safety reviews
• CELC +47%; said it has successfully recruited enough breast-cancer patients with the PIK3CA mutation to complete Phase 3 clinical trials of a novel treatment that incorporates the drug gedatolisib. It also released promising findings from trials on patients with this mutation.
• CLF +17%; reported mostly in-line Q3 results, but shares popped higher after the company said it is seeking to expand its presence in the production of rare earth metals, and that it is examining existing mining sites in Michigan and Minnesota that show key indicators of rare earth minerals.
• COO +4%; shares rose after the WSJ Jana Partners has acquired a position in Cooper and plans to push for strategic alternatives, including a potential deal to combine its contact-lens unit with BLCO, citing people familiar with the matter. https://tinyurl.com/jm3w8ntm
• HOLX +2%; after Bloomberg reported BX and TPG are in late stage talks to acquire Hologic in a transaction that could value the cancer test maker at more than $17B, including debt. The companies are currently negotiating a price target of over $75 per share. https://tinyurl.com/3aaaftwd
• RAPT +32%; after saying its experimental drug to treat chronic spontaneous urticaria showed comparable efficacy and safety to RHHBY Xolair in a mid-stage trial in China; the 137-patient study tested safety and efficacy of the drug, RPT904, dosed at intervals of 8-12 weeks compared to Xolair dosed every 4 weeks.
• REPL +97%; shares jumped after saying the FDA will review RP1, its therapy for advanced melanoma, for a second time, based on a resubmission that included additional data and analysis from a completed clinical trial. The new approval decision date is April 10.
• SOC +12%; after US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright made an X post Friday night supporting the company’s effort to restart one of its California oil projects that is awaiting state approval. Roth Capital Partners sees the secretary’s support as positive
• TEM +5%; was initiated with a Buy and $110 PT at Canaccord saying the Oncology testing company for genomic profiling, data services and AI applications should continue to benefit from the early 2025 launch of xT CDx and FDA approval of xR IVD in 2H25.

• EXEL -13%; after announced detailed results from STELLAR-303, a phase 3 pivotal trial evaluating zanzalintinib in combination with atezolizumab versus regorafenib in patients with previously treated non-microsatellite instability-high metastatic colorectal cancer – the study met one of its dual primary endpoints.
• OLMA -14%; shares fell after announces new data from the phase 1B/2 trial of Palazestrant plus ribociclib in er+/her2- metastatic breast cancer at ESMO 2025; Results showed that with a median follow-up of 10.8 months, those in the 90 mg group did not reach progression-free survival.
• RIVN -2%; was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Mizuho and cut tgt to $10 from $14 citing slowing electric vehicle demand as Inflation Reduction Act credits expire and sees headwinds in 2026 for Rivian due to with softer auto sales in North America and China risks.
• SMMT -7%; after saying ivonescimab plus chemo cut risk of disease progression or death by 40% vs generic tislelizumab and chemo in a type of lung cancer in a trial conducted by partner Akeso in China; the company said it plans to file for potential FDA approval in Q4