Good Afternoon. While pumpkin spice everything creeps into your feed, Wall Street’s mood is more bitter than sweet. Weak jobs data has the Fed reaching for the scissors and Kenvue’s Tylenol shock rattled investors. Throw in robotaxis and cocoa shortages, and we’ve got plenty to cover before the weekend kicks off. Let’s get into it.

—Rosie, Wyatt, Evan & Conor

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_{Stocks & Income is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as investment advice. Do your own research.}

1. BofA Reverses Course, Now Sees Two Fed Rate Cuts

The News: Bank of America abandoned its lone-wolf forecast of no cuts until 2026, now predicting two rate reductions this year after August’s jobs report showed U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs—far short of the 75,000 expected. Unemployment ticked up to 4.3%, the highest since 2021. BofA now expects quarter-point cuts in both September and December, plus another 75 bps of easing in 2026. The about-face reflects cracks in the labor market: downward revisions showed June actually lost 13,000 jobs, the first monthly drop since the pandemic.

Why It Matters: For months, Wall Street debated whether the Fed was “done” fighting inflation or at risk of cutting too soon. With even BofA, previously the holdout, now in the rate-cut camp, investors see a 100% chance of easing in September. For borrowers, that means relief on mortgages, credit cards, and business loans. But for savers, it signals the high-yield era on savings accounts and bonds is winding down. More broadly, the Fed shifting its focus from inflation to jobs marks a turning point: the central bank is prioritizing keeping Americans employed over keeping prices stable, a trade-off that will shape markets for years.
Source: msn.com

2. Tech titans dine with Trump as Musk sits out

The News: President Trump hosted a glittering White House dinner Thursday, bringing together Silicon Valley’s top leaders for what looked like equal parts policy summit and loyalty showcase. Apple’s Tim Cook, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman pledged hundreds of billions in U.S. investments while praising Trump’s “pro-business” stance. Altman’s presence was especially notable as OpenAI partners with the administration on its $500 billion Stargate AI project. But the biggest headline was who wasn’t there: Elon Musk, who skipped the dinner, sending a representative instead. His empty chair, contrasted with Altman’s high-profile spot, signaled a shift in Silicon Valley’s power dynamics.

Why It Matters: The dinner illustrates how quickly Big Tech has realigned with Trump, pivoting from skepticism in his first term to strategic embrace in his second. With AI, chipmaking, and infrastructure central to U.S. economic policy, access to the White House has become a must-have for tech leaders. The contrast between Musk’s empty seat and the billion-dollar pledges made around the table shows where the industry’s political bets are landing. While Musk may have skipped dinner, the tech giants are still trying to get the biggest piece of the government spending pie.
Source: wsj.com

3. Tylenol maker’s stock tumbles on autism report fears

The News: Kenvue shares plunged as much as 14% Friday, their steepest drop in over a year, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services are preparing to release a report linking Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy to autism. The report, expected later this month, may also cite folate deficiency as a risk factor and suggest folinic acid as a potential treatment. Kenvue forcefully denied the claim, stressing that acetaminophen is “one of the most researched medicines in the world” and remains endorsed by the FDA and major medical bodies as safe in pregnancy when used properly. Most scientific reviews have found only limited or inconsistent evidence of a causal link, and federal courts have previously dismissed lawsuits on the issue due to weak science.

Why It Matters: The stock selloff underscores how fragile health-sector valuations can be when drug safety is called into question, even without conclusive evidence. For Kenvue, the risk is not just reputational but potentially financial if renewed litigation follows. For pregnant women, the message from experts hasn’t changed: use Tylenol cautiously, in consultation with doctors. Always check with your doctors. But RFK Jr.’s upcoming report is already reshaping both Wall Street sentiment and the public debate, reminding investors and patients alike that in pharma, perception often moves faster than proof.
Source: foxbusiness.com

4. Yieldstreet investors brace for steep losses on $89M marine loans

The News: Investors in Yieldstreet’s marine loan deals are facing near-total losses after the platform disclosed that $89 million in loans tied to ship recycling businesses have collapsed. Yieldstreet recovered just $5 million in a settlement with the borrowers, far less than the cost of pursuing them, leaving little to no repayment for customers. The loans, marketed in 2018–19 as being secured by 13 ships, turned sour when the vessels vanished and borrowers allegedly concealed assets. Despite winning some judgments abroad, Yieldstreet was unable to enforce repayment. The company says it no longer offers marine loans.

Why It Matters: This is a cautionary tale for anyone tempted by “alternative” investments promising high yields. As one burned investor told CNBC, “I thought this was somewhere safe to put it, and it wasn’t.” Unlike stocks or bonds, these deals often lack transparency, legal protections, and liquidity, leaving investors holding the bag when things go wrong. For most readers, financial advisors suggest alternatives should be capped at no more than 5–10% of a portfolio, if at all. Even then, they should come through established funds with rigorous oversight. For the rest, boring old diversification—stocks, bonds, index funds—still offers the best protection.
Source: cnbc.com

5. Tesla’s Robotaxi app smashes launch records

The News: Tesla’s new Robotaxi app stormed the App Store on its first day, racking up as many as 2 million downloads, eclipsing Uber’s and Waymo’s best-ever download streaks by a wide margin. The app, which puts users on a waitlist for Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing service, shot to the top of Apple’s Travel category overnight. An Android version is expected later. The milestone comes as Tesla expands Robotaxi operations in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, where regulators still require safety drivers. Elon Musk has promised that the “safety driver is just there for the first few months,” predicting fully driverless rides by year-end.

Why It Matters: The launch underscores Tesla’s unmatched ability to turn hype into mass adoption, no other robotaxi service has generated this level of instant consumer interest. But investors should temper expectations: for now, Tesla’s Robotaxis aren’t much different from calling an Uber with a driver still onboard. The app may have already won the download race but the real test is whether Tesla can win the trust of regulators and riders when no one’s in the driver’s seat. If so, then look for more potential stock increases. If Musk is correct, then we’ll know by the end of the year.
Source: teslaoracle.com

1. Solar Cell Breakthrough Hits 33% Efficiency

The News: An international team of researchers from KAUST, the University of Freiburg, and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute has achieved a major advance in solar technology: perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells with 33.1% efficiency, published Thursday in Science. The team overcame a long-standing industrial challenge—applying effective passivation on textured silicon surfaces, the standard in commercial solar production.

Why It Matters: Most panels on rooftops today convert only 20–25% of sunlight to power. This leap is like going from 22 miles per gallon to 33 without changing cars—a third more energy from the same sunlight. Solar is already booming, but higher efficiency means fewer panels, lower costs, and most importantly, faster adoption. With silicon cells at their physical limits, tandem designs like this could set the new standard and reshape how quickly clean energy scales. Imagine the world when we get close to 100% efficiency.
Source: techxplore.com

2. Cargill halts cocoa processing in Ivory Coast over bean quality crisis

The News: Cargill has stopped cocoa processing in Ivory Coast for the first time outside of routine maintenance, citing unusually poor bean quality in the country’s mid-crop harvest. Delivered beans contained excessive waste material and defects caused by heavy rains, fungal infections, and long-standing issues such as aging plantations. Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, supplies nearly half of global demand, making this shutdown a rare and troubling signal for the entire chocolate supply chain. Other processors in West Africa have also reduced operations, intensifying supply constraints and driving cocoa futures to record highs.

Why It Matters: A pause at Cargill’s plants in Ivory Coast is like an oil refinery going offline in Saudi Arabia, it reverberates through the entire system. With demand for chocolate still rising, even small supply disruptions can fuel major price spikes. Consumers worldwide may soon feel the impact in the form of more expensive chocolate bars, candies, and baked goods. At a deeper level, the halt highlights how climate change, crop disease, and aging farms are undermining one of the world’s most important agricultural commodities, forcing the industry to reckon with structural weaknesses that can’t be solved overnight.
Source: bloomberg.com

3. WeRide launches world’s first 24-hour driverless robotaxi

The News: Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide has launched the world’s first fully driverless, round-the-clock robotaxi service in Guangzhou’s Huangpu District. Using its mass-produced Robotaxi GXR, the company now offers point-to-point trips without safety drivers—bookable directly through the WeRide Go app. The milestone comes just 11 months after the vehicle’s debut, a rapid transition from testing to commercial service. Powered by NVIDIA’s DRIVE AGX Thor chips and a Sensor Suite capable of handling rain, fog, and low light, the Level 4 autonomous taxis are designed with full redundancy in computing, steering, and braking systems for safety.

Why It Matters: This marks the first true deployment of Level 4 autonomy—cars that can drive themselves in defined areas without human oversight. For context, most Tesla vehicles operate at Level 2 (assisted driving that still requires human hands on the wheel), while Waymo is gradually scaling toward Level 4 but continues to rely on safety drivers in certain situations. WeRide’s launch shows China has leapfrogged rivals by putting fully driverless cars on public roads at scale. For consumers, it’s like Uber without the driver; for regulators and investors, it’s a live test of whether autonomy is finally ready to move from hype to habit.
Source: aol.com

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