Good Morning! StubHub had an underwhelming market debut, dropping 6% on its long-awaited IPO day. Nvidia fell after China banned its AI chips, while Workday popped 7% after hedge fund Elliott took a $2 billion stake.

Gucci named a new CEO as sales keep sliding. ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live off air “indefinitely” over Charlie Kirk comments. Meta launched $799 AI-powered Ray-Bans, and Strava, with 150 million users, is lining up banks for a potential $2.2 billion IPO.

Plus: Cocaine use on the U.S. West Coast is up 154% since 2019, companies are hesitant to book Joe Biden as a paid speaker, is it too late to buy gold, and can ChatGPT design your next workout plan?

Backed by early investors in Uber and eBay, discover Pacaso.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Fed’s 25 bps Cut

The Fed finally pulled the trigger on its first 2025 rate cut, trimming 25 bps to 4.00–4.25%. 

Powell described the move as “risk management,” pointing to some less-than-positive signals from the labor market. Payroll growth has cratered from 130k in May to just 29k over the summer, underscoring how quickly hiring momentum has evaporated.

Inflation, meanwhile, remains sticky. Powell acknowledged that much of the recent price pickup is policy-driven, stemming from tariffs and immigration curbs.

With fewer workers entering the labor force, the Fed is trapped: it can’t simultaneously kill inflation and preserve jobs. As Powell put it, “our tools can’t do two things at once.”

Markets are already betting on two more cuts this year, which would push rates down to 3.5–3.75%.

Goldman noted that “the doves are now in the driver’s seat,” highlighting the market’s view that policy momentum has shifted firmly toward easing.

Powell, however, pushed back on the idea of a predetermined cutting cycle. His message was that the Fed will stay data-dependent, even as the trajectory of rates is clearly drifting lower. In other words, he’s trying to project caution while quietly steering policy toward easier financial conditions.

Takeaway: This isn’t 2019’s growth-friendly mid-cycle insurance cut. It’s the Fed putting bubble wrap on a softening labor market while pretending inflation control is still the top priority. Lower rates may fuel a short-term rally, but the underlying message is that growth is deteriorating, not accelerating.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• China bans tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI chips (CNBC)

• Stubhub dropped in volatile debut (WSJ)

• StubHub CEO says recent changes to all-in ticket pricing model will dent revenue (CNBC)

• Cracker Barrel expects a slowdown (CNBC)

• Gucci names new CEO in bid to revive sales (WSJ)

• America loves cocaine again and Mexican cartels are cashing in (WSJ)

• Zuckerberg unveils $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses (CNBC)

• ABC pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ off air ‘indefinitely’ over Charlie Kirk comments (CNBC)

• Fitness tracking app Strava looks to hire banks for IPO (YF)

• Joe Biden is struggling to cash in on his presidency (WSJ)

• Kash Patel called Krispy Kreme stock a buy and fueled wild rally (BB)

• Why you should own some gold (WSJ)

• Private equity blew up my life (Slate)

• Mortgage refinance demand spikes nearly 60% as rates drop sharply (CNBC)

• Small building trade businesses tell private equity to get lost (Forbes)

• OpenAI releases first-of-kind study on how people use ChatGPT (CNBC)

• NY executives rip state for talent loss and “regulatory black hole” (BB)

• Hedge funds push to ease short-seller rule on public offerings (BB)

• AI is turning traditional corporate org charts upside down (WSJ)

PRESENTED BY PACASO

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They’re a private company, but Pacaso just reserved the Nasdaq ticker “$PCSO.” 

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No surprise the same firms that backed Uber and Venmo already invested in Pacaso. But you don’t have to be a Wall Street firm to invest. Pacaso is giving the same opportunity to everyday investors, and 10,000+ people have already joined them.

But today is the final day of your window to invest, so don’t waste time. Invest in Pacaso before midnight PT tonight.

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. stocks closed modestly lower after the Fed cut interest rates by 25 bps, as expected.

• Small-caps outperformed, while financials and consumer staples led, and tech and industrials lagged.

• Bond yields rose, with the 10-year Treasury at 4.09%.

• Europe was mixed, led by tech gains as U.S. firms announced new U.K. investments during Trump’s visit.

• Dollar strengthened against major currencies, while oil fell after recent supply-driven gains.

Economic Data Highlights

• Fed cut rates 25 bps, setting fed funds at 4.0%–4.25%.

• Dot plot added one more cut for 2025, but still shows just one move in 2026, keeping the path cautious.

• Markets remain more dovish, still pricing fed funds below 3% next year.

• Projections upgraded slightly, showing stronger growth, lower unemployment, and higher inflation vs. June.

• Reaction muted, as decision and projections matched expectations.

Reported Earnings

• No significant earnings

Earnings Today

• Darden Restaurants (DRI) – Watch for traffic trends and menu pricing power.

• FedEx (FDX) – Key focus on margins, cost cuts, and global shipping demand.

• Lennar (LEN) – Housing market resilience, new orders, and backlog trends in focus.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Lyft ($LYFT) +13% after striking a deal with Waymo to bring robotaxis to Nashville next year.

• (+) Workday ($WDAY) +7% because activist investor Elliott took a $2 billion stake.

• (–) RCI Hospitality ($RICK) -10% after execs bribed tax auditors with comped dances.

Private Dealmaking

• Rithm Capital agreed to acquire Paramount Group for $1.6 billion

• Figure, a maker of humanoid robots, raised over $1 billion

• Lingokids, a maker of interactive learning apps, raised $120 million

• Airia, an enterprise AI security and orchestration platform, raised $100 million

• Chestnut Carbon, a carbon removal startup, raised $90 million

• PassiveLogic, a building software and hardware developer, raised $74 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

BOOK OF THE DAY

Yield

Description: A deeply researched insider account of how Google transformed the ad tech landscape—through acquisitions, policy shifts, and market maneuvers—ultimately gaining dominance in digital advertising. This book tells the story of power consolidated; of publishers squeezed between algorithmic rules; and of an industry reshaped under one company’s rule.

Rating: 4.9 / 5

Book Length: 368 pages
Audiobook Length: ~8 hrs 4 mins

Ideal For: Ad tech insiders, digital marketers, policy watchers, journalists, and anyone curious about how tech giants leverage scale and control to shape the foundations of online commerce.

“This is the back-room tea on how the modern ad tech market was created… worth it for the diagrams alone.”

DAILY VISUAL

Gold Outperforming The Market

Want more? Visualize the markets with Carbon Finance

PRESENTED BY MACABACUS

Start With the Templates & Assets You Need, Not From Scratch

New mandate drops. You’re staring at a blank slide (or worse, copying last quarter’s deck) and surprise...the template changed yesterday. Cue the logo hunt, tombstone tweaks, and late-night proofing. 

Macabacus frees your team from formatting, template & asset wrangling, and brand policing, so they can focus on what actually drives value: accurate models and client-ready decks. 

• Shared Libraries: One place for firm-approved content, digital assets, shapes, charts, and more. Searchable and always current, so no one builds critical presentations by recycling old decks. 

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• Presentation Templates: Always start from the latest, on-brand slides. 

For VPs: It means client-ready outputs, fewer review cycles, faster turnaround, and a single source of truth your whole team can trust (Pair with Deck Check to proof presentation for errors & inconsistencies).

See how top banking teams use Macabacus' Digital Asset Management solutions.

DAILY ACUMEN

Trust

Markets move at the speed of trust. When confidence evaporates, liquidity disappears, prices collapse.

Your career works the same way. The people who rise fastest are not always the most brilliant, but the most trusted.

Trust is velocity. It accelerates introductions, promotions, deals.

Without it, even genius crawls. The paradox is that trust is slow to build and fast to lose.

You earn it in invisible ways: keeping promises, showing up prepared, admitting when you don’t know.

In trading, as in life, leverage multiplies gains and losses.

Trust is the ultimate leverage. Guard it as if it were capital, because it is.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• Can ChatGPT get you fit?

• 7 traits rich and successful people look for in friends

• 5 morning habits to motivate you

• A walking and strength workout plan to kickstart weight loss 

• The hidden personality traits

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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