Buffett, Pfizer, Apple, Firefly, All Big Moves, Bigger Questions

Stocks closed higher Tuesday, capping the S&P 500’s best September in 14 years and extending a five-month winning streak. 

The Dow added 82 points to a fresh record, the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.3%. Treasury yields diverged, the 2-year slipped to 3.6% while the 10-year nudged up to 4.15%.

History favors momentum over fear. A five-month rally isn’t just optics, historically, every streak of this length since 1950 has been followed by further gains over the next year. 

AI optimism, resilient consumer data, and September’s rate cut have powered stocks through what is normally a punishing seasonal stretch. 

Traders now price nearly 80% odds of another half-point of easing by year-end. The burden is shifting: it’s no longer on bulls to explain why we’re rising, it’s on bears to prove why it should stop.

Historically, shutdowns create short-term volatility but little lasting impact. Investors are reading this one the same way: a headline storm, not a structural shock. The bigger signal is that markets care more about monetary policy and earnings than Capitol Hill theater.

Big Tech saw profit-taking across most of the “Mag 7,” with Nvidia the standout gainer (+2%). 

Drugmakers advanced after striking a pricing agreement with the White House, while consumer discretionary names outperformed on stronger spending data. Energy lagged as oil slid on supply-driven pressure, breaking from the broader risk-on tone.

Investor Signal

Momentum is the dominant narrative. This rally is being underwritten by AI, policy easing, and resilient demand, a trifecta hard to fade. Shutdowns may dominate headlines, but fundamentals are driving flows. 

For investors, the lesson is simple: the market is rewarding participation, not caution. Stay sidelined too long, and history suggests you risk missing the compounding effect of rallies that feed on themselves.

Options can either make you rich… or wipe you out fast.

That’s why I created a 66-page guide revealing the basics every trader must know before placing another trade.

Inside, you’ll discover:

Others charge $20 for guides like this — you can get it free today.

[Download Your Free Copy Before Your Next Trade].

Warren Buffett may be preparing to pass the CEO reins to Greg Abel by year-end, but he’s not leaving quietly. 

Berkshire Hathaway is reportedly close to acquiring Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical arm, OxyChem, for about $10 billion. 

The unit generates roughly $5 billion in annual sales, supplying chemicals essential for water treatment, plastics, and even battery recycling.

For Occidental, the sale helps chip away at debt from its costly Anadarko acquisition. For Berkshire, it’s a classic deployment of a record $344 billion cash pile into a steady-earning, capital-heavy business. 

It would be Berkshire’s largest deal since Alleghany in 2022, and echoes its $9 billion Lubrizol purchase back in 2011.

Investor Signal

This isn’t a flashy tech moonshot, it’s a Buffett hallmark. Durable cash flows, industrial backbone, and decades-long compounding potential. 

As Abel steps into the CEO role, the move signals continuity: Berkshire isn’t chasing cycles, it’s reinforcing its DNA of buying businesses built to last. For investors, the takeaway is clear — Abel may change the face of leadership, but not the formula.

Pfizer has struck a high-stakes bargain with the Trump administration that rewrites how it prices drugs in America. 

The pharma giant agreed to extend lower prices to Medicaid patients and adopt “most-favored-nation” pricing for all new drugs, ensuring Americans won’t pay more than the lowest price offered abroad. 

In exchange, Pfizer secured a three-year exemption from sweeping pharmaceutical tariffs that threatened to double import costs.

The deal also obligates Pfizer to pour $70 billion into U.S.-based R&D and manufacturing, aligning the company’s investment footprint with Washington’s industrial agenda.

Investor Signal

The move is trading near-term margin concessions for stability and regulatory goodwill. The agreement shields Pfizer from 100% tariffs and gives the White House a political win on drug affordability. 

For investors, the key watchpoint is whether rivals follow suit, compressing sector-wide pricing power. In the near term, Pfizer’s exemption eases policy risk and offers a stabilizer in a volatile pharma tape.

This company is the lifeblood of AI data centers, yet almost no one has caught up with the story.

Their hardware is so essential that the data center industry uses enough of it to stretch around the world 8 times – in a single building!

So, if you own Nvidia stock now, you might be well-served to sell those shares and check out this under-the-radar play instead.

Or if you missed the boat on Nvidia, this is a rare second chance to target tremendous profit potential as AI data centers spring up in every corner of the world.

[Get my full take on this exciting play right here]

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha Flight 7 rocket suffered a dramatic ground-test failure, destroying its first stage but sparing injuries thanks to safety protocols. 

Shares sank ~11% on the news as the company scrambled to assess damage and chart next steps.

The setback comes just weeks after Firefly cleared FAA hurdles to resume Alpha launches following an April mishap, heightening scrutiny of its reliability at a pivotal moment in its growth trajectory.

Investor Signal

Space is unforgiving and failures are part of the playbook. But Firefly’s timing is brutal: a fresh IPO, rising competition, and pressure to prove itself. 

Near-term, launch revenue assumptions face sharper downside risk. Longer-term, the dip could create opportunity if the company demonstrates swift engineering fixes and maintains customer trust. Investors should watch for root-cause clarity, credible return-to-flight timelines, and whether confidence holds in a crowded launch market.

Apple has kept the base iPhone 17 priced at $799, unchanged since 2020. Needham’s Laura Martin argues that decision has quietly cost investors, implying a 13% revenue shortfall since 2019 when adjusted for inflation. 

The freeze reflects a weakening of Apple’s pricing power at a time when margins matter more than ever.

Defenders say the strategy keeps Apple competitive in markets like China, where lower prices help secure government subsidies. Critics counter that lack of innovation and the absence of a “killer AI feature” are the real obstacles to justifying premium pricing.

Investor Signal

This isn’t just a pricing quirk, it’s a strategic vulnerability. 

Apple is signaling that it either can’t or won’t move its base model price higher, absorbing the inflation hit or offsetting it elsewhere. That undercuts the long-standing narrative of unassailable premium margins. 

For investors, the growth bet shifts toward services, software, and AI differentiation rather than base hardware strength. Until Apple proves it can reprice its flagship or deliver breakout features, margin expansion looks capped.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint Tuesday over Zillow’s $100 million payment to Redfin parent Rocket, alleging the deal to exit multifamily rental advertising was an antitrust violation. 

The agreement, announced in February, gave Zillow exclusivity across Redfin and affiliated sites like Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com. 

Regulators called it a textbook case of “paying off a competitor to stop competing.”

Zillow insists the arrangement is pro-consumer, expanding renter access and improving efficiency for property managers. 

Rocket and Redfin have yet to respond. Shares reflected the pressure: Zillow fell 3.5% to its lowest since July, while Rocket slid 5.4%.

Investor Signal

Antitrust risk is no longer confined to Big Tech, it’s reaching housing platforms and fintech-adjacent players. 

For Zillow, the case challenges both the legal footing and strategic logic of a major partnership. For Rocket, it complicates the Redfin integration. If regulators unwind the exclusivity, Zillow’s rental edge fades and Rocket’s broader housing ambitions take a hit. The broader takeaway: concentrated digital markets are now squarely in the antitrust crosshairs.

September closed on strength, with the S&P 500 logging its best month in 14 years, even as the shutdown clock ticked toward midnight.

 It was a reminder that while Washington drama fills the airwaves, markets are tuned to a different frequency: Fed policy, corporate earnings, and capital deployment.

Treasury yields slipped on the front end as traders leaned further into rate-cut expectations. Tech led equities higher, with Nvidia pulling the tape, while prediction markets priced shutdown odds north of 80%. The divergence is telling: funding gaps may rattle headlines, but history shows they rarely scar asset prices.

Away from the Hill, corporate maneuvers set the tone. Buffett’s Berkshire lined up a $10 billion swing at Occidental’s chemicals arm, Pfizer bought tariff peace with a drug-pricing pact, and the FTC dragged Zillow–Redfin into court.