Sometimes when you write something you realize it would sound completely insane to anyone reading it a decade ago.

For example: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has unveiled his new “World Liberty Financial” cryptocurrency token.

The Trump-endorsed crypto project, which he has touted as an aspiring digital asset bank with a bespoke non-tradable token to go with it, started selling WFLI tokens Tuesday morning.

So far, only $12 million worth of these tokens have been sold—just 4% of the $300 million fundraising target the company set, according to CNBC.

That’s a steep miss, especially considering the co-founder of the project, Zachary Folkman, claimed on Monday via X that, “We’re setting all sorts of new records,” and that “well over 100,000 people” were whitelisted and ready to invest.

WTF is going on with WLFI?

The botched launch this week was partially due to the WLFI website crashing multiple times on the first day the token was available. Another roadblock is the limits on who can buy the token—the WLFI sale was restricted to non-US investors and accredited American investors. Lastly, a lot of people suspect it's a grift.

Trump, and the GOP at large, have warmly embraced cryptocurrency over the past year, promising the industry that they’ll ease regulation and support blockchain technology. Trump has made cryptocurrency a key part of his platform this election cycle, speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville this summer, and suggesting the US build a “strategic bitcoin stockpile.”

Now, it looks like the former president is getting directly involved in the wild world of crypto. According to World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump is touted as the “chief crypto advocate,” while his sons play the role of “Web3 ambassadors.”

Buzzwords with no meaning are great, but WLFI is far from the only business venture Trump has embarked on in the leadup to the November election. There are new collectibles like the $299 assassination attempt sneakers, cologne, bibles, and even digital playing cards with Trump’s face on them.

And don’t forget, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) has been on a wild ride lately. Shares rocketed higher after Elon Musk’s appearance at a rally before dropping so steeply that trading was halted. The launch of a new streaming service called Truth+ promises to inject more volatility into the stock ahead of the presidential election in a few weeks, and the election itself should only add to the chaos.

Crypto and collectibles are fun and all, but if you want to invest in Donald Trump, stick with Trump Media—at least that way your investment is regulated.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• Chip stocks recovered lost ground today thanks to a strong earnings report from TSMC (more on that below). Nvidia led the group higher, rising 0.89% to yet another new all-time high.
• Blackstone rose 6.30% to a new record high after the world’s largest alternative asset manager reported an excellent quarter.
• Expedia popped 4.75% after a report by the Financial Times revealed that Uber had explored an acquisition of the travel site. Expedia shareholders cheered the news, while Uber shares sank 2.45%.

What’s down

• Nokia sank 2.80% in spite of beating bottom-line estimates in its third-quarter earnings report. The brick phone maker reported a sales slowdown, and management predicts more problems ahead.
• Robinhood fell 2.27% after announcing its new Legend trading platform geared specifically toward advanced traders.
• Lucid Group plummeted 17.99% on the news that the EV automaker is offering over 262 million shares of its common stock in an attempt to raise funds.
• CSX dropped 6.71% after missing both top- and bottom-line estimates last quarter thanks in no small part to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
• Health insurance stocks took a beating today due to a not-great earnings report from Elevance Health (more on that below, too). Centene Corp. fell 9.09%, while Molina Healthcare tumbled 12.55%.

Okay, seriously, this is the last time we’ll mention any and all bull market anniversaries. But you’ve got to admit, a headline like that ages like fine wine.

Hindsight is 20/20, and to be fair, two years ago it was easy to think things weren’t going to turn out as well as they did. “But tightening financial conditions, persistent inflation and expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve pressing ahead with rate hikes are raising the risk of a contraction,” the Bloomberg article reads.

Instead, financial conditions held up nicely thanks to a US consumer who just won’t stop spending, inflation that wasn’t as persistent as it we thought it’d be, and interest rate hikes that didn’t kneecap economic growth.

Bloomberg’s prediction was terrible news for President Biden at the time, so it’s no wonder he wants to take a bit of a victory lap now that a soft landing is in sight.

Much like the Eras Tour, our daily earnings tour continues to garner critical acclaim from every corner of the globe. Here are some of the biggest earnings headliners of the trading session:

TSMC (TSM) popped 9.79% after it posted excellent third-quarter earnings results. The world’s largest chipmaker reported a 36% increase in net income and a 54% bump in net profit, thanks to high demand for AI products and smartphones. That’s some much-needed good news for AI investors who worried that ASML’s recent report indicated a slowdown for the semiconductor industry. TSMC makes chips for Nvidia, Apple, AMD, and more AI powerhouses, so today’s results indicate that the AI trade still has legs.

Travelers Companies (TRV) rose 9% on an unexpectedly strong third-quarter earnings report. Investors worried that Travelers would be hit hard by hurricanes this quarter, and catastrophe losses did rise from $850 million to $939 million year over year thanks mainly to Hurricane Helene. But the company’s underlying combined ratio, which compares premiums earned versus claims paid, still rose 5% year over year, thanks to higher premiums.

‍🩹 Elevance Health (ELV) sank 10.59% after third-quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations. The health insurer increased its revenue by 5.2% year over year and beat forecasts, but adjusted earnings per share of $8.37 came in below projections of $9.66 per share. The problem was a combination of rising healthcare costs and lower Medicaid membership, and management expects that problem to persist in the coming quarters.

• Retail sales came in better than economists expected, which means consumer spending is holding up nicely heading into the holiday shopping season.
• Speaking of good economic news, initial unemployment claims were lower than forecast, which was surprising given the damage done by recent hurricanes in the South was expected to increase jobless claims.
• The European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, its third cut this year and first back-to-back rate cut in 13 years.
• NFL stadiums are not immune to climate change—just look at Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton passed through. A new report says stadiums could be hit with up to $11 billion in climate-related costs over the next 25 years.
• Looking at this housing market with a mixture of awe and fear? You’re not alone—the CEO of Fannie Mae says she’s never seen a housing market like this before.
• Raytheon has agreed to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit to the tune of $950 million. Shares of parent company RTX remained flat on the news.

The week is wrapping up with a housing market data deluge. First, we’ve got US housing starts, or the total number of single-family homes that started construction over the previous month. The August report hit 1.36 million homes, the highest number of starts since April, and economists estimate that will stay steady, landing somewhere around 1.35 million for September.

There’s also building permits, or the number of permits local jurisdictions issued for new residential construction. In August, permits rose 4.9% to 1.48 million, but economists expect this number to fall a bit to 1.45 million.

Housing starts look backward, while building permits look forward, and both reports reveal a lot about housing market demand in the US. They should provide some insight into whether recent rate cuts have unlocked any growth in the extremely tight market, or if the best is yet to come.

Before the open

• Procter & Gamble (PG) shares have managed to rise during a year when consumer spending is slowing down across the board. But under the hood, things aren’t looking great—the consumer staple behemoth has missed revenue estimates for the last three quarters, and its Chinese sales have been slipping for even longer. The company has restructured in light of these difficulties, and the bottom line is just fine, but shareholders will want to see some sales growth sooner rather than later. Consensus: $1.90 EPS, $21.95 billion in revenue.
• American Express (AXP) has also done well even though consumer spending is slowing, thanks to the company’s affluent customer base not feeling the same pressures as other consumers. Strong earnings growth, healthy share buybacks, and a solid dividend help make this stock a consistent outperformer. One vote of confidence you shouldn’t ignore: Warren Buffett has been an investor in American Express since 1991. If the stock’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for you. Consensus: $3.28 EPS, $16.67 billion in revenue.

Other earnings to watch: Schlumberger, Fifth Third Bancorp, Regions Financial, Ally Financial.