Community bankers are suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over approvals of national trust bank charters for cryptocurrency companies.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed the lawsuit on October 2nd, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The suit challenges a March 2nd, 2026, final rule and related guidance that the group says improperly expands the OCC’s power to charter national trust banks for non-fiduciary activities, including substantial crypto operations.

The complaint seeks to overturn the rule and vacate the conditional approval granted to at least one crypto firm, Protego Holdings Corp.

The OCC has approved or conditionally approved 21 such charters, with at least 13 going to crypto companies.

“These approvals violate the law because they exceed the OCC’s statutory authority. They are also arbitrary and capricious because the OCC ignored warnings from commenters, including ICBA, that Protego and other crypto companies had severely flawed risk and control functions and governance structures that lack independent oversight. They are thus at serious risk of failure if the volatile cryptocurrency market crashes.”

According to the ICBA, the OCC’s decision to allow companies to obtain national trust bank charters to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authority Congress granted the agency.

Says ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey,

“Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter without the Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions.”

The OCC’s final rule and Interpretive Letter No. 1176 “perversely regulate trust banks far more lightly than traditional banks, allowing entities engaged in highly risky cryptocurrency and digital assets activities to enter the banking system under the national trust charter rather than the more rigorously regulated traditional bank charter,” the lawsuit states.

Prior to the recent approvals, the OCC had never chartered a national bank that neither took deposits nor engaged in fiduciary activities.

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Cryptocurrency thefts are surging dramatically with two massive incidents pushing total losses to record levels for the month.

Security firm PeckShieldAlert says the industry experienced 55 major hacks resulting in $766.49 million in losses.

That figure represents a roughly 462% month-over-month increase from August’s $136.3 million.

The Bitget incident at about $387 million and the Liquid Network theft of about $320 million, with $285 million returned, have jumped to the top spots among the largest crypto thefts of the year to date.

Other notable incidents included an MEV bot yoink front-run at $7.81 million that was returned, along with Duelbits at $7 million and several smaller exploits with partial recoveries.

The top 10 list also featured Payment Processor V2 at $6.6 million with $3.4 million returned, DCENT Wallet at $6.57 million Astroport at $4.9 million Drop at $4.4 million NostraFinance at $3.5 million and Nomic nBTC Bridge at $3.15 million.

Earlier this month, PeckShield cited on-chain sleuth ZachXBT, saying Near (NEAR) Intents was hacked to the tune of $3.865M after its Binance Smart Chain (BSC) hot wallet witnessed multiple irregular outflows.

The exploiter has transferred the stolen funds to KuCoin and bridged them to BTC. The exploiter’s address has interacted with an address labeled NorthKorea LazarusGroup (0x098B7…E2f96)

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Banks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were used to deposit stolen checks, or to try to, and two more men have pleaded guilty.

Raymond Wade, 43, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Dwayne Reddon, 40, of Trenton, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, reports News12 New Jersey.

The operation ran from March 2023 through June 2025.

Participants held themselves out as the people or businesses the checks named, often after obtaining business documents in those names or opening accounts that were not the real payees’, then split the proceeds.

The crew deposited or attempted to deposit more than 100 Treasury and commercial checks worth over $11 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said on August 11th when it announced the first eight guilty pleas.

Many of the Treasury checks, not the full set, were Employee Retention Credit refunds, a pandemic-era IRS credit meant to help businesses keep workers.

Eight other defendants had already pleaded guilty.

Wayne Bessant, 45, of Hamilton, and Ryan Small, 33, of Ewing, are still charged, and those counts remain pending.

Wade is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17th, and Reddon on February 9th, 2027.

The conspiracy charge carries up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, which can be higher depending on the financial gain or loss.

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A New Jersey woman and her Colombian husband have been convicted of running a fake transit company that sought more than $13 million in federal funds meant for elderly, disabled and homeless Americans.

A federal jury in Utica, New York, found Jael Watts, 45, of Alloway, and Luis Pino-Copete, 42, of Bogota, Colombia, guilty in the scheme, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

Prosecutors say the pair operated Pearl Transit Corporation, a New Jersey shell company that claimed to employ drivers nationwide for medical rides and homeless outreach while delivering no real services.

Between July 2019 and October 2025, they sought more than $13 million through false claims and took in more than $1.6 million from agencies in Georgia, California and North Carolina, according to the DOJ.

Trial evidence showed they built fake payrolls and client lists with stolen identities, including people who were already dead, and listed “drivers” who lacked licenses or had never driven a car.

Says Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division,

“The defendants fabricated payrolls and client lists, even using the identities of deceased individuals, to siphon millions meant for the most vulnerable Americans.”

Bank records showed more than $100,000 on Porsche rentals, more than $100,000 at luxury retailer Loro Piana in Manhattan and months of travel across Colombia, Aruba and Europe, the DOJ says.

Watts was convicted of false statement, aggravated identity theft and five counts of wire fraud, while both were also convicted of wire fraud conspiracy, false document and aggravated identity theft. At a January 21st, 2027 sentencing, each faces up to 20 years in prison, fines of up to $250,000 and at least $1.9 million in restitution, and Pino-Copete faces deportation after any prison term.

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A West Virginia woman has been charged with multiple felony fraud counts after she allegedly spent more than $50,000 using someone else’s debit card and transferring funds to Cash App.

The case involves $52,928.33 in 204 approved charges plus 219 attempted charges on a Mountain Valley Bank card, reports The Inter-Mountain.

According to a criminal complaint filed by West Virginia State Police, Jessica Fay Michaletz, 36, of Elkins faces 10 counts of fraudulent use of an access device.

Investigators say a replacement debit card mailed to an outdated address was used for a wave of Cash App transfers, and the bank had flagged about $40,000 when it called troopers.

Search warrant records allegedly linked one Cash App account to Michaletz through her West Virginia operator’s license, home address, Social Security number and IP address, while a second account used another person’s details on the same device.

Says Michaletz,

“What did I do? I used it. I did. I used it.”

Michaletz allegedly told troopers she found the card on the ground next to a mailbox and told friends the money came from gambling winnings.

She is being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a cash-only bond matching the alleged loss, with a preliminary hearing set for October 5th.

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Lyft has agreed to hand hundreds of millions of dollars to California drivers who say the company treated them as contractors instead of employees.

The settlement totals $272.5 million, including fees and costs, and resolves claims from the state attorney general, city attorneys, the labor commissioner and private plaintiffs covering April 5th, 2016, through December 15th, 2020.

At least $237,075,000 is reserved for drivers based on hours and miles driven, with payments allowed over four years plus up to $12.4 million in interest. Lyft booked a $210 million accrual in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“The lawsuit followed the introduction of the ‘ABC test:’ the groundbreaking legal test used to analyze the misclassification of workers, which was first adopted by the California Supreme Court in 2018 in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court and then codified into law under AB5. In the midst of litigation, Proposition 22 altered how the ABC test is applied to certain app-based drivers. Despite several appeals and changes in the law, the Attorney General and his partners remained resilient, winning every legal challenge in court and remaining steadfast in their demands for drivers’ deserved wages and protections.”

Says California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower,

“This settlement is about the workers who came forward and spoke up. Their voices made this outcome possible.”

In an SEC filing dated September 30th, Lyft says the deal is not an admission of liability and that resolving the matter now lets it avoid the costs and distraction of drawn-out litigation and keep management focused on its business goals. The attorney general announced the agreement today. The deal is still subject to court approval.

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Hundreds of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries in the District of Columbia now face fraud risk after its Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) potentially exposed sensitive member data.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights says the District of Columbia’s DHCF experienced unauthorized access/disclosure that could affect 399,086 individuals.

According to DHCF, members of its Medicaid and DC Health Care Alliance (Alliance) enrolled between 2023 and July 2026 could have been impacted, as unauthorized entities may have accessed sensitive data hidden on its website.

“On July 21, 2026, DHCF learned that two reports on DHCF’s website contained hidden personal information that could be accessed by people who did not have permission to view it. These reports were intended to display only summary information about groups of people, such as enrollment counts and other statistics, and did not show anyone’s personal details on the screen. However, underlying personal information that supported these reports may have been reachable
by unauthorized users between 2023 and July 2026.

The information that could be seen may have included personal information, such as your, your child’s, or your family member’s Medicaid ID, date of birth, provider name, race gender, ward, or ethnicity. The information did not include Social Security numbers or financial account information.”

The DHCF says it abruptly removed the reports from the website while checking that its systems are safe and member information is protected. The agency also tells its members to ask a credit company to place a free alert on their credit report.

“DHCF has not learned that anyone looked at or used any of this information in the wrong way, but we are contacting you so you can understand what happened.”

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Cardano’s (ADA) recent price surge is running into fresh headwinds from fading trader interest and large-holder exits.

Futures open interest for ADA has dropped 9% over the past week, sliding from $1.99 billion to $1.81 billion as traders cut back on leveraged bets, says Ali Charts on X.

Whales also appear to be taking profits.

“Since September 20, large holders have offloaded roughly 90 million ADA, worth approximately $22.5 million, adding to the recent selling pressure.”

This decline in demand aligns with a Tom DeMark Sequential sell signal that appeared on Cardano’s daily chart.

“Since then, ADA has fallen 10%, and the correction may not be over yet.”

According to the analyst, a parallel channel on the daily chart points to $0.24 as the key mid-range support.

“If ADA loses that level, a move toward the channel’s lower boundary near $0.21 becomes likely.”

If $0.21 holds, it could present the next buying opportunity, targeting the channel top near $0.28.

Looking at Bitcoin, Ali says whales have cut their BTC holdings significantly over the last seven days.

“Most of the market has moved sideways over the past week. So what have whales been doing during the lull?

Bitcoin whale holdings have fallen by roughly 30,000 BTC, worth about $2.52 billion.

Large holders appear to be reducing their exposure.”

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Federal prosecutors have secured a guilty plea from a Boston man accused of using fake identification to drain hundreds of thousands of dollars from customer accounts.

William Shaw, 68, admitted to four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft in federal court, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The defendant posed as at least 13 account holders from late 2022 into early 2025 by presenting forged driver’s licenses that carried the victims’ details alongside his own photograph.

He also submitted withdrawal forms listing the customers’ names and account numbers to obtain cashier’s checks and cash totaling more than $900,000.

Judge Julia E. Kobick set sentencing for January 6th, 2027, after Shaw was charged in January 2026.

Separately, authorities charged six additional men in July 2025 as part of a larger multi-state bank fraud investigation covering Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Three of those defendants have already entered guilty pleas and await sentencing, while another received a sentence in a connected case.

A bank fraud conviction carries up to 30 years in prison along with fines reaching $1 million or twice the amount gained or lost.

Each aggravated identity theft count requires at least two years in prison served consecutively to any other term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Kearney is handling the prosecution.

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A Wyoming orthopedic practice has disclosed a cyberattack that put the personal, financial and medical records of tens of thousands of people at risk.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says Casper Orthopedic Associates PC suffered a hacking/IT incident on July 23rd, impacting 56,197 people.

In a notice to impacted individuals, the healthcare firm says an unauthorized entity accessed its systems and stole files that may include patients’ first names, last names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, financial account records, and medical information.

“On or about May 23, 2026, Casper discovered it was the victim of a cyberattack by an unauthorized third party. Immediately upon identifying the incident, Casper engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to assess, contain, and remediate the incident. Law enforcement was also notified.

Casper’s investigation, which concluded on June 11, 2026, determined that the unauthorized party may have acquired sensitive information from Casper’s systems. Casper then undertook an in-depth review process of the impacted information to determine the impacted individuals and their address information, which was completed on September 2, 2026. As such, Casper notified those who are believed to be impacted on September 8, 2026.”

Casper says it has found no evidence that anyone’s information was specifically misused.

The practice has added safeguards and tightened physical security while urging affected patients to reach out to credit reporting agencies such as Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Casper Orthopedic Associates PC is an orthopedic practice based in Casper, Wyoming.

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An armored truck driver hired to load cash into ATMs has been accused of stealing $259,574 from the machines and spending the money on cars, a cruise and other purchases.

Federal prosecutors say Christopher Skinner, 41, formerly of Milford, New Hampshire, worked alone at ATM locations across the state and removed cash bundles before servicing the machines between February 2nd and February 26th of 2024.

A federal indictment charges Skinner with 18 counts of bank theft plus money laundering and conspiracy counts tied to two FDIC-insured banks. His partner, Amee Skinner, 37, formerly of Conway, faces related laundering counts. Both pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire and are presumed innocent.

Prosecutors say cash deposits into the couple’s accounts rose sharply afterward, and funded the purchase of cars, a luxury cruise and other purchases.

“The defendants allegedly used the stolen funds to make substantial personal purchases, including $40,000 in cash for a 2019 GMC Sierra and $28,814 in cash for a 2019 Lincoln Nautilus. According to the indictment, the defendants also used stolen funds to pay for additional travel, retail, and online purchases.”

If convicted, the Skinners face years in prison.

“The bank theft counts each carry a maximum prison term of 10 years. The money laundering counts carry a maximum prison term of 10 years, and the money laundering conspiracy count carries a maximum term of 20 years.”

The indictment was filed August 5th of 2026.

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U.S. prosecutors have seized nearly $84 million from bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets tied to a Montana payments firm linked to Tether.

The civil forfeiture targets Capstone, a money services business that allegedly posed as an information technology company to open accounts at major banks while moving money for crypto firms, reports Reuters.

Court filings say Capstone, registered in Montana, processed payments for two crypto companies through a bank in Dominica. Prosecutors say the firm also ran a scheme that converted fraud proceeds into crypto by posing as FBI agents.

Nearly $81 million was seized from Capstone accounts at Wells Fargo and about $2 million from an account at JPMorgan Chase. Roughly $1.2 million worth of Tether’s dollar-pegged token was taken as well, according to the July filing first reported by The Information.

Tether said it was a customer of the Dominica bank and that its assets there were limited. A spokesperson addressed Capstone’s alleged conduct.

“Tether had no knowledge of the conduct by Capstone alleged by the Department of Justice.”

The Justice Department did not allege wrongdoing by Tether or the other firms involved. Spokespeople for Wells Fargo and JPMorgan declined to comment.

A lawyer for Capstone told Reuters the firm denies wrongdoing and plans to challenge the complaint.

Tether issues USDT, a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency used to move value on crypto networks.

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October 2nd, 2026 – Singapore, Singapore

---

class=”ql-align-center”>With around 16% of AVA’s circulating supply already locked, the AVA Smart Program introduces new lock levels as part of a wider overhaul of AVA’s tokenomics.

The AVA Foundation and Travala today announced new standard lock levels for the AVA Smart Program, alongside a long-term goal of 30% of AVA’s circulating supply locked.

The AVA Smart Program, Travala’s crypto loyalty program, has more than 170,000 members, up 110% year on year as of August. Approximately 12.1 million AVA is now locked across the program and AVA+ Rewards, representing around 16% of the token’s circulating supply.

Travala, a crypto-native travel platform, has more than 1.87 million monthly active users and generated over $113 million in gross revenue in 2025. It sees more than 17,000 room nights, flights, car rentals, and activities booked every month.

From no earlier than 1 November 2026, new Smart memberships will require double the current AVA lock for every tier. Existing members keep their current requirements while their membership remains active, and can choose to move to the new levels after implementation to increase the AVA eligible for the AVA Smart Bonus. AVA Smart Bonus amounts remain 15% per year for Steel to Platinum and 20% for Diamond, subject to the program rules.

If all existing members moved to the new levels, locked AVA could reach approximately 20 million, around 27% of circulating supply, depending on the choices individual members make. The AVA Foundation’s long-term goal is 30%.

Steve Hipwell, AVA Foundation Lead Contributor, said: “Having 16% of AVA’s circulating supply locked within a travel loyalty program demonstrates genuine real-world utility. The new lock levels reward our existing members for being early, and give the whole community a clear long-term goal of 30% of circulating supply locked.”Juan Otero, Travala CEO, said: “More than 170,000 travellers are now part of the AVA Smart Program, and those who lock AVA get more from every trip they book with us. This update rewards everyone who has already made that commitment and gives our most loyal members the option to go further.”

The update follows last week’s launch of the AVA Permanent Strategic Reserve, under which Travala matches the AVA Foundation’s monthly open-market buybacks, doubling buyback volume. Travala’s matched tokens are held in a multisig reserve it has committed never to sell or transfer. In September, the two buybacks together repurchased 739,762 AVA, and more than 4.8 million AVA has been repurchased through the Foundation’s program to date.

See this article for full details, including tier requirements, grandfathering rules, and FAQs.

About AVA Foundation

The AVA Foundation oversees the AVA token ecosystem, including the AVA Smart Program, AVA token and Travel Tiger NFTs. The AVA token functions as the key to accessing the AVA Smart Program, which provides travel perks and other benefits to Travala customers, such as AVA payment discounts, AVA loyalty rewards and other benefits. AVA tokenises the concept of loyalty reward programs using blockchain technology, bringing web3 to traditional loyalty models. For more information, users can visit www.avafoundation.org.

About Travala

Founded in 2017 and now backed by industry giant Binance, Travala is the leading crypto-native travel booking service, offering 2,200,000+ properties across 230 countries, 600+ airlines, 50,000+ car rental locations and 400,000+ activities globally. Travala is a champion of cryptocurrency adoption, accepting over 100 leading cryptocurrencies alongside traditional payment methods. For more information, users can visit www.travala.com.

Important Information

This announcement describes planned changes to the AVA Smart Program, which may be adjusted. It is not financial or investment advice, and not an offer, solicitation or inducement to acquire, hold or lock AVA. AVA Smart Bonus amounts are subject to the program rules and may change; nothing here guarantees any token price or return. Locked AVA remains the member’s property and is not a deposit, investment product or interest-bearing account. Not directed at persons in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates or any jurisdiction where distribution would be unlawful.

Contact

Chief Marketing Officer
Sam Woollard
Travala
sam@travala.com

 

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Banks risk losing $230 billion in payments revenue as stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies move into wider use, according to a survey conducted by IT services and consulting firm Capgemini.

Capgemini’s World Payments Report 2027 projects those instruments will make up about 4% of global payments volume by 2030, pressuring foreign exchange spreads, correspondent banking, float income and transaction fees that banks thrive on, says Capgemini.

The study says about $4 trillion sits trapped in accounts used to fund cross-border settlement. Nearly 60% of large corporates would take stablecoin services from non-banks if their banks fall behind, even though 71% still prefer banks for tokenized payments when cost and quality are equal.

Only 21% of banks are actively scaling at least one of these tools. Tokenized deposits ranked as banks’ top near-term priority because they stay on balance sheets and fit existing rules. Leaders that are already scaling are three times more likely to find new revenue streams and expect to offset losses in 15 months versus 25 months for other banks.

Capgemini’s global head of payment services Jeroen Hölscher framed the stakes for lenders.

“With $230 billion at stake, banks must decide what role they want to play in this emerging ecosystem.”

The report surveyed 1,110 corporates with more than $1 billion in revenue and 300 banking executives across nine markets. Capgemini is a global consulting and technology firm headquartered in Paris, France.

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The City of Sacramento is launching an $8 million guaranteed income program that will pay eligible foster youth $900 a month with no strings attached.

The city and United Way California Capital Region say the Foster Youth Guaranteed Income Program will send the money for up to two years, or until a recipient turns 25, whichever comes first.

Applications open October 1st of 2026 and close at 11:59 p.m. on October 31st of 2026. One hundred eligible applicants will be chosen by lottery, with notices starting the first week of November. Payments are set to begin January 15th of 2027.

Applicants must be ages 16 to 23 when payments start, live in the city or county of Sacramento, or be receiving homeless services there. They must be former foster youth who left care after age 16, or current foster youth within 90 days of leaving when payments start. Household income has to sit at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. Immigration status does not affect eligibility.

Recipients do not have to join any other services to keep the checks. They can spend the money as they choose.

The city is paying for the program with Measure L, the 2022 Sacramento Children’s Fund that requires the equivalent of 40% of local cannabis tax revenue to go to child and youth services.

United Way California Capital Region will run the program. The nonprofit has administered guaranteed-income pilots in the region since 2021.

Mayor Kevin McCarty addressed the funding.

“Supporting former foster youth as they transition into adulthood is an investment in their future and our community’s future. We’re putting our Measure L funding where it can have the greatest impact.”

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Bitcoin Magazine

Republican Senator Steve Daines Releases Text of Proposed Crypto Tax Plan

Republican senator Steve Daines has released a new proposal to update the tax code with regards to digital assets. 

The senator for Montana released the Aligning Digital Assets with Principles of Taxation Act — or ADAPT Act — sponsored by Sen. Daines with Sens. Lummis, Moreno, and Tim Scott on Wednesday, aiming to draft rules for assets like stablecoins. 

Lawmakers and regulators are fast trying to draft rules for digital assets since U.S. President Trump took office on a pro-crypto platform. The Clarity Act collapsed in the Senate last month; one day after, the House Ways and Means Committee overwhelmingly approved legislation that would revamp the tax treatment of cryptocurrency. 

“Digital assets have moved into the mainstream, but the tax code hasn’t kept up,” Senator Daines wrote on X. 

Digital assets have moved into the mainstream, but the tax code hasn’t kept up. My bill would create clearer rules for stablecoins, network fees, staking and lending—while extending familiar tax rules like wash sales and constructive sales to digital assets. pic.twitter.com/W6nXSsTgvX

— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) September 30, 2026

“My bill would create clearer rules for stablecoins, network fees, staking and lending — while extending familiar tax rules like wash sales and constructive sales to digital assets.”

The bill proposes that everyday users of stablecoins get tax relief for everyday uses. Spending a qualifying dollar stablecoin on goods or services wouldn’t trigger gain or loss, and brokers wouldn’t have to report those transactions. 

To qualify, the stablecoin must be issued under the GENIUS Act framework, appear on a quarterly Treasury list of coins that have held within 3% of $1.00, and have been bought by you within 3% of $1.00. 

Separately, network or gas fees paid in crypto would be tax-free dispositions as long as the fees for a given transaction total $10 or less, with anti-structuring rules. 

The bill would also apply wash sale rules to crypto for the first time. The rules bar investors from claiming a tax loss if they sell an asset and buy it back within 30 days. Stock investors have long been bound by them, while crypto traders could sell at a loss and immediately rebuy. 

The rules would cover traded digital assets other than qualified stablecoins. Assets bought before the bill becomes law would be grandfathered, and staking rewards, mining rewards and regular recurring purchases would be exempt. 

Tokenized versions of stocks would count as “substantially identical” to the underlying shares.

The ADAPT Act now heads to committee, which would need to approve it before it could reach a vote by the full Senate.

This post Republican Senator Steve Daines Releases Text of Proposed Crypto Tax Plan first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Het bericht Aandeelhouders akkoord: Evernorth met 473 miljoen XRP naar beurs verscheen eerst op Newsbit.

Tesla's RAM reduction in AI chips prioritizes cost-efficiency and scalability, potentially enhancing margins without hindering robot performance.

The post Tesla cuts RAM on AI5 and AI6 chips to speed Optimus production appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Block's campaign could significantly boost Bitcoin adoption, influencing financial behaviors and potentially reshaping digital currency norms.

The post Block launches its first major Bitcoin consumer campaign, aiming at 60 million curious Americans appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Google's Guided Vision enhances accessibility, empowering visually impaired users with real-time camera assistance, fostering inclusivity.

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Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) could emerge from its combination with Qorvo with greater scale, broader markets, and a significantly different earnings profile. The opportunity hinges on whether management can capture $500 million in planned synergies, expand beyond smartphones, and manage the additional debt.

Stock prices used were the market prices of Sept. 17, 2026. The video was published on Sept. 30, 2026.

Rick Orford has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is up 12% so far in 2026, but that doesn't mean investors have forgotten about the headwinds the stock market faces. Stubborn inflation, rising interest rates to combat it, and $40 trillion in debt are all challenges the U.S. economy is trying to navigate.

That's not saying that stocks in general can't keep climbing, but with the S&P 500 slightly down over the last month, the reality of those challenges may be sinking in. And the worry is always that if the S&P 500 rally derails, a bear market may loom, clawing back those gains as stock prices fall 20% from recent highs.

History, however, suggests that there's one habit successful investors can follow, even during a full-fledged bear market.

The surprising truth about bear markets

Surprisingly enough, some of the best days to invest are when the markets are in a free-for-all. According to Hartford Funds, from 1996 through 2025, 48% of the best days to invest in the S&P 500 were during bear markets. The second-best time to invest was during the first two months of a bull market (28% of the best days to invest), while the third-best time to invest was during the rest of a bull market (24% of the best days to invest).

Moreover, according to the data, missing the best days for the S&P 500 can actually cost you money. For example, a hypothetical $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 in 1996 would have been worth $192,167 by the end of 2025. But for anyone who had sold and missed just the 10 best days of the market during all that time, that investment return drops by 56%, turning into $85,490. It continues to get worse from there: Missing the 20 best days yields just $49,551, and missing the 30 best days yields only $31,123.

The investable lesson

The most important habit for successful investing is that, no matter how tempting it may be to sell a stock during a bear market, it's almost always better to hold the shares. But another lesson is that more aggressive investors may want to consider buying additional shares of a company during this time. Bear markets won't last forever; the average length is 9.6 months. In comparison, bull markets tend to last 2.7 years. Also, while stocks lose an average of 35% during a bear market, they also gain an average of 112% during a bull market.

While seeing a stock lose 35% of its value in less than a year can feel gut-wrenching, having a portfolio of high-conviction positions already established can help offset knee-jerk reactions. Not only will an investor want to hold on to shares of those companies because they already believe in the wealth they could build over the long term, but they'd also want to buy more shares to take advantage of price drops.

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Amphenol (NYSE: APH) makes connectors, cables, and sensors. Nobody has ever put a cable assembly on a magazine cover. I mean, aside from very niche industry mags. Yet, on Oct. 1, the stock sits 3.2% below a recent all-time high, and the AI boom is a big reason.

A run like that raises the obvious question about whether the easy money is gone. The business results suggest it isn't, at least not yet.

Plumbing for the AI boom

The company holds the least glamorous seat at the AI party: the one that connects the processors. CEO Adam Norwitt calls interconnect the central nervous system of AI, and the logic is hard to dispute. A server rack that sells for $3 million is worth very little if the connectors never arrive. Amphenol's IT datacom business is roughly four times its size two years ago.

Start with the second quarter. Sales of $8.8 billion rose 55% year over year. Organic growth was 30%. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.35 jumped 67%. Orders reached $10.7 billion, a book-to-bill ratio of 1.23, meaning customers ordered 23% more than Amphenol shipped. That gap is the closest thing to a forward indicator in the report, and it points up.

Loud numbers, quiet CEO

Norwitt avoids the spotlight. At a recent Citi conference, he told the crowd that he doesn't do interviews and that the company announces none of its customer commitments, including long-term non-cancelable orders.

But he doesn't have to say much.

Quarterly orders of $10.7 billion against sales of $8.8 billion say plenty without an adrenaline-packed press release. That makes a nice change in an AI sector that often seems to run on video clips, social media posts, and headlines.

Slow and steady beats the hotshots

Here's the part that should interest anyone worried about being late. Amphenol is up 27.9% this year. Respectable, but well behind the company's closest rivals. Corning (NYSE: GLW) gained 81.1%, Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX) stock rose 85.9%, and Littelfuse (NASDAQ: LFUS) posted a 71.7% year-to-date run.

And the recent trends have been in Amphenol's favor. Over the past quarter, Amphenol gained 4.9% while Flex fell 18% and Corning dropped 19.4%. Tech giants are still planning and building massive AI data centers, but there's public pushback ahead of the midterm elections. The AI-adjacent crowd has been running harder and wobbling more, while Amphenol is holding steady.

Cheaper than the neighbors

The profits aren't thin, either. Operating margin is 28.1%, the highest in the peer group. The CommScope purchase, at $10.5 billion, is now expected to deliver $4.6 billion in sales this year, up from an earlier forecast of $4.1 billion.

At 26.4 times forward earnings, the stock trades at a lower multiple than Corning (36.6) and Cognex (30.6). The PEG ratio of 0.9 suggests the market isn't fully valuing growth. The dividend yield of 0.6% is a rounding error, and short interest is only 1.3% of the float. Few investors are betting against Amphenol's rising stock.

So, is it too late?

None of this makes Amphenol's stock a bargain, and 311.6% over three years has a way of making a new buyer feel tardy. Moreover, investors are currently paying an AI multiple for a mostly old-school product catalog. Still, the third-quarter guide calls for sales growth of 50% to 52%.

Is it too late? For the first quadrupling in three years, sure. The next leg is a separate question, and the bulging order book is making a decent bull case.

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amphenol, Cognex, and Corning. The Motley Fool recommends Flex. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The subpoena against OpenAI highlights growing regulatory scrutiny on AI security, potentially reshaping compliance standards across the tech industry.

The post California attorney general subpoenas OpenAI over AI agent cyber incidents appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The Justice Department says UCLA’s law school discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes.

The findings say the school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on race in admissions.

The department says the school rejected white and Asian applicants who had the same LSAT scores as admitted black and Hispanic applicants.

In 2024 and 2025 combined, half of the admitted black applicants had LSAT scores at or below 90 percent of the admitted white applicants.

Investigators say the application still uses essays that draw out race, and staff told applicants how to reveal it at a “Diversity Admissions Open House.”

Says Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon,

“Like many of its peer institutions, UCLA Law School runs a two-tiered admissions system whose academic bar for acceptance shifts up or down depending on the color of your skin.

The use of race as a thumb on the scale that helps or disadvantages any student is illegal. The Department will continue to enforce equal treatment under the law everywhere — including in our nation’s law schools.”

UCLA Law is the law school at the University of California, Los Angeles. It takes federal money, which puts it under the civil rights rule.

The department says it will try to settle. If that fails, it will sue.

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The post Department of Justice Says UCLA Law Discriminated Against White and Asian Applicants appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

The Federal Reserve is no longer projected to hike interest rates at the next FOMC meeting later this month, according to forecasts tracked by Polymarket. This comes after quotes from Fed representatives have revealed that there is currently no rush to raise rates again. Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Thursday that while he supported the US central bank’s interest rate increase last month, he does not see any urgency to make another move.

JUST IN: Federal Reserve is no longer projected to hike interest rates at the next FOMC meeting. pic.twitter.com/btHH0pAhAb

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) September 30, 2026

“Any future adjustments in policy should be determined by carefully examining trends in the data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks,” Jefferson said in the text of remarks to be delivered before the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. The Federal Reserve last raised its benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75%–4.00% at its September 16 meeting.

There were concerns about another interest rate hike raised this week as Mortgage rates continued to rise. Indeed, mortgage rates have reached their highest levels since late 2023, as the global bond selloff wore on. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.6% as of Wednesday, according to Mortgage News Daily, up around 15 basis points from a week earlier. Rates haven’t been this high since November 2023. Further, rates have risen by 70 basis points in the last month alone.

Also Read: Congress Considers Expanding Crypto, Stablecoin Rules for Banks

Despite pressure from the Trump administration to continue lowering interest rates, the Fed under Kevin Warsh has remained stalled on making drastic changes to rates, and its plan remains hard to comprehend. Last month’s rate hike was the first of its kind in three years.

US President Donald Trump has indicated that the government could acquire a stake in OpenAI and Anthropic, mirroring its strategy with Intel. In a TIME interview, Trump said “I might” about possible investments in the AI firms. His comments bring to light a proposal that was first raised this year as Washington deepens its engagement

The post Donald Trump Says US Government Might Take Stakes in OpenAI and Anthropic appeared first on CoinGape.

ASML Holding: Steady and Gradual Quarterly Revenue Growth

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) generates its revenue primarily by supplying advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, specialized wafer inspection systems, and related computational control software to integrated circuit manufacturers operating in locations across the globe.

It recently announced plans to increase manufacturing capacity for specific immersion systems by 30%, launched a collaborative industry initiative with multiple foundries for larger photomasks, and initiated construction on an additional corporate engineering campus in the Netherlands.

SK Hynix: Rapid and Sustained Quarterly Revenue Expansion

SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) earns its revenue primarily by designing, producing, and selling a wide variety of advanced memory semiconductors, including various customized flash memory products tailored specifically for complex technical computing and mobile applications.

It recently completed an oversubscribed initial listing of its American Depositary Receipts on the Nasdaq exchange, reassigned three senior vice chairpersons to oversee global strategy, and simultaneously faced a class action antitrust lawsuit regarding component pricing.

Why Revenue Matters for Investors

Revenue provides individual investors with a transparent, direct baseline measurement of all incoming capital over a specific timeframe before any operational business expenses are formally deducted. Closely tracking this top-line financial figure helps investors understand the total scale and growth trajectory of a business.

Quarterly Revenue for ASML Holding and SK Hynix

Calendar quarter	ASML Holding Revenue	SK Hynix Revenue
Q3 2024	$8.2 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024)	$12.9 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024)
Q4 2024	$9.9 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024)	$14.1 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024)
Q1 2025	$8.2 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2025)	$12.1 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2025)
Q2 2025	$8.7 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2025)	$15.8 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2025)
Q3 2025	$8.8 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025)	$17.6 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025)
Q4 2025	$11.3 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025)	$22.6 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025)
Q1 2026	$10.3 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2026)	$35.7 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2026)
Q2 2026	$10.8 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2026)	$52.6 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2026)

Data source: Financial Modeling Prep. ASML Holding's figures are converted from euros to U.S. dollars. SK Hynix's figures are converted from South Korean won to U.S. dollars. Data as of Sept. 25, 2026.

Foolish Take

For investors interested in gaining exposure to the artificial intelligence boom, ASML and SK Hynix are two great companies to invest in. Both provide key products to the AI industry, and as a result, are seeing year-over-year revenue growth.

That said, examining their sales trends provides investors with revealing insights. ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment is essential for semiconductor manufacturers to produce AI chips, giving the company a legal monopoly since competitors have not been entirely successful in providing rival EUV tools. However, the complex machinery takes time to build, resulting in a slow revenue ramp for ASML.

In contrast, SK Hynix manufactures high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products, which can be produced faster. The company's massive sales growth in recent quarters is evidence that tech giants are pouring funds into memory components right now. The demand is so great, it's led to rising memory prices, which further fuels SK Hynix's spectacular sales ascent.

Robert Izquierdo has positions in ASML. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

xAI's GPU leasing strategy could reshape AI infrastructure economics, but reliance on flexible contracts poses financial stability risks.

The post xAI turns surplus GPUs into a leasing business as it chases more capacity appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) Board of Directors authorized a $150 billon increase to its share repurchase program, bringing the total to $235 billion. The announcement was the largest single stock buyback authorization in U.S. corporate history.

For context, Toyota Motor -- which sells more cars than any other manufacturer in the world -- has a market cap of $223 billion.

Here's why Nvidia's buyback program is great news for investors, and why the bigger story is what Nvidia is doing with the rest of its cash.

High margin revenue growth fuels free cash flow

Nvidia's free cash flow (FCF) has exploded in recent years due to its rapid revenue growth and high margins. Nvidia returned 60% of FCF to investors through buybacks and dividends in the first half of fiscal 2027, and has a long-term target of returning at least 50% of FCF.

NVDA Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

Nvidia is converting around 75 cents of every dollar in sales into gross profit, 64 cents into bottom-line after-tax profit, and around 42 cents into FCF. Nvidia's growth and high margins are partly due to insatiable demand for artificial intelligence (AI) compute -- which is benefiting the broader semiconductor industry. But Nvidia also has a highly effective product development pipeline that has produced three new compute platforms in four years. These aren't marginal improvements either.

Its Grace Blackwell platform, announced in March 2024, was magnitudes better than Hopper, launched in March 2022. In January 2026, Nvidia announced its Vera Rubin platform. Compared to Blackwell, Rubin delivers a 90% reduction in inference costs and a 75% reduction in the number of graphics processing units (GPUs) needed for training.

Nvidia has been the poster child of the AI boom since OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022. But it's what the company has developed since that should be getting more attention.

Nvidia began shipping Rubin in August and already expects it to account for 20% of data center revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2027, which it will report in November. Demand for Rubin is so massive that Nvidia is guiding for 70% year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal 2028. Higher memory chip costs have yet to make a substantial dent in Nvidia's gross margins -- a testament to its pricing power.

Rubin's efficiency is not solely due to Nvidia's making a more powerful GPU. It's also because Rubin comes in a rack-scale offering that includes multiple chips and networking components, which Nvidia calls extreme co-design. This co-design allows Nvidia to control a larger share of the data center addressable market, and in turn, offers significant performance improvements for its customers that justify the high price tag. The Nvidia NVL72 is a plug-and-play offering for AI data centers that features seven new chip designs, including 72 Rubin GPUs and 36 Vera central processing units.

Innovating at the speed of light

Nvidia's record buyback authorization is a product of its impeccable profitability and sheer size. It is not, however, a sign that the company is transitioning into a stodgy, low-to-moderate growth company.

In his book The Nvidia Way, author Tae Kim discusses how Nvidia's Speed of Light concept was an integral reason the company was able to endure an intensely competitive landscape in its early years. The concept is rooted in pushing the limits of what Nvidia's talent and resources can deliver under expedited timelines, rather than using prior accomplishments or competitors' actions as a yardstick.

In the 1990s, other chip companies would operate on a one to two-year product development cycle, which left them vulnerable to riding a big hit only to see their market share erode if their next launch failed. Nvidia fell into the same trap and almost went bankrupt multiple times. Nvidia then condensed its product launches to six months as a way to keep cash flow coming and avoid taking its competitive moat for granted.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang embodies Nvidia's relentless work culture to this day. Nvidia could have easily ridden the coattails of Blackwell for longer and kept Rubin in its back pocket, but Nvidia doesn't behave like the world's most valuable company. It behaves like a company that doesn't take its industry-leading position for granted.

Nvidia also recognizes that its heavy reliance on a handful of hyperscale customers leaves it vulnerable to cyclical spending pullbacks. This is why evolving beyond one-off chip sales to rack-scale data center solutions that deliver the greatest cost efficiency for its customers is so important. On top of that, Nvidia is making compute more accessible and transferable to a non-hyperscale customer base by partnering with financial institutions to create an investable AI infrastructure asset class. Third-party capital will fund the build-out of AI infrastructure that can be sold to AI labs, AI start-ups, cloud providers, and enterprises seeking the flexibility to use varying levels of compute without the risks and capital commitments of building it themselves.

Nvidia remains a high-octane growth stock

A bloated buyback budget can sometimes indicate a company is out of good ideas and looking for ways to appease shareholders. But Nvidia's record authorization is simply a product of how profitable its business has become and of management's confidence in its roadmap to generate even higher FCF going forward as AI compute demand increases.

Nvidia's buyback announcement does not mean the company is taking its foot off the gas when it comes to AI innovation. Nvidia's culture still prioritizes organic growth over everything else. There's every reason to believe that will continue, given Nvidia's optimism about compute demand for agentic AI and physical AI, such as self-driving cars and robotics.

Daniel Foelber has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

People on Supplemental Security Income are getting two payments in October because the November check is arriving early.

The schedule from the Social Security Administration moves a payment to the prior business day when the first of the month falls on a weekend or federal holiday.

November 1st is a Sunday, so the November payment is set for October 30th.

The regular October payment still goes out on October 1st. That is not an extra check.

Recipients get nothing on November 1st, then the next SSI payment is December 1st.

People on regular Social Security keep the usual birthday schedule. The early deposit is only for SSI.

People who get both can see three deposits in October, because the Social Security check still comes on its own date.

The maximum SSI payment in 2026 is $994 for an individual and $1,491 for a couple, with an average payment around $736.

SSI supports low-income Americans who are 65 or older, blind or disabled.

The same shift hits in December. January 1st, 2027 is a federal holiday, so that payment moves to December 31st.

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The post Social Security SSI Recipients Getting Two Payments in October – Here’s Why appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Chainlink's solution could streamline corporate actions, reducing errors and costs in tokenized equity management across multiple blockchains.

The post Chainlink reaches Swift Hackathon final with tokenized equity compliance solution appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Choosing between Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) means weighing a highly profitable chip equipment supplier against a faster-growing chip designer.

Applied Materials makes the equipment that chip factories use to produce semiconductors. AMD designs processors for products ranging from game consoles to large data centers and relies on outside foundries to manufacture them. Both sell into the demand that has drawn investors to artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, but they offer very different risk and reward profiles.

The case for Applied Materials

Alongside its manufacturing equipment, Applied Materials sells related services and factory automation software. The company occupies a highly technical niche among semiconductor stocks, selling to the large manufacturers that fabricate chips. That customer base is concentrated, and two customers accounted for approximately 19% and 15% of net revenue in fiscal 2025, which ended in October 2025.

In fiscal 2025, revenue reached nearly $28.4 billion, up about 4.4% from the previous year. The company reported net income of roughly $7.0 billion for the same period. Revenue and pre-tax income both rose, but the net margin, which measures how much profit is kept from every dollar of sales, declined to approximately 24.7% from 26.4% as the provision for income taxes more than doubled.

As of Oct. 26, 2025, the debt-to-equity ratio was roughly 0.3x. That ratio compares total debt with shareholders' equity, and a figure this low points to a conservative approach to borrowing. The current ratio, which compares short-term assets to short-term liabilities, was approximately 2.6x. Free cash flow, which the company calculates as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, totaled nearly $5.7 billion for the fiscal year.

The case for Advanced Micro Devices

AMD designs processors for data centers and personal computers, as well as the semi-custom chips inside game consoles. A small number of customers account for a large share of its revenue, and cloud and hyperscale data center operators buy a substantial portion of its data center products.

In October 2025, AMD signed an agreement with OpenAI to deploy 6 gigawatts of its graphics processing units (GPUs), and in February 2026 it announced a similar agreement with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) covering up to 6 gigawatts. Its chips also power the PlayStation 5 from Sony (NYSE:SONY) and the Xbox Series S and X consoles from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

In 2025, revenue reached about $34.6 billion, up about 34.3% from the previous year. Growth came from the data center segment, where revenue rose 32%, and from the client and gaming segment, where it rose 51%. Net income for the period was roughly $4.3 billion, with a net margin of about 12.5%, held down in part by research and development spending, which rose about 25% to $8.1 billion.

As of Dec. 27, 2025, the debt-to-equity ratio was approximately 0.05x on a total debt-to-shareholders' equity basis. The current ratio stood at nearly 2.9x, indicating ample capacity to cover short-term obligations. Free cash flow for the year was roughly $5.5 billion under AMD's own definition, which starts with operating cash flow from continuing operations and subtracts capital expenditures.

That measure excludes about $1.2 billion of operating cash flow from discontinued operations, the ZT Systems manufacturing business that AMD sold in October 2025. Stock-based compensation of about $1.6 billion equaled roughly 25% of operating cash flow from continuing operations. Because it is a non-cash expense added back to cash flow in the cash flow statement, it increases reported cash generation.

Risk profile comparison

Applied Materials faces significant risks from evolving export controls and trade policies, particularly those involving China, which accounted for about 30% of its revenue in fiscal 2025. On Feb. 11, 2026, the company agreed to pay $252.5 million to the U.S. Commerce Department to resolve allegations that certain customer shipments to China between November 2020 and July 2022 did not comply with export regulations.

The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission closed their related investigations without action. The semiconductor industry has also historically been cyclical. The company says AI-related demand is difficult to forecast, and shifting demand can pressure its margins and cash flow.

AMD sells into highly competitive markets against rivals such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). The company relies on third parties to manufacture its chips, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) and GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ:GFS), so any disruption at these foundries would directly affect its ability to deliver products. U.S. export controls on its Instinct MI308 data center GPUs also restrict sales to China, and AMD's 2025 results included approximately $440 million of net inventory and related charges tied to those controls.

Dilution is another risk for AMD shareholders. The company has issued warrants to OpenAI and Meta Platforms, each covering up to 160 million shares at an exercise price of $0.01 per share, that vest as the customers reach GPU purchase milestones and AMD's stock reaches specified price targets.

Together, the warrants equal about 20% of the roughly 1.63 billion shares outstanding as of late July 2026, and none had vested as of June 27, 2026. On Sept. 28, 2026, AMD also announced an agreement to acquire World Labs, an AI model and research lab, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.2 billion.

Valuation comparison

Applied Materials carries the lower forward price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-sales (P/S) ratios, and AMD grew revenue much faster in 2025.

Metric	Applied Materials	Advanced Micro Devices
Forward P/E	23.4x	39.5x
P/S ratio	11.9x	24.2x

Valuation metrics include sourcing from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.

Which stock would I buy in 2026?

Applied Materials looks like the better buy to me, though I'd treat it as a position to add to over time. Chip equipment demand moves in cycles, and the stock has already more than doubled in the past year.

What tips the comparison is how each business has trended since the full-year figures above. Applied Materials reported record revenue for its fiscal third quarter on Aug. 13, 2026. The midpoint of management's guidance for the quarter ending in October implies sales growth of about 50% from a year earlier, roughly twice the pace it posted just a year ago. AMD's revenue also grew about 50% in its second quarter, but its Aug. 4 outlook points to somewhat slower growth in the third quarter. The growth gap that supports AMD's richer multiples appears to be narrowing.

AMD shareholders also face a dilution question that Applied Materials shareholders don't. The warrants from OpenAI and Meta Platforms could add about a fifth to the share count if every milestone is met, and the pending World Labs purchase would be paid for in stock. The warrants are tied to large chip orders, so the trade may prove worthwhile, but it raises the bar for per-share results.

None of this makes AMD a stock to avoid. It is the bigger business with more direct exposure to AI computing, and for investors who hold a diversified portfolio for five years or more, there's room to own both.

Mike Schwenk has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Applied Materials, Globalfoundries, Intel, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Galaxy's partnership with Sky Frontier Foundation could enhance DeFi credibility but also increases exposure to potential market volatility.

The post Galaxy partners with Sky Frontier Foundation, adds $100 million in sUSDS to treasury appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSEMKT:VT) provides investors with exposure to both U.S. and international markets, whereas Schwab International Equity ETF (NYSEMKT:SCHF) serves as a low-cost specialist for developed economies outside the United States.

While both funds offer global reach, the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF follows the FTSE Global All Cap Index to capture the entire investable world. In contrast, the Schwab International Equity ETF tracks the FTSE Developed ex US Index, making it a dedicated tool for those wanting to isolate international developed markets at a rock-bottom price point.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Metric	SCHF	VT
Issuer	Schwab	Vanguard
Share price (as of 9/28/26)	$27.72	$158.81
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.06%
1-yr return (as of 9/28/26)	24.2%	18.0%
Dividend yield	3.0%	1.5%
Beta	0.82	0.92
AUM	$67.8 billion	$101.7 billion

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.

The Schwab International Equity ETF is a more affordable option for investors, carrying a low 0.03% expense ratio compared to 0.06% for the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF. This 0.03-percentage-point difference can affect long-term compounding over decades. Additionally, the Schwab fund offers a significantly higher payout, with a 3% yield versus 1.5% for the Vanguard fund.

Performance & risk comparison

Metric	SCHF	VT
Max drawdown (5 yr)	(29.1%)	(26.4%)
Growth of $1,000 over 5 years (total return)	$1,660	$1,710

What's inside

The Vanguard Total World Stock ETF casts a wide net, holding more than 10,000 securities across the globe. Its portfolio leans heavily into technology at 30%, followed by financial services at 16% and industrials at 11%. Its largest positions include Nvidia at 4.3%, Apple at 3.8%, and Microsoft at 3.1%. The fund was launched in 2008. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has paid $2.41 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$158.81 share price works out to a 1.5% yield.

The Schwab International Equity ETF focuses more narrowly on developed markets outside the U.S., with a portfolio of 1,442 holdings. Its sector allocation is led by financial services at 25%, technology at 17.7%, and industrials at 17.6%. Its largest positions include Samsung Electronics at 3.2%, SK Hynix at 2.5%, and ASML Holding at 2.4%. The fund was launched in 2009. Schwab International Equity ETF has paid $0.84 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$27.72 share price works out to a 3% yield.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

Which looks like the better buy

When you're looking to diversify your stock portfolio, leaning toward international funds is a good idea. Vanguard's Total World Stock ETF is often suggested as a good starting point, as it covers both domestic and foreign stocks in both developed and emerging markets. It's relatively inexpensive to own, and while its exposure to emerging markets comes with some risk, its breadth across 10,000 holdings gives it a good deal of stability. For long-term investors, it's an easy set-it-and-forget-it holding. But investors who are truly seeking diversification may not be satisfied with VT's approach. Indeed, its top three names are familiar U.S. tech giants, and while it offers a slightly higher dividend yield, it's underperformed the S&P 500 index over the last five years.

SCHF leans further into the international diversification theme, providing access to large- and mid-cap stocks from developed countries outside the U.S., including South Korea and Canada. Its market cap and geographic limits protect investors from the most extreme risk, but the fund has demonstrated a sharper five-year maximum drawdown. Like VT, it’s also underperformed the S&P 500 over the last five years. That said, it's also cheaper to own and generates more dividend income than VT. And it gives you exposure to stocks that may not already be in your portfolio.

Sarah Sidlow has positions in Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vanguard International Equity Index Funds - Vanguard Total World Stock ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Realty Income (NYSE: O), one of the world's largest real estate investment trusts (REITs) with 15,500 commercial properties, has raised its dividend 136 times since its public debut. It's also one of the few REITs that pays monthly dividends, and it pays a hefty forward yield of 6%.

What will happen if you invest $100 monthly in Realty Income for 10 years?

Over the past 10 years, Realty Income generated a total return of 33% with reinvested dividends. A $12,000 investment would have grown to about $16,000.

But if you had spread that $12,000 investment into $100 monthly investments over 10 years and reinvested your monthly dividends, your investment would be worth $21,450 today. That big gap can be attributed to the magic of dollar-cost averaging and compound returns.

By always investing $100 in Realty Income every month, you'd have bought more shares when its price was lower and fewer shares when it was higher. That dollar-cost averaging approach smoothed out your long-term gains, especially during the interest rate spikes that depressed the stock price. Your reinvested dividends also contributed to those compound gains.

Realty Income should remain a reliable dividend stock for income-oriented investors over the next ten years. But if you simply buy and forget it -- instead of reinvesting and compounding your returns monthly -- you'll likely leave a lot of money on the table.

Leo Sun has positions in Realty Income. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Realty Income. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The event highlights the growing trend of leveraging exclusive experiences to drive cryptocurrency engagement, potentially increasing market volatility.

The post Top $TRUMP holders can win a dinner with Donald Trump, again appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) are both benefiting from the artificial intelligence (AI) chip boom but in very different ways.

ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines are used to print the most complex circuits in leading-edge chips. As chipmakers pack more computing power into smaller chips, they need more precise manufacturing equipment. This trend has been driving demand for ASML's systems.

Applied Materials is also playing a crucial role in manufacturing advanced chips. The company supplies equipment used at several stages of chip production, including creating and shaping materials, checking for defects, and packaging chips together. Demand for these tools is rising as AI chips become more complex and increasingly use technologies such as high bandwidth memory and advanced packaging.

Let's see which stock is the better choice for investors right now.

ASML's impressive demand visibility

ASML's position as the only commercial supplier of EUV lithography systems is well established. The company has exceptionally strong visibility into demand for 2027. Revenue rose by nearly 21.2% year over year to 9.3 billion euros in the second quarter of 2026 (ending June 28). The company expects net sales in 2026 to fall in the range of 43 billion to 45 billion euros.

Low-NA EUV, ASML's current-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, is used to print extremely small circuit patterns on advanced chips. The company expects to increase low-NA EUV capacity by roughly 30% in 2027, from around 65 systems in 2026. Yet management says it is already close to receiving all the low-NA EUV orders it needs for 2027. This suggests production capacity, rather than a lack of customer orders, could become the bigger near-term constraint.

ASML's newer High-NA EUV technology is another potential growth driver. High-NA EUV allows chipmakers to print even smaller and more precise features on advanced chips than ASML's current EUV systems. This technology is already moving into commercial production.

Intel is using High-NA EUV on selected layers of chips made with its Intel 18A manufacturing process. The company says it has already begun shipping the first high-volume logic product manufactured using High-NA EUV.

Applied Materials has multiple AI-powered growth drivers

Applied Materials is particularly well-positioned in some of the fastest-growing areas of semiconductor equipment spending. The company says that leading-edge chip manufacturing, DRAM memory, and advanced packaging are driving roughly 80% of the growth in wafer fabrication equipment spending.

Financial results were also impressive. The company's revenue jumped 25% year over year to $9.1 billion, while generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings per share rose 43% year over year to $3.17 in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending July 26). Management also expects advanced packaging revenue to grow more than 70% in calendar 2026.

Hence, Applied Materials is benefiting not only from customers making more chips but also from the increasing complexity of AI chips, which require more manufacturing steps.

However, investor expectations also seem to have risen sharply. Shares of Applied Materials have soared by nearly 89.4%, while ASML stock is up by roughly 65.6% so far in 2026 (as of Sept. 28). Applied Materials' shares also fell more than 5% after its third-quarter earnings report, even though the company reported strong growth and issued revenue guidance above Wall Street's expectations.

Reuters attributed the decline to already-high investor expectations. This suggests the market may now require more than just strong results from the company.

China creates different risks for the two companies

Both technology companies face restrictions on selling certain advanced chipmaking equipment to China, but the risks differ significantly for each.

ASML expects China to account for around 20% of its total 2026 sales. China has also started producing its own immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, an older but still widely used technology for printing circuit patterns on chips. However, Reuters reported that these systems are still being tested and remain behind ASML's technology and reliability.

Applied Materials also has significant exposure to China. China accounted for 28% of the company's total revenue in the third quarter. The company also faces a more immediate competitive threat from Chinese equipment makers in some of its core markets.

Reuters reported that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have been testing equipment from Chinese chip-equipment maker Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment at their factories in China. Chinese suppliers are making progress in areas such as etch and deposition, where Applied Materials also competes.

Hence, ASML could eventually face greater competition in DUV lithography, but China still lacks a commercial alternative to its advanced EUV systems. Applied Materials faces a more immediate threat, since Chinese suppliers are already gaining ground in some of the etch and deposition markets where it competes.

Which stock is a better pick over the next year?

ASML is trading at roughly 30.8 times forward one-year earnings, compared with about 27.4 for Applied Materials (as of Sept. 28). Yet analysts expect the consensus EPS to grow roughly 35% year over year for ASML and almost 44.3% for Applied Materials in the next fiscal year. So Applied Materials appears to be offering faster expected growth at the lower valuation multiple.

Hence, for the next year, Applied Materials seems to be a better pick. ASML offers stronger demand visibility and a harder-to-replicate moat, but Applied Materials' lower valuation and faster expected earnings growth make it a more attractive short-term pick. But investor expectations are already high, so Applied Materials will need to keep delivering strong results to see robust share price returns in the next year.

Manali Pradhan, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Applied Materials, and Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Congress is reportedly considering expanding crypto rules to allow banks and credit unions to hold digital assets, issue stablecoins, and use blockchain. According to new information from the Congressional Research Service, Policymakers are currently debating whether activities involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets (crypto) should be considered bank-permissible activities.

JUST IN: Congress considers expanding crypto rules to allow banks and credit unions to hold digital assets, issue stablecoins, and use blockchain.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 1, 2026

According to the report, any new legislation would result in a more durable outcome, reducing the likelihood of frequent regulatory changes. Furthermore, Congress may consider whether a more permanent solution allowing or limiting crypto activities would be preferable. In recent years, the policy debate on permissible activities has focused on crypto. Bank lawmakers have consistently maintained that banks can conduct crypto-related activities only if they are legally permissible and conducted in a safe and sound manner. However, that has changed in recent years, with the arrival of the second Trump administration and the growing popularity of cryptocurrency.

As the crypto clarity continues to be debated in the U.S. Senate, the future of digital assets in traditional finance remains a hot topic. The SEC has already agreed to begin working on clearer crypto regulation and new rules for digital assets to be handled by banks. The GENIUS Act already made stablecoin issuance, custody, and related activities allowed for businesses owned by banks this past summer.

Also Read: Broadcom (AVGO) to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion for AI Chips

Whether any administration seeks to expand or constrain bank participation in crypto, the report suggests the regulatory baseline remains vulnerable to reversal unless Congress acts, and that a permissive stance would raise questions about capital, liquidity, anti-money-laundering compliance, and exposure to crypto-market volatility.

Choosing between Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) means weighing aggressive revenue growth against established, highly profitable dominance in the global biotechnology market. Which is the better buy today?

Axsome focuses on central nervous system disorders with a rapidly expanding commercial portfolio, while Vertex is a cash flow powerhouse led by its cystic fibrosis treatments. Both companies represent different risk and reward profiles in the healthcare market, making them favorites for various types of investors.

The case for Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for central nervous system conditions, including depression, migraine, and narcolepsy. As a growing player among biotech stocks, the company generates revenue from its approved products, Auvelity and Sunosi. It has recently resolved patent litigation for Sunosi through settlement agreements that establish a framework for generic entry starting in 2040, providing long-term clarity for that specific product line.

In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $638.5 million, representing a significant growth of roughly 65.5% compared to the previous year. Despite this rapid expansion in sales, the company reported a net loss of approximately $183.2 million for the period. This net margin, which measures the percentage of revenue remaining as profit after all expenses, was a negative 28.7%, which was an improvement from deeper losses in prior years.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is roughly 2.7x, meaning total debt is nearly three times the value of shareholder equity. The current ratio, which measures a company's ability to cover its short-term obligations with short-term assets, is approximately 1.4x. During FY 2025, free cash flow was negative $93.9 million, which is the cash remaining after the business paid for its operations and capital investments.

The case for Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology leader known for its portfolio of medicines treating cystic fibrosis, such as Trikafta and Kalydeco. The company also markets therapies for sickle cell disease and has recently introduced Journavx for acute pain management. By maintaining extensive networks of authorized treatment centers and broad payer coverage, the business ensures its specialized therapies reach patients across global markets.

In FY 2025, revenue reached approximately $12.1 billion, which reflects a year over year growth of nearly 9.6%. The company is highly profitable, reporting net income of close to $4.0 billion for the fiscal year. This resulted in a net margin of approximately 32.7%, showing that Vertex retains nearly a third of its revenue as profit after accounting for all of its costs.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is close to 0.2x, indicating that total debt is quite low relative to shareholder equity. Its current ratio is approximately 2.9x, suggesting a strong ability to meet short-term financial commitments with its existing assets. The company generated roughly $3.2 billion in free cash flow during FY 2025, which represents the cash left over after paying for operations and capital equipment.

Risk profile comparison

Axsome faces several operational and financial risks, including a history of net losses and a recurring need for additional funding to sustain its clinical trials. The company also deals with competition from generic versions of its products, such as recent regulatory filings for generic Auvelity and Symbravo. Regulatory hurdles remain a challenge, illustrated by a previous Refuse to File letter for its candidate AXS-14, alongside a heavy dependence on third-party manufacturers for supply.

Vertex contends with significant revenue concentration since most of its sales come from cystic fibrosis treatments, making it vulnerable to any manufacturing or safety disruptions in that area. Product development is complex and carries risks of failure, such as the setback for its VX-264 program. Furthermore, the company faces pricing pressures from government regulators and must successfully integrate acquisitions like Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and Alpine Immune Sciences while competing with CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP).

Valuation comparison

Vertex appears more conservatively valued based on its Forward P/E relative to future earnings estimates, while Axsome commands a higher P/S ratio measuring price against sales.

Metric	Axsome Therapeutics	Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Forward P/E	44.6x	27.2x
P/S ratio	16.7x	10.7x

Valuation metrics sourced from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.

Which stock would I buy in 2026?

I'd go with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. It has built one of the most profitable and diversified drug portfolios in biotech, and the pipeline keeps expanding into new disease areas that could sustain that growth for years. Its cystic fibrosis franchise now treats the vast majority of patients living with the disease, and a new pain drug is gaining commercial traction alongside it. A recently completed acquisition adds a kidney disease drug awaiting an imminent FDA approval decision. The balance sheet is flush with cash, and management just raised its full-year outlook.

Axsome has quickly built a very strong commercial drug portfolio, with a new FDA approval for a condition affecting many Alzheimer's patients adding a promising new indication. For investors who want earlier-stage biotech exposure with commercial products already on the market, it is a good candidate.

The challenge for Axsome right now is that building a commercial drug business is expensive, and the costs are rising faster than the revenue. Missing estimates in the most recent quarter is a reminder that the path to profitability leaves little room for stumbles. Vertex faces no such uncertainty. It has already done the hard work of building a profitable, diversified business, and it keeps adding to it. That's why it's my pick.

Sara Appino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Axsome Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends CRISPR Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bristol Myers Squibb: Slow and Steady Revenue Growth

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) operates as a global biopharmaceutical entity that researches, develops, and commercializes a worldwide medicinal portfolio spanning therapeutic areas like hematology, oncology, and cardiovascular health, offering pharmaceutical products such as Revlimid and Eliquis.

It received accelerated regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Zenbexus combination therapy for adult patients with multiple myeloma in August 2026, and it selected Houston for a new $2.3 billion multi-modal manufacturing campus designed to increase its production capacity for next-generation medicines.

Johnson & Johnson: Maintaining a Larger Revenue Base

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) functions as a broad healthcare holding company that engages in the research, development, manufacture, and global sale of products primarily through its dedicated innovative medicine and medical technology segments.

It finalized a $1 billion cash acquisition of Firefly Bio in July 2026 to integrate a targeted antibody-drug conjugate platform, while it also secured regulatory approval for its IMAAVY treatment for patients dealing with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Why Revenue Matters for Investors

Revenue here refers to the data provider's standardized income-statement revenue line item, which gives investors a direct baseline measurement of the total volume of money a business brings in from its core commercial operations before deducting any associated operating expenses, interest, or taxes.

Comparing Quarterly Revenue for Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson

Calendar quarter	Bristol-Myers Squibb Revenue	Johnson & Johnson Revenue
Q3 2024	$11.9 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024)	$22.5 billion (quarter ended Sept. 29, 2024)
Q4 2024	$12.3 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024)	$22.5 billion (quarter ended Dec. 29, 2024)
Q1 2025	$11.2 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2025)	$21.9 billion (quarter ended March 30, 2025)
Q2 2025	$12.3 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2025)	$23.7 billion (quarter ended June 29, 2025)
Q3 2025	$12.2 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025)	$24.0 billion (quarter ended Sept. 28, 2025)
Q4 2025	$12.5 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025)	$24.6 billion (quarter ended Dec. 28, 2025)
Q1 2026	$11.5 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2026)	$24.1 billion (quarter ended March 29, 2026)
Q2 2026	$13.0 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2026)	$25.3 billion (quarter ended June 28, 2026)

Data source: Financial Modeling Prep. Data as of Sept. 25, 2026.

Foolish Take

Both Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson are consistently, if slowly, growing their revenue, though Johnson & Johnson is obviously starting from a much larger base. In fact, despite Johnson & Johnson's revenue being about double that of Bristol Myers Squibb, over the period shown above, it grew its revenue at a slightly higher rate. That's impressive.

One thing to watch from here will be Johnson & Johnson's medical technology division, an area Bristol Myers Squibb, a biopharmaceuticals company, doesn't have. J&J's medtech division grew operational sales 3.6% in the second quarter, and in 2025, it generated $33.79 billion in revenue. It's growing the segment via both acquisitions and in-house research and development, which can be costly. However, once those products are approved and in use, they can generate exceptional revenue and high profit margins.

In July, J&J received FDA market authorization in the U.S. for its OTTAVA Robotic Surgical System, "the world's first table-integrated soft tissue robotic system." At the time of the announcement, a U.S. clinical trial for OTTAVA in inguinal hernia procedures was ongoing. Customer uptake and success with this system could provide a strong moat and a new recurring revenue stream for the legacy healthcare company.

Sarah Sidlow has positions in Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol Myers Squibb. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The platform’s dedication towards this Buyback-&-Burn campaign pushes the overall-burn count beyond 460 billion.

Continue reading at DailyCoin.

Het bericht SBI neemt cryptobeurs Bitbank over voor $289 miljoen verscheen eerst op Newsbit.

Hyperliquid's policy group wants perps under MiFID II, while Circle targets MiCA's bank deposit floor in filings to the European Commission's MiCA review.

A dental patient has spent years mailing $1 payments after a bill came in at triple the out-of-pocket limit they say was set before treatment.

The Redditor told the dentist insurance was maxed out and they could only cover $400 with no extra work beyond that, then confirmed the cap again in the chair.

Staff later said the total was $1,200 and that the work had already been done, so that was the bill.

The patient paid the agreed $400 and was billed for the rest.

Dentist didn’t obey my limit and sent me big bill…
by u/DavidinCT in pettyrevenge

For about four and a half years they mailed $1 each month — enough to stay current and dodge late fees without clearing the disputed balance.

After the dentist died, the office called, heard the original dispute, wrote off what was left with no credit hit and apologized.

One commenter summed up the reaction.

“Health care billing in general is a scam.”

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Generated Image: Midjourney

The post Patient Sends $1 Monthly Payments for Years to Protest Dentist’s Alleged Overcharge – ‘Health Care Billing In General Is a Scam’ appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Stablecoins' rise could reshape financial markets, influencing US Treasury demand and prompting shifts in capital market strategies.

The post Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan predicts stablecoins will rise significantly appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The need to modernize commercial and defense aerospace fleets is expected to drive increased spending in the sector. One report estimates that global aerospace spending will rise from $434.17 billion this year to $846.30 billion by 2035, a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% -- and so the industry is transforming as a result.

In 2024, one key player -- then known as just plain-old Honeywell International-- announced it would split its three segments of advanced materials, automation, and aerospace into three companies. In October of 2025, it spun off its advanced materials business into Solstice Advanced Materials (NASDAQ: SOLS). Three months ago, on June 29, the company completed the spinoff of Honeywell Technologies (NASDAQ: HON) for its automation business and Honeywell Aerospace (NASDAQ: HONA) for its aerospace business.

Deciding which Honeywell company is the right one to buy for the aerospace boom may seem like a trick question. The answer is so obvious, it can't be right, can it?

The choice isn't as simple as it seems

The name makes Honeywell Aerospace seem like the obvious stock to play the aerospace boom. The company builds aircraft engines, avionics, auxiliary power units, and other aviation systems for commercial and defense aircraft. However, the other two Honeywell companies each benefit from aerospace spending.

Solstice makes low-global-warming-potential hydrofluoroolefin solvents, which are critical for precision cleaning of sensitive flight instruments, oxygen lines, hydraulic systems, and jet turbine components. The company also makes high-purity chemicals, specialized blowing agents, and fluoropolymers used in semiconductors, radomes, thermal insulation, and circuit boards integrated into modern aircraft avionics.

Honeywell Technologies, which is what remains of Honeywell International, is a pure-play industrial automation company, but its products are critical to how aerospace equipment is manufactured, tested, and housed, including its distributed control systems, robotics, assembly line controls, and test facilities and environmental chambers.

So, the answer isn't so easy. To figure out which of these companies should thrive the most from an aerospace boom, you have to look back at the third quarter of 2025, when all three segments were under the same roof. In that quarter, Honeywell Aerospace reported 15% year-over-year sales growth, well ahead of the other two segments.

In the second quarter of this year, Honeywell Aerospace's first as an independent company, it reported sales of $4.5 billion, up 5% year over year. It also reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.87, down 32% from the same period last year, though that figure is somewhat skewed by short-term spinoff costs. It may take a while for the company to overcome those expenses, as its long-term debt increased to $15.85 billion from $4 million, reflecting financing moves related to its separation from Honeywell Technologies.

Investors have been lukewarm on the stock

Since its spinoff, the stock is down more than 18%, worse than the roughly 11% drop for Honeywell Technologiesso far this year and less than the 32% decline for Solstice stock. One reason for Honeywell Aerospace's decline is that it trimmed its full-year sales growth guidance from 7%-9% to 4%-5%.

Of the three, Solstice is predicting the most growth, 6%, at the midpoint, with Honeywell Technologiesexpecting 3% to 4% revenue growth.

The backlog is a big deal

As of the second quarter, Honeywell Aerospace had a backlog of $18.1 billion, and it continues to add to its orders. Year to date, Honeywell Aerospace has built significant commercial and defense momentum, securing an estimated $15 billion in lifetime value across a series of major new contract wins. Headlining these accomplishments is a historic deal with Indian carrier IndiGo, which selected Honeywell's flagship avionics and power systems for its massive order of 810 new Airbus A320neo family aircraft, marking the largest new-aircraft-selectable equipment win in the company's history.

In addition to major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) selections, Honeywell Aerospace continues to advance its retrofit, modification, and upgrade (RMU) growth strategy, highlighted by Aeromexico's intention to adopt its latest Surface Alerts (SURF-A) runway safety technology across its fleet of more than 100 Boeing 737NG and 737MAX aircraft. On the defense front, European OEMs have named Civitanavi Systems' ARGO 4000 inertial measurement unit as a preferred solution to integrate critical guidance capabilities into missile programs, unmanned platforms, maritime vessels, and land vehicles.

These orders provide great transparency of the company's earnings over the next couple of years. That backlog is largely tied to defense modernization programs, military avionics upgrades, and next-generation propulsion systems. The increase in defense budgets worldwide should give the company steady cash flow visibility even during broader economic pullbacks.

One of its biggest concerns is supply chain issues, but as a stand-alone company, it can focus on that issue more directly than when it was a segment of Honeywell International.

Taking the long-term view

Honeywell Aerospace, among the three Honeywell-related stocks, is best positioned to benefit from the aerospace boom. It has the most industry exposure of the three stocks, with Honeywell Technologies and Solstice having only tertiary exposure to aviation. Honeywell should also have more long-term growth, and its huge backlog of orders means it should have little difficulty paying down its debt.

Down the line, the stock could even offer a dividend or stock repurchases, making it more appetizing to investors. With more than $18.1 billion in revenue anticipated this year and a high-margin commercial aftermarket business, Honeywell Aerospace generates substantial free cash flow. This financial profile gives the board the flexibility to consider initiating a regular quarterly dividend once baseline operational and capital allocation priorities stabilize.

James Halley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Honeywell Aerospace and Honeywell Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Crypto may have benefited from the failure of the US CLARITY Act, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan.

The CLARITY Act failed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward in the US Senate after years of negotiations. But instead of hurting the crypto market, its failure was followed by a strong rally across several digital assets.

Unexpected Wins in Washington

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum rose about 11% after the vote. Some other tokens posted much bigger gains. NEAR jumped 125%, Uniswap rose 49%, and Avalanche gained 44%, according to Hougan. The reaction may seem surprising because the crypto industry had strongly supported the bill. Hougan said the industry wanted the legal certainty that CLARITY promised. But added that the final version also included several compromises that could have created new restrictions for crypto companies.

One major area is stablecoins. The exec explained that the proposed legislation would have restricted platforms from paying customers interest or rewards on stablecoin balances. With the bill now stalled, existing stablecoin rules remain in place. Hougan said this could benefit companies such as Coinbase, which use stablecoin rewards to attract users.

CLARITY would have created a national licensing system for spot crypto exchanges. It also could have placed limits on the way exchanges combine trading and brokerage services. With the bill gone, established exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken avoid those changes for now.

Instead of waiting for new legislation and lengthy studies, the SEC recently allowed certain tokenized US stocks to trade through blockchain-based systems under temporary rules, which, according to Hougan, could give tokenization companies a chance to test the technology in real markets sooner.

Revenue-generating tokens are another area that has benefited from clearer regulatory guidance. Several tokens, including NEAR and Uniswap, have gained strongly while using protocol revenue for token buybacks. The SEC has also clarified that, once a blockchain network is functional, announcing a buyback program does not by itself turn a token into a security.

There is still a major risk as regulation can change when a new administration takes office. A future SEC or CFTC leadership could take a tougher approach to crypto. Despite this, Hougan expects “crypto to be too big to crush.”

Progress Under Existing Rules

Michael Saylor, co-founder and former CEO of Strategy, also sees the failure differently. He recently argued that crypto may be better served by working with supportive regulators at the SEC, CFTC, Treasury, and banking agencies than accepting the restrictions included in the bill’s final version.

Saylor believes the sector should use the next few years to build compliant crypto products under existing rules instead of rushing to accept a compromise simply to get legislation passed. His focus is on products that can lower costs, expand access, and give users more control over their money.

The post Crypto May Be Better Off Without CLARITY Act, Says Bitwise CIO: ‘Too Big to Crush’ appeared first on CryptoPotato.

BootLoops' integration of AI in diverse scientific fields could accelerate research innovation and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration.

The post Harvard physicist’s BootLoops toolkit puts AI to work across the sciences appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The clash between public advocacy and central banks over stablecoin rewards could shape the future of digital currency regulation in the EU.

The post Stand With Crypto urges EU to ease stablecoin rewards restrictions appeared first on Crypto Briefing.