JPMorgan Loves Crypto; Sam Altman Under Fire; Dow Hits New Record (1)

U.S. stocks surged to record highs Monday after signs of easing tensions between Washington and Beijing fueled optimism for a trade breakthrough. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 208 points (+0.5%), the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5%, led by strength in chipmakers like Nvidia (NVDA).

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both sides have a “successful framework” for President Trump and President Xi’s meeting later this week, which could include a delay of China’s rare-earth export curbs and suspension of Trump’s threatened 100% tariffs. Trump confirmed Monday he expects to “come away with the deal.”

Chip stocks led the charge, with Nvidia up over 2%, Qualcomm (QCOM) soaring 13% on new AI chip news, and Broadcom (AVGO) climbing 1%. Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL) also advanced, the latter nearing a $4 trillion market cap.

Investors are also eyeing Wednesday’s Fed rate decision and a wave of Big Tech earnings — including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft — which could define the next leg of the rally.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Co-Diagnostics Inc (CODX) is up 143.96% to $0.86 after announcing a joint venture with Arabian Eagle to launch CoMira Diagnostics across Saudi Arabia and MENA.

Sotherly Hotels Inc (SOHO) zoomed 140.37% to $2.14 after agreeing to be acquired by a joint venture backed by Kemmons Wilson Hospitality and Ascendant Capital.

In current trading, Bio-Key International Inc (BKYI) is at $1.55 after partnering with IT2Trust to expand biometric IAM solutions across the Nordic region.

Nauticus Robotics Inc (KITT) rose 30.68% to $2.30 after securing a $250M equity facility and entering the deep-sea rare earth mineral exploration market.

In the current session, PepGen Inc (PEPG) jumped 21.88% to $5.57 after Bank of America raised its price target following positive DM1 clinical trial data.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Celanese Corp (CE) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.03 per share. It has fixed October 28 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on November 12. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.79 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CE has a trailing yield of 1.81% on the current stock price of $43.7.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Fastenal Co (FAST), having a market capitalization of $49.08B. It will pay a dividend of $0.22 per share, the payment date of which is November 25. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.99%.

Shares of Ferrovial S.E (FER) will be the talk of stock market on Tuesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.55 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.45 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that FER has a trailing yield of 2.24% on the current share price of $64.6.

Nokia Corp ADR (NOK) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from NOK will amount to $0.03 per share. October 28 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for November 12. In the previous year, NOK distributed a total of $0.16 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for NOK stands at 2.46% based on the current stock price of $6.38.

Telefonica Brasil S.A., ADR (VIV) will be paying out a dividend of $0.04 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of October 28. Over the past 12 months, VIV has paid out a total of $0.24 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, VIV boasts an impressive trailing yield of 1.90% on the current share price of $12.91.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Trump-linked American Bitcoin boosts treasury
  Added 1,414 BTC (~$163M), taking holdings to 3,865 BTC (~$445M); CSO Eric Trump says the goal is raising BTC-per-share. Hut 8 holds a majority stake.

• IBM unveils ‘Digital Asset Haven’ for institutions
  New platform to offer custody, payments, and on-chain yield across 40 blockchains; launches Q4 2025 as SaaS, built with Dfns.

• ClearBank x Circle: EU stablecoin rails
  UK’s ClearBank to scale USDC/EURC via Circle Mint and become among the first EU banks on the Circle Payments Network.

• Bitcoin steadies on tariff truce hopes
  BTC bounced to a two-week high (~$116.4K) after a record liquidation, as markets eye the FOMC decision and signs of a U.S.–China tariff ceasefire.

• Japan’s first yen-backed stablecoin launches
  JPYC goes live, backed 1:1 by bank deposits & JGBs; seven firms reportedly plan integrations.

Most Shorted Stocks

FG Nexus Inc (FGNX) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 4.10% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 2.2. This represents a change of 1200400 shares, which corresponds to a +480.93% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $5.6 million. The average daily volume stands at 664.57K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $136.29M.

The PMGC Holdings Inc with the symbol ELAB currently has a short interest of 63.17%. The short interest has changed by 407900 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 0.4. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $2.56 million. On an average day, 1.17M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $4.46M.

For the stock Psyence Biomedical Ltd (PBM), the current short interest is at 18.35%. This represents a significant short interest change of 64800 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +98.03%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 0.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $0.43 million.

With the symbol GWAV, the stock currently has a short interest of 65.80%. The short interest change is 248900 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +387.69%. It would take approximately 0.6 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $1.01 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 527.86K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $4.41M.

The stock LCFY has a current short interest of 0.99%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -90.51% while there was a change of -105900 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 0.0. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $1.57 million. Trading activity averages at 536.25K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $6.91M.

Upcoming IPO's

MapLight Therapeutics, Inc. (MPLT) is all set for its debut on the NASDAQ exchange on October 27. The shares will be offered at a fixed price of $17.00 per share. With a total of 14,750,000 shares available, the company aims to raise approximately $250.75M through this IPO.

Navan, Inc. (NAVN) will be entering the market with its IPO on October 31, on the NASDAQ exchange. They are offering shares in the price range of $24.00 to $26.00. They plan to offer 36,924,406 shares, targeting a deal size of $923.11M.

BETA Technologies, Inc. (BETA) is also scheduled to make its debut on the NYSE exchange on November 03. They are offering shares in the price range of $27.00 to $33.00. The IPO includes 25,000,000 shares, aiming for a deal size of $750.00M

Exzeo Group, Inc. (XZO) is set to join the NYSE on November 05. They are offering shares in the price range of $20.00 to $22.00. They are offering 8,000,000 shares, with an estimated deal size of $168.00M.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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