**"Three Major Futures Fall Amid Q3 Earnings from JPMorgan, Wells Fargo"**

Pre-market Market Trends

1. On October 11th (Friday) before the U.S. stock market opens, the three major U.S. stock index futures all fell. As of the time of writing, Dow futures were down 0.10%, S&P 500 index futures were down 0.24%, and Nasdaq futures were down 0.40%.

2. As of the time of writing, the German DAX index was up 0.19%, the UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.09%, the French CAC 40 index was up 0.10%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index was up 0.11%.

3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil was down 0.90%, trading at $75.17 per barrel. Brent crude oil was down 0.92%, trading at $78.67 per barrel.

Market News

Is the U.S. bull market coming to an end? "Old Bond King": The upward momentum is weakening under multiple headwinds. Although the record-breaking rise in the U.S. stock market this year continues to impress Wall Street, the "Old Bond King" Bill Gross is not sure if this momentum can be sustained for a longer period. It is worth mentioning that Gross did not predict an imminent collapse of the stock market bull run, but rather said that some unfavorable factors are approaching, including overvaluation and various macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds. In his latest report, Gross stated that as momentum wanes, investors should reallocate to defensive and high-yield stocks. He also advised investors to reduce their exposure to fixed-income assets, which he had previously criticized the current state of U.S. Treasury bonds. Gross said, "There is no bear market, but it's no longer a bull market either." He added that the stock market will receive positive returns from "buying low" in the future. Gross also mentioned that legendary investor Warren Buffett is currently hoarding a record amount of cash. Some people believe this is a sign that the stock market may soon experience a significant sell-off. For Gross, he believes this at least indicates that the stock market's "road ahead is bumpy."

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Federal Reserve's Barkin: Inflation is moving in the "right direction," but the fight against inflation is not over yet. Richmond Fed Chairman Barkin expressed optimism about the progress of inflation but pointed out that the struggle is not over yet, citing potential risks that could trigger price pressures. Barkin said, "We are definitely moving in the right direction. (But) I won't declare victory." When asked about factors that could lead to inflation stickiness, Barkin mentioned conflicts in the Middle East and the potential for housing demand to outstrip supply as the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates. However, he added, "I don't want to let the possibility of what might happen hinder our progress on inflation issues, obscuring the fact that we have actually made a lot of progress."

Intense hurricanes! Is it difficult for the Federal Reserve to ignore this time? The two devastating hurricanes that hit the southeastern United States in recent weeks will make it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to assess economic conditions. In the past, the Federal Reserve often ignored the temporary supply shocks caused by natural disasters. However, Diane Swonk, the chief economist of KPMG in the United States, pointed out that the frequency and destructiveness of recent natural disasters mean that the Federal Reserve is increasingly finding it difficult to ignore them. Stephen Stanley, the chief economist of Santander, pointed out: "The impact of hurricanes is not uncommon for this season, but the scope of destruction caused by Hurricane Helen indicates that the number of initial jobless claims will increase significantly and persistently." Nancy Vanden Houten, the chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said that the impact of the hurricanes "may last for several weeks," and the non-farm employment report in October may be "significantly impacted." However, analysts still expect the Federal Reserve to continue to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the meeting next month. Some economists base their views on a recent speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, in which Powell implied that the baseline expectation is to continue cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in the future.

Structural change has arrived! Is $3,000 gold not impossible? Chantelle Schieven, Chief Research Officer at Capitalight Research, said that although the recent slowdown in the pace of Federal Reserve rate cuts may continue to put pressure on gold prices, as investors adjust their market expectations, geopolitical uncertainties continue to support precious metals. Schieven pointed out that geopolitical turmoil was a key factor in the nearly 30% rise in gold prices this year, but the safe-haven premium for gold is still low because investors are just beginning to focus on specific geopolitical hotspots, mainly the escalating conflict in the Middle East. She added that as a safe-haven asset, rising geopolitical tensions can easily push gold prices up by 10%. "In this case, $3,000 per ounce is not out of reach for gold. If we see the conflict in the Middle East escalate, I expect gold prices to reach $3,000 per ounce by the end of this year. But if tensions ease, we may also see gold prices fall by 10%."

A wave of debt issuance on Wall Street is coming! Will the six major banks issue $20 billion in bonds next week? Wall Street banks are expected to launch a series of bond offerings next week to take advantage of ultra-low credit spreads and strong investor demand. After releasing quarterly earnings on Friday, the six major U.S. banks may borrow between $20 billion and $24 billion, a figure that exceeds the usual $15 billion raised in October over the past decade. Although bank borrowing has increased this year, bond issuance has returned to normal since the Federal Reserve stopped raising interest rates last year and began to lower them. Analysts expect banks to take advantage of borrowing costs near a 20-year low to complete at least $15 billion to $20 billion in sales. Banks usually issue bonds after releasing quarterly earnings, and large banks, as the largest borrowers in the U.S. investment-grade bond market, are preparing in advance for potential fluctuations around the U.S. elections in November.Individual Stock News

The steering wheel, pedals, and rearview mirror are all gone! Tesla's (TSLA.US) Robotaxi "trump card" makes its debut with a cost below $30,000 and is expected to start production in 2026. On October 10th, at 10 PM Eastern Time (10 AM Beijing Time on the 11th), Tesla's "We, Robot" event took place at the Warner Bros. studio in Hollywood, where three new products were unveiled: the Cybercab (cyber unmanned taxi), Robovan (autonomous multi-purpose vehicle), and the new version of the humanoid robot Optimus. Among them, the Cybercab, as the prototype of Tesla's Robotaxi, features gull-wing doors and a two-door, two-seater design suitable for two adults. Musk stated that this new car will achieve mass production before 2026 or 2027, and the vehicle price will be controlled within $30,000. In addition, Musk frankly admitted that it is not realistic for the Cybercab to go online in the short term, so he proposed to initially realize the Robotaxi service through iterative FSD. He revealed at the conference that Tesla must first move FSD from supervised full self-driving to unsupervised full self-driving, with this timeline set before 2027.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US) Q3 investment banking business fee revenue increased by 31% year-on-year, and the full-year net interest income guidance was raised. The financial report shows that JPMorgan Chase's Q3 revenue increased by 7% year-on-year to $42.654 billion, net profit decreased by 2% year-on-year to $12.898 billion, and earnings per share were $4.37. Net interest income was $23.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3%. The bank currently expects net interest income to reach about $92.5 billion in 2024, higher than the previous forecast of about $91 billion. It is worth mentioning that investment banking business fee revenue increased by 31% year-on-year, higher than the expected 16%; stock trading revenue increased by 27% year-on-year. Despite the strong performance, CEO Jamie Dimon gave a somewhat gloomy economic outlook. Dimon said in a statement on Friday: "Although inflation is slowing down and the US economy remains resilient, several key issues still exist, including huge fiscal deficits, infrastructure needs, and trade structure adjustments." In terms of geopolitics, Dimon said, "The situation is dangerous and getting worse," and the result "may have a profound impact on short-term economic outcomes, and more importantly, on the course of history."

BlackRock (BLK.US) Q3 revenue and EPS exceeded expectations, and the asset management scale reached a new high. The financial report shows that the company's Q3 revenue increased by 15% year-on-year to $5.197 billion, better than the analyst consensus of $4.92 billion; adjusted net profit was $1.715 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%; adjusted earnings per share were $11.46, better than the analyst consensus of $10.32. As of the end of the third quarter, BlackRock's asset management scale (AUM) reached a record $11.5 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 26%; the average AUM for the third quarter was $11.1 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 18%. BlackRock's Q3 net inflow of funds was $221.18 billion. Long-term investment fund net inflow was $160.173 billion. Among them, equity product net inflow was $74.144 billion; fixed income product net inflow was $62.74 billion; multi-asset product net inflow was $17.814 billion. Cash management net inflow was $61.007 billion.

Wells Fargo (WFC.US) Q3 performance was mixed, with net interest income falling short of expectations, but investment banking business fees increased by 37% year-on-year. The financial report shows that Wells Fargo's Q3 total revenue was $20.37 billion, lower than the analyst consensus of $20.46 billion; diluted earnings per share were $1.42, higher than the analyst consensus of $1.29. Net interest income decreased by 11% year-on-year to $11.69 billion, lower than the analyst consensus of $11.88 billion, which is the latest sign that the company is no longer benefiting from continued high interest rates. It is worth mentioning that investment banking business fees increased by 37% year-on-year to $672 million, which helped offset the decline in loan income caused by the decrease in interest rates. In addition, Wells Fargo wrote off $1.1 billion in loans in Q3, lower than the analyst consensus of $1.3 billion. As of press time, Wells Fargo's pre-market stock price on Friday rose by more than 3%.

McDonald's (MCD.US) CEO warns of weak consumer spending: The company is preparing for "challenges" next year. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said that he expects the wallets of low-income customers to remain tight next year. He said: "We are starting to talk about 2025, and the message I conveyed to our team is: 'We need to prepare for another challenging year.'" The hamburger chain reported its first quarterly same-store sales decline in four years in July, due to consumers curbing spending after years of high inflation. Kempczinski said that McDonald's launched a limited-time $5 meal in June and is considering further improving its affordable products. The company's executives had previously stated that they expect consumers to continue facing pressure in the next few quarters.