Today's War Room Trading Recap

📉 Market Recap & Key Drivers

• The Nasdaq Composite finished higher (about +0.5 %) and logged a record close, while the S&P 500 was nearly flat and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped roughly 0.2 %. 

• Stocks hit intraday highs, largely driven by strength in large-cap tech / AI plays, but momentum waned into the close given some caution around the central bank messaging. 

🎯 Key drivers

1. **▶️ Rate policy & macro — **

   • The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 bps today (to 3.75-4.00 % target) in an effort to support the labor market. 

   • However, the Fed signalled that further cuts (e.g., in December) are not guaranteed, which damped some enthusiasm and caused yields to tick up. 

   • As a result, interest‐rate sensitive assets (e.g., smaller caps, some cyclical names) lagged. 

2. **📈 Mega­cap / AI momentum — **

   • Nvidia Corporation surged (~+4.7 %) and became the first company ever to reach a ~$5 trillion market cap, driven by a massive AI-chip order announcement and government supercomputer plans.

   • Other semiconductor / AI-exposed names also posted substantial gains, pulling the tech sector higher.

3. **🧮 Earnings & sector divergence — **

   • Companies such as Caterpillar Inc. posted earnings beats and rallied (~+10-11 %), supporting industrial/cyclical risk-on themes.

   • Conversely, some firms disappointed: e.g., Fiserv, Inc. plunged ~40 % after a weak outlook, dragging parts of the market. 

4. **🌍 Geopolitical / trade … & missing data — **

   • There’s optimism around U.S. trade discussions (e.g., with China and South Korea), contributing to a positive tone. 

   • Meanwhile, the U.S. government shutdown is delaying key economic data, which is making some investors cautious about reading too much into the current strength.