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Good morning.
In a 2014 op-ed for The New York Times calling for the legalization of sport gambling, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he wanted to see the practice “brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.” After a couple of seasons of betting barrages, the sun has been shining brightly on a host of improprieties.
Just ahead of opening night tipoff this week, the league said it has asked its gambling partners, including FanDuel and DraftKings, to restrict certain types of “low-likelihood, high-payout” and “single-event player markets” dependent on negative outcomes. That includes bets on players missing their first shot attempt of the game, and low-minute players hitting their “unders” (i.e., betting on a deep rotation bench player grabbing “under” 1.5 rebounds). The restrictions come after a string of scandals in which players appeared to intentionally act to aid “unders” bettors. In one example, Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter admitted in court to removing himself from a game to assist bettors; he has been banned for life from the league. We’ll try keeping our typos below a dozen next time. Want the over on that?
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MARKETS
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Stock data as of market close on October 16, 2026.
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Photo via Vernon Yuen/ZUMA Press/Newscom
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The rich are different. They’re also one helluva business.
Morgan Stanley’s wealth management business had a record third quarter, boosted by IPOs and the rising stock market, according to the financial services firm’s latest earnings report. It raked in $232 billion in net new assets, more than double what analysts were expecting and a significant jump from $81 billion during the same period last year. Net revenue for the wealth management business climbed to $9.1 billion from $8.2 billion the previous year.
Morgan Stanley is still a stock-trading titan: It brought in $5.8 billion from that arm of the business during the quarter, up 41% year over year. But in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis the firm’s then-CEO James Gorman kicked off a transition to focus more on wealth management that current chief executive Ted Pick has continued.
The relatively new playbook is paying off for one of Wall Street’s old-school institutions. Morgan Stanley now has a $10.5 trillion pool of assets across the wealth and investment management business that can generate revenue, even if trading and dealmaking slows.
Morgan’s Moat
It’s a different story for rival Goldman Sachs. The bank may have also beaten quarterly profit estimates, but its performance relies heavily on dealmaking, which can be a tough business. Even if Goldman has a healthy pipeline of potential transactions, there’s no guarantee that those transactions will close and the bank will pocket the advisory fees.
Morgan Stanley’s strategic direction is also very different from Charles Schwab’s, which has pegged much of its success to customer assets and deposits. That sets Schwab’s business apart, but it also means it’s particularly sensitive to its clients’ cash balances and interest rates.
However, today’s competitive moat isn’t necessarily tomorrow’s:
- Wealth management is far from immune to market volatility, since falling stock prices reduce assets under management and the asset-based fees that Morgan Stanley is increasingly boasting. Despite the stock market recently hitting record highs, it had its worst day since July last week after inflation rose in September, concerning investors that another interest rate hike is around the corner. AI-related fears have also rattled markets of late.
- While Morgan Stanley has diversified its revenue model, it’s still exposed to the same market concentration as the rest of us. The tech-heavy top 10 holdings in the S&P 500 account for nearly 40% of the total index.
  IPO Olympian: More than half of the wealth management business’s record net new assets at Morgan Stanley were associated with IPO-related flows. “With an active IPO calendar, the pace of our funnel accelerates and client interest in advice increases,” the firm’s Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya said in a call with analysts. She added that while flows will fluctuate, “our pipeline and our connectivity across channels allows us to build relationships early and deepen them over time.”
Written by Mallika Mitra
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Photo via Mission Wealth
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No one likes a surprise when it comes to tax returns.
Looking to avoid overpaying the IRS this year? Some of this year’s most meaningful planning opportunities may require action before December 31.
And many year-end moves are connected. Roth conversions, required minimum distributions, capital gains, charitable giving, and estate gifts all affect one another, and reviewing them in isolation can mean a higher-than-necessary bill.
On November 4, Mission Wealth’s Kyle Buffo, CFP®, will show you how to coordinate them in a live 45-minute webinar. You’ll learn:
Save the surprises for birthdays.
Reserve your seat for Wednesday, November 4, 1:00 PM ET/ 12:00 PM CT / 10:00 AM PT.*
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Photo via Billy Tompkins/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
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We won’t go so far as to say love is dead in 2026, but love for traditional dating apps may be.
User fatigue after more than a decade of swiping, as well as the increasing threat of AI disruption has left the industry battered and broken hearted. Last week delivered the nadir of the industry’s decline, when Bumble announced it had agreed to a $1.3 billion all-cash take-private deal, roughly just five years after reaching a peak $14 billion valuation shortly following its IPO. It’s a cheap date.
Swipe Right on Reality
Bumble’s split from the stock market isn’t necessarily a shock breakup. Revenue has been in decline since a 2024 peak, and the company was on track to end its fifth consecutive year operating at a net loss. Paying users who account for nearly all of its revenue had been fleeing the platform to look for love in greener pastures. Rival and Tinder-parent Match Group, whose share price is down 75% from a 2021 peak, is facing nearly identical problems across its suite of dating apps (save for Hinge, which continues to grow amid a global rollout).
Hinge aside, everyone these days seems to be looking for love outside of the realm of left-right swipe-a-thons:
- In fact, a recent Forbes Health Survey found 79% of Gen Z and 80% of millennials reported feeling dating app burnout. The dissatisfaction has led love-seekers to look for their meet-cutes in the real world; according to an Eventbrite report, events specifically featuring the verbiage of “meet-cute” jumped 117% in the first half of the year. The kids may be alright after all.
- Still, AI is increasingly playing a role as a first date intermediary. So-called “swipeless” dating apps such as Known and Breeze use AI to match user accounts based on predicted compatibility, before suggesting and scheduling first date ideas for a fee.
All the Buzz: Bumble’s already made a few design tweaks of its own to keep up with the times. In March, it launched its AI personal dating assistant Bee, and in August Bumble said it would no longer reserve “first message” privileges for female users in heterosexual pairings. The company has said it will continue to explore AI implementation in its apps. But love and AI may mix a little too well, presenting a whole new potential headwind for Bumble and the like. Roughly 25% of US young adults believe AI can serve as a boyfriend or girlfriend, according to a survey by the Institute for Family Studies, while nearly 20% of adults said they’ve chatted with AI to simulate having a romantic partner. One story published by The Atlantic this year even found adults claiming to have married their AI companions. On second thought, the kids may not be alright …
Written by Brian Boyle
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General Motors pulls up tomorrow to release its third-quarter results and will try to extend a streak of 16 consecutive earnings per share beats, according to Zacks Investment Research.
The streak could face a real challenge. GM already reported third-quarter sales volumes earlier this month, revealing deliveries fell at a 5.5% annualized rate to 670,974 vehicles in the three months ended Sept. 30. But expectations aren’t sky-high, with Wall Street eyeing flat revenue of $48.2 billion, according to Zacks. Worth watching will be a handful of forward-looking growth areas, including one that could challenge one of Tesla’s great ambitions.
Don’t Take the Wheel
Despite the softening sales, Cox Automotive analysts consider GM a shoo-in to retain its crown as the top-selling automaker in the country in 2026. Where GM has suffered most, like other US automakers, is fading electric vehicle (EV) sales after tax credits expired last year. In fact, in a testament to its core business, if you remove EVs from the third quarter delivery figures, GM’s sales were actually flat. The company was caught flat-footed earlier this year when consumers flocked to hybrid model vehicles in response to the energy price spike caused by the Iran war. Toyota reported a 29% increase in US hybrid sales, while GM was mostly left out of the action with just one single hybrid offering, a Corvette sports car. Executives say more hybrids are coming.
In any case, the Detroit mainstay has kept an ultradisciplined pricing strategy, holding incentives and discounts below industry averages in order to protect its margins. In a testament to this strategy, GM’s North American operations reported an 8.6% EBIT-adjusted margin in the second quarter, up from 6.1% a year earlier. As a result, profits have remained resilient: In the 12 trailing months ended June 30, GM reported a 1.1% dip in revenue to $185.5 billion, but a 9.7% increase in earnings before interest and taxes to $14.4 billion.
GM has also established several emerging avenues for long-term growth, and some are already bearing fruit. Take GM’s deferred revenue and services business, which has quietly grown into a multibillion-dollar force. Revenue at the highly profitable unit jumped nearly 50% year over year in the second quarter to $6.3 billion, driven by subscriptions to navigation and safety platform OnStar and hands-free driver-assistance software Super Cruise. An even more advanced driver-assistance platform is on the way:
- CEO Mary Barra reiterated last week that GM is on schedule to release “eyes-off, hands-off” self-driving technology by 2028. While there are autonomous commercial robotaxi services in more than a dozen US cities, there are no fully autonomous passenger vehicles for sale.
- The timeline could put the company in line with or even ahead of market leader Tesla, which is also racing to roll out autonomous driving technology that won’t require human supervision. Talk about Chevy Cruze control.
Buicking the Trend: GM has other medium-term irons in the fire: a joint venture with LG to mass produce battery cells and a defense unit angling to increase lucrative military contracts. Analysts are keeping the faith, with GM’s average Wall Street price target of $102.20 implying a 22% upside from Friday’s closing price.
Written by Sean Craig
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- Stock Booster: Shares in French satellite operator Eutelsat rose 16.9% on Friday after Ukraine accused SpaceX of limiting its Starlink internet service without advance notice.
- Lender Splendor: US regional banks reported robust loan demand from businesses and solid third-quarter earnings, suggesting the country’s economy is holding strong in the face of escalating borrowing costs.
- Using Rewards Points for the Holidays This Year? Smart move. The right card can turn everyday spending into a flight home, a hotel upgrade or a good chunk of the gift list, no extra cash required. The Credit Card Competition Act could change that. Let Congress know where you stand. Protect your points.**
**Partner
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Disclaimer
*Mission Wealth is a registered investment adviser.
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