US MBA mortgage applications rose +7.1% in the week ended October 24, with the purchase mortgage sub-index up +4.5% and the refinancing sub-index up +9.3%. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell -7 bp to a 13-month low of 6.30% from 6.37% in the prior week.Strength in semiconductor stocks was a supportive factor for stocks on Wednesday after Nvidia rose by more than +2% after President Trump said he was open to providing China with access to Nvidia's Blackwell AI processor as part of a trade deal. Chi ...

US MBA mortgage applications rose +7.1% in the week ended October 24, with the purchase mortgage sub-index up +4.5% and the refinancing sub-index up +9.3%. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell -7 bp to a 13-month low of 6.30% from 6.37% in the prior week.Strength in semiconductor stocks is also supportive for the broader market today, led by a +4% jump in Nvidia, after President Trump said he was open to providing China with access to Nvidia’s Blackwell AI processor as part of a trade deal. Chinese ...

The FOMC at this week's meeting is not scheduled to release a Summary of Economic Projections, which contains the Fed's dot plot. That means the markets today will hear from Fed Chair Powell at his regular post-meeting press conference but will not receive an update from other Fed officials on their views of the future course of interest rates.The prospects of a more dovish Fed are another bullish factor for stocks. At the conclusion of today's 2-day FOMC meeting, the Fed is expected to cut the federal fund ...

Core Viewpoint - NVIDIA and IonQ are both significant players in the AI field, with NVIDIA's GPUs being essential for AI applications and IonQ's quantum computing systems promising advanced solutions [1] Group 1: NVIDIA - NVIDIA's stock has increased by 26.3% over the past year, driven by the indispensable role of its GPUs in AI applications [1] - The global GPU market is projected to grow from $101.54 billion in 2025 to $1,414.39 billion by 2034, with NVIDIA holding over 80% market share in discrete GPUs [2] - Data center revenues for NVIDIA surged 93% to $35.6 billion, with total data center spending expected to reach $2 trillion in the next five years [3] - Demand for NVIDIA's Blackwell AI processor exceeded expectations, achieving $11 billion in sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 [4] - NVIDIA reported GAAP earnings per share of $0.89, an 82% increase from the previous year, and trades at a forward price/earnings ratio of 26.0, lower than the industry average of 30.53 [10] Group 2: IonQ - IonQ's quantum computing system supports AI research for companies like Amazon and Microsoft, with the quantum computing market expected to reach $2 trillion by 2035 [5] - IonQ achieved a 92% revenue increase to $11.7 million in the fourth quarter, with further growth anticipated in sectors like life sciences and finance [6] - IonQ's price-to-sales ratio is 103.6, indicating high valuation, and the company reported a net loss of $202 million despite revenue growth [9] - IonQ's return on equity is negative at -75.3%, contrasting with NVIDIA's positive 117.6% [8]