FinksDaily
Sponsored by Chaikin Analytics
🛫 Mile-high Zoom
Good morning. The mile-high club has a new rival (opens in a new tab), and its members keep asking if you can hear them. Starlink Wi-Fi is turning cabins into open-plan offices, with Qatar, Emirates, and British Airways letting passengers take voice and video calls. United now warns that a video call can earn a lifetime ban, and a bipartisan Quiet Skies Act would push regulators to outlaw in-flight voice calls. Boeing’s proposed fix is a soundproof phone booth, which is a smoking section for passengers who need to light up a Zoom.
New Finks feature: We just launched scheduled tasks, which means Finks can keep tabs on your portfolio even when you’re not around. Try scheduling these tasks:
- Create a daily task to flag any major news affecting the stocks I own (opens in a new tab)
- Create a weekly task to find 5 stocks with strong earnings growth that are still trading at reasonable valuations (opens in a new tab)
And you might notice the chat bar looks a little different. We gave search an upgrade too. Try the new features → (opens in a new tab)
Top Idea
Emerging Markets Are Outperforming Wall Street. The Next Leg of the Rally Looks Much Tougher
Emerging markets missed the memo that 2026 was supposed to be a rough year. Developing-world stocks shrugged off a Middle East war, an energy shock, and a soaring dollar, holding their ground while investors braced for the worst. But after weathering one crisis after another, the rally met its toughest opponent yet: the Federal Reserve.
Role reversal: Investors expected soaring energy costs to hit economies dependent on Middle East imports hard. Instead, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rallied to fresh record highs (opens in a new tab) faster than the S&P 500, as AI suppliers in South Korea and Taiwan helped cushion the blow from pricier oil. The bond market delivered another surprise, with developed-market debt beginning to behave more like its emerging-market counterparts (opens in a new tab).
- The emerging markets index gained roughly 14% this year, outpacing the S&P 500's 5.6% rise, with South Korea's Kospi leading the charge.
- Stocks in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF traded at 18.4 times trailing earnings, compared with 28.9 times for the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.
The Fed Sends the Bill
September finally broke the streak. Foreign investors pulled $26.3B from emerging-market stocks and bonds, the first monthly outflow since June. The shift came after the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time since 2023 amid stubborn inflation. Treasury yields rose, the dollar strengthened, and investors began taking profits in chip stocks as the AI-driven rally lost momentum.
- Heavy foreign selling of South Korean stocks drove a $19.2B outflow (opens in a new tab) from emerging market equities last month.
- Traders added over $700M in fresh cash (opens in a new tab) into BlackRock's iShares MSCI Brazil ETF after Brazil's first-round vote.
Selective, not sour: Brazil remains a bright spot, with the real hitting a five-month high as investors bet on fiscal reforms following a potential Bolsonaro runoff victory. Societe Generale strategist Phoenix Kalen expects emerging-market currencies to weaken as investors pull back, though she still favors Brazil, Colombia, India, and Indonesia. As Causeway Capital's Sarah Ketterer cautions, cheap valuations offer some protection, but not against further Fed rate hikes.
(opens in a new tab)Sponsored by Chaikin Analytics
The “Billionaire Whisperer” Just Rated 3 Big AI Stocks
Marc Chaikin just issued a shocking new prediction: Trump just changed who wins the AI race.
His 20-factor Power Gauge (opens in a new tab) system flashed bullish on Micron before it soared 970% in one year… and on Nvidia before it skyrocketed more than 50,000%.
Executive Order 14363 ordered the Department of Energy to build an AI system for scientific research — a mission Marc calls “American Atlas.” The DOE is partnering with a short list of publicly traded companies to build it. A few are set up to be historic winners. Others could wreck a portfolio.
Marc ran 3 of the biggest names (opens in a new tab) through his Power Gauge. See which came back BULLISH and which came back BEARISH, free, in his brand-new report (opens in a new tab).
(By clicking the link below, you are signing up to start receiving PowerFeed from Chaikin Analytics. You also agree to our Terms of Use (opens in a new tab) and Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab) and to receive promotional emails from us and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe anytime.)
Large-Cap Recap
Data Center Backlash Puts AI Buildout at Risk
The AI boom is running into a problem money alone can't solve. Local opposition has already derailed at least $260B in planned data center investments this year, with residents raising concerns over electricity bills, water use, and infrastructure strain. For Vertiv, that could mean delayed equipment orders, while Digital Realty faces longer waits for rental income. And despite record spending plans from Amazon and Microsoft, suppliers won't see the full benefit until those data centers actually get built. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Growth Stocks Trade at a Surprising Discount
UBS has identified 56 US stocks offering a rare combination of strong growth, healthy cash flow, and attractive valuations. The group is expected to deliver 15% annual sales growth, more than twice the S&P 500's 7%, while its median cash-flow return on investment stands at 34%, compared with 19% for the index. Tech stocks dominate the list, with NVIDIA and Broadcom among its biggest names. But the opportunities extend beyond AI, with financials, health care, and industrial companies also making the cut. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Starbucks Eyes a Chipotle Mega-Deal
Starbucks is reportedly eyeing a takeover of Chipotle Mexican Grill, a deal that could reunite CEO Brian Niccol with the restaurant chain he once led. But buying Chipotle while Starbucks is still working through its own turnaround raises questions about how much the company would have to spend and whether a merger would distract from its recovery. Chipotle has also reportedly hired advisers to prepare for potential takeover approaches, and Starbucks has yet to make a formal offer. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Idea Desk
Wall Street Sees More Upside in These Undervalued Stocks
Investors looking for bargains don't necessarily have to venture into riskier corners of the market. Some established companies are trading at discounts to their historical valuations or industry peers, even as their earnings prospects and financial strength give analysts reasons to expect further gains.
We screened for 20 profitable US companies with attractive valuations, solid balance sheets, and potential upside based on Wall Street's consensus 12-month price targets. Here are the five with the highest expected gains.
| Company | Current price | Potential upside |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity National Information Services | $34.34 | +38.4% |
| Comcast | $21.21 | +30.5% |
| CVS Health | $87.80 | +26.7% |
| Honeywell | $206.60 | +25.5% |
| General Motors | $82.25 | +24.1% |
Market Pulse
GoDaddy Inc.
The web hosting company’s shares jumped as takeover speculation involving Gen Digital gathered momentum, fueling investor optimism around a potential deal.
Oracle Corporation
The cloud software giant’s shares fell as plans for additional AI chip financing and weaker-than-expected OpenAI revenue raised concerns about its growing debt burden.
The Vita Coco Company, Inc.
The coconut water maker’s shares surged as oversold conditions and heavy short interest fueled a sharp rebound following the previous session’s selloff.
Sponsored by Miso Robotics
“Cobots” Are Transforming This $1T Market
They’re not replacing humans; they’re working with them. That’s the promise of “cobots,” or collaborative robots, a segment growing 12X by 2035, topping $85B.
Miso Robotics (opens in a new tab) proves their value in the $1T fast-food industry. Its Flippy fry station robot boosts restaurant profits up to 4X working alongside humans. Now, Flippy’s new NVIDIA 3D-vision will unlock real-time contextual awareness. Combined with years of proprietary data, that’s a formidable moat.
Until October 23, investors like you can help unlock Flippy’s biggest vision upgrade yet with $1.3M of investment. Join Miso’s “$1.3 with Vision 3D” for bonus shares now. (opens in a new tab)
Markets & Economy
Q3 growth estimate leans on restocking: The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tracker slipped to 3.6% after a weaker wholesale report. Record capital goods imports in August suggest equipment spending stayed strong, but trade could still subtract up to 2.5 points. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Layoffs stay rare as new jobs get harder to find: Fed Governor Christopher Waller has softened the case for an October rate hike, cutting market odds to 20%. Continuing claims rose to 1.716M, a steady drift analysts read as growing labor market slack. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Steel tariffs split producers from their buyers: Nucor and other domestic mills are collecting the premium as US steel sells $805/tonne above world export prices. The pressure runs downstream, where fabricators relying on imported inputs face sharper margin squeezes. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Business & Tech
Southwest's fare strategy faces a fuel test: Southwest Airlines beat second-quarter estimates, but fuel costs are rising faster than fares can respond. Customers book about two months ahead, leaving little room to pass costs along quickly. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
AI chip demand keeps outrunning supply: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is constrained by capacity, not orders. Advanced packaging, specifically CoWoS, remains the tightest bottleneck, with lead times still stretching. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Corgi launches MANGOS ETF with private AI exposure: The new fund offers swap-based access to companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, capped at 15% combined. Investors face added risks because swap prices can diverge from actual private company valuations. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Chart
Digit of the Day
REITs Shrug Off Higher Rates With 9% Earnings Growth
Rising rates were long cast as landlords’ arch-nemesis — until now. Even with higher borrowing costs, REIT earnings growth is accelerating to 9% this year, and a similar pace is expected next year. Stronger fundamentals are doing the heavy lifting for a sector long treated as a low-rate trade.
- Executives are raising the bar — 58 of the 98 (opens in a new tab) REITs offering full-year guidance have lifted their outlook, according to Hoya Capital.
- Valuations look attractive next to equities, says Cohen & Steers — adding that cash flow growth is improving as new supply peaks.
The split screen: This year, hotels, senior housing and data centers have led REIT returns, yet Allan Gray wants no part of that last one (opens in a new tab). The Australian firm says data-center valuations are too rich for the risks, including changing technology and uncertain tenants. Office REITs, by contrast, were its equity fund’s largest area of deployment over the past year. Its investment chief says investors are pricing lasting AI disruption into those stocks, and Allan Gray expects a rebound. That’s a win for Michael Scott’s paper sales department.
Post Credits
Disclosures
This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com (opens in a new tab)