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- From AI laggard to $5 Trillion: Apple's winning strategy
Apple has reached a market capitalization of about $5 trillion, second only to Nvidia. The company was criticized early for not spending heavily on AI like Google and other peers, and its stock fell while those rivals poured capital into the trade. Investors now reward Apple for avoiding heavy leverage and excessive capital spending, even though the stock trades at a premium to many peers. The commentators credit Tim Cook with building the services business, which they estimate at about a third of revenue, by monetizing the existing hardware base.
- Is Apple the Ultimate Stock to Buy Right Now?
Apple shares are up about 25% so far in 2026, outpacing the S&P 500's 14% gain, with investors drawn to its limited AI spending. Apple uses Google Gemini for the generative AI in Siri rather than building its own model, and it has spent far less on capital expenditure than Alphabet, while possibly planning AI products sold on a monthly subscription. The author argues the stock is expensive, trading at nearly 40 times trailing earnings, the highest among big tech names, and about 31 times projected 2028 earnings. The author concludes that this valuation already prices in future growth, which points to weaker medium-term returns, and suggests investors consider AI investments with cheaper valuations.
- Is It Really "Safe" to Invest in Tech ETFs Right Now? Here's What History Suggests.
The article gives three reasons to be bullish on tech ETFs. First, tech sector earnings in the S&P 500 are forecast to rise 65.1% year over year this quarter, with 81% of sector companies raising EPS estimates, led by Nvidia, Micron, Dell and Intel. Second, the AI build-out differs from the dot-com bubble because hyperscalers such as Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are highly profitable and spend a much smaller share of free cash flow than dot-com-era firms did. Third, the Nasdaq-100's P/E of 31.51 is 6% below its 33.55 level a year earlier, as earnings have grown. The article also flags risk, noting the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQM) fell 32.45% in 2022 before recovering.
- Is Alphabet (GOOGL) Fully Valued After Its Unity Spark Gaming AI Push?
Google and Unity announced Unity Spark, an AI-powered creation platform that turns simple text prompts into playable games, tying Alphabet's (GOOGL) AI push more closely to gaming. Alphabet's 1-year total shareholder return is 38.61% and its 5-year return is 147.35%, although the latest 1-day share price return fell 1.74%. Against a $347.64 close, the most followed narrative sets fair value at $202.62 and rates the stock 72% overvalued. However, the stock's P/E of 17.4x sits below the 30.9x for peers and the fair ratio of 27.7x. The article highlights two risks: heavier antitrust remedies and AI tools that could erode high-margin search economics.
- Enterprise Products (EPD) Lifted Its Distribution 2.8%. Is the Stock Still Cheap?
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) closed at $36.82 on October 16 and returned -0.2% over six months. It declared a quarterly distribution of $0.56 per unit on October 8, or $2.24 a year, 2.8% above the same quarter last year. The company owns pipelines, storage and export terminals, earning mostly fees, with debt at 109.97% of equity. The article attributes its low valuation, with a 6.08% yield and 11.89 times expected next-year earnings, to a narrow investor base, since its K-1 tax form deters many professional investors, rather than to weak assets. It also notes sector risks tied to oil and gas production volumes and foreign demand for exports.
- Taiwan Semiconductor's (TSM) Profit Rose 69% Last Quarter. Is the Stock Still Cheap?
TSMC (TSM) closed at $422.25 on October 15 and has returned 16.21% over six months. The latest quarter was the strongest in the company's history, with revenue of $46.72 billion above management's earlier guidance and net profit up 68.7%, faster than revenue. Gross margin reached 66.4% while the company started mass production on its newest 2nm process, a stage that typically weighs on margins. The risks are a concentrated customer base, spending plans set more than a year ahead, and advanced plants located in Taiwan, whose political status is disputed. The shares trade at 21.41x expected earnings for next year versus 33.67x reported earnings.
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- Bank Profits Surge
The 9-month 2026 results show many banks continued to grow profits, with some posting record quarterly earnings. VPBank's pre-tax profit reached nearly VND 30,000 billion, up nearly 47%, equal to its full-year 2025 result and about 72.4% of its 2026 plan; Q3 pre-tax profit topped VND 11,000 billion. Techcombank posted VND 28,900 billion (up 23.7%), while LPBank reported VND 10,421 billion (up nearly 9%). SSI forecasts pre-tax profit of its monitored banks to rise 19.5% in 2026 before slowing to 15.4% in 2027, pressured by narrowing net interest margins and rising credit risk provisions. It also expects system-wide credit growth of 16-17% in 2027 and 17.9% for the monitored banks.
- World's Largest Gold Fund Dumps Over 10 Tonnes of Gold as Prices Slide
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold fund, continued net selling of nearly 12 tonnes of gold in the 22/10 session, bringing total sales over 2 sessions to nearly 15 tonnes and cutting its holdings to about 1,046 tonnes. Spot gold fell more than 2.8% to around USD 4,025 per ounce at the close of 22/10, and briefly dipped below USD 4,000 per ounce in the morning session of 23/10. Tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher, raising concerns about inflation and further Fed tightening, and gold has still not attracted sustained safe-haven demand even as US Treasury yields fell. US September CPI rose 0.6% month on month and 3.7% year on year, while PPI rose 1.3% and 6.3%. Markets price about an 84% chance the Fed holds rates steady at its 27-28/10 meeting and a 16% chance of a 25 basis-point increase; September PCE data due on 29/10 is the next key factor to watch.
- Gold Prices Continue to Fall
On the morning of 23/10, domestic gold prices kept falling, with SJC bar prices varying by seller and the premium over world gold widening. Công ty TNHH Vàng bạc đá quý Sài Gòn listed SJC bars at VND 139-142 million per tael (buy-sell), down VND 300,000; Phú Quý was at VND 138-141.8 million, down VND 500,000; and Mi Hồng at VND 140-141.5 million, down VND 800,000. Gold rings also fell by varying amounts, with DOJI at VND 138-142 million and Phú Quý at VND 138-141 million per tael. World gold dropped USD 129 to around USD 3,992 per ounce, equal to about VND 125.3 million per tael, leaving SJC bars about VND 16.7 million per tael above the world price. The State Bank's central rate was set at 25,627 VND/USD, down 5 dong, while Vietcombank quoted 25,660-26,040 VND/USD (buy-sell).
- Company Linked to Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong Announces Major Good News
VEFAC (ticker VEF), a Vingroup subsidiary, posted Q3 net revenue of nearly VND 77 billion, up 67% year on year, but a gross loss of about VND 27 billion as cost of sales from its exhibition business exceeded revenue. Q3 profit rose mainly thanks to a gross gain of about VND 65 billion from transferring some schools in a project to a partner, while financial income reached over VND 388 billion, mostly from loan and investment income. For the first nine months of 2026, after-tax profit was nearly VND 865 billion, down about 94% from VND 15,418 billion in the same period of 2025, as the prior year included large gains from transferring part of the Vinhomes Global Gate project. As of 30/9/2026, total assets stood at over VND 31,905 billion, up 36% from the start of the year, while total liabilities exceeded VND 24,364 billion, with short-term customer advances rising from VND 411 billion to over VND 8,373 billion.
- Lotte and Phat Dat Officially Break Ground on VND 60,000 Billion Mega Project in Thu Thiem 'Golden Land'
A joint venture between Lotte Group (South Korea) and Phát Đạt (HoSE: PDR) officially broke ground on 23/10 on Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, HCMC, with total investment of about VND 60,000 billion. The project covers nearly 7.5 ha and will combine Grade A offices, retail, services, accommodation and housing, adjoining the central plaza and central lake of Thu Thiem. Phát Đạt holds 35% of Lotte Properties HCMC, the project developer, and will develop the housing blocks along with two towers (2-1 and 2-3) with about 219,722 m2 of floor area, while Lotte handles block 2-5. Lotte Properties HCMC paid VND 17,569 billion in land-use fees on 31/7/2026, and Phát Đạt completed its VND 7,666 billion payment to take its 35% stake. MB is funding all of Phát Đạt's capital contribution, while VietinBank and BIDV also support the project.
- International Business : Global stocks nosedive as Meta dents AI optimism
Global stocks retreated as tech earnings failed to ease concerns about the AI outlook, with MSCI's All-World index set for its largest daily fall in two weeks, down 0.4 per cent. Meta beat third-quarter revenue expectations, but its plan to issue non-voting stock revived worries about its mounting capital commitments, and a New Mexico judge ordered it to pay a $25 billion penalty in a data privacy case. Brent crude rose nearly 3% to $112 a barrel, near a five-month high, after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia raised supply risks. Investors moved into government bonds, pushing the US 10-year yield down to 5.05%, below France's for the first time in 13 years, while French yields have climbed above 5% amid concerns over social unrest and debt. The France-Germany 10-year spread reached 177.7 basis points, its widest since 2011, while gold fell 1.8% to $4,070 an ounce.
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