Daily Brief United States: Gold, Lam Research, Crude Oil, Nektar Therapeutics, Honeywell International, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Clear Channel Outdoor Cl A, Cardinal Infrastructure, Remitly Global, BillionToOne and more

• Gold’s latest surge shows rising implied volatility but little sign of market stress, suggesting limited parallels with the explosive 1980 bull market.
• Tuesday’s correction was the largest selloff in 12 years and marked the end of a series of successively larger positive moves.   
• Rising implied vols and strong Call demand reveal active trading but not the manic levels typically seen near a major blowoff.

• LAM beats largely Sept-25 (15% above), Dec-25 guidance slightly above (4%), long-term drivers are concrete: $100bn in Data Center = 8bn in semi equipment, $40bn of NAND equipment to upgrade.
• LAM is gaining share (depo / etch growing faster than litho), is ahead in the new stuff (Moly ALD, dry resist EUV). YTD Net Income is up 44%. Very impressive.
• Among Semi Equipment stocks, LRCX is the best performer YTD: up 88%. LRCX is trading at +2.5 standard deviations: 30x forward EPS versus average 17x. Time to sell.

• Crude oil futures were trending higher Wednesday after markets finally found some support, coming after the heavy losses so far in October that had seen benchmarks challenge post-Covid lows.
• Front-month Dec25 ICE Brent futures were trading at $63.12/b (2034 BST) versus Tuesday’s settle of $61.32/b, while Dec25 NYMEX WTI was at $59.21/b against a previous close of $57.24/b.
• Prices rebounded on reports that talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had been put on hold, increasing the threat of sanctions on Russia and broader supply disruptions from attacks on infrastructure.

• Nektar Therapeutics is back in Wall Street’s spotlight after reports and social media speculation suggested that pharmaceutical heavyweight Eli Lilly may be exploring a potential acquisition of the biotech company.
• Shares surged roughly 8% following the chatter, extending a 294% year-to-date rally that has lifted its market capitalization to over $1 billion.
• The speculation arrives at a pivotal time for Nektar, whose lead candidate, rezpegaldesleukin (REZPEG), has produced promising results in moderate to severe atopic dermatitis and is advancing toward Phase III readiness by early 2026.

• Honeywell is a diversified industrial leader poised to unlock shareholder value through the strategic spin-off of its high-margin Advanced Materials business, Solstice, in late 2025.
• The remaining company will be more focused on its core, high-performing segments—Aerospace, Building Automation, and Industrial Automation—which are aligned with powerful secular megatrends like energy transition and digitalization.
• While the company faces execution risks with the portfolio transformation and is exposed to macroeconomic cycles, its strong market positions, technological leadership, and consistent capital return program present a compelling long-term investment case.

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• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY US), Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR US) and Seagate Technology Holdings (STX US) are the top 3 addition candidates with ALNY at the top.
• GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GFS US), CDW Corp (CDW US) and Biogen (BIIB US) are the top 3 deletion candidates with GFS at the bottom.
• Versant (VSNT) and Solstice Advanced Materials (SOLS) are estimated to be deleted following completion of their spinoffs with the earliest one expected on 30 October 2025.

• Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings surged 27% on October 17, 2025, following a Bloomberg report that Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, is exploring a potential acquisition of the billboard advertising company.
• This development comes amid mounting pressure from activist investor Anson Funds Management, which has been pushing for a sale to unlock shareholder value.
• Clear Channel, with a market capitalization of just over $700 million and approximately $6.4 billion in outstanding debt, has been aggressively restructuring its operations to focus solely on the U.S. market.

• Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. is an infrastructure investment company focused on acquiring, owning and operating core infrastructure assets across sectors such as transportation, energy, utilities and data-centers.
• Their revenue was $153.9 million and $187.9 million and their net income was $16.7 million and $16.1 million in the first half of 2024 and 2025, respectively.
• Today, they primarily operate in North Carolina, specifically the greater Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro areas of North Carolina.

• The podcast discusses remitly, a digital remittance provider, and its potential for growth and investment opportunities.
• Mario Savelli from Marathon Partners shares insights on remitly’s business model and growth prospects compared to other companies like Wise.

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• BillionToOne (BLLN US) set terms for its IPO on October 17th by offering 3.846 million shares at $49-$55 and to debut on November 6th.
• The underwriters have reserved up to 5% of the shares of Class A common stock through a directed share program. 
• There is a lot to like about this company including the explosive revenue growth and the narrowing losses.