Famous Deaths Come In "Three's" -- Here's The Third -- Pete Rose, Age 83 -- September 30, 2024

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Deaths: Dame Maggie Smith (89); Kris Kristofferson (88); Pete Rose (83).

Israel: begins ground operations into Lebanon. 

This is absolutely fascinating. And one gets the feeling Netanyahu's timing could not have been more fortuitous. The US military backs Israel to the hilt. The US president, probably ambivalent, is more than a lame duck. His vice president, incredibly ambivalent but knows not why, won't take a stand with only 30-some days left before the election. Netanyahu's window of opportunity has opened and will remain open until January 20, 2025. 

It looks like geopolitics and Mother Nature finally caught up to the Biden administration. Two shooting wars -- Ukraine and Israel -- and a bigger concern, China? The latter just fired a ballistic missile into the Pacific -- the first such public test in decades.

And, then, of course, the clean-up from Hurricane Helene will easily carry us through the election -- with every incumbent from Florida to Ohio at risk if the federal and state response goes badly. Rick Scott, Florida, looks particularly vulnerable.

A port strike on the east coast stretching down to Texas? 

One can only imagine what Rocket Man (Kim Jong Un) might be thinking. 

US equities: AAPL had an incredible day, did not give up any gains even after hours. Might this be the reason?

Shares of Apple, currently the most valuable company in the world, closed just shy of their all-time high on Monday. Apple’s stock price rose 2.3% to $233 on the last day of the quarter. That is less than 1% below its record close on July 16, 2024 of $234.82. 

The stock has risen during four of the last five trading days and is up 21% year to date, about the same as the Nasdaq Composite and slightly ahead of the S&P 500’s 20% rise. 

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the gains, but a Morgan Stanley report on Monday pointed to stabilizing lead times for some models of the iPhone 16, which was announced September 9, 2024. 

“While this doesn’t change our view on this cycle, we view the elongation of iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max lead times as a positive leaning development worth watching,” the report noted. The analysts rate Apple as Overweight and a top pick.

Much more at the linked article. The camera "is selling" the phone, and AI is yet to roll out. This will be fascinating to watch.