The Market In 5 Minutes: Draghi, Ash & Erie, Etsy, #AskGene

IN THE NEWS

Benzinga

Mark Cuban made the ultimate short investment on “Shark Tank” Sunday. Ash & Erie, a Detroit startup with a clothing line for men 5-foot-8 and under, is the recipient of a $150,000 investment from the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner, who receives a 25-percent stake in the company in return: Link

Etsy Inc ETSY has demonstrated some major resilience over the past two years in the face of increasing competition from Amazon.com, Inc AMZN. When Amazon first announced its entry into the handmade goods business, many traders feared the worst for Etsy. However, up to this point, Amazon still hasn’t gained major traction in the handmade category: Link

Ever wonder what Gene Munster’s favorite AI play is? Or the coffee flavor that fueled his famous Apple AAPL coverage? Or his choice sneaker brand? Now’s your chance to ask. He will visit Benzinga’s Detroit headquarters Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 11:30 a.m. ET for a live “Ask Me Anything” session. Email your questions to newsdesk@benzinga.com or tweet us using #AskGene.

Wall Street Journal

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi overcame fierce resistance three years ago to roll out a historic bond-buying program. Ending it could be an even more delicate task: Link

Shares of General Electric Co. GE took another pounding on Monday, reflecting investor fears that a conglomerate that was once the bluest of blue chips faces challenges daunting enough to force a dividend cut: Link

Reuters

Whole Foods Market met a new foe this summer during talks to lease a top retail space in a San Francisco mall: the Target TGT next door: Link

The launch of Alphabet Inc’s GOOGL second-generation Google Pixel smartphones has been hampered by display screen problems and pricing and shipping issues, prompting the company to open an investigation and issue multiple apologies to customers: Link

Bloomberg

Jeff Garzik, one of a handful of key developers who helped build the underlying software for bitcoin that is known as blockchain, has seen its shortcomings firsthand. So he decided to create a better digital currency: Link

Traders in the $14.2 trillion Treasuries market have found a way to avoid fighting the Federal Reserve, or at least its imminent leadership change: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index for the latest week is schedule for release at 8:55 a.m. ET.
• The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for October will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
• The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index for October is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
• The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• Stifel downgraded GE GE from Buy to Hold
• RBC downgraded Whirlpool WHR from Outperform to Sector Perform
• Raymond James downgraded Broadsoft BSFT from Strong Buy to Outperform

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