The Market In 5 Minutes: Personal Spending Ticks Higher, Manafort-Gates, AMD Downgrade

IN THE NEWS

Benzinga

President Donald Trump has reportedly narrowed his decision for Federal Reserve chair down to three people: current chair Janet Yellen, Stanford University economist John Taylor or former investment banker Jay Powell: Link

Can Jim Cramer move stocks? Some of Twitter's trolls think so and are blaming the CNBC personality host for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD declines: Link

The third-quarter reporting season is in full swing, with several high-profile companies having already released results. At the outset, the earnings momentum appears to be intact: Link

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, after a person close to the case said the first charges were filed in a special counsel investigation: Link

Wall Street Journal

House Republicans will toss a giant tax bill into the capital’s autumnal winds Wednesday. How it will emerge is hard to predict: Link

Workers behind Russian-linked Facebook Inc FB accounts helped organize or finance real-life events before and after the 2016 election, often working directly with U.S. activists and playing both sides of the same hot-button issue—even on the same day: Link

Reuters

U.S. tech firms such as Facebook and Twitter Inc TWTR should be more aggressive in tackling extremism and political misinformation if they want to avoid government action, a report from the World Economic Forum said on Monday: Link

Japanese videogames maker Nintendo Co Ltd NTDOY raised its full-year operating profit forecast on Monday as supply shortages on its new Switch games console began to ease: Link

Bloomberg

As children return to school and parents to their jobs, it could be like any other week in the Spanish region of Catalonia. But for those who support President Carles Puigdemont and his separatists, it’s the first working day of Europe’s newest republic: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• USA Personal Spending (MoM) for Sep 1.00% vs 0.80% Est; Personal Income (MoM) For Sep. 0.40% vs 0.40% Est
• The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for October is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
• Data on farm prices for September will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• KBW upgraded Piper Jaffray PJC from Market Perform to Outperform
• Capital One Financial upgraded Ventas VTR from Equal-Weight to Overweight
• Stifel upgraded Conagra Brands CAG from Hold to Buy
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Advanced Micro Devices from Equal-Weight to Underweight
• Susquehanna downgraded JC Penney JCP from Positive to Neutral
• Mizuho downgraded Acadia Healthcare ACHC from Buy to Neutral

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.