The S & P 500 last week wrapped up the third quarter, falling more than 5%. It was the third consecutive quarter of declines for the index, marking the longest losing streak since 2008. Stocks and commodities have since broadly rallied in the first days of the fourth quarter . But after yet another troublesome quarter in the books, we thought it would again be helpful to look back and highlight what went right — and wrong — in the three months ended Sept. 30. Here’s a snapshot of the best and worst performers in the Investing Club’s 34-stock portfolio for the third quarter, starting with our four top performers. Top performers Taking the crown was TJX Companies (TJX), with a strong gain of about 11.4% in the third quarter. We didn’t own TJX for the totality of the quarter, but it was still a relative outperformer from the time of our initiation. Since our first buy on Aug. 24 , shares of the off-price retailer fell about 3.6%, versus a 13.4% slide in the S & P 500. We used that decline to scale deeper into our TJX position a few times. The retail sector is going through an apparel inventory glut right now and is frantically working to right-size positions through heavy markdowns, liquidations, and by cancelling orders. This has created a unique moment for off-price chains, including TJX’s flagship chain TJ Maxx, as it gives them an opportunity to pick up all sorts of quality merchandise for next to nothing. At the same time, gasoline prices in the U.S. hit a high in June before falling nearly every day in the third quarter. This much needed relief at the pump added support to consumer stocks, with the thought being that people would have a little more breathing room in their discretionary budgets than when gasoline averaged $5 a gallon. The runner up was Wynn Resorts (WYNN), which climbed 10.6% higher in the quarter. Shares of this casino operator made a big push near the end of the quarter, after it was announced that tour groups from mainland China would be allowed back into gambling hub Macao in November. The news was greeted positively by investors, as it was the first real sign that Beijing was moderating its strict zero-Covid restrictions. Starbucks (SBUX) came in third place, jumping 10.3% over the quarter. Like TJX, we didn’t own SBUX for the full quarter, but it was also a relative outperformer from our first buy. We initiated a position in the coffee retailer on Aug. 22, and shares fell less than 1%, compared to a 13.3% drop in the S & P 500 for the rest of the quarter. The stock was a steady riser throughout the quarter thanks to a great earnings report, in which the company topped expectations on every line and issued better than expected guidance for the next quarter. But the real catalyst in the quarter was the company’s mid-September investor event, where management outlined its reinvention plan and provided medium-term financial targets . The event was nearly universally praised by Wall Street . Fourth was Devon Energy (DVN), which gained 9.1% in the quarter and was the top performing energy stock in our portfolio. The solid gains in Devon came despite a subdued period for energy stocks, weighed down by falling crude prices. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) – the U.S. oil benchmark – dropped to around $80 a barrel by the end of September, falling more than 17% since the start of the quarter. One thing that separated Devon from other U.S.-based oil-and-gas producers was its deal-making. The company announced another immediately accretive bolt-on transaction in the quarter, this time purchasing Validus Energy, an Eagle Ford operator, for a total cash consideration of $1.8 billion. Devon announced the purchase of RimRock Oil & Gas, for $865 million, in the second quarter. What stood out about the Validus deal was that Devon said the outlook for its variable dividend increased by up to 10% on a per-share basis at strip pricing. The incremental cash flow also provided more firepower to execute on its share repurchase program. Looking back at our second quarter’s top performers , they were filled with health-care and consumer staple stocks — companies with very little economic sensitivity that can grow in a slowdown. This time it was quite different, with discretionary stocks leading the pack and an oil company in fourth. If anything, this goes to show the difficulty of predicting what sector or group of stocks will outperform from one quarter to the next. It’s why we always strive to stay diversified and invest in high-quality companies across different industries. Worst performers The worst performer for the club was Halliburton (HAL), which fell 21.5% in the third quarter. Shares slumped as WTI plummeted. As an oilfield services company that makes its money when oil-and-gas exploration companies increase spending on drilling, the decline in the price of crude oil made public and private drillers less incentivized to increase capacity. The weak performance came despite a better-than-expected second quarter earnings report and commentary that still has us encouraged about expanding margins in the new upcycle. Second from the bottom was Nvidia (NVDA), which declined about 19.9% amid the continued rout in semiconductor stocks. It was another tough quarter, as the chip maker pre-announced disappointing second-quarter results — for the three months ending July 31 — in early August due to the gaming chip glut. But, of course, the issues facing the gaming market are expected to take multiple quarters to fix, leading management to provide a much weaker view for its fiscal third quarter, which ends Oct. 31, than what was anticipated. And to add insult to injury, the U.S. government announced restrictions on the sale of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence graphics processing units (GPU) to Chinese customers with military end markets. The company said this restriction put up to $400 million of revenue at risk for the fiscal third quarter. Despite the numerous headwinds, Nvidia’s leadership in its data center business is unrivaled, and the launch of its new gaming chip could be what is needed to restart the gaming cycle. Bausch Health Companies (BHC) was our third worst performing stock, falling about 17.6%. Shares of this specialty pharmaceutical company were hit hard in late July after a surprise ruling from the U.S. District Court of Delaware invalidated some of the company’s Xifaxan patents. This decision, which is being appealed by Bausch, means a generic Xifaxan, which treats irritable bowel syndrome, could enter the market in 2025. Xifaxan is one of the most important franchises at legacy Bausch Health. Still, in a bright spot of news, the company in late September completed a debt exchange offer that reduced its total debt load by about $2.5 billion. The fourth worst stock was Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which declined about 17.1% in the quarter. The chip maker’s quarterly results were met with mixed reviews, as the company reiterated its full year guidance but lowered the outlook for its PC business for the rest of the year. AMD was able to maintain its outlook because strength in its data center and embedded businesses are expected to offset the PC division. Still, broader concerns about the health of the semiconductor industry overpowered the stock in the quarter. Such worries include the U.S. government restricting the sale of artificial intelligence chips to customers in China with military end markets (something AMD said was immaterial to its business) and the sustainability of data center demand. Importantly, we think AMD will continue to gain server market share on competitor Intel for many more years. That’s a big reason why we stick by our small position. Semiconductor stocks remained one of the most difficult corners of the market to invest in, as their lofty valuations — which needed to come down as interest rates rose — and weakening fundamentals have forced investors to debate whether their long-term potential is worth the short-term pain. Of our four semis, NVDA and AMD are repeat offenders on our quarterly underperforming list, but we can take some solace in the fact that we made aggressive sales in both in early April . (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long TJX, WYNN, SBUX, DVN, HAL, NVDA, BHC, AMD. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
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The S&P 500 last week wrapped up the third quarter, falling more than 5%. It was the third consecutive quarter of declines for the index, marking the longest losing streak since 2008.
Stocks and commodities have since broadly rallied in the first days of the fourth quarter. But after yet another troublesome quarter in the books, we thought it would again be helpful to look back and highlight what went right — and wrong — in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Here’s a snapshot of the best and worst performers in the Investing Club’s 34-stock portfolio for the third quarter, starting with our four top performers.
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
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A new Tesla prototype was spotted again, reigniting speculation among Tesla shareholders, even though it’s likely just a Model Y, potentially a bit smaller, and the upcoming stripped-down, cheaper version.
It sparked a lot of speculation about it being the new “affordable” compact Tesla vehicle.
There’s confusion in the Tesla community around Tesla’s upcoming “affordable” vehicles because CEO Elon Musk falsely denied a report last year about Tesla’s “$25,000” EV model being canceled.
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The facts are that Musk canceled two cheaper vehicles that Tesla was working on, commonly referred as “the $25,000 Tesla” in early 2024. Those vehicles were codenamed NV91 and NV92, and they were based on the new vehicle platform that Tesla is now reserving for the Cybercab.
Instead, Musk noticed that Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y production lines were starting to be underutilized as the Company faced demand issues. Therefore, Tesla canceled the vehicles program based on the new platform and decided to build new vehicles on Model 3/Y platform using the same production lines.
We previously reported that these electric vehicles will likely look very similar to Model 3 and Model Y.
In recent months, several other media reports reinforced this, and Tesla all but confirmed it during its latest earnings call, when it stated that it is “limited in how different vehicles can be when built on the same production lines.”
Now, the same Tesla prototype has been spotted over the last few days, and it sent the Tesla shareholders community into a frenzy of speculations:
Electrek’s Take
As we have repeatedly reported over the last year, the new “affordable” Tesla “models” coming are basically only stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
They might end up being a little smaller by a few inches, and Tesla may use different model names, but they will be extremely similar.
If this is it, which is possible, you can see it looks almost exactly like a Model Y.
It’s hard to confirm if it’s indeed smaller because of the angle of the vehicle compared to the other Model Ys, but it’s not impossible that the wheelbase is a bit smaller – although it’s hard to confirm.
Either way, the most significant changes for these stripped-down, more affordable “models” are expected to be cheaper interior materials, like textile seats instead of vegan leather, no heated or ventilated seats standard, no rear screen, maybe even no double-panned acoustic glass and a lesser audio system.
As previously stated, the real goal of these new variants, or models, is to lower the average sale price in order to combat decreasing demand and maintain or increase the utilization rate of Tesla’s current production lines, which have been throttled down in the last few years to now about 60% utilization.
If this trend continues, Tesla would find itself in trouble and may even have to close its factories.
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CANNES — Wall Street’s new plumbing is being built on Ethereum and this week its architects took over the same French Riviera villas and red carpet venues that host the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The Ethereum Community Conference, or EthCC, took over the beachside town that was swarming with crypto founders, developers, and some of the institutional giants now building atop the infrastructure.
The crypto elite climbed the iconic red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals — a cinematic landmark now repurposed as the stage for Ethereum’s flagship European event.
“The atmosphere this year was palpable in Cannes,” said Bettina Boon Falleur, the powerhouse behind EthCC for the past seven years. “The prestige of the location, combined with the quality of talks, has reinforced Ethereum’s stature and purpose in the wider ecosystem.”
Private parties sprawled across cliffside estates and exclusive resorts, but the conversations were less about price action and more about the blockchain’s evolving role as the back-end of global finance.
EthCC, now in its eighth year, has tracked Ethereum’s trajectory from scrappy experiment to institutional backbone.
“That impact was unmistakable this year,” Falleur said. “From Robinhood embracing decentralized finance infrastructure via Arbitrum to local governments like the City of Cannes exploring deeper integration with the crypto economy.”
Indeed, one of the boldest moves came this week from Robinhood, which became the first publicly traded U.S. company to launch tokenized stocks on-chain.
At a product showcase held inside a Belle Époque mansion overlooking the sea, Robinhood unveiled a sweeping new crypto strategy — including the ability for European users to trade tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs via Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network built on Ethereum.
The announcement helped push Robinhood stock past $100 for the first time, capping off a week of fresh all-time highs and a more than 30% rally since being snubbed by the S&P 500 during a recent rebalance.
Inside the Palais des Festivals, ETHCC draws founders, developers, and institutions into the same halls that host the world’s biggest film premieres — this time, for the future of finance.
MacKenzie Sigalos
Ether, the token native to the Ethereum blockchain, was up nearly 6% on the week and several public equities tied to the blockchain have rallied alongside it.
BitMine Immersion Technologies, a company that mines bitcoin, gained more than 1,200% since announcing it would make ether its primary treasury reserve asset. Bit Digital, which recently exited bitcoin mining to “become a pure play” ethereum staking and treasury company, gained more than 34% this week. And SharpLink Gaming, which added more than $20 million in ether to its balance sheet this week, jumped more than 28% on Thursday.
Ether ETF inflows are rising again too — a sign that institutional investors are warming back up.
Ether is still down more than 20% this year and lags far behind bitcoin in market cap and adoption. But funds tracking ETH have seen two straight months of mostly net inflows, according to CoinGlass data. Still, ether ETFs total just $11 billion — compared to $138 billion in bitcoin ETFs.
Institutions aren’t betting on Ethereum for hype — they’re betting on infrastructure.
Even as prices stall and the network faces headwinds from slower base layer revenues and faster rivals like Solana, the momentum is shifting toward utility.
“Ethereum is getting plugged into these core transactional systems,” Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at EY, told CNBC on the sidelines of EthCC. “Investors, savers, people moving money — they are going to start shifting from some of the older mechanisms of doing this into Ethereum ecosystems that can do these transactions faster, cheaper, but also very importantly, with significant new functionality attached to it.”
Crypto founders and developers climb the iconic red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals — a familiar backdrop for the Cannes Film Festival, now repurposed for Ethereum’s flagship European event.
MacKenzie Sigalos
Deutsche Bank recently announced it’s building a tokenization platform on zkSync — a faster, cheaper blockchain built on top of Ethereum — to help asset managers issue and manage tokenized funds, stablecoins, and other real-world assets while meeting regulatory and data protection requirements.
Coinbase and Kraken are also racing to own the crossover between traditional stocks and crypto.
Coinbase has filed with the SEC to offer trading in tokenized public equities, a move that would diversify its revenue stream and bring it into more direct competition with brokerages like Robinhood and eToro.
Kraken announced plans to offer 24/7 trading of U.S. stock tokens in select overseas markets.
BlackRock‘s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL — launched on Ethereum last year — offers qualified investors on-chain access to yield with redemptions settled in USDC in real time.
Stablecoins, meanwhile, continue to serve as the backbone of Ethereum’s financial layer.
“The builders and contributors at EthCC aren’t chasing the next bull run,” Falleur said, “they’re laying the groundwork to make Ethereum home for the next billion users.”
Even as newer blockchains tout faster speeds and lower fees, Ethereum is proving its staying power as a trusted network.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, told CNBC in Cannes that there is an assumption that institutions only care about scale and speed — but in practice, it’s the opposite.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivers a keynote at ETHCC, laying out the network’s next steps — and its values test — as institutional adoption accelerates.
EthCC
“A lot of institutions basically tell us to our faces that they value Ethereum because it’s stable and dependable, because it doesn’t go down,” he said.
Buterin added that firms often ask about privacy and other long-term features — the kinds of concerns that institutions, he said, “really value.”
Tomasz Stańczak, the new co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, said institutions are choosing Ethereum for the same core reasons.
“Ten years without stopping for a moment. Ten years of upgrades, with a huge dedication to security and censorship resistance,” he said.
He added that when institutions send orders to the market, they want to be “absolutely sure that their order is treated fairly, that nobody has preference, that the transaction actually is executed at the time when it’s delivered.”
Those guarantees have become increasingly valuable as stablecoins and tokenized assets move into the mainstream.
Ethereum’s core values — neutrality, security, and censorship resistance — are emerging as competitive advantages.
The real test now is whether Ethereum can scale without losing its values.
“We don’t just want to succeed,” Buterin said from the mainstage of the Palais this week. “We want to be something that is worthy of succeeding.”
He said the hope is that future generations will look back and see a network that truly delivered openness, freedom, and permissionless access to the masses.
White-clad guests dance poolside at the rAAVE party in Cannes.
MacKenzie Sigalos
But the week didn’t end in the conference halls, it closed with tradition. On the balcony of Villa Montana, overlooking the Bay of Cannes, the rAAVE party lit up.
White-clad guests sipped cocktails as the DJ spun by the pool, haze curling from smoke machines.
This year, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov and DeFi icon Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, stood atop the balcony overlooking the crowd and the light-dotted skyline of Cannes.
It was a fitting snapshot of the momentum behind Ethereum’s institutional rise and symbolic of Web3’s shift from niche experiment to financial mainstay.