Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
Morgan Stanley dealt Coinbase a sharp blow Monday, downgrading the stock from equal-weight to underweight — effectively telling clients to sell. Shares fell nearly three percent on the news, closing around one hundred forty dollars. Part of the rationale traced back to a six-point-three billion dollar hack at rival exchange Binance, a reminder that reputational damage in crypto doesn't stay contained to the company that got hit.
Shifting to tech, Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft all caught a bid in the session following the midterm results, with investors apparently relieved that the political uncertainty had cleared. Meanwhile, AMD chief Lisa Su struck a measured tone on artificial intelligence, arguing the real bottleneck isn't data center capacity — it's how the industry is packaging and selling that capacity to customers.
And in a quieter corner of the market, Starbucks is retiring its Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, the plant-based option it rolled out in twenty twenty. The company is making space for its seasonal holiday menu, and there's no immediate replacement planned. It's a small move, but it signals where consumer demand — and Starbucks' priorities — are actually pointing heading into the new year.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
