>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

DAX:
  • Qiagen (QIA TH) +5%
    • EQT Reaches €9.6 Billion Deal for Molecular Testing Firm Qiagen
  • Siemens (SIE TH) -1.3%
  • Rheinmetall (RHM TH) -1.5%
  • Commerzbank (CBK TH) -1.8%
    • Commerzbank Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 41 euros
  • Siemens Energy (ENR TH) -2%
  • Infineon (IFX TH) -2.3%
MDAX:
  • RENK Group (R3NK TH) -1.8%
    • Renk to Sell Slide Bearings Business to Miba AG
  • SUSS MicroTec (SMHN TH) -2.6%
  • Siltronic (WAF TH) -2.9%
  • Jenoptik (JEN TH) -3.1%
  • Aixtron (AIXA TH) -3.3%
SDAX:
  • Sixt (SIX2 TH) -1%
  • HelloFresh (HFG TH) -1%
  • SMA Solar (S92 TH) -2.2%
  • PVA TePla (TPE TH) -2.4%
  • LPKF (LPK TH) -2.6%

>>> US After Hours Summary: QS +10.3%, LBRT +8.6%, SEIC +4.5%, ESI +4.4%, CSX +4

After Hours Summary: QS +10.3%, LBRT +8.6%, SEIC +4.5%, ESI +4.4%, CSX +4.1%, SAP +4.0%, EPRT +3.7% higher on earnings; SON -10.2%, HXL -10.1%, GGG -8.7%, ROL -7.4%, KALU -6.2%, LRCX -5.4%, OII -4.7% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance:QS +10.3%, LBRT +8.6%, SEIC +4.5%, ESI +4.4%, CSX +4.1%, SAP +4.0%, EPRT +3.7%, META +3.4%, KNX +3.3%, SLG +2.8%, WH +2.7%, KMI +2.3%, NTST +1.5%, CACI +1.3%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news:EVER +2.7% (Authorizes a $50 million Class A common stock repurchase program.), UFPI +1.5% (Raised its quarterly dividend 3% to $0.36 per share, payable December 15.), HELP +1.1% (Expects Q4 topline data from the Phase 3 APPROACH study of HLP003 in major depressive disorder.)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance:SON -10.2%, HXL -10.1%, GGG -8.7%, ROL -7.4%, KALU -6.2%, LRCX -5.4%, OII -4.7%, MOH -4.6%, GL -4.3%, CATY -3.9%, LVS -2.7%, TSLA -2.3%, MEDP -1.9%, IBM -1.9%, CCI -1.4%, FEIM -1.1%, WDFC -1.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news:RCUS -6.5% (Launched an underwritten public offering of common stock, with a 15% underwriter option.), MDLN -1.0% (Exits all Medline Brand beds through voluntary field action, estimating up to $220 million in related costs.)

The Information : Hackers Used Claude and Grok to Automate Attacks on Banks Hack

Hackers Used Claude and Grok to Automate Attacks on Banks

The Takeaway
  • CyberCartel used AI agents to automate a cyberattack on over 400 Latin American financial targets
  • Hackers used Claude, Grok, and Moonshot AI to fully automate attacks
  • Attackers bypassed guardrails to steal data from financial institutions

A hacking group called CyberCartel used a web of AI agents powered by models from companies including Anthropic, SpaceX and Chinese lab Moonshot AI to automate cyberattacks against more than 400 Latin American financial targets, according to an investigation by the cybersecurity startup Straiker.

The research, shared exclusively with The Information, is one of the first detailed reports of cybercriminals using AI models to successfully automate attacks that break into financial institutions. The AI agents used by CyberCartel, which has long targeted Latin American businesses and whose latest targets included banks and payment apps, appear to have stolen passwords and customer data and to have accessed people’s bank accounts autonomously with little human effort, the Straiker research shows.

The findings indicate how AI is giving cybercriminals an edge against defenders, at least for now, as the models enable them to coordinate and carry out a large number of cyberattacks so rapidly that they overwhelm victims’ defenses. That’s a big reason so many companies are now pouring money into AI-powered defensive tools in an effort to level the playing field.

“Offense is way ahead of defense right now, that’s just how it is,” said Straiker Chief Executive Ankur Shah, whose firm sells software for monitoring and securing AI agents. “Enterprises are just not ready.”

After Straiker reported its findings to Anthropic last week, the AI giant investigated and quickly blocked the cybercriminals’ use of Claude, an Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement.

The Information reviewed records Straiker obtained showing sensitive data stolen from specific financial institutions, but is not naming them here because Straiker is still in the process of notifying affected parties.

Anthropic rattled the cybersecurity world this spring when it announced Mythos, its most sophisticated model, and warned that hackers could soon try to use models like it to overwhelm the defenses of banks and government agencies and wreak havoc. The CyberCartel campaign is the latest evidence that sophisticated cybercriminals have indeed started chaining together AI models that, even if they’re not as powerful as Mythos, can create systems that automatically find software vulnerabilities and carry out attacks.

Hackers had already been using AI to speed up similar cyberattacks. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike reported earlier this month that it found evidence that the perpetrator of a recent hack of South Korean financial institutions that resulted in data leaks used an open-source Chinese AI agent and Chinese large language models.

Straiker learned about CyberCartel’s AI-powered methods after the hacking group mistakenly leaked information about its internal operations.

While security researchers say CyberCartel has been active since at least 2012, the new AI agents have dramatically ramped up the speed and effectiveness of its attacks in recent months, Straiker said.

CyberCartel didn’t appear to need access to Anthropic’s Mythos for the attacks. Instead, they used AI agents powered by SpaceX’s Grok to mine the web for information about their targets, Straiker said. They also used four different AI agents powered by Anthropic’s Claude Opus and Sonnet models to deliberate over how best to carry out attacks, while another Claude model running in the AI coding app Cursor acted as the “commander” orchestrating the hacks.

The findings are significant because they show in detail how cybercriminals are automating the type of attacks OpenAI and Anthropic have been warning about in broad terms, according to Ken Huang, an AI security consultant and adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco who reviewed Straiker’s research. They also show how low the barrier to entry is for carrying out sophisticated hacks now thanks to AI, he said.

“Tokens and a harness are all you need,” Huang said. “It changes the primary bottleneck of an attack from human technical skill to API token budgets and compute.”

In theory, all of those AI models are built with guardrails meant to prevent them from agreeing to carry out such cyberattacks. But CyberCartel sidestepped those constraints by telling the AI models that they were operating in harmless environments such as an academic test or a company’s internal tests of its own systems. If Claude refused to carry out a hack, CyberCartel’s code would direct smaller models like Moonshot’s Kimi to actually hack the victims; if Kimi models also refused, the system of AI agents would automatically revert to a more old-school type of hack involving deploying malware, Straiker found.

Straiker said it shared its research with SpaceX and Anthropic and that both labs were working to prevent CyberCartel from accessing their models. Straiker said it was attempting to get in contact with Moonshot. SpaceX and Moonshot didn’t respond to requests for comment.

While alarming, the rise in cyberattacks fully automated by AI is something defenders have been bracing for in recent months. Other firms say they’ve seen a rise in activity on the part of hackers who appear to be assisted by large language models.

“We’re seeing an increase in automated probing of our environment. Automated attacks have been on the rise for 20-plus years and now LLMs are making it even easier,” said Scott Roberts, chief information security officer at enterprise software company UiPath. “We’re going to have to adjust on our security operations and detections side to adapt.”

FT : Abbott Laboratories to spin off nutrition unit at centre of baby formula la

Abbott Laboratories to spin off nutrition unit at centre of baby formula lawsuits
US healthcare group plans to create standalone public company with $8.5bn in annual sales

US healthcare group Abbott Laboratories is planning to separate its nutrition business into a standalone public company with $8.5bn in annual sales, after the division was rocked by costly litigation over baby formula.

Abbott on Wednesday said that, as an independent company, the nutrition business “will be better positioned to focus its resources more strategically”. The business is best known for nutritional shakes Ensure and Glucerna, as well as baby formula brand Similac.

Abbott is the latest company to resort to shedding its nutrition business amid a wave of class action lawsuits and product recalls that have hit the industry in recent years. Reckitt Benckiser said in 2024 that it was considering strategic options for its nutrition business Mead Johnson, but is yet to offload the asset.

Between them, Abbott and Mead Johnson faced 1,700 lawsuits involving claims on behalf of 12,700 infants that their baby formula contributed to babies developing necrotising enterocolitis, a serious bowel disease.

Abbott in August agreed to pay $670mn to settle claims brought on behalf of about 2,000 children who developed bowel disease after using Similac, but the company continues to deny any wrongdoing. In September, Abbott also paid nearly $385mn to the US justice department to resolve a False Claims Act case related to contamination at a Michigan plant.

Abbott’s recent performance has been weighed down by disappointing results in its nutrition division. The company’s shares in January tumbled 10 per cent in a single session — its worst trading day since 2002.

However, the company reported results on Wednesday and said sales in its nutrition business during the third quarter were up 5.1 per cent from a year ago, with growth across its US and international adult and paediatric divisions.

The group’s shares erased an early gain to close 1.9 per cent lower on Wednesday, taking their year-to-date loss to almost one-fifth and giving the company a market capitalisation of $174bn.

Abbott shareholders will be granted shares in the new publicly traded entity through a tax-free spin-off, which should be completed by the end of next year, the company said on Wednesday. Abbott Nutrition executive Daniel Salvadori will serve as chief executive of the new company.

FT : CVC explores bid for Verisure just 1 year after IPO Shares in Swedish-liste

CVC explores bid for Verisure just 1 year after IPO
Shares in Swedish-listed security group trading 30% below their price at flotation

CVC is exploring a bid to take security group Verisure private, just a year after rival buyout firm Hellman & Friedman took it public in one of Europe’s highest-profile IPOs.

Hellman & Friedman floated Verisure in Stockholm in October 2025 at a valuation of €13.7bn, but its shares are now trading 30 per cent below their IPO price. Hellman & Friedman still owns about 44 per cent of the group, making it by far the largest shareholder. 

CVC’s interest in Verisure is at an early stage and there is no certainty of a deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Verisure provides home alarm systems and was formed as a unit of Sweden’s Securitas group in 1988, though it is now based in Switzerland. Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital bought it from private equity peer EQT in 2011 at a valuation of €2.3bn, with H&F buying out Bain in 2015. 

Private equity groups have found it difficult to list their investments in recent years, with higher interest rates weighing on valuations and geopolitical volatility making it hard to price offerings. A shrinking public market dominated by passive investors has also meant fewer buyers for all but the largest IPOs. 

A number of the portfolio companies that buyout firms have managed to float have performed poorly since their debuts, further damaging investor confidence in private equity-backed deals.

As well as Verisure, Cinven-backed travel marketplace HBX Group has also struggled. Cinven listed it at €11.50 a share last year but it currently trades at under €8. 

EQT’s 2024 IPO of skincare and fillers company Galderma has been a notable exception, with the private equity firm’s exit this year taking the total proceeds for its fund and co-investors to $26bn. 

Buyout firms have instead increasingly treated European listed companies as prey, looking to take advantage of the continent’s discounted valuations compared with the US.

Last year KKR took UK instruments group Spectris private in a £4.7bn deal after a bidding war with rival Advent. Permira and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also completed their delisting of fund services group JTC for £2.7bn. 

CVC, Hellman & Friedman and Verisure declined to comment.

WSJ : SpaceX and Tesla Consider Merger Plus, Netflix shares fall on slowing reve

SpaceX and Tesla Consider Merger

No question about it, Elon Musk is the king of M&A.

SpaceX and Tesla have each appointed special board committees to consider merging the two companies—a deal that, if completed, would be the biggest in M&A history by a long shot, according to Dealogic data.

Any deal would likely value Tesla—the smaller of the two companies—at more than $1.5 trillion, accounting for the electric-vehicle marker’s current market value and SpaceX paying a takeover premium.

Musk is already behind one of the largest deals in history. That involved SpaceX combining with Musk’s xAI back in February, which valued the artificial-intelligence startup at around $250 billion.

But so far, Musk can’t claim influence over the world’s largest deal.

That rests with the executives and boards behind Vodafone AirTouch, which in 1999 agreed to buy Germany’s Mannesmann for almost $172 billion and create a mobile-phone giant. In today’s dollars, accounting for inflation, that value translates into about $343 billion.

>>> US Closing Market Summary: Technology reclaims leadership as earnings season

Closing Market Summary: Technology reclaims leadership as earnings season accelerates

The major averages finished Wednesday's session with solid gains as a significant pickup in third-quarter earnings reports helped restore technology stocks to a leadership position. The S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%), and DJIA (+0.7%) all advanced, although the Nasdaq Composite enjoyed the strongest showing as renewed enthusiasm for AI-related stocks fueled gains across semiconductor, hardware, and software names.

The day's advance was driven largely by favorable earnings developments, particularly strong results and upbeat guidance from SpaceX (SPCX 159.28, +11.49, +7.77%) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI 35.55, +3.08, +9.49%). Both companies reinforced expectations for continued investment in AI computing infrastructure, helping revive buying interest in a group that had struggled to maintain its momentum during yesterday's choppy session.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index (+2.0%) posted a sizable gain, while strength in software and other technology stocks lifted the information technology sector (+1.6%) to the top of the S&P 500 standings. The renewed enthusiasm extended to several influential mega-cap names, with NVIDIA (NVDA 221.86, +5.39, +2.49%) contributing to the advance and Tesla (TSLA 386.47, +12.76, +3.41%) standing out ahead of its quarterly earnings report after the close. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+0.9%) outperformed the broader market, reflecting a shift back toward the large-cap growth stocks that had taken a back seat during yesterday's more broadly based rally.

Some of the strength in AI-related stocks also carried into the industrials sector (+0.9%), where companies tied to electronic production equipment and data center infrastructure benefited from the positive outlook for AI spending. United Airlines (UAL 101.67, +3.90, +3.99%) was another notable contributor to the sector's performance following a favorable earnings reaction.

Despite the technology-led advance, participation was less uniform than the gains in the major averages might suggest. Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, while the communication services sector (-1.3%) was the weakest performer. Netflix (NFLX 65.04, -3.65, -5.31%) declined after disappointing fourth-quarter guidance and a reduction in its full-year advertising revenue outlook overshadowed its earnings beat. AT&T (T 21.91, -1.51, -6.45%) also faced substantial selling pressure despite exceeding earnings expectations, as slowing subscriber additions raised concerns about competitive conditions in the wireless industry. Alphabet (GOOG 330.95, -5.45, -1.62%) was another notable drag on the communication services sector, contrasting with the strength across several other influential technology-related stocks.

Elsewhere, the real estate (-0.8%), consumer staples (-0.6%), and health care (-0.5%) sectors finished lower, reflecting some reversal of yesterday's rotation into areas outside the technology trade.

The Russell 2000 (+0.3%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.4%) registered more modest gains, further illustrating the difference between today's mega-cap-led advance and yesterday's stronger participation among smaller companies.

The market's upward trajectory was briefly interrupted during the afternoon following a report suggesting the State Department was preparing to order the departure of certain personnel from U.S. embassies across the Persian Gulf. Stocks retreated modestly and crude oil prices ticked higher before State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott clarified that the order applied only to non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families in Saudi Arabia. The clarification helped stocks recover much of the brief pullback, while WTI crude had already settled $0.66 lower (-2.1%) at $97.16 per barrel following the front-month contract's roll to December. The relatively subdued movement in oil prices and Treasury yields for much of the session allowed earnings and corporate developments to remain the primary drivers of trading.

The Nasdaq Composite also reclaimed its 50-day moving average, joining the S&P 500 and DJIA above their respective technical levels, as the major averages maintained the bulk of their gains into the close. Today's performance offered another example of the market's shifting leadership, with AI-related stocks regaining momentum after investors favored a much broader range of sectors and smaller companies yesterday. While the continued willingness to rotate between market groups remains an encouraging feature of the broader market, the contrast between technology's strength and weakness in several other sectors underscores the selective nature of today's advance.

With Meta Platforms (META 697.52, +3.27, +0.47%), Tesla, and others reporting after the close, the next round of results will be particularly important in determining whether renewed enthusiasm for AI investment can sustain the market's recent gains.

U.S. Treasuries ended the midweek session with losses after a mostly sideways session gave way to some late selling. The 2-year note yield settled up three basis points to 4.82%, and the 10-year note yield settled up three basis points to 5.15%.
  • Nasdaq Composite: +14.9% YTD
  • S&P 500: +13.3% YTD
  • Russell 2000: +12.1% YTD
  • S&P Mid Cap 400: +10.9% YTD
  • DJIA: +10.0% YTD

Reviewing today's data:
  • 10/17 MBA Mortgage Applications Index -5.3% (Prior -2.7%)
  • 10/17 EIA Crude Oil Inventories -3.061M (Prior -8.557M)