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Financials:
What changed in financials, and why it mattered.
- 01
American Express raised its profit forecast and announced layoffs on the same day, and the stock fell sharply anyway.
A higher forecast alongside job cuts suggests the company is leaning on cost control to protect profit, and the market did not reward it even with positive revenue and earnings. For card issuers, the read-across is that good results are not enough on their own to lift the shares.
Payments and cards· AXP·Source 1·Source 2·Source 3
Closest to passing every check in Payments and cards · Monday's close, 26 Oct
- 5 of 6 checks
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
- 5 of 6 checks
VisaV
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
- 02
Visa is pushing deeper into cross-border payments and digital assets, while denying a rumored deal with Fireblocks.
etisalat money adding Visa Direct for international payments shows Visa's money-transfer network still winning new partners. The denied Fireblocks rumor shows how closely the market watches Visa's digital-asset moves. Visa reports earnings on 27 October, which is when the reader gets a read on how these efforts show up in the numbers.
Payments and cards· V·Source 1·Source 2
Closest to passing every check in Payments and cards · Monday's close, 26 Oct
- 5 of 6 checks
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
- 5 of 6 checks
VisaV
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
- 03
HSBC put a stablecoin into 3 million wallets in Hong Kong, and Franklin Templeton is preparing Nasdaq-listed ETFs that turn stock dividends into Bitcoin.
Established banks and fund managers are building digital-asset products into mainstream channels, which can pull new activity through banks and exchange listings. HSBC reports earnings on 27 October, and Hong Kong FinTech Week starts on 2 November, where more announcements of this kind may appear.
UK banks · Exchanges and data · Payments and cards· HSBA.L, NDAQ·Source 1·Source 2·Source 3
Passing every check in UK banks, and Exchanges and data · Monday's close, 26 Oct
- Shortlisted
NatWestNWG.L
All six checks pass, with the price at a flat 200-day average.
- 04
Nebius secured $3.5 billion from Citi as it moves from convertible notes to secured debt.
Citi is the named lender, so this is financing business flowing to a large US bank. It also shows a borrower swapping convertible notes for debt backed by collateral, a deal type that earns banks lending and arranging work.
Closest to passing every check in US banks and Investment banks · Monday's close, 26 Oct
- 4 of 6 checks
Against it: price trending down and missed profit forecasts.
- 4 of 6 checks
Against it: price trending down and costs more than similar companies.
- 05
S&P Global completed the spin-off of its Mobility business and filed pro forma financial statements showing the slimmer company.
S&P Global is now a more focused ratings and data business, and the filing gives the first picture of its financials without Mobility. It reports earnings on 27 October, where those numbers can be compared. The exchanges and data group has been strengthening across all its stocks.
Exchanges and data· SPGI·Source
Closest to passing every check in Exchanges and data · Monday's close, 26 Oct
- 5 of 6 checks
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
- 5 of 6 checks
CME GroupCME
Against it: costs more than similar companies.
Published 26/10/2026, 08:06 UTC · claude-sonnet-5-5