LME Nickel Stocks up 576 MT to 271,500 MT

Markets: Stocks made it a threepeat yesterday, but not the good kind, falling for the third day in a row as Treasury yields and oil prices moved

John Ternus took the stage in Cupertino yesterday for the first time as Apple CEO and delivered what everyone was expecting—nearly 10 uninterrupted minutes of Apple Hands and a new folding iPhone that has the potential to become the leader in a virtually untapped market.

The details: The iPhone Duo will be available for preorder on Oct. 16 at a starting price of $2,000, but it can cost as much as $3,000 if you want more storage for cat videos. When unfolded, it acts more like an iPad than two iPhones, and it’s about the same size as a passport when folded.

Bringing Apple into the fold

Consumer electronics companies shipped a total of ~20 million foldables last year—accounting for ~2% of all smartphone sales, per Counterpoint Research. The Duo is tracking to make a splash instantly:

• Morgan Stanley expects Apple to ship 6.5 million Duos in its fiscal first quarter, which ends in December. That amounts to ~$14 billion in sales, or about 16% of total iPhone revenue expected in the quarter, per Bloomberg.
• Next year, the company is projected to sell more than 12 million foldables, according to Counterpoint.

The latest push to catch up on AI

Apple also unveiled other new products at yesterday’s “Surprise and Shine” event besides the iPhone You’re Even More Afraid To Drop, including the upgraded AirPods 5.

Just about everything else was a signal that Apple no longer wants to be the tech company that’s lagging on AI. The new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max (which you can fold, but only if you want to break it) along with the Duo are being positioned as Apple’s primary AI devices. Both of the latest iPhones have improved AI software that includes a new Siri AI. Even the new Apple Watch is being rebranded as an AI wearable.

Bad day, good outlook? Apple shares were down slightly yesterday before market close, but Ternus shouldn’t take it personally—it’s the sixth time over the last nine new iPhone events that its stock has fallen on the same day. But shares have also averaged a 10% gain over the six months following these annual product pitches, per data from Bloomberg.—DL

🏦 The bond market wasn’t impressed by the Treasury’s $6 billion buyback plan. The Treasury Department said it would repurchase up to $6 billion of its own long-dated debt, triple its usual amount, as part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s efforts to bring down borrowing costs. But investors reacted to the revelation of the amount with a Shania Twain-like shrug, sending bond yields (which move in the opposite direction from bond prices) soaring. The 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in about three years yesterday. The buybacks are scheduled to happen today.

🛢️ Oil rose above $100 per barrel. For the first time since July, the price of a barrel of oil spiked above $100 yesterday, as the war in Iran continues to roil global energy markets. Both Brent crude and US crude prices closed at their highest level since late May, per NBC News. The high prices came after the US said it destroyed Iranian tankers, Iran attacked US ships, and an Iran-backed group attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. With high energy prices considered a factor in the upcoming midterm elections, President Trump said yesterday that he believed prices would come down—but not until after the midterms.

🇨🇦 US bans some Canadian goods as trade war escalates. With relations between Canada and the US frostier than Manitoba in the winter after last month’s trade talks fell apart, President Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday banning imports from Canada of whey products, several kinds of alcohol, and motorcycles as of Sept. 29. The move comes after Trump raised tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products and Canada retaliated with dollar-for-dollar tariffs that took effect this week.—AR

One metal powers $12 mt+ across industries, yet America produces zero tungsten domestically.

Answer to today's trivia question: Arms