Microsoft's stock price has hit a nearly one-year high, and the company announced plans to massively deploy its in-house developed AI chips.

Over the past three weeks, investors have pulled capital from US mortgage-backed bond funds at an historically unprecedented pace, with outflows ranking among the seven largest since early 2021. Driven by surging interest rates, investors are rushing to hedge against market volatility. The US Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) index posted its second-worst monthly performance on record in September. Earlier, US Treasury yields rose to multi-decade highs amid surging oil prices, intensifying inflation concerns, and market expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes, triggering sell-offs in mortgage bonds. Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are highly sensitive to sudden fluctuations in bond yields, as yields serve as the pricing benchmark for borrowing costs across the entire economy. When rates rise, homeowners typically refinance their mortgages less, leaving investors holding lower-yielding securities for longer than anticipated. Strategist Erica Adelberg noted: "The Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy and flattening yield curve may weaken demand from banks, a key buyer of MBS. On the positive side, as mortgage rates hit their highest level since 2023, refinancing and homebuying demand are being suppressed, which could slow growth in home prices and loan volumes. As a result, MBS supply is expected to decline by year-end." (Jin10)

According to market data from BIT (Bit.com), Apple stock rose nearly 2% against the trend at the start of trading, approaching its all-time high, and is currently trading at $341.30. On the news front, Apple previously announced it will hold a special "Welcome Home" themed event on Tuesday (October 13), where new smart home products are expected to be unveiled. This marks Apple’s latest update in the smart home sector since John Ternus was appointed as the company’s CEO last month. It is reported that the devices to be launched include the new-generation Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini, and a brand-new home hub device. While many industry insiders expect some upgrades to Apple TV and HomePod next week to only be modest performance improvements, the chip iteration will in fact bring unprecedented new capabilities to Apple’s smart home product line. Star tech analyst Dan Ives stated that Apple’s AI strategy could increase the company’s valuation by approximately $75 per share, as the firm is seeking to leverage AI to drive device upgrades and grow services revenue. Ives assigned Apple stock an "Outperform" rating with a $400 target price.

Nasdaq-listed firm TROOPS announced a merger with blockchain energy efficiency platform EFFORCE, an all-stock deal with a minimum valuation of $40 million. EFFORCE was co-founded in 2020 by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and other partners; Wozniak will retain his EFFORCE shares post-merger. The transaction will integrate TROOPS’ financial services and technology operations with EFFORCE’s expertise in blockchain and sustainability. TROOPS plans to leverage the merger to expand its digital asset infrastructure and cryptocurrency trading business.

Irish fintech firm Quantmatix’s crypto analytics platform Quantofi has partnered with Crypto.com to launch an AI-powered cryptocurrency trading analytics platform, enabling users to access market analysis signals and execute trades directly via Crypto.com Exchange. The platform, which covers 215 crypto assets, officially launched globally for commercial use on October 10. Its core is Quantmatix’s proprietary Q Score engine, which tracks over 10,000 financial instruments across more than 50 countries and regions. For the crypto market, Quantofi analyzes price momentum across five timeframes: 1-hour, 4-hour, daily, weekly, and monthly. It also provides target prices, stop-loss levels, and expected value metrics for each trading signal to quantify potential returns and risks. According to announcements from both parties, Quantofi is a Gold Tier partner in Crypto.com’s broker ecosystem. Its analysis signals are integrated with Crypto.com Exchange’s liquidity and order matching systems, aiming to combine market research and trade execution into a single platform. However, Quantofi has not disclosed independently verified historical trading performance or signal return data, so whether these metrics can consistently work in real-world markets remains to be seen.

Crypto community member Johannes posted that two Ledger hardware wallets he bought from separate MediaMarkt locations in Europe were found to contain suspected spyware and hardware tampering—including extra cables and LTE modules—and urged Ledger to immediately recall the affected products. Johannes noted MediaMarkt staff confirmed the second device was not a returned item, adding that returned Ledger products are sent directly back to the manufacturer rather than being resold as new. Store records indicate the inventory in question came from supplier Aqipa GmbH. Since this firm runs distribution operations across Europe, Johannes suspects the issue may extend to a broader range of retail stock, though no evidence has yet confirmed that Ledger’s supply chain across Europe has been widely compromised. Johannes said he has submitted the first device to relevant personnel for analysis, plans to send the second to Ledger for investigation, and released an unboxing video as proof. He warned users that if purchasing devices from non-official Ledger channels, they should inspect for any irregularities. To date, these claims stem primarily from the user’s personal disclosure; the cause of the device compromise, scope of impact, and whether a supply chain attack is involved remain unconfirmed by relevant parties including Ledger.

Renowned trader Killa posted that Bitcoin is currently retesting the price range it broke through earlier, and the market needs bulls to actively buy at current levels to confirm the range still holds support. If BTC breaks below the range again and fails to reclaim it, this could signal a breakdown in the current structure, leading to a further pullback below $80,000. Killa noted that roughly $2 billion in liquidations have already hit the market, so there is no need to sweep previous lows again to secure liquidity. If prices continue to weaken, this would instead indicate market weakness rather than bulls building up strength. He warned that the defense around $80,000 earlier may have only lured traders into positions, after which prices could still dip to the $76,000 to $78,000 range; if Bitcoin hopes to continue its upward trajectory, buying activity in the current area will be critical.