Amalya Dubrovsky, Karen Friar and Laura Brattonof Yahoo Finance report Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq close at record highs for second day as tech, trade headlines lift markets:

US stocks notched fresh highs on Friday amid a record-setting rally as the US and China advanced trade talks and the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks continued to climb.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4% and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) jumped nearly 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led gains, adding about 0.7%, as Apple (AAPL) stock rallied on optimism over its new iPhones hitting store shelves.

All three major indexes hit all-time highs for a second session in a row, ending the week on an upbeat note as the dust settled on the Federal Reserve's return to interest rate cuts. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq cinched their third straight weekly gains, adding 1.2% and 2.2%, respectively. The Dow climbed 1%, marking its second consecutive weekly gain.

Save for Nvidia (NVDA), the Mag 7 tech stocks all posted gains for the five trading sessions through Friday, led by Tesla (TSLA). Tesla ended the week up nearly 8%, while Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) added around 6% and Apple jumped almost 5%.

Investors on Friday were focused on details from Trump's conversation Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president said in a post on Truth Social following the talks, "We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal."

The details of the TikTok deal — which would allow the social media app owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance to continue US operations amid an impending ban — are not yet clear. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the agreement would involve a consortium of investors including Oracle (ORCL), Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz taking an 80% stake in the company.

Notably, a summary of Trump and Xi's talk in Chinese state media did not provide a detailed update on a TikTok deal beyond saying that Xi supported a commercial solution to the problem and that he wanted a set of rules that would allow Chinese companies to invest in the US.

The writeup from China also said that the US should avoid new restrictive trade measures to avoid "undermining" recent trade talks.

Elsewhere in markets, nuclear stocks including Oklo (OKLO) and NANO Nuclear (NNE) rallied amid optimism in the sector. Meanwhile, chipmaker Micron (MU) pulled back from a record high ahead of its quarterly report which lands Sept. 23. AI chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) ended the week down 4% after a big upswing last week.

Pia Singh and Alex Harring of CNBC also report Dow, S&P 500 close at fresh records, log big gains for the week after Fed rate cut:

Stocks rose on Friday, with major U.S. indexes notching weekly gains, as the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates set in investors’ minds.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172.85 points, or 0.37%, to close at 46,315.27, reaching a fresh record high. The S&P 500 settled up 0.49% at 6,664.36, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.72% to finish at 22,631.48.

The small-cap Russell 2000 dipped 0.7%, taking back some gains this week after the index touched a fresh record high earlier in the session.

Apple led the way higher, rising 3.2%, as the company’s latest iPhone went on sale around the world. Tesla shares were also up more than 2.2%.

Wall Street is on pace to post strong weekly gains. The S&P 500 and Dow are up 1.2% and 1%, respectively, while the Nasdaq is up 2.2%. The Russell 2000 gained 2.2%, notched its seventh weekly advance.

Stocks got a boost this week after the Fed lowered its benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter percentage point, its first rate reduction since December. The move was widely expected by markets, but stocks had a volatile session on the back of the decision after Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his press conference characterized the decision as a “risk management cut.”

″While September has historically delivered pullbacks, this year’s market has defied that pattern — climbing 35% since March with strong technical and fundamental tailwinds,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. “Still, with the S&P 500 trading at 22x forward earnings and volatility suppressed, a period of consolidation or choppiness would be a normal and healthy development.” 

Uranium fund surpasses 2007 high

An ETF tracking uranium hit new all-time highs in Friday’s session, rallying past the previous record set more than a decade and a half ago.

The VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) surpassed its prior record notched in October 2017 in Friday’s session. The fund climbed more than 5% in afternoon trading.

It was another strong week in the US stock market.

Last week, I didn't post a market comment, it was all about Oracle which posted its biggest one day return in decades even after missing on the top and bottom line (all about great guidance but the stock is off its 52-week high).

That made Larry Ellison briefly the world's richest man but $34 billion was wiped from his net worth this week as ‘AI bubble’ fears grow.

Who knows, if a final deal is ironed out on TikTok, he might be in the running again.

This week, it was all about the Fed and the much anticipated rate cut.

Jerome Powell signalled two more rate cuts are in the offing this year, a dovish instead of a hawkish cut, so algos went wild on risk assets.

And where do algos go when there's a green light for risk assets? Where else? Quantum computing, AI related stocks like Oklo Inc which ripped up 64% just this week:

 

If things are feel bubbly, well, it's because FOMO has kicked in and portfolio managers are chasing hot stocks and mega cap stocks like Alphabet (Google) higher as it makes a new 52-week high:

And it's not just Alphabet making a new 52-week high, Abbvie, Ally Financial, American Express, Bank of America, Barrick, Brookfield Corp, Cameco, Corning, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Kratos, Morgan Stanley, Rambus, The Carlyle Group, and plenty of other companies have shares making a new high (see full list here).

In other words, it's not just Mag-7 or Mag-10 driving this market higher, it's coming from all sectors. 

In fact, year-to-date all sectors except Healthcare are up and I see that one coming back to end the year on a positive note:

And in Healthcare there are nice bargains like Novo Nordisk and others which are trading at decent multiples.

We shall see how the last quarter plays out, will inflation rebound hampering the Fed or will markets keep melting up and FOMO really kick in during Christmas?

I don't know, the trader in me thinks we need a nice pullback, it's healthy but this market just wants to rip higher.

Below, CNBC's Jim Cramer talks about the day's market performance as stocks wrap up a positive week.

Also, Warren Pies, 3Fourteen Research co-founder, joins CNBC's 'Closing Bell' to discuss market outlooks.

Third, David Tepper, Appaloosa Management founder and president and Carolina Panthers owner, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, the Fed's interest rate decision, President Trump's tariff agenda, state of the economy, rate path outlook, his AI portfolio, and more.

Fourth, Tom Lee, Fundstrat head of research, joins CNBC's 'Power Lunch' to discuss market outlooks, how much the Fed matters to equity markets, and much more.

Fifth, DoubleLine CEO-CIO Jeffrey Gundlach joins CNBC’s Closing Bell to share his perspective on the Fed’s “risk management” approach, highlighting the divided views within the FOMC and the implications of recent labor-market revisions. He underscores the risk of overeasing and stresses the importance of monitoring unemployment trends over job creation figures, given shifting demographics and labor force dynamics.

Sixth, CNBC’s Steve Liesman and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the Fed's interest rate decision, state of the economy, the Fed's inflation fight, impact of tariffs, and more.

Seventh, Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says this is an unprecedented time for the Federal Reserve. He says it's become more politicized. “The biggest risk in this situation is being that we lose contact with our 2% inflation target and become a country with an inflation psychology,” said Summers.

Lastly, AZ-VC Managing Partner Jack Selby warns that the current AI euphoria could be “the biggest bubble in private tech investing." He speaks on Bloomberg's Insight With Haslinda Amin.

Barbara Shecter of the National Post reports HOOPP CEO says nation-building projects a start but long way to go: 

The CEO of one of Canada’s largest pension plans says new nation-building infrastructure projects announced by the federal government last week represent a “first step” to creating the kind of investment opportunities long sought by the country’s globe-trotting institutional investors.

“Historically, we haven’t seen as much of those opportunities, particularly with the national level commitment, as we would have liked,” Annesley Wallace, chief executive of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), said Wednesday following a speech in Toronto.

“And so the recent announcements around the major projects are very exciting.”

She said infrastructure is a natural draw for pensions, but Canada’s nation-building projects will need to be designed with “commercial models” and the right mix of government involvement to drum up significant interest.

“There is a long way to go in terms of being able to advance these projects. Hopefully the (new) major projects office will be able to help navigate through some of those next steps,” she said. 

“To the extent there are commercial models that are created around these projects, and with government support, there will be lots of capital that comes to the table for investing.”

On Aug. 29, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the Major Projects Office to streamline regulatory approvals and help structure financing, in coordination with provinces, territories, Indigenous groups and private investors. The first series of projects including a liquid natural gas project in British Columbia and a nuclear project in Ontario, were unveiled Sept. 11.

Wallace said the Canadian pension plans could help create a competitive advantage for the country if domestic projects match their investment criteria, which includes ensuring they can meet their obligations to retirees over the long term.

“We have capital that we, at HOOPP anyways, would love to invest in Canada to help that economic engine and help improve productivity going forward,” she said. 

“Canada needs to be competitive in order to attract not just Canadian pension plan capital, but global capital.”

Prior to joining HOOPP as CEO on April 1, Wallace was a senior executive at TC Energy Corp. Before that, she was executive vice-president and global head of infrastructure at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), another of Canada’s large pensions, which are known informally as the Maple Eight.

Wallace said the trade war initiated by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year is making investing “more complicated” for pensions including HOOPP that invest there. As of Dec. 31, the healthcare pension fund had 27 per cent of its assets in the U.S. 

“The same way we’ve seen market correlations break down, we’ve seen global alliances start to break down, and that has economic implications and lots of other implications,” she said. 

HOOPP’s recent embrace of “a more defined total portfolio approach” should help the pension deal with the added complexity and pinpoint where dislocation presents new investment options, she said.

“Taking a whole-fund view is designed to set us up such that we can be successful irrespective of what ultimately evolves,” she said. “The more frequent economic cycles that we may go through … in the future, that can ultimately provide us more opportunity so long as we’re prepared to take advantage of it.” 

Earlier today, HOOPP's CEO Annesley Wallace addressed the Canadian Club Toronto and discussed the topic of "Renewing the Pension Promise for the Next Generation of Healthcare Workers."

I just finished listening to it tonight after I put my two-year-old to bed around 8 p.m. (he falls asleep in 5 minutes flat with me).

Annesley's speech was excellent going over the Ontario healthcare system, the growing demands on healthcare due to aging demographics and then goes into how HOOPP has to evolve to remain a stable and strong pension plan to make sure Ontario healthcare sector can continue attracting and retaining top talent.

She discusses why working in silos isn't their approach, they are focused on total fund returns and this will be more important going forward as the investment landscape becomes more challenging.

In her discussion, with  Karli Farrow, President & CEO of Trillium Health Partners, she goes into why we need a lot more Canadian infrastructure projects and if they are done correctly, there will be lots of capital to invest in these projects.

She discusses why Canada needs to be competitive to attract not only Canadian capital but global capital. 

On this topic, John Ruffolo wrote a great comment for The Hill Times stating Canada needs a real digital sovereignty strategy—not half measures (I agree but have strong doubts we can get our act together on this). 

Annesley was also asked if they will expand HOOPP to other sectors to provide DB pensions for more Canadians but she said that they are going to remain focused on the healthcare sector.

Anyways, take the time to watch Annesley's speech and discussion with Karli Farrow, both are excellent. What impresses me is how poised, articulate, humble and intelligent HOOPP's new CEO is and she hasn't been there long (got there in March, started officially on April 1st right before Liberation Day). 

I'm going to ask HOOPP to please provide a transcript of her speech on their website here so I can add it here. 

One last note, I am the son of a (retired) psychiatrist with over 50 years clinical experience, my younger brother is also a psychiatrist, my friends are specialists ranging from radiology to orthopaedic surgery, mostly here in Quebec but some work across Canada and they all say it's past time that all of Canada's doctors have access to a DB pension.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying for them, they're all part of the top 1% and doing very well with their personal corporations but they're right, many of them will have to work to 70 to enjoy a comfortable retirement and the demands that are being placed on them are increasingly onerous (they're gearing up to fight Quebec's government which is trying to squeeze them and they will win, no doubt about it).

What else? I personally think HOOPP should own all of Ontario's radiology clinics as part of its private equity portfolio. They are highly, HIGHLY profitable and that's a discussion I might have with Annesley one day if I get to meet her. 

Below, Annesley Wallace, President & CEO of HOOPP,  joins Canadian Club Toronto for a conversation on the critical role HOOPP plays in securing the financial futures of its members.

As HOOPP’s new leader, Annesley is charting an ambitious strategic plan to maximize the value of the Plan, strengthen the resilience of its investment portfolio, and adapt with the healthcare community to remain its pension plan of choice.

She is joined by Karli Farrow, President & CEO of Trillium Health Partners and a member of HOOPP’s Board of Trustees. Karli has led innovative strategies to engage staff and community partners, and brings a deep understanding of healthcare leadership and governance to the discussion.

Today, BCI released its 2024-2025 Stewardship Report:

Victoria, B.C. – September 17, 2025 – British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) today released its 2024-2025 Stewardship Report, demonstrating continued leadership in driving ESG performance and portfolio outcomes through engagement, proxy voting, and policy dialogue.  

“The past year was marked by significant geopolitical upheaval and economic uncertainty, with some suggesting that ESG is inconsistent with delivering financial returns,” says Jennifer Coulson, BCI’s Senior Managing Director and Global Head of ESG. “Our experience managing $295 billion in global assets tells a different story: effective stewardship drives sustainable value for our clients, and is fundamental to our approach.”  

Last year, BCI engaged 176 portfolio companies to address material risks and opportunities, and achieved its objectives or built positive momentum with 34 per cent of those companies. During the most recent proxy season, BCI voted at 2,225 public company meetings in 52 countries.  

Notable engagement successes include completing a multi-year collaborative engagement with Teck Resources on climate risk, protecting minority shareholder interests during the acquisition of Atacadao SA, and contributing to the broader governance reform movement in South Korea that led to the country’s landmark Commercial Act amendments. Additionally, BCI’s position on stronger sustainability disclosures to support investor decisions continues to yield results. More than 35 jurisdictions covering 40 per cent of global market capitalization have now incorporated the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards.1

This year’s report also introduces BCI’s updated ESG engagement priorities – physical and transition climate change risk, responsible AI, and human capital management – which reflect the areas expected to have the greatest impact on investment performance in the coming years.  

“As an active, long-term investor, BCI has a responsibility to help position our portfolio for the risks and opportunities ahead,” adds Coulson. “Every engagement, every vote, and every policy submission is ultimately about protecting and growing the assets entrusted to us by our clients.”  

2024-2025 stewardship highlights  

• Emphasizing governance: BCI voted against or withheld our vote from 32 per cent or nearly 4,000 board directors across our global equities portfolio for reasons including insufficient independence, lack of board diversity, and problematic compensation practices. We pursued 56 engagements on corporate governance, reinforcing our foundational expectations and supporting board and management accountability.  

• Managing climate risk: BCI continued to vote against board directors for lack of climate risk oversight and disclosure, and pursued 139 climate engagements in the energy, utilities, and financial sectors. Notably, we completed a seven-year engagement with Teck Resources that culminated in the company’s removal from the Climate Action 100+ target list based on its progress. 

• Expanding influence in Asia: BCI deepened engagement in prominent Asian markets, including Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. We cast votes at nearly 750 annual meetings in the Asia-Pacific region and engaged with companies and policymakers alongside investor coalitions like the Asian Corporate Governance Association to raise market standards. 

• Creating value in private markets: BCI engaged 16 private portfolio companies to strengthen alignment with our ESG expectations and support sustainability initiatives designed to deliver value at exit. We hosted an inaugural Private Equity ESG Value Creation Conference in New York, bringing together nearly 50 investment partners and companies to demonstrate the links between ESG and financial performance.  

As a core aspect of BCI’s ESG strategy, this stewardship reporting complements the ESG and climate-related disclosures available in our 2024-2025 Corporate Annual Report. 

Read the 2024-2025 Stewardship Report on BCI.ca.   

1IFRS Foundation Annual Report 2024 

I'm going to briefly go over some aspects of BCI's 2024-2025 Stewardship Report which is available here (click on PDF icon at the top to download entire report).

First, read below the message from Jennifer Coulson, BCI's Global Head of ESG:

I'll reprint it below:

The past year was marked by significant geopolitical upheaval and economic uncertainty, with some suggesting that ESG is inconsistent with delivering financial returns. Our experience managing $295 billion in global assets tells a different story: effective stewardship drives sustainable value for our clients, and remains fundamental to our
approach as a long-term investor.

This conviction leads to real-world outcomes. We directly engaged 176 public and private portfolio companies on material ESG issues, reached thousands more through collaborative initiatives, and expanded our policy advocacy in key markets like Asia. From encouraging governance reforms that address South Korea’s valuation discount to completing a seven-year engagement with Teck Resources to mitigate climate risk, our persistence paid off and reinforced that meaningful change is not always a linear path.

Our work benefits from many voices, and we regularly look for opportunities to expand our influence and share best practices. One such example is the inaugural Private Equity ESG Value Creation Conference hosted by BCI in New York. We brought together nearly 50 investment partners and portfolio companies to demonstrate and explore the financial links between sustainability performance and investment outcomes. 

We firmly believe that in this era of heightened international tensions and rapid  technological transformation, companies with robust governance, forward-thinking climate strategies, and effective human capital management will prove more resilient and competitive over the long term.

As an active owner, BCI has a responsibility to help position our portfolio for the risks and opportunities ahead. Every engagement, every vote, and every policy submission is ultimately about protecting and growing the assets entrusted to us by our clients. 

Very well written message, in short, stewardship is what I like to call "ESG in action" meaning you engage with public and private companies on material ESG issues to bolster and enhance their value over the long run.

The Teck Resources example Jennifer gives above is interesting because Teck was recently bought by Anglo American in what Jonathan Price calls a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Canada.

Did BCI's engagement add value? Well, it certainly didn't hurt and made the company more resilient and better prepared to mitigate climate risk. 

Equally interesting is BCI's exposure to emerging markets and how they're engaging companies in key markets like Asia, no easy feat.

And in private markets, ESG Value Creation Conference hosted by BCI in New York is a great initiative because there too, you need engagement. 

It's worth noting BCI's approach to stewardship cuts across asset classes:

Our dedicated ESG team, embedded across all asset classes, takes a coordinated and strategic approach to stewardship – setting expectations for public companies through our Proxy Voting Guidelines, providing input on regulation around the world through policy advocacy, and engaging directly and collaboratively with public and private companies and other capital markets participants. To direct our efforts, we focus on what we identify to be the most material ESG-related risks and opportunities to our portfolio over the long term. 

As a key component of our ESG Strategy, which ensures corporate-wide consistency in our approach, stewardship at BCI is a shared responsibility guided by our ESG Governance Policy. This policy outlines the roles and responsibilities of our Board of Directors, management, and employees in upholding our ESG principles and investment beliefs. 

And since "ESG is action" is all about influencing positive outcomes, I like this page in their Stewardship Report measuring the success of their engagement:

 

Alright, let me end it there but take the time to read BCI's 2024-2025 Stewardship Report here, it's excellent.  

You can also read the latest news from BCI here. 

 Below, a PRI panel discussion on leveraging ESG to create value in private markets featuring Jennifer Coulson, Global Head of ESG, BCI (February, 2025). Great discussion, take the time to listen to it.

Last week, OTPP announced the appointment of Dale Burgess as Executive Managing Director, Equities: 

Toronto, Canada - Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') today announces the appointment of Dale Burgess to the position of Executive Managing Director, Equities, effective immediately.  In this role, based in the Toronto office, Mr. Burgess oversees the Equities investment department globally.  He has served in this role on an interim basis since February 2025.

Mr. Burgess joined Ontario Teachers' in 1996 and most recently served as Executive Managing Director, Infrastructure & Natural Resources (INR), responsible for overseeing infrastructure acquisitions and asset management globally. He was previously head of the INR team for Latin America where he oversaw portfolio companies as well as business development and origination in target countries across the LATAM region. Mr. Burgess will continue to oversee the global INR team in the interim until a replacement has been appointed in the near term.

In his new role, Mr. Burgess will continue to be a member of the Investments Senior Leadership Team and report to Gillian Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Public & Private Investments.

“Dale is a seasoned investing leader and highly respected colleague who has made significant contributions over his almost three decades at the Plan,” said Ms. Brown.  “He is well positioned to lead our Equities department, which will continue to play an important role in creating value for our members.”

Mr. Burgess holds a BA (Accounting) from the University of Waterloo, is a Chartered Accountant, a CFA charterholder and a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

About Ontario Teachers’

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is a global investor with net assets of $269.6 billion as at June 30, 2025. Ontario Teachers’ is a fully funded defined benefit pension plan, and it invests in a broad array of asset classes to deliver retirement security for 343,000 working members and pensioners. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

Let me begin by congratulating Dale Burgess on this important appointment.

Dale is a seasoned veteran who has delivered solid long-term results overseeing Infrastructure and Natural Resources.

He was asked to oversee Equities when Romeo Leemrijse who had replaced Karen Frank as Head of Teachers' Private Capital left the organization earlier this year.

I think Gillian Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Public & Private Investments, made the right decision by placing Dale is charge of all Equities, including private equity.

They need stability, to focus on execution and value creation and this appointment sends that message. 

Recall, back in March, OTPP was reassessing its private equity strategy to work more closely with strategic partners and do less purely direct deals. 

When I recently spoke to Gillian Brown when I covered their mid-year results, she shared this with me on the challenges in private equity:

I asked Gillian if she thinks there is a secular shift going on in private equity and gong back to what Stephen said about tariffs and we haven't seen the full effects on inflation, I wonder how this will play out on all asset classes including private equity.

I also asked her how much they're leaning more on their strategic partners because Jo made a reference to that last time we spoke to dive value creation and get better co-investment opportunities.

She responded:

I'll take the beginning and the end of that and let Stephen respond to other bits. I do think there's a secular shift going on, there's clearly been a shift in the rates and inflation environment that we are living in and that means companies cannot lever the way they used to have at the same rate as in the past.

I think we've also seen an adjustment where there was probably a modelled assumption around multiple expansion during the life of an asset that just doesn't hold anymore. When we are looking at new assets, we now are assuming a turn or so less on exit rather than assuming you're going to get your returns out of that. 

And what that means is you're actually leaning into the operating performance of that business, again it's part of our plan of setting up the Portfolio Solutions group that can get into the operating aspects of a business. We will sit down with the deal teams even during underwrite, here are the five value creation levers we see for this company, and none of those are going to be multiple expansion or financial engineering, they're going to be actual operating performance growth of the company.  

And the Portfolio Solutions group can work hand in hand with deal team around making sure the KPIs that were identified on the way in are being delivered during the life of the asset.  

So I do think you're filling into that more and with that comes the strategic partners you referenced making sure we are humble about where we are experts and not, and where we are not, let's make sure we are finding the right partners to be with. There are certain sectors that are going to require very specialized knowledge, very specialized operating support so let's make sure we are picking the right partners to work on those assets.  

So there are certain geographies we are not going to have a big presence, so let's make sure we are picking the right partners versus some where we feel we have a good track record that gives us conviction that sector will continue to perform and we will continue to be competitive there. 

There you have it, time to focus and execute through value creation with the right partners.

Below,  Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), one of Canada’s largest pension funds with over C$266 billion in assets, is pivoting its private equity approach—moving from direct acquisitions toward partnerships and co‑investments. CEO Jo Taylor says this shift helps mitigate risk amid high interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and the growing complexity of managing entire companies.