Bitcoin Slips Below $70,000, and a Samsung Rumor Lifts Modine

Dear readers,

Wall Street got a friendly inflation number on Friday and barely changed its mood. Producer prices came in below expectations, yet interest rates still dominate the tape. Equities are holding up into the weekend, but the strains show elsewhere.

Bitcoin is breaking lower, fintech results are pulling in opposite directions, and an industrial stock is jumping on a takeover report. Even the fallout from Nvidia’s leadership change has reached the crypto market.

Cooler Producer Prices, but No All-Clear

US producer prices rose 0.3% month on month in October, against an expected 0.4%. The annual rate is 6.5%, the highest since November 2022. Tuesday’s consumer price report completes the picture. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4%, and core CPI rose 0.3%, more than expected. Core prices have now risen 0.3% for a third straight month.

Markets therefore treat a Fed rate hike in December as all but certain. The decision comes on December 9, with the policy rate currently at 3.75% to 4.00%.

After the producer price release, money markets showed a 91% probability of a 25-basis-point hike and 9% for 50 basis points. Treasury yields are near 5%.

The monthly figure was friendly, but the underlying trend was not. Prices excluding food, energy and trade margins rose 0.5% in October and are up 4.9% over twelve months. Anyone buying equities here is betting on a Fed that hikes but does not escalate. The next tests are the Fed minutes on November 18 and the PCE data.

Bitcoin: The Floor Is Being Tested, Not Confirmed

Bitcoin fell below $70,000 on Friday for the first time since mid-August. It last traded around $69,500. That is a loss of a good 15% since mid-October and 21% since the start of the year.

The drivers were rate fears, dollar strength and unrest after the Nvidia CEO’s resignation. About $1.47 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours, $1.31 billion of them long bets, so close to 90% of the forced selling hit bulls. Sentiment fell to “extreme fear.”

Outflows weigh more heavily on the structure than the deleveraging does. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded consecutive days of net outflows, and cumulative net outflows exceeded $2.5 billion from October 30 through November 11.

There is also a concrete deadline. MSCI will remove Strategy from its global equity indexes after trading closes on November 30. Strategy has warned that about $2.8 billion of its shares could be put up for sale. JPMorgan estimated as much as $8.8 billion in outflows if other index providers adopt a similar approach. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed.

Technically, Bitcoin briefly slipped below its 200-week moving average near $68,000. Any bounce toward $70,000 is a reflex, not yet a reversal. With the December rate decision and the MSCI deadline still ahead, every rally is a test of whether real buyers return. Solana and XRP are down 35% and 44% respectively since the start of the year, a sign of how much risk appetite has drained from the sector.

Fintech: Growth Beats Cost-Cutting

Two sets of results show how far apart the industry is drifting. Crypto exchange Gemini narrowed its third-quarter net loss by 63% to $58.6 million, but the quality of that improvement is thin.

Revenue fell 19% to $40.9 million and missed the analyst estimate of $42.04 million. Trading volume dropped to $4.5 billion from $16.4 billion a year earlier, a decline of 73%.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Bitcoin?

The smaller loss came partly from cost cuts, with operating expenses down 30%. Lower interest costs and the absence of last year’s loan valuation charges also helped. That is not a sustainable earnings base, and cash fell to $194.1 million. The stock rose 6.5% in after-hours trading to $2.79, against an IPO price of $28 in September 2025.

Nu Holdings offers the counter-example. The Brazilian digital bank reported record third-quarter net income of $1.1 billion, up 31% on a currency-neutral basis. Gross revenue rose 37% to a record $6.3 billion.

The shares were up about 4% premarket on Friday. They remain well below their 52-week high of $18.98, as rate worries and emerging-market risk stay priced in.

Revolut, meanwhile, is teaming up with Uber. Revolut Pay is now available as a payment method in the Uber app across the UK and Europe, for more than 5 million shared users. From November 11 through January 6, riders earn bonus points of up to 15x.

Revolut grew revenue 46% to $6.0 billion in 2025 and aims to reach 100 million customers by mid-2027. Uber stock trades around $69, roughly 15% lower year to date. The deal is not a share-price driver, but it shows Uber working on customer loyalty rather than just on prices.

Modine: Samsung as the Driver, Not the Numbers

Modine Manufacturing jumped on Friday after a Bloomberg report that Samsung is in talks to acquire the company, with a deal potentially coming together within weeks. The stock trades around $141 in US trading, after closing Thursday at $106.10. At Thursday’s close, Modine’s market value was about $5.6 billion. With about 53.2 million shares outstanding, the current price implies roughly $7.5 billion.

Nothing is settled. No final decision has been made, talks could collapse, and another buyer could emerge. Neither side has confirmed anything. Modine’s articles of incorporation also require approval from more than two-thirds of voting rights for major mergers.

The business itself is attractive. Modine builds cooling systems for data centers, which makes it an AI supplier without chip exposure. Data center revenue rose 95% to $439.7 million in the latest quarter, and orders exceeded $1 billion, a record.

The quarter had blemishes, though: adjusted earnings per share of $1.35 missed the $1.45 analysts expected, and gross margin fell 160 basis points to 20.7%. For Samsung, the logic is plausible. It bought Germany-based FläktGroup last year and is building out its cooling business.

Anyone buying now is mainly buying the hope of an offer, and part of that is already priced in. Even after the jump, the stock sits far below its 12-month high of $323.25. That gap shows how far it could fall if talks fail.

Outlook

The week ends with a steadier mood in equities, but interest rates cap any recovery. The key dates are the Fed minutes on Wednesday, the MSCI deadline for Strategy on November 30, and then the rate decision on December 9. Until then, it pays to favor stocks with their own driver, such as Nu with its earnings growth, and to be wary of stories that live on rumor alone.

Have a great weekend.

Best regards,
The StocksToday.com Editorial