Editorial companion

What stands out

Eddie Ghabour says the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC, the group that sets U.S. interest-rate policy) is the biggest risk to the current bull market and argues a likely December rate hike could ‘strangle’ equities. He pins persistent inflation on crude oil’s rally tied to geopolitical conflict and contends the Fed cannot fight that directly. On the same call he names Microsoft, CrowdStrike, and Eli Lilly as top picks and says small-cap stocks become attractive if the Fed pauses.