Ready, Steady, Go. Stocks got a running start to the fourth quarter, snapping a three-day losing streak even as Treasury yields continue to hover near multidecade highs.

The S&P 500 gained 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose slightly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21 points, or essentially flat.

The S&P and Dow hadn’t risen since Friday. The Nasdaq has fared slightly better, rising two days in a row as Wall Street piled back into AI stocks following Micron’s blowout earnings report.

Bonds also notched a slight improvement after a painful selling rout pushed yields on the 10-year note to a 24-year high. On Thursday, the yield on the 2-year Treasury note fell to 4.79%. The 10-year Treasury note dropped to 5.24%, snapping a seven-day streak of rising yields.

Tomorrow might be a crazier day for both bonds and stocks with the September jobs report on tap. Economists polled by FactSet expect the economy added 84,000 jobs last month after a 162,000 jump in August. Investors are closely tracking the data to divine what the Federal Reserve might do at its October meeting. Traders are currently pricing in a 72% chance that policymakers hold rates steady, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool. A week ago, those odds were just 31%.

“Rate hike odds for October—which fell massively this week on PCE, dovish Fed talk, and soft data—likely hinge on the jobs report and September inflation data,” writes Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab.

A solid jobs report would likely give the Fed the latitude to worry more about inflation than the labor market. Inflation as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index came in a touch softer than expected in August at an annual pace of 3.4% but remains well above the Fed’s 2% target.

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-	Last	Chg%
↑ Dow Jones Industrial Average	50,926.56	+0.04%
↑ S&P 500 Index	7,666.45	+0.19%
↑ NASDAQ Composite Index	26,871.60	+0.04%

10/1/2026, 8:01:02 PM ET

The Hot Stock: Accenture +15.8%
The Biggest Loser: Paramount Skydance -9.6%

Best Sector: Energy +1.9%
Worst Sector: Healthcare -1.3%

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Crypto’s Tax Crackdown

Sorry, crypto holders—your tax bill might be about to go up.

The House is poised to take up the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act after the midterms, a bill that would overhaul the tax framework for digital assets. The bill would affect crypto transfers, mining, and staking. Importantly, it would eliminate a loophole for so-called wash sales, which lets crypto investors sell Bitcoin at a loss and then buy it back a short time later and still claim the original loss.

My colleague, Elijah Nicholson-Messmer, explains:

Consider an investor who bought Bitcoin when it was worth $100,000 but is now holding it at a lower price, producing an unrealized loss of $5,000. With the current loophole, the investor can sell—and immediately buy back—the Bitcoin to realize that loss, offsetting $5,000 in capital gains elsewhere. For an investor with $20,000 in realized long-term capital gains taxed at 15%, that would reduce their tax bill by hundreds of dollars.

Investors generally can’t pull the same maneuver with assets like stocks. Regulations seek to prevent investors from selling an asset simply to take a tax loss while essentially keeping it.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the government would rake in about $1.7 billion in tax revenue over 10 years if the loophole gets eliminated.

Of course, Congress doesn’t have a lot of time left in the year to pass the law. The House returns from recess on Nov. 9 and will be trying to legislate in the midst of a lame-duck session.

Read Elijah’s full story here.

The Calendar

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for September tomorrow. The consensus call is for an increase of 84,000 in nonfarm payrolls, after a 162,000 jump in August. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.1%.

What We’re Reading Today

• Accenture Stock Is Having Its Best Day Ever. AI Isn’t the Threat Everyone Thought.

• The Most Promising Markets for Meta’s Muse Are Also the Hardest to Monetize

• Corteva Stock Isn’t Really Down 80%

• Trump Wants Control of the Fed. His Powell Obsession Might Prevent It.

• This Fidelity Manager Likes Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Other Consumer Staples Bargains

Barron’s Live returns on Monday. Barron’s Live features timely and actionable insights for investors. We give you behind-the-scenes conversations with the newsroom, connecting you with our editors and reporters covering the markets, the economy, and more.