Fed and ECB hold rates as insider sales outnumber buys

Insiders this week

Insiders filed 494 buys and 877 sales this week. The largest purchase came from Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners III, L.P., a 10% owner, which bought Lycia Therapeutics shares for USD 37.7 million, filed with the SEC on Tuesday 27 October. That same day, L E Lundbergföretagen Aktiebolag (publ), closely associated with a Sandvik board member, reported buying Sandvik shares for SEK 348.3 million. Jacobson Mitchell, a director and 10% owner of MSC Industrial Direct, bought shares for USD 29.0 million. Board member Garavoglia L. bought Davide Campari shares for EUR 14.8 million, filed on Friday 30 October. Inversora Oquendo, S.L., closely associated with Banco Santander board chair Ana Patricia Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y O'Shea, bought Santander shares for EUR 3.1 million.

The largest sale came from Berkshire Hathaway Inc, a 10% owner, which sold Davita shares for USD 69.0 million, filed on Thursday 29 October. Salénia Holding AB, closely associated with the board chair of Sagax, sold Sagax shares for SEK 353.6 million. Ulrichts P., Chief Scientific Officer of argenx, sold shares for EUR 7.0 million. At Banco Santander, group senior executive vice-president Juan Maria Olaizola Bartolome sold shares for EUR 619,000. Koopman Edward, a senior executive at Sofina, sold shares for EUR 339,000.

Members of Congress reported 16 trades. Representative Kevin Hern reported sales of ASML Holding, Seagate Technology Holdings and Texas Instruments. Each was in the band of $15,001 to $50,000, and all were filed on Tuesday 27 October. Representative Pete Sessions reported an Amazon.com sale in the same band. Representative David J. Taylor reported an AT&T purchase in the band of $1,001 to $15,000. There were no new 13F positions. Among 91 featured trades, Plejd board member Christian Erland Harald von Koenigsegg bought shares for SEK 28,714,000. Pinnacle Financial Partners director Ingram David B bought USD 991,600, the first purchase on file, and Beacon Financial director Charnley Nina A bought USD 10,700.

Macro

On Wednesday 28 October, the Federal Reserve decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent. Voting against the monetary policy action were Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack, who preferred to raise the target range by a quarter point. The statement said that inflation remains elevated.

On Thursday 29 October, the European Central Bank kept its deposit rate at 2.5%, after a hike in September. Christine Lagarde said policymakers had discussed another increase but agreed unanimously to wait. At the same meeting, Lagarde announced plans to step down in February, nine months before the end of the current term.

In the United States, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2026. In the second quarter, it grew 2.2 percent. In September, the PCE price index increased 3.6 percent from a year earlier. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 3.1 percent from one year ago.

In Europe, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU in the third quarter. Declines were recorded in Lithuania (-1.0%) and France (-0.1%). For inflation in October, Italy came out on top, with prices rising 5.4% from a year earlier. Spain followed at 4.9%, France at 3.4% and Germany at 2.8%. Eurostat will publish its flash estimate for the entire currency bloc next week.

Markets and the world

Oil prices moved with news on Iran. Brent crude traded at around $113.6 a barrel on Friday morning, up roughly 2.5% on the week, after falling more than 6% on Monday as diplomacy over the Iran war seemingly gathered pace. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate stood at around $104.2 a barrel, up roughly 1.5% on the week. Investors were also watching Tuesday's US midterm elections.

France's bond market also drew attention. France's gross domestic product fell by 0.1 % in the third quarter. On Friday, the yield on 10-year French government bonds stands at 4.9 %, 0.17 points below the peak reached on 22 October. The French-German spread, which measures the gap between the two countries' borrowing rates, is around 1.55 points.

On trade, a group of 12 MEPs visiting China urged Beijing to build on a recent deal that limits Chinese hybrid car exports to the EU. The EU's trade deficit with China has reached a record €360 billion. Under the October deal, the EU will introduce country-specific quotas allowing 350,000 Chinese hybrid cars onto the European market annually over four years.

Earnings this week

Alphabet (GOOGL). Alphabet reported revenues of $127.6 billion for the third quarter 2026, an increase of 25%. For the third quarter 2026, Alphabet's net income available to common stockholders was $26.2 billion and EPS was $2.12.

Microsoft (MSFT). Microsoft reported revenue of $92.3 billion for the first quarter, the quarter ended September 30, 2026, an increase of 19%. Microsoft's net income was $36.6 billion, an increase of 32% on a GAAP basis, and diluted earnings per share was $4.92, an increase of 32% on a GAAP basis.

Amazon Com (AMZN). Amazon.com reported net sales of $201.9 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 12%, compared with $180.2 billion in third quarter 2025. Amazon.com's net income was $20.7 billion, or $1.89 per diluted share, compared with $21.2 billion, or $1.95 per diluted share, in third quarter 2025.

ELI LILLY & Co (LLY). Eli Lilly reported revenue of $24.4 billion in Q3 2026, an increase of 39%. Eli Lilly's Q3 2026 EPS was $7.22 on a reported basis, an increase of 16%.

AbbVie (ABBV). AbbVie reported worldwide net revenues of $17.404 billion for the third quarter, an increase of 10.3 percent on a reported basis. AbbVie's third-quarter diluted EPS was $2.37 on a GAAP basis, an increase of over 100.0 percent.

1. Form 8-K · 28 OctAlphabet (GOOGL), press release ↗ sec.gov
2. Form 8-K · 28 OctMicrosoft (MSFT), press release ↗ sec.gov
3. Form 8-K · 29 OctAmazon Com (AMZN), press release ↗ sec.gov
4. Form 8-K · 29 OctELI LILLY & Co (LLY), press release ↗ sec.gov
5. Form 8-K · 30 OctAbbVie (ABBV), press release ↗ sec.gov

From the press releases the companies filed with the SEC (Form 8-K). Figures as reported; no estimates.