Wake Up With Breakfast News!

Wake up to the latest market news, company insights, and a bit of Foolish fun—all wrapped up in one quick, easy-to-read email, called Breakfast News. Delivered at 7:30 AM ET every single market day. See an example of our weekday Breakfast News email & sign-up below.

Nike (NYSE:NKE) popped 3.6% overnight after CEO Elliott Hill focused on "Win Now actions in our priority areas of North America, Wholesale, and Running" in yesterday's first-quarter earnings update. Wholesale revenue gained 7%, with North America revenue up 4%, both year over year. In an earnings call, Hill highlighted "Nike Running growing over 20% this quarter."

• "We still have much work to do": CFO Matthew Friend noted a 10% revenue drop in Greater China, while Nike Direct dipped 5% -- with reported total revenue up 1% to $11.7 billion. Friend expects Q2 revenue "to be down low single digits."
• "Gross margin fell 320 bps with tariffs & discounts both playing a role": Fool analyst Jason Moser pointed to pressure on profits but added, "Elliott Hill is approaching his one-year mark since coming back and while shares are still down, Nike is far from out."

S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell 0.8% and 1%, respectively, this morning, as the threatened U.S. government shutdown happened -- its first in nearly seven years -- after the two sides in Congress failed to agree on spending. Prior to that, the stock market turned in its best September in more than a decade. The S&P 500 ended the month 3.5% ahead, with the Nasdaq up 5.6%.

• Down to a single full-time employee: Friday's September jobs print is now under threat, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it will "completely cease operations" and furlough all bar one of its workforce of 2,055.
• "A shutdown is mostly all bark and little bite": Paul Hickey at Bespoke Investment Group suggests the only impact on investors will be having to face "endless coverage of it in the news." Dow Jones Market Data shows the S&P 500 has gained in the past five shutdowns.

A Fox Business Report yesterday claimed Target (NYSE:TGT) could be a, well, target for a private equity takeover, resurrecting rumors that have been circulating for much of the year.

• Second-quarter sales down 1%: Q2 results in August were better than feared but failed to ease investor fears, with the stock losing 6% on the day. Shareholder hopes for a new CEO from outside to shake up the company were dashed when insider Michael Fiddelke got the job.
• Near a six-year low: The stock jumped 2.8% from its intraday low to end the day almost 1% ahead. But a 12-month fall of 44% could make it an attractive acquisition candidate.

Warren Buffett is lining up Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) to buy Occidental Petroleum's (NYSE:OXY) OxyChem unit, reports The Wall Street Journal. It comes after earlier stories of the oil giant aiming to sell off the division as part of its plans to reduce debt.

• Berkshire's biggest buy in three years: The WSJ puts the value of the deal at around $10 billion, a little below the $11.6 billion paid for Alleghany in 2022. Berkshire already owns around 29% of Occidental.
• Nearly $350 billion to invest: The deal would involve relatively small change, as Buffett -- who steps down as CEO in 2025 -- has built up Berkshire's cash reserve in recent years.

Replying to a member's question following his most recent Quarterly Call, TMF co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner commented, "My present rank-order on the Mag7 for best 5-10 year results is: Tesla, Meta, Alphabet, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. (If I were risk-averse, I'd anchor more on Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia.) I'd like to see how other Fools rank them. :)"

So, today we're asking you to do just that! Debate with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying.