Denitsa Tsekova

Bank of America is sounding the alarm over the explosive growth of prediction markets and sports gambling, warning it could lead consumers to take on too much debt and default on loans.

Wall Street’s risk machine didn’t break this week — Friday’s rebound spared it. But it flinched. And in doing so, it revealed how fragile the current market cycle has become.

At first glance, Wall Street barely moved this week.

Polymarket has begun live testing its US exchange by quietly opening up to some users and matching trades ahead of its planned relaunch in the American betting market.

Gambling’s reach is extending deeper into the investment ecosystem as Google strikes a deal to pipe prediction market data from Kalshi Inc. and Polymarket into its finance platform.

Wall Street closed out October on a high. AI optimism, solid earnings, and easier financial conditions lifted stocks to their sixth consecutive month of gains while credit just notched its third straight advance.

After two months of market bliss, Wall Street is stirring from its slumber.

Move over, buffer funds. Forget those income-enhanced strategies. Leverage? Who needs it. Wall Street has found another derivatives-powered bet to stuff inside an ETF: The single-stock autocallable.

Risk parity — the investing style popularized by Ray Dalio — is quietly bouncing back.

In normal times, the price of money — the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate — kept a close watch over Wall Street. A whisper of tighter policy chilled risk-taking; a hint of easier conditions sent markets surging.