October is half over. To this point, the 2025 edition of the tenth month of the year hasn't produced catastrophic equity market crashes as past Octobers have. On the other hand, this month hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. Again, the month is about half over, and markets have already been roiled by President Trump renewing harsh trade rhetoric against China and news that investment bank Jefferies and a pair of sizable regional banks are sitting on stacks of sour loans. That's sparking concern that situati ...