Market Beats | Trump Administration Proposes Wage- and Skill-Based Allocation for H-1B Visas; Valmet Automotive to Cut Nearly 30% of Staff; Disney Raises Disney+ Prices Again; Trump Blasts Allies and UN in Fiery UN General Assembly Speech; Trump Administration Warns Against Tylenol in Pregnancy; KKR and Blackstone Lead $17B Investment in US Natural Gas; Stripe Valuation Surges to $106.7B, Topping 2021 Peak

—— Trump Administration Proposes Wage- and Skill-Based Allocation for H-1B Visas; Valmet Automotive to Cut Nearly 30% of Staff; Disney Raises Disney+ Prices Again; Trump Blasts Allies and UN in Fiery UN General Assembly Speech; Trump Administration Warns Against Tylenol in Pregnancy; KKR and Blackstone Lead $17B Investment in US Natural Gas; Stripe Valuation Surges to $106.7B, Topping 2021 Peak

1. Trump Administration Proposes Wage- and Skill-Based Allocation for H-1B Visas

The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to overhaul the H-1B visa program, widely used by the tech industry, by shifting allocation from a randomized lottery to a system based on job skill requirements and wages offered.

Under the plan, applicants would be divided into four wage bands determined by Labor Department surveys. Workers in the top tier, with an average annual salary of $162,528, would have their names entered into the selection pool four times, while those in the lowest tier would be entered only once. The approach, according to the proposal, “would favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher skilled and higher paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels.”

The move marks the administration’s latest attempt to revamp employment-based visa programs, following its early focus on mass deportation campaigns. Just last week, the White House imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions as a condition of entry, a policy that initially spurred panic among employers and foreign workers before officials clarified it applied only to fresh applications filed after Sept. 21.

The H-1B program is capped at 85,000 new visas annually, though universities and research organizations are exempt. Employers whose online registrations are selected in the lottery are permitted to move forward with full petitions.

Both the new wage-based allocation system and the fee are expected to face legal challenges.

______

2. Valmet Automotive to Cut Nearly 30% of Staff

Finland’s Valmet Automotive Oyj, a contract manufacturer for Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said Tuesday it will slash jobs, impose temporary layoffs, and reassign roles at its Uusikaupunki plant. The measures will reduce the equivalent of up to 1,075 annual work units, or about 30% of its workforce.

Valmet has built the Mercedes-Benz A-Class since 2013 and also produces the GLC SUV and the Mercedes-AMG four-door GT Coupé. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to enter the defense industry as a contract manufacturer and spin off its battery-pack business into a separate entity.

The decision underscores the broader challenges facing Europe’s auto sector. Chinese automakers are gaining market share while demand for electric vehicles remains weak, leaving European manufacturers burdened with excess capacity.

On the same day, Stellantis NV said it would temporarily halt production at plants in Italy and France due to sluggish demand. Last week, Porsche AG and parent Volkswagen AG also cut their outlooks for the year.

______

3. Disney Raises Disney+ Prices Again

Walt Disney Co. will raise the monthly cost of its Disney+ streaming service starting Oct. 21. The ad-free plan will increase by $3 to $19 a month, while the ad-supported version will go up by $2 to $12.

Media companies have been hiking streaming prices after years of heavy investment, seeking to boost profitability. Disney has set a target of $1.3billion in operating income from its streaming segment for the current fiscal year.

The Burbank-based entertainment giant also raised Disney+ subscription prices last year by as much as 25%.

______

4. Trump Blasts Allies and UN in Fiery UN General Assembly Speech

US President Donald Trump delivered a 56-minute address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, using the extended speech to lash out at US allies and the global body itself.

Trump warned that immigration and what he called “suicidal energy ideas” would spell the end of Western Europe without immediate action. He dismissed climate change as a “con job” and told assembled leaders: “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders… Your countries are going to hell.”

He accused the UN of abetting illegal migration into the US, calling it “an assault on western nations and their borders.” Trump also said the UN had failed to support the US in what he described as successful negotiations to end conflicts such as the Israel-Iran war in June. “I never even received a phone call from the UN,” he said, adding that the body was full of “empty words” that don’t solve wars.

Trump criticized the UN’s past rejection of his early 2000s proposal to rebuild its headquarters, which he said would have provided “marble and mahogany.”

______

5. Trump Administration Warns Against Tylenol in Pregnancy

The Trump administration on Monday urged pregnant women to avoid Tylenol, claiming links to autism despite no widely accepted scientific evidence.

At a White House event with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump said: “So taking Tylenol is not good — I’ll say it — it’s not good. For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary.”

The administration also announced it has begun the approval process for leucovorin calcium, also known as folinic acid, as a treatment for a condition associated with autism. The drug is currently prescribed to counteract side effects of some cancer therapies and to treat anemia.

No new scientific data was presented to justify the shift. Decades of autism research have failed to identify a single cause. Trump went further than his health officials, warning that acetaminophen, Tylenol’s active ingredient, should be taken during pregnancy only in cases of severe fever. “If you can’t tough it out, if you can’t do it, that’s what you’re going to have to do — you’ll take a Tylenol, but very sparingly,” he said.

Market reaction was swift: shares of Kenvue Inc., Tylenol’s manufacturer, rebounded as much as 7.2% in Tuesday’s New York trading after plunging 7.5% the previous day.

______

6. KKR and Blackstone Lead $17B Investment in US Natural Gas

Private equity giants KKR & Co. and Blackstone Inc. are spearheading a combined $17billion push into the US natural gas sector, underscoring growing confidence that liquefied natural gas (LNG) will remain central to global energy markets for decades to come as artificial intelligence drives surging power demand.

On Tuesday, KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed to acquire a 45% equity stake in Sempra’s infrastructure unit for $10billion. The division builds LNG projects. Meanwhile, Blackstone announced a $7billion investment to acquire a 49.9% stake in the second phase of Sempra’s Port Arthur export terminal in Texas. The Blackstone-led deal ranks among the largest private credit investments ever and represents the first time private lenders have financed a project of this scale under construction. Blackstone contributed about 60% of the financing, with other lenders providing the balance, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The investments reflect optimism that US LNG exports will anchor the global energy system as Asian economies and others increase consumption, while Big Tech companies seek more energy to run data centers and the Trump administration pursues fossil fuel dominance. KKR is executing its purchase through its global infrastructure strategy, which manages about $90billion in assets across the Americas and Western Europe.

Sempra said the sale of its infrastructure stake will strengthen its credit profile, rebalance its business mix toward roughly 95% of earnings from regulated US utilities, and remove the need for planned equity issuances. Shares of Sempra rose as much as 5.4% on Tuesday.

______

7. Stripe Valuation Surges to $106.7B, Topping 2021 Peak

Stripe Inc.’s valuation has jumped to $106.7billion, surpassing its prior peak of $95billion set in 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The digital-payments firm remains one of the world’s most valuable private fintech companies. Earlier this year, its valuation stood at $91.5billion. Like Anthropic and OpenAI, Stripe has chosen to stay private despite its soaring valuation, leaving retail investors sidelined.

Beyond its core payments business, Stripe has recently expanded into stablecoin technology, underscoring its ambitions in the evolving crypto-payments space.

______