What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the U.S. government hurtled toward a potential shutdown, sparking economic uncertainty and weighing on investor confidence. 

Market volatility increased as a partisan standoff pushed the federal government closer to a shutdown. If lawmakers fail to reach a spending agreement, a shutdown would begin, furloughing thousands of federal workers. This prospect has weighed on investor sentiment, creating a 'risk-off' mood in the markets as traders brace for potential economic disruption. The political uncertainty adds a layer of caution for investors heading into the final day of the month. 

Adding to the weakness, a key report showed U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to a five-month low in September. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index slid to 94.2, a steeper drop than analysts had anticipated and its lowest reading since April. This downturn reflects growing pessimism among Americans about inflation and a weakening job market. Consumer confidence is a closely watched economic indicator as it gauges households' willingness to spend. A decline suggests that consumers may pull back on discretionary purchases, such as dining out or shopping for non-essential goods, which could negatively impact the future revenues and profits of companies in these sectors.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Credit Card company Capital One (NYSE: COF) fell 4.9%. Is now the time to buy Capital One? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Personal Loan company Sezzle (NASDAQ: SEZL) fell 3%. Is now the time to buy Sezzle? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Personal Loan company LendingClub (NYSE: LC) fell 5.9%. Is now the time to buy LendingClub? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Personal Loan company Dave (NASDAQ: DAVE) fell 6.3%. Is now the time to buy Dave? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Personal Loan company Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) fell 5.4%. Is now the time to buy Affirm? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Dave (DAVE)

Dave’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 72 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 11 days ago when the stock gained 5.6% on the news that the company announced a $125 million share repurchase program and raised its revenue guidance for 2025. This reflected strong confidence in its future growth prospects. The company lifted its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $505 million to $515 million. The move suggested management saw its own stock as a good investment.

Dave is up 131% since the beginning of the year, but at $199.35 per share, it is still trading 29.3% below its 52-week high of $281.79 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Dave’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $635.68.

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