Major Indexes Close Slightly Lower as Stocks Fall for 3rd Straight Session; Gold, Silver Prices Rebound

What FOMC Minutes Say About Outlook for More Rate Cuts?

2 hr 16 min ago

The Federal Reserve could move forward on more interest rate cuts if inflation continues to move lower, though officials remain divided about what recent economic data is telling them, minutes from the Fed policy committee’s most recent meeting showed.

Fed officials saw fewer risks that tariffs would drive up inflation, and more saw risks that the labor market could begin to deteriorate if rates remained too high.

But a rate cut in January remains far from certain, as several members said that the central bank must make sure inflation doesn’t move higher before moving to cut again.

“Some participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for some time after a lowering of the range at this meeting,” the minutes showed.

The Federal Open Market Committee lowered rates earlier month for the third time in as many meetings.

Read the full article here.

–Terry Lane

Energy Is Top-Performing Sector in Quiet Day for S&P 500

4 hr 7 min ago

The S&P 500 isn’t moving much on the penultimate trading day of the year, despite the best efforts of energy stocks.

The S&P 500 Energy Sector was the best performer of the 11 industries tracked by the benchmark index Tuesday, rising 0.8%.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Diamondback Energy (FANG), and Devon Energy (DVN) were the top-performing stocks in the sector, rising a respective 2.6%, 2.2%, and 1.8% with less than an hour to go in the session.

The S&P 500 as a whole was down about 0.1%, with consumer discretionary shares helping pull the index lower with a 0.4% decline.

While AI Replaces Entry-Level Jobs, These Graduate Careers Are Thriving

4 hr 36 min ago

Recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree, but having a hard time finding a job? Going to graduate school in these fields may lead you to some better prospects.

This year, the labor market has been slow to add workers, with tariffs stifling many companies’ abilities to hire. Additionally, a significant factor contributing to the slowing labor market, particularly for recent college graduates, is the growing presence of AI in the workforce. Those factors have pushed many students to turn to graduate school instead of immediately entering the labor market.

However, some graduate degree programs may offer you better job prospects than others.

Of those with a graduate degree, substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors are expected to be in high demand over the next several years, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lawyers and career counselors are also projected to have plenty of jobs to choose from.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Boeing Paces Dow Advancers With $8.58B Pentagon Contract to Build Fighter Jets for Israeli Air Force

5 hr 44 min ago

Boeing (BA) was awarded a lucrative defense contract. Investors are cheering the news.

Boeing stock was the top performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday afternoon, with shares rising about 2% on news the plane maker was awarded an $8.58 billion U.S. Department of Defense contract to build fighter jets for Israel.

“This contract provides for the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production, and delivery of 25 new F-15IA aircraft for the Israeli Air Force with an option for an additional 25 F-15IA aircraft,” the Pentagon said late Monday. “Work will be performed at St. Louis, Missouri and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2035.”

Boeing shares have added more than a quarter of their value this year. The stock surged earlier this month when CFO Jay Malave, speaking at a conference touted Boeing’s progress on its recovery plans, saying it expects to increase deliveries of its 737 and 787 jets next year and anticipates strong free cash flow growth in 2026.  

Intel Leads Nasdaq Gainers After Nvidia Completes $5B Share Purchase

6 hr 28 min ago

Nvidia (NVDA) has completed its substantial investment into fellow AI chipmaker Intel (INTC). Investors are buying shares of the latter Tuesday.

Shares of Intel surged 3% to lead the Nasdaq after a regulatory filing late Monday confirmed Nvidia completed a $5 billion share purchase announced in September.

In its Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Intel said it issued and sold Nvidia 214,776,632 shares of its stock at $23.28 per share last Friday.

Intel stock, which was replaced in the Dow Jones Industrial Average by Nvidia in November 2024, is up nearly 90% this year. Shares of Nvidia edged 0.2% lower Tuesday but are up about 40% in 2025.

Gold Prices Soared This Year. Will 2026 Bring More Record Highs?

7 hr 3 min ago

Gold investors enjoyed an almost unprecedented price rally in 2025. The question now is how much the market run persists into the new year.

In a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainty, gold’s safe-haven reputation thrived this year as it had not since the high-inflation era of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The precious metal’s price has surged about 65% this year, far outpacing the performance of virtually all other risk assets, including U.S. stocks, global bonds and cryptocurrencies.

Spot gold prices hit an all-time high of around $4,560 per troy ounce last Friday before sliding more than 4% on Monday, as exchange operator CME Group raised its margin requirements for precious metals contracts and investors booked profits. Gold rebounded on Tuesday, trading recently at around $4,400.

Most analysts expect gold’s bull run to moderate somewhat in 2026. That said, most see the only way gold will fall next year is if global economic growth exceeds expectations—and it could surge in the event of a substantial global slowdown.

Read the full article here.

–Lyle Niedens

Analysts See Tesla Q4 Deliveries Falling 20% From Last Year, EV Maker Says

8 hr 40 min ago

If analysts are correct, Tesla (TSLA) will deliver significantly fewer vehicles in the fourth quarter this year than last.

Late Monday, the EV maker issued a press release in which it gave 20 sell-side analysts’ consensus delivery figures for the current quarter and 2025-2029 fiscal years.

The consensus sees Q4 2025 deliveries of 422,850 vehicles, which would represent a roughly 15% year-over-year decline. Visible Alpha, which was not part of the group of 20 analysts, expects Q4 deliveries of 434,490 vehicles, which would represent a 12% decrease.

Tesla said the group anticipates 2025 deliveries of about 1.65 million, which would be an 8.3% decline from 2024’s roughly 1.79 million. Visible Alpha consensus calls for 2025 deliveries of about 1.64 million.

Tesla shares were little changed about an hour after the opening bell.

Jim Cramer Says ‘The Year of Magical Investing’ Is Over—Here’s What To Do Now

9 hr 33 min ago

CNBC’s “Mad Money” host is waving the yellow flag.

In other words, he’s urging caution: After a run-up in AI and other tech plays in 2025, Jim Cramer says “the year of magical investing” is coming to an end. In a recent interview on the “Investopedia Express” podcast, the CNBC star warned that many stocks have soared too high on hype—he name-checked companies tied to quantum computing, autonomous vehicles, and data center buildouts—and are due for a pullback.

But Cramer isn’t telling investors to head for the exits. Instead, he suggests shifting from shares of companies building AI systems to blue chips using artificial intelligence to transform their businesses.

We take you through his 2026 to-do list here.

–Peter Gratton

Meta Platforms Buys AI Agent Firm Manus for Reported $2B+

10 hr 30 min ago

Meta Platforms (META) continues to make big investments in its AI business.

The Facebook and Instagram parent announced it acquired Singapore-based AI startup Manus for what The Wall Street Journal said was more than $2 billion.

Meta said that Manus agents are able to “independently execute complex tasks like market research, coding, and data analysis.” The Magnificent Seven company added it would integrate Manus services into its offerings.

Shares of Meta, which through Monday’s close were up 13% in 2025, were little changed less than an hour before the bell.

–Terry Lane

EKSO Bionics Stock Skyrockets on Proposed Combination With Applied Digital’s Cloud Business

11 hr 7 min ago

EKSO Bionics Holdings (EKSO) entered Tuesday with a market capitalization of below $15 million. The tiny company is poised to be worth significantly more when markets open.

EKSO Bionics shares soared more than 40% in premarket trading after Applied Digital (APLD) late Monday announced a proposed combination with the Nasdaq-listed company “to form an accelerated focused GPU platform purpose built for next-generation AI workloads.”

A deal would see the much larger firm’s cloud computing business, Applied Digital Cloud, spun off to merge with EKSO, with the combined company going forward as “ChronoScale Corporation.”

Applied Digital said the proposed deal “is intended to create a focused platform designed to deliver high-performance compute at scale in a capacity-constrained market.”

Shares of Applied Digital rose nearly 3% before the bell.

Gen Z Shares Ideal Retirement Age but Admits They Will Work Far Beyond It

12 hr 3 min ago

While Gen Z dreams of an early retirement, they’re not expecting it.

Gen Z’s ideal retirement age is 59, according to a new survey from Manulife John Hancock Retirement, an insurance company.

However, this generation, which includes people aged 18 to 28, actually expects to retire much later, at age 67. A similar trend occurs across generations—peoples’ ideal retirement ages were younger than their expected retirement ages.

Millennials, who are aged 29 to 43, want to retire at age 61, but don’t expect to retire until age 69.

Despite Gen Z and Millennials’ less-than-optimistic retirement outlook, they may be more prepared for their golden years than they think.

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

Social Security Payments for January 2026: Here’s When to Expect Yours

12 hr 38 min ago

The Social Security Administration distributes benefits to almost 74 million people each month. Here is when to expect yours in January.

Payments are primarily distributed according to beneficiaries’ birth dates. However, for those who began receiving retirement, spousal, or survivor benefits before May 1997, they typically receive their payments on the 3rd of every month.

Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides additional income for people with disabilities and adults aged 65 and older with limited or no income, is distributed separately from Social Security benefits at the beginning of every month.

In some cases, when the beginning of the month coincides with a weekend or holiday, SSI benefits will be distributed in the preceding month. Due to the government holiday on New Year’s Day, Supplemental Security Income recipients will get their January check on Dec. 31, 2025.

Benefits in 2026 will be 2.8% higher, or about $56 more per month on average, compared to 2025.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Stock Futures Little Changed After Major Indexes Slip for 2nd Straight Session

13 hr 14 min ago

Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed marginally lower.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures also slipped 0.1%.