Stock Indexes Pull Back for 4th Straight Session to End Year; Silver Sinks as CME Hikes Margins for 2nd Time in Week

What’s the Outlook for Interest Rates in 2026?

21 minutes ago

The Federal Reserve is leaning toward cutting interest rates again in 2026, but that doesn’t mean that all consumer borrowing costs would fall equally.

Credit cards and high-yield savings accounts are more closely tied to Fed policy, as the Fed has a heavier influence over short-term interest rates. Others are tied to how interest rates will evolve many years in the future, such as the 30-year mortgage—which can even rise when the Fed cuts rates.

The rates that individual customers pay depend on their credit history. Banks and other lenders charge more to those with lower credit scores or curtail their lending to higher-risk customers when the economy wobbles. 

But the Fed’s rate cuts matter for all borrowing costs nonetheless. Here’s how Fed policy could affect different types of consumer products:

Read the full article here.

–Polo Rocha

How Major Asset Classes Performed in 2025

1 hr 15 min ago

With 2025 coming to a close, here’s a look at how various major asset classes performed this year.

Silver futures have skyrocketed more than 145% in value over the past 12 months, with fellow precious metals platinum, palladium, gold, and copper also having surged.

Bringing up the rear of the nearly 50 asset classes tracked by my colleague Peter Gratton was orange juice, which has seen its price level plummet by roughly 60%.

How Your Retirement Savings Stack Up at Ages 35–44

1 hr 27 min ago

It’s no surprise that age impacts a household’s income, wealth, and ability to save for retirement. Families tend to see earnings and assets increase through midlife, according to data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. For Americans ages 35–44, this is a key time for building financial assets, which include retirement savings.

This stage of life often coincides with peak career growth, but there’s also financial pressure from all sides, from housing to childcare to debt. Despite that, people in this age range appear to be prioritizing retirement savings. The Fed’s survey shows that 61.5% of households in the 35-44 age range had money in retirement-specific accounts in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. That’s second only to the 45-54 age group, according to the survey, and it’s the highest percentage for the 35-44 age group since 2001.

For those in the 35-44 age group who reported having retirement accounts in 2022, the median balance was $45,000. (Medians are used instead of averages to reduce the influence of unusually high or low incomes.) That figure is greater than for the 18-35 age group but is well below the balances for the older age groups surveyed.

Additionally, it’s the lowest median balance for this age group since 2010—and the only age group to see a significant decline in recent years. The 35-44 age group’s median balance was $69,550 in the 2019 survey.

 “This group stands out because participation remains solid, but median retirement balances have lagged,” said Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP®, RICP® and director of the Center for Retirement Income at The American College of Financial Services. “Income growth during this period has been uneven, with gains concentrated among higher earners, while housing affordability, student loans, and child care costs have absorbed much of the rest.”

Read the full article here.

–Sara Clarke

IRS Announces New IRA Contribution Limits—Would You Be Ready for Retirement Saving That Much Annually?

1 hr 45 min ago

In 2026, you can contribute up to $7,500 to your IRA, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).1 (If you’re 50 or older, you can contribute $1,100 more as a catch-up contribution.) So we wondered: If you contributed $625 per month just to your IRA, would you have enough money to retire in the future?

Well, let’s run the numbers. Let’s assume you start saving for retirement at age 27 and you plan to retire at age 67. While IRA contribution limits typically increase every year to keep pace with inflation, let’s assume that you stick to the 2026 contribution limit of $7,500 per year. (This means no catch-up contributions, too.)

We can analyze two different scenarios: What if you put all of your money in an S&P 500 index fund? Or what about a 60/40 portfolio comprised of equities and fixed-income assets, respectively?

A few notes: These numbers will exclude fees like expense ratios, and we’ll use past annualized returns, which are not necessarily predictive of future returns. Additionally, these numbers assume you opt for a Roth IRA, where you pay taxes on your contributions upfront and withdrawals are tax- and penalty-free, as long as you’ve had the account for five years and are over age 59 ½.

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

Here’s What the Average Social Security Benefit Will Look Like for Retirees in 2026

2 hr 30 min ago

The average Social Security benefit in 2026 will be $2,071 per month.

Social Security benefits vary for each person, depending on a few factors. You can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, but your payments will be lower than if you had waited until your full retirement age (FRA). (If you were born in 1960 or later, your FRA is 67.)

Once you reach your FRA, which varies depending on when you were born, you will receive your full benefits. If you wait longer, your benefits will continue to increase until you reach the age of 70. If you started receiving benefits before your FRA and are still working, your benefits will also change depending on how much income you earn in a year.

Your benefits are based on the average indexed monthly earnings you earned in your highest-earning 35 years. The more you made in those years, the more you’ll receive in benefits once you retire.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Why AI Might Stamp Out Inflation But Endanger the Job Market

3 hr 9 min ago

If AI delivers on its promises, the economy of the future could have lower inflation and far fewer jobs.

That’s according to Chen Zhao, chief global strategist at Alpine Macroeconomics, who believes that today’s “jobless profit boom,” fueled by AI expansion, will lead to a low-inflation, low-employment economy in the near future.

“The chances are … that inflation will be all lower than 2% by the end of next year,” Zhao said.

Cooling prices would be great for American households—at least for those who manage to stay employed in the AI-driven economy.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Hurricane Melissa Damage to Ding Hyatt’s 2025 Earnings, Hotel Chain Says

3 hr 56 min ago

Hurricane Melissa packed a wallop. The damage it caused in Jamaica is going to affect Hyatt Hotels’ full-year earnings.

Hyatt Hotels (H) stock fell 2% in premarket trading Wednesday, a day after it updated its adjusted EBITDA outlook as a result of the damage related to the hurricane on the island in October.

In a regulatory filing late Tuesday, Hyatt said its 2025 adjusted EBITDA now is expected to be at the low end of its prior outlook range of $1.09 billion to $1.11 billion, “due primarily to weaker Distribution segment performance from cancellations in Jamaica.”

Hyatt said that seven Jamaica properties are expected to remain closed until the 2026 fourth quarter because of the hurricane damage.

Entering the final trading day of 2025, Hyatt shares are up 4% this year.

Bath & Body Works Confirms Stores Feel Overwhelming to Shoppers and Announces Upcoming Changes

4 hr 42 min ago

Some stores aspire to be basic. Bath & Body Works is one of them.

Bath & Body Works (BBWI) is simplifying its approach after its sales slipped 1% year-over-year and adjusted income fell 33% in the fiscal third quarter that ended in early November.

The retailer known for soaps, candles and skincare products overlooked its core inventory while trying to woo younger consumers, CEO Daniel Heaf said, and grew too dependent on big-name collaborations and promotions.

To regroup, the company will focus on traditional offerings, prioritize “clean” ingredients, and streamline the way its inventory appears in physical and digital stores, Heaf said on a conference call last month. The company—and its boss—aims to revive a stock that has cratered in 2025.

“The customer tells us that our proposition in-store is too overwhelming and confusing,” Heaf said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. “The outcome that we want is to be able to entice new consumers into our stores and onto our digital platforms. They [should be able to] find what they want easily and fall in love.”

Read the full story here.

–Sarina Trangle

What Taxes on Your Student Loan Forgiveness Will Look Like in 2026

5 hr 11 min ago

If you expect to have your federal student loans forgiven in 2026, you should check now to see if you’ll owe taxes on those funds.

Under a temporary tax rule created during the pandemic, borrowers who became eligible to have their loans discharged under an income-driven repayment plan between 2021 and the end of 2025 were exempt from paying taxes on the discharge of their loans. Eligibility requirements typically included being on an active income-driven repayment plan (Income-Based Repayment, Pay as You Earn, or Income-Contingent Repayment) and making 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments.

Starting in the new year, however, the rules for loan forgiveness will change, and borrowers who qualify for forgiveness in 2026 will have a higher tax bill.

Many borrowers who met all the requirements for student loan forgiveness this year have had their discharge delayed due to ongoing court litigation.

However, when the Department of Education announced in October that it would resume granting loan forgiveness to eligible borrowers, it clarified that any borrower who reaches eligibility in 2025 will not be required to pay taxes on it, even if their forgiveness is processed in 2026.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Stock Futures Point Lower to End Year

5 hr 51 min ago

Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% lower.

S&P 500 futures pointed down 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.3%.