S&P 500 Closes at Record High as Stocks Rise for 4th Straight Session

Which Sectors Will Lead Stock Market in 2026?

1 hr 38 min ago

Big tech stocks are likely to “take a little bit of a pause” next year, tempering the S&P 500’s full-year returns, according to Jay Woods, chief strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.

Woods expects relatively staid sectors like industrials, transports and financials to assume market leadership next year.

Woods sees the S&P 500 rising between 3% and 5% over the next year to finish 2026 in the 7,200s. That’s one of the more bearish forecasts on Wall Street, where the median year-end S&P 500 target is about 7,650, according to CNBC’s most recent strategist survey.

Midterm elections, new Federal Reserve leadership, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs could amplify market volatility, according to Woods.

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Wage Garnishments for Defaulted Student Loans to Begin Early Next Year

3 hr 46 min ago

Months after being originally announced, defaulted federal student loan borrowers will have their wages cut by the Department of Education early next year.

Since this summer, the Department of Education has said it will garnish wages from borrowers who have defaulted on their loans. On Jan. 7, the first batch of defaulted borrowers, approximately 1,000, will be notified that their wages are set to be garnished, the Department of Education said in an email to Investopedia. The Department said the number of garnishment notices issued to defaulted borrowers will increase each month.

After a borrower defaults on their student loan, which typically occurs after not making a payment for more than 270 days, they receive a notice stating that their income will be garnished by up to 15% to compensate for the missed payments. They have 30 days after the notice before cuts to their income start, during which they can negotiate their repayment terms or request a hearing to stop their wages from being cut.

Over the past few years, millions of student loan borrowers have fallen behind on their payments and defaulted on their loans, following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic-era payment pause in 2023. As of September 30, 2025, 5.2 million borrowers were in default, and nearly 6.6 million were between one month and one year delinquent.

Borrowers who are currently in default and want to avoid wage garnishment can request that their loans be consolidated or placed in rehabilitation to bring them back into good standing.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Here Are 3 Hidden Financial Red Flags in Retirement

4 hr 11 min ago

Even for the well-prepared, things can go awry in retirement—whether it’s entering your golden years during a bear market or facing an unexpected death.

While you might not be able to plan for every surprise, Investopedia spoke with financial experts to understand what hidden red flags commonly arise for people during retirement and how you can prepare.

Read the list of hidden financial red flags here.

–Trina Paul

What Would It Would Cost to End Global Poverty?

4 hr 11 min ago

It would take $318 billion per year, or 0.3% of the world’s economic output, to end extreme poverty worldwide.

That’s according to a study from researchers at Stanford, the University of California, Berkley, and the University of California, San Diego published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

 The researchers analyzed income data from 23 countries and estimated that it would cost that much money to ensure that almost everyone in the world had at least $2.15 (in 2017 dollars) per day to live on, raising them above the global standard for “extreme” poverty.

The researchers studied a “targeted” approach—that is, finding people below the extreme poverty line and giving them cash until they were above it. That’s compared to other possible remedies, such as universal basic income. They found the targeted approach cost about 19% as much as UBI. The policy they studied would reduce extreme poverty to 1% from its current level of 12%.

How much is $318 billion in the scheme of things? It’s a tiny fraction of the world’s economic output. It’s about equal to the $320 billion that Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft collectively planned to spend on AI research and data center expansion in 2025 according to a report by CNBC early this year. And the researchers noted that it’s far less than the 2.2% of global GDP that’s spent on alcoholic beverages each year.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Trump’s Plans for a ‘Golden Fleet’ Sent This Shipmaker’s Stock to Record Highs

4 hr 54 min ago

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shares sailed to new highs this week.

Shares of the shipbuilder climbed close to 2% to a fresh record high Tuesday before paring back some of their early gains, extending their rally after the Trump administration said it wants the company to build new ships for the U.S. Navy.

President Donald Trump said in a press conference Monday that the first ship, designed and built by Huntington, will be called the USS Defiant as part of his effort to revamp the Navy’s fleet of ships into a “Golden Fleet.” Trump said the Navy could buy 20 to 25 of the new ships.

Huntington had announced Friday that it was selected to build new ships for the U.S. Navy, and that the ships will be based on a previous design currently used by the Coast Guard. Navy Secretary John Phelan said the first ships are expected to be completed by 2028. Shares of Huntington jumped over 4% Friday following the news, and added another 5% Monday.

With the stock’s recent gains, it’s nearly doubled in value in 2025.

–Aaron McDade

ServiceNow Deal for Armis Done; Stock Declines Again

5 hr 43 min ago

Eight days ago, ServiceNow (NOW) sank following a report the the AI-driven enterprise software provider was close to purchasing Internet of Things security startup Armis. Now that it’s a done deal, it’s declining again.

ServiceNow shares fell 2.5% Tuesday afternoon after it bought Armis for $7.75 billion in cash.

On Dec. 15, ServiceNow stock sank more than 11% after Bloomberg reported the two companies were in advanced acquisition talks.

ServiceNow said it made the deal to expand its “security workflow offerings and advance AI-native, proactive cybersecurity and vulnerability response across all connected devices.”

ServiceNow stock has lost more than a quarter of its value this year.

Nvidia’s H200 AI Chips Get Trump’s Nod for China Sales. Will Political Hurdles Derail the Plan?

6 hr 26 min ago

Nvidia finally won President Donald Trump’s approval to sell its H200 AI chips in China, but will it be able to seal the deal?

The company looks to sell the chip in China as soon as February, Reuters reported Monday, after President Trump greenlighted the chip earlier this month in exchange for a 25% revenue-sharing agreement. But uncertainty over whether U.S. lawmakers or China’s government will allow the sales has weighed on investor confidence that the sales will happen.

The H200 chip, which is a generation behind Nvidia’s Blackwell line, had been banned for sale to China on national security concerns, and its export to the country still faces vocal bipartisan opposition in the U.S., along with potential challenges in China.

Since Trump announced the H200 deal in early December, U.S. lawmakers ‌from both parties have pushed back with demands for more oversight and bills that could block sales. On Friday, House Republicans introduced a bill that would allow Congress to block advanced AI chip exports, a day after House Democrats proposed a bill that would prohibit sales of America’s most advanced chips to China and other countries of concern.

Chinese officials also have yet to approve H200 sales in the country, with analysts warning China’s government could discourage firms from buying the chips, as it has with the H20, a weaker chip that Trump approved for export earlier this year.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

The Bachelor’s Degrees Most Likely to Get You a High-Paying Job

7 hr 12 min ago

If you’re looking to get a high-paying job with security, you may need to look to the sky when considering what to major in.

Aerospace engineering graduates earn a median of $125,000 mid-career and face just 1.4% unemployment, making it the bachelor’s degree most likely to land you a high-paying, stable job, according to Federal Reserve data.

Computer engineering and chemical engineering follow close behind, both topping $120,000 at mid-career.

But the outlook isn’t uniform across STEM. Computer engineers earn $122,000 mid-career yet battle the highest unemployment rate of any field at 7.5%. Finance and economics round out the top 10, offering six-figure mid-career salaries without requiring an engineering background.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

Mapped: Which States Are Raising the Minimum Wage in 2026—And Which Will Still Be at $7.25 an Hour

7 hr 36 min ago

For workers in many states, 2026 will bring a higher minimum wage, though the timing isn’t the same everywhere. Most of the states making changes will boost pay beginning New Year’s Day, while a smaller group has increases scheduled for later in the year.

In total, 19 states are set to raise their minimum wage on January 1, reflecting either scheduled increases or inflation-based adjustments. California stands out for making two changes in 2026, with an increase at the start of the year followed by another on July 1. Three other states—Alaska, Florida, and Oregon—will raise their minimum wages later in the year, with increases taking effect on either July 1 or September 1.

Some states won’t see minimum wage changes in 2026 because they already raised pay in earlier years. In many cases, those increases were the result of multiyear schedules approved by lawmakers or voters, designed to lift wages gradually rather than all at once.

Four of those states—California, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts—already require employers to pay at least $15 an hour statewide, putting them among the highest minimum-wage states in the country. Each reached that level through phased increases over several years, with some states adjusting pay in line with inflation.

Read the full article with maps here.

–Sabrina Karl

Used Car Prices Are Changing as 2025 Winds Down—Here’s What’s Getting Cheaper (and What Isn’t)

9 hr 7 min ago

If you’ve ever shopped for a car in December, you may have noticed that dealerships are more willing to negotiate. Year-end is one of the most volatile periods in the auto market, especially for used vehicles. This happens because dealers are trying to clear aging inventory before the new year while hitting annual sales targets and making room for incoming trade-ins tied to end-of-year buying. At the same time, many buyers pull back on major expenditures during the holidays, which naturally softens demand.

That’s why experts often point to late December, even New Year’s Eve, as one of the most buyer-friendly windows of the year. Timing alone can make a noticeable difference in what you pay, especially if you’re flexible on model year or trim level.

Not all used car prices behave the same way as the year winds down, and November’s data highlights those differences clearly. Month over month, several mainstream categories saw price declines as inventory built up and demand cooled. Sedans, smaller SUVs, and some midsize crossovers continued a gradual easing trend, which is good news for practical buyers focused on affordability and reliability.

Hybrids and electric vehicles saw the biggest price drop from October to November, with a decline of 1.8%.2 In addition to seasonal price influences, hybrids and EVs saw a sharp decline in demand due to the elimination of the $4,000 federal tax credit for hybrids and EVs purchased after Sept. 30, 2025.

Read the full article here.

–Gina Young

Economy Grew Faster Than Expected in Third Quarter

9 hr 36 min ago

The U.S. economy grew much faster than forecasters had expected in the third quarter, thanks to a drop in imports and a surge in consumer spending.

The inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product grew at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, up from 3.8% growth in the second, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday. That blew past the 3.2% growth forecasters had expected, and was well above the 2.6% average annual growth rate over the previous four years.

The surge in economic growth partly reflected a decrease in imports, which are subtracted from the GDP, and have declined as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign.

Other parts of the economy accelerated, including exports, government spending, and the all-important rate of consumer spending. Consumer spending is the largest factor in the GDP and rose 3.5%. The economy grew rapidly in the second half of the year, after shrinking in the first quarter due to a surge in imports aimed at avoiding the tariffs.

The GDP report had been scheduled to be released in October, but was delayed by the government shutdown. The BEA will revise its GDP estimate and release a final tally next month.

–Diccon Hyatt

Next Fed Meeting: When It Is in January and What to Expect on Interest Rates

11 hr 1 min ago

The Federal Reserve’s policy committee is scheduled to meet next on Jan. 27 and 28, and officials are expected to hold the central bank’s key interest rate steady after a series of cuts in recent months.

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet to consider whether to cut the federal funds rate from its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The Fed cut its interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point at each of the previous three meetings in an effort to prevent the recent job market slowdown from turning into a serious increase in unemployment.

Fed officials have been divided about whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or keep them high to fight inflation. The Fed’s dual mandate from Congress requires it to keep inflation low and employment high, and both have been headed in the wrong direction in recent months, creating a dilemma for the Fed. Lower borrowing costs could help encourage hiring, but could risk stoking inflation.

“A very large number of participants agree that risks are to the upside for unemployment and to the upside for inflation,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the December meeting of the policy committee. “So what do you do? You’ve got one tool. You can’t do two things at once. So at what pace do you move? It’s a very challenging situation.”

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Novo Nordisk Stock Soars on FDA Approval of Wegovy Pill

11 hr 44 min ago

After the bell Monday, Novo Nordisk (NVO) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved its GLP-1 pill. Its stock is soaring in premarket trading Tuesday.

U.S.-listed shares of the Danish drugmaker surged about 8% before the bell after it said that FDA had “approved the Wegovy pill (once-daily oral semaglutide 25 mg) to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term and to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.”

The firm, which also submitted the Wegovy pill to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulatory authorities in the second half of this year, expects to launch it in the U.S. in early January. Wegovy already had been approved as a once-weekly injection by the FDA, EMA, and others.

The FDA approval for its blockbuster obesity medication in pill form gives Novo Nordisk a leg up on rival Eli Lilly (LLY), whose weight-loss pill is expected to be approved by the regulatory agency in the first quarter of 2026.

Eli Lilly shares slipped 0.7% before the bell but entered Tuesday up nearly 40% this year. U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk have lost almost 45% of their value in 2025.

Stock Futures Little Changed Ahead of GDP Data

12 hr 28 min ago

Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average were near flat.

S&P 500 futures were fractionally higher.

Nasdaq 100 futures also were up fractionally.