Average hourly pay, adjusted for inflation, has returned to roughly where it began in January 2025: the average wage was $35.84 then ($37.79 in today's dollars), versus $37.81 last month, essentially unchanged over 20 months. September consumer prices rose 3.7% year-over-year, above the 3.6% expected and up from 3.4% in August, while gasoline rose 9.1% month-over-month. Economists describe the inflation problem as persistent, and Navy Federal Credit Union's Heather Long links the squeeze to the war in Iran that began at the end of February. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 46.3 in October from 71.7 in January 2025. Some measures look better: weekly earnings have grown faster than hourly pay, the White House cites annual earnings growth of more than $600, and producer prices rose 1.3% in September, the highest since 2022.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Original headline: Got a Raise in Past 2 Years ? It Likely Now All Eaten by Inflation .
Read the original on businessinsider.com ↗
Related news
- Michael Burry Is Bearish on Palantir, Which Is Up 19% Over the Past Year, but His Oracle Short Just Got a Boost From a 53% Stock Drop. Is His AI Bubble Bet Still Worth Following?
Michael Burry, who made his fortune betting against the U.S. housing market before the 2008 crisis, remains bearish on AI overinvestment even after disbanding Scion Capital. He holds put options on Nvidia, Palantir and Oracle, but so far only the Oracle bet has paid off, while Nvidia and Palantir have not fallen as he expected. Burry argues the market is in denial and propped up by borrowed money, and says this denial phase lasted six to nine months before previous crashes. He has also criticized Nvidia’s chip depreciation math, while buying MercadoLibre and Deckers Outdoor. The author concludes that AI investors should still follow this bear case to maintain an objective view.
- Got $500? 2 No-Brainer Energy Dividend Stocks to Buy Right Now, Starting With a Huge 6% Yield.
Amid a Middle East conflict that keeps oil and gas demand strong, the article highlights two energy dividend stocks. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) offers a 6% yield backed by 28 annual distribution increases, and its fee-based midstream model depends more on volume than on commodity prices. The slow-growing MLP has $6.5 billion in capital investments lined up, so the article expects only low- to mid-single-digit distribution growth. Chevron (CVX) yields 3.4% and spans upstream, midstream and downstream operations, which helps soften oil price swings, while its debt-to-equity ratio of about 0.2x and 38-year streak of dividend increases reflect a conservative approach. The article suggests Enterprise for a high current yield, and says investors could wait for an oil market downturn to get a better entry point into Chevron.
- Over the Past 3 Years, Bitcoin Is Up 225% and the Nasdaq Is Up 109%. Here's the 1 Takeaway Lesson for Crypto Investors.
Over the past 3 years, Bitcoin rose 225% while the Nasdaq gained 109%, but the article argues the result depends on whether investors stayed in the market. Citing research from Grayscale, it says missing Bitcoin's 5 best trading days would cut its return to 95%, missing the top 10 would reduce it to 27%, and missing the top 15 would produce an 11% loss. The Nasdaq's gains were far less dependent on a few days, with returns turning negative only after missing its 25 best days. The author concludes that long-term exposure works better than trying to time the market, since Bitcoin's volatility is also what produces its large upside bursts.
- Brian Sullivan: Why the 'real' price of oil is likely $30-$40 higher than where it is now
According to Brian Sullivan, the real price of oil for buyers of physical barrels is $125 or more, because shipping costs have surged: a VLCC chartered from the U.S. Gulf Coast to China fetched $76 million, about 10 times its level a year ago and roughly $38 extra per barrel by his estimate. Although oil volumes through the Strait of Hormuz are near pre-war levels, freight costs remain high and show no sign of falling. The column also reports at least 14 deaths and more than 300 injuries in attacks on Riyadh's airport. On stocks, RBC says Shell (SHEL) could benefit from export margins to Europe at their widest since 2022, while Truist upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to Buy with a $270 target.
- Ray Dalio All Weather portfolio vs 60 : 40 portfolio : Which delivered better returns over 15 years in India ?
A Zerodha Varsity backtest from February 2011 to September 2026 found Ray Dalio's All Weather portfolio returned an average 9.9% a year, below 10.4% for a 60:40 portfolio and 12% for the Nifty 500 TRI. Its advantage was lower risk, with volatility of 5.7% versus 10.5% and 17.5%, and a biggest fall of 6.4% versus 17.6% and 31.8%. A ₹1 lakh investment would have grown to about ₹4.4 lakh, against ₹4.7 lakh and ₹5.9 lakh for the other two. It also fell less in the Covid-19 crash and gained 1.2% between January and September 2026 while the Nifty 500 TRI fell 6%, a resilience Zerodha largely credits to gold. The article stresses this shows a trade-off between returns and risk, not that the strategy will always outperform.
- Coinbase, which holds 5% of all bitcoin, wants the quantum fix started now
Coinbase, which holds about 5% of all bitcoin in existence for clients including banks, asset managers and hedge funds, says Bitcoin should start preparing now for quantum computers. Google researchers cited in the article say a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could exist by 2029 and could derive private keys from public keys to drain vulnerable wallets. Coinbase recommends flexible post-quantum signatures, staged adoption, reliable implementations, and systems that serve both individual users and institutions using multiparty security. It argues that dormant or late-migrating wallets should be handled separately so they do not delay broader protections. Coinbase notes that Bitcoin consensus changes and ecosystem migrations can take years, so the work must start well before any such machine is announced.
Related markets
Latest news
- Meta Earnings: What To Look For From META
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will report earnings this Wednesday after the market closes. Last quarter, revenue reached $60.8 billion, up 28% year on year and above analysts' expectations, though revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missed forecasts; daily active users hit 3.6 billion, up 3.4%. The market expects revenue growth of 23.6% this quarter, slowing from 26.2% a year earlier, and analysts have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the past 30 days. Over the last month, consumer internet stocks have gained 1.3% on average, while Meta is down 4.8%.
- An AI bust could come from places investors arent watching , an economist says
Concerns about an AI bubble are growing, and TS Lombard's Dario Perkins warns that investors may be overlooking other risks. Debt among smaller cloud providers, model developers and suppliers could reach $2 trillion by the end of 2027. Perkins does not see this as a systemic risk, but warns that earnings disappointments and canceled orders could ripple through the ecosystem, and that a chip glut could follow over-ordering. Much of the industry's revenue growth still comes from spending within the AI ecosystem rather than from businesses and consumers outside it. He also flags political backlash, noting that ordinary people dislike AI and nearby datacenters, and warns that one high-profile accident could turn AI toxic.
- Yen jumps after JGB auction draws big demand , euro finds relief
The yen rose 0.2% to 158.15 per dollar in Asian trading after a 20-year Japanese government bond auction drew bids of 5.84 times the amount sold, well above the 4.01 times at the previous auction, and the yield fell 6 basis points to 3.71%. A State Street strategist said the record demand suggests sidelined cash is returning and that JGBs are becoming a relative haven from political and fiscal volatility in Europe, particularly France. Anti-government protests in France prompted curfews in several cities, while Italy said it would send 500 troops after two days of unrest, and the euro rallied 0.2% to $1.1234. Elsewhere, bitcoin slipped 0.3% to $81,674.25 and ether edged down 0.2% to $2,393.21.
- Unemployment rate dips to 4 . 7 % - but vacancies hit five - year low
Vacancies fell by 21,000 to 691,000 in the three months to September, the biggest drop since the three months to March and the lowest since July to September 2014 outside the pandemic, while unemployment dipped in the three months to August. Payroll numbers were down 66,000 over the year to September. The ONS said the fall was mainly among smaller firms struggling with higher labour costs, following rises in employer national insurance, the minimum wage and workers' rights. A CBI survey found labour costs and regulations were making it harder to create jobs, and firms urged the Chancellor not to add to their burden in the October 28 Budget. ICAEW's Suren Thiru said the labour market is 'running on idle' and unemployment could climb above 5 per cent, while Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith blamed Labour's 'Jobs Tax' and red tape.
- CNBC Daily Open: Tech rebounds in the U.S., but Asia isn’t buying it yet
U.S. tech stocks rebounded as the Nasdaq Composite rose more than 1% on Monday, with Nvidia up 1.4% and Tesla up 3.8%. In Asia, however, tech shares fell on Tuesday, with South Korea's Kospi down over 4% and Japan's Nikkei 225 down 1.6%. Nvidia also unveiled plans to back four German AI startups as part of its nearly $10 billion European investment commitment. Jenny Lee of Granite Asia said Asian companies are reaching IPOs much sooner, often at four to five years old, while Jio Platforms' Indian IPO saw its anchor investor quota oversubscribed more than 30 times, aiming to raise up to 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion). In Singapore, several agricultural stocks fell after Senior Minister K Shanmugam warned that companies would not escape responsibility for possible roles in the haze, noting seven firms had been questioned by the Singapore Exchange.
- NiSource (NI) Stock Looks Overvalued Against Its Dividend Outlook
NiSource has nearly doubled shareholders' money over the past five years, delivering a 97.6% total return, which raises the question of whether dividends can justify the current share price. The article highlights a new 20-year energy agreement with Microsoft, including customer-funded grid upgrades and long-term electric service for data centers, which may affect future capital needs and cash-flow visibility. Using a Dividend Discount Model with inputs of about $1.35 dividend per share, roughly 9.07% return on equity, a payout ratio slightly above 61%, and implied dividend growth of about 3.5%, the estimated intrinsic value sits meaningfully below the current share price of $41.95. The model still does not bridge that gap, suggesting income investors are paying a premium for a relatively steady payout with modest assumed growth.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.