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- Georgia swing voters in Milledgeville weigh 2026 election
In Milledgeville, Georgia, voters in Baldwin County say the local economy has shifted, citing the loss of major employers including Central State Hospital, Reed Manufacturing and Mohawk. The county was one of only a few in Georgia to vote for Joe Biden in 2020 and Donald Trump in 2024. Voters point to rising property taxes, high diesel prices that have left some truckers idle, and affordability concerns as top issues. Political analyst Cory Ruth says these issues cut across party lines and warns that recent midterm polling has missed rural and working-class voters, so Georgia is not a sure bet for either party.
- Cosatu pushes two - pot retirement reform , tax relief and higher wages for workers
Cosatu's newly elected leadership, led by general secretary Zingiswa Losi, used its reconvened 15th National Congress to call for faster talks on the next phase of the two-pot retirement reform and for tax relief for highly indebted workers. Critics argue the system offers less relief than expected because withdrawals are taxed at marginal income tax rates. The federation also pledged to strengthen its living wage campaign, defend collective bargaining, oppose retrenchments, labour broking and outsourcing, and develop a workers' cost-of-living index. It further demands greater transparency in retirement funds, better tax thresholds, and more union representation on the board of the Public Investment Corporation, where the law allows three union representatives.
- What Inflation Obsession Misses
The author argues that federal, state and local governments are the biggest sources of cost-of-living pressure, with taxes and fees hidden in the prices people pay, unlike private-sector purchases that consumers can choose to avoid. He says the CPI measures only consumer goods and services and excludes income taxes, payroll taxes and property taxes, so it misses the full household financial burden. As an example, the standard Medicare Part B premium rose from $148.50 in 2021 to $202.90 in 2026, about 37% in five years, even as Social Security benefits rose 3.6% through a cost-of-living adjustment. He concludes that affordability, not just prices, should be the focus, with government taking about 40% of GDP including mandatory transfers and taxes.
- 6 Ways Social Security Will Change Forever in 2027 . Are You Ready ?
On October 14, the SSA announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027, affecting about 76 million Americans, with the average retired worker gaining about $75 a month. A raise this large could drain the OASI trust fund's reserves faster than forecast, and once they run out, benefit cuts of up to 22% may be needed. For high earners, the payroll tax cap rises $7,800 to $192,300, which could mean an extra $483.60 a year if employed or $967.20 if self-employed. The maximum monthly payout at full retirement age climbs $36 to $4,188, while early filers can earn $24,480 a year ($2,040 a month) before the earnings test withholds benefits.
- Data center anxiety plays out in Senate campaign debates
Ahead of the midterm elections, Democratic Senate candidates are repeatedly pressing opponents on AI data center policy, using it as a proxy for voter concerns about the economy and local impacts. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown calls Republican Sen. Jon Husted "the face of data centers" and accuses him of giving away two and a half billion dollars in tax breaks to tech firms, while James Talarico accuses Ken Paxton of "selling off Texas" to data center companies. A Pew survey conducted in July and August found 50 percent of U.S. adults think data centers are "mostly bad" for home energy costs, up from 38 percent in January. Dan Cassino of Fairleigh Dickinson University argues voters blame data centers for higher electricity bills, making it a vulnerability for Republicans.
- Trump Voters Are Getting Their Asses Kicked By The Economy
This opinion column argues that Trump voters are feeling the pressure of rising gas, food and everyday costs ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. It cites a CBC report that polls give Trump low marks on the cost of living, and Silver Bulletin data showing 70% of Americans disapprove of his handling of inflation. The author says Trump has blamed Democrats, insisted prices fell when they had risen, and campaigned in red states including Alaska, Kansas, Ohio and Texas, while the GOP risks losing Congress. The column concludes that voters will judge the president on what they pay, not on his promises.
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- Roblox Is Now Down 38% in 2026: Is RBLX Stock Dead Money or Poised for a Comeback?
Roblox stock is down 38% year to date to $50.41, with a late-September court ruling letting a Los Angeles County child exploitation lawsuit proceed and a Jefferies downgrade to Underperform adding pressure. Jefferies argued the rally after the Q2 report priced in too much bookings growth, which rose only 8% to $1.6 billion in Q2 even as daily active users grew 10% to 123 million. Safety changes, including a mandatory age check, had already led Roblox to cut its full-year revenue growth forecast to 20% to 25% earlier this year. For Q3 2026, Roblox forecasts a year-over-year bookings decline of 14% to 18%. Take-Two (down 20%) and GameStop (up 31%) year to date suggest the pressure is specific to Roblox, and the article frames the key test as whether bookings stabilize while user growth continues.
- Super Micro (SMCI) Won Over $60 Billion in Orders, Is the Discount Deserved?
A contractor linked to Super Micro Computer (SMCI) pleaded guilty earlier this month to helping ship servers with advanced Nvidia chips to China, a case prosecutors say involved billions of dollars of U.S. AI technology, though the company says it was not named as a defendant and its operations are unaffected. Sales for the fiscal year ended June reached $39.1 billion, up from $22.0 billion, with CEO Charles Liang citing more than $60 billion in new orders, several hundred added enterprise customers, and a record backlog. Management guides to $65.0 billion to $72.0 billion in fiscal 2027 sales, and sales have grown about 61.5% a year over five years. Gross margin was 10.8% for the full year but rose to 17.5% in the June quarter, with net income of $1,178 million, while the trailing 12-month operating margin was 7.09%. The article notes the stock trades at a much lower multiple of expected earnings than the sector, and that one strong quarter does not yet prove a new margin level.
- Is Nvidia Stock Really Trading for Just 8 Times 2030 Earnings?
Nvidia is the market's most valuable company, with a market cap above $5 trillion. It trades at 27 times adjusted trailing earnings, but only about 8 times analysts' estimate for fiscal 2030 earnings, a figure the author stresses is a moving target. Revenue growth accelerated from 56% in Q2 FY 2026 to 106% in Q2 FY 2027, though guidance points to a slight slowdown in the current quarter. The stock trades at 13 times next year's earnings, and the board recently authorized a record $150 billion in share repurchases. The author also acknowledges risks such as slower growth or contracting net margins.
- California billionaire tax could backfire, Stanford study says
Stanford economists Benjamin Jaros and Joshua Rauh argue in an NBER working paper that California's proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth could raise far less than projected and ultimately reduce state revenue. Seven billionaires, including Peter Thiel, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have publicly left the state, removing about $540 billion, or 30%, of California's billionaire wealth from potential taxation. The authors estimate the measure could generate only about $30 billion, versus the $100 billion projected by proponents, while losing $1 billion to $3.5 billion a year in income tax revenue could leave the state about $39 billion worse off in present-value terms if those losses persist. The measure, Proposition 40, goes to voters next month, and a Citrin-Politico poll found 46% of likely voters in favor and 43% opposed. Supporters, including Nobel laureates Daron Acemoglu and Joseph Stiglitz, argue the tax will fund health care and that California has attracted more venture funding since the proposal was announced.
- US Orders Civilian Agencies to Rip DeepSeek Out of Government Systems
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday ordered civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the model from their IT systems, and to stop buying them. The notice warns that using DeepSeek may transfer sensitive data to China and could produce intelligence on U.S. persons and agencies. The Commerce Department, the Navy, and the states of New York, Tennessee and Virginia had already restricted DeepSeek. The FCC votes on October 29 on barring Chinese labs from testing electronics for U.S. use.
- NVIDIA Stock And 2 Other Undervalued Stocks To Own
Rising interest rates have pushed down bond prices, with 10-year U.S. Treasuries recording one of their steepest multi-year declines since the 18th century. The article highlights three U.S. stocks that a Simply Wall St cash flow screen considers attractively priced relative to their future cash flow potential: NVIDIA, Wells Fargo and J.B. Hunt Transport Services. NVIDIA generated about US$275.4b from Compute & Networking and US$27.6b from Graphics, with a market cap of US$5,170.6b, and the piece notes that an open-source or cheaper alternative to its CUDA platform could weaken its moat. Wells Fargo, with a market cap of US$251.7b, grew average loans 12% and average deposits 10% year over year in 2Q26 after the removal of its asset cap, while J.B. Hunt, with a market cap of US$21.3b and US$13.3b in revenue, recorded record intermodal volume of over 578,000 loads in Q2 2026.
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