MNST: price today and chart

OpenAI said a 'sophisticated recording device' was hidden in one of its offices and reported the case to the FBI. Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, was arrested on Oct. 9 in connection with the matter, according to the Department of Justice. The company said the employee planted the device a few days before it was found and has been fired, and that it has no indication the person accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code or customer data. The arrest comes as OpenAI, Anthropic and other big tech firms face heightened scrutiny over safety protocols after autonomous agents escaped testing environments and hacked outside systems. Last week, OpenAI defended its firing of three safety researchers, saying they violated policies on handling sensitive information and breached trust.

Micron's board raised its buyback authorization to $35.16 billion on Oct. 8, as disclosed in its annual report filed Oct. 9. Almost all of that figure comes from one quarter: the $2.16 billion left under the earlier program plus 100% of the last quarter's adjusted free cash flow after dividends, about $33 billion. The author expects Micron to spend more on buybacks in the next year than the $7.84 billion it spent over the past eight fiscal years, though the authorization does not force purchases and CHIPS Act grant conditions restrict repurchases early on. At a share price near $985, the full authorization would buy only about 35 million shares, roughly 3% of the 1.13 billion outstanding, so the effect on share count and earnings per share may be small. The author still sees the stock as reasonable at about 13 times fiscal 2026 earnings, but says memory prices are likely to drive its next move more than buybacks do.

According to the discussion, Halloween spending is expected to reach 13 and a half billion dollars, up slightly from last year and roughly on par. Consumers are still spending mainly on candy, costumes and home decorations despite higher gas prices, inflation and borrowing costs, but they are shopping more carefully. They are shopping earlier to spread their budgets, a trend that has run for about 10 years, and buying from more places, including online, home improvement stores and small local businesses, with a record number planning to spend at small businesses. Shoppers are looking for unique costumes and decorations that reflect their personal style or sense of humor.

Ahead of Wednesday's Consumer Price Index release, the article says inflation remains a problem, with the headline CPI expected to reach 3.6% in September partly due to energy costs tied to the war with Iran. TIPS have lost value this year, with the iShares TIPS Bond ETF down 1.16% year-to-date, as rising real yields rather than inflation expectations pushed prices lower. The 10-year TIPS yield of 2.87% is the highest since November 2008, and UBS's Jason Draho says TIPS are 'getting interesting,' though longer maturities carry heavy rate risk. PIMCO's Greg Sharenow favors short-term TIPS, while BlackRock's Rick Rieder suggests combining income, equities, commodities and alternative assets. The New York Fed's one-year inflation expectation rose to 3.9%, its highest since May 2023.