benefit

The Trump administration spent Friday fighting to avoid restoring $4 billion in food assistance in jeopardy due to the government shutdown, suggesting it might need to “raid school-lunch money” in order to comply with court orders.

The claim was part of a break-neck appeal in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, where the government hoped to duck a court order that would force it to pay out for food stamps — formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — through November.

“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett A. Shumate wrote in the appeal.

The administration’s only option would be to “to starve Peter to feed Paul” by cutting school lunch programs, Shumate wrote.

On Friday afternoon, the appellate court declined to immediately block the lower court’s order, and said it would quickly rule on the merits of the funding decree.

SNAP benefits are a key fight in the ongoing government shutdown. California is one of several states suing the administration to restore the safety net program while negotiations continue to end the stalemate.

Millions of Americans have struggled to afford groceries since benefits lapsed Nov. 1, inspiring many Republican lawmakers to join Democrats in demanding an emergency stopgap.

The Trump administration was previously ordered to release contingency funding for the program that it said would cover benefits for about half of November.

But the process has been “confusing and chaotic” and “rife with errors,” according to a brief filed by 25 states and the District of Columbia.

Some states, including California, have started disbursing SNAP benefits for the month. Others say the partial funding is a functional lockout.

“Many states’ existing systems require complete reprogramming to accomplish this task, and given the sudden — and suddenly changing — nature of USDA’s guidance, that task is impossible to complete quickly,” the brief said.

“Recalculations required by [the government’s] plan will delay November benefits for [state] residents for weeks or months.”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island ordered the full food stamp payout by the end of the week. He accused the administration of withholding the benefit for political gain.

“Faced with a choice between advancing relief and entrenching delay, [the administration] chose the latter — an outcome that predictably magnifies harm and undermines the very purpose of the program it administers,” he wrote.

“This Court is not naïve to the administration’s true motivations,” McConnell wrote. “Far from being concerned with Child Nutrition funding, these statements make clear that the administration is withholding full SNAP benefits for political purposes.”

The appeal could extend that deadline by as little as a few hours, or nullify it entirely.

But the latter may be unlikely, especially following the appellate court’s decision late Friday. The 1st Circuit is currently the country’s most liberal, with five active judges, all of whom were named to the bench by Democratic presidents.

While the court deliberates, both sides are left sparring over how many children will go hungry if the other prevails.

More than 16 million children rely on SNAP benefits. Close to 30 million are fed through the National School Lunch Program, which the government now says it must gut to meet the court’s order.

But the same pool of cash has already been tapped to extend Women, Infants and Children, which is a federal program that pays for baby formula and other basics for some poor families.

“This clearly undermines the Defendants’ point, as WIC is an entirely separate program from the Child Nutrition Programs,” McConnell wrote.

In its Friday order, the 1st Circuit panel said it would issue a full ruling “as quickly as possible.”

What you’ll do: People can volunteer as individuals or in groups to sort and pack food and produce boxes at the warehouse. Other jobs include cleaning and tidying the warehouse and coolers. Westside Food Bank encourages food drives for its programs of non-expired food items, or you can just make individual donations at the warehouse. The Westside Food Bank’s partner agencies serve the neighborhoods of Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, West Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Inglewood and the LAX area, as well as the West Los Angeles VA and several college campuses.

When: Volunteers are typically needed on weekdays in the mornings and afternoons. Corporate volunteer shifts are typically scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Weekend volunteer opportunities can be arranged by emailing [email protected].

Where: Volunteers are needed at the warehouse in Santa Monica Mondays-Thursdays or at their mobile pantries around their service area including the Gerard Mobile Pantry, VAP Mobile Pantry and West LA Civic Center Mobile Pantry.

Details: Register online for volunteer opportunities. Drop off food donations at the food bank between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Frozen and/or refrigerated foods can be accepted by calling (310) 828-6016 beforehand. Appointments are required to drop off large collections of food.

SELENA Gomez showed off her sweet side at the 2025 Rare Impact Fund Benefit.

The US singer and actress, 33, looked effortless in a purple satin mini dress at the the third annual event in Los Angeles.

The former Disney star, who recently celebrated one month of marriage to music producer and songwritter Benny Blanco, launched the Rare Impact Fund in 2020 to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health globally.

According to Vogue, the event, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, raised more than $600,000.

Earlier in the week, Selena’s ‘unnecessarily cruel’ comments landed her in hot water.

The star came under fire for boasting that her billion-dollar brand doesn’t “use real models” for its beauty campaigns. 

While Selena, was attempting to deliver a positive message about how Rare Beauty highlights real, natural features, many took offence to the comments. 

The company had used hundreds of different models since it launched in September 2020 – making many feel Selena’s comments disregard their talents and professions. 

Her remarks caught the eye of one Rare Beauty model who spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about hearing Selena’s comments. 

The model, who did not wish to be named due to fear of not being hired for future campaigns, has been working with the brand since 2024. 

“I actually cried when I heard Selena’s comments,” the model claimed, who then added: “I was already having a bad day and was feeling really sensitive and emotional.”

She continued: “I was feeling nervous about some career stuff, and then I saw that video of her saying I’m not even a real model. 

“It hit me at the worst time because now I’m like… ‘what am I even doing?’ 

“I thought this would be a big break for me, and to be told by the founder of the company that I look up to that I am not ‘real’ at my job? 

“It’s degrading and embarrassing. The number of family and friends who sent me that clip after was mortifying.” 

Exactly a year after the Eaton fire broke out, musicians are banding together once more for an upcoming benefit show, called A Concert for Altadena.

As a way to both raise funds and bring the community together, the night is set to include performances from musicians like Jackson Browne, Dawes & Friends, Aloe Blacc, Jenny Lewis, Everclear, Stephen Stills, Mandy Moore, Judith Hill, Brad Paisley, Ozomatli, Brandon Flowers of the Killers and more.

Many of the featured acts have ties to Los Angeles and Altadena specifically, like Dawes, an indie band from Altadena who notably sang a lively rendition of “I Love L.A.” at this year’s Grammys ceremony. Moore, who is also performing, similarly lost their homes in the fire.

“I’ve seen firsthand how music can mobilize people for good. This concert brings together artists, fans, and neighbors for something bigger than all of us — recovery, hope, and rebuilding lives,” said Grammy winner Eric Krasno. The guitarist, who also lived in Altadena, helped organize the event and is set to perform.

Even behind the scenes, people like Kevin Lyman, who founded the Vans Warped Tour and is a longtime Altadena resident, is working as the event’s lead producer.

“Music has always been a force for community. With this event, we’re not just putting on a show — we’re helping Altadena rebuild homes, restore businesses, and heal hearts. This night is about unity and purpose,” said Lyman.

All of the proceeds from the show will go to the Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund, which helps provide resources to families impacted, and the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, which focuses on the long-term recovery of housing in the neighborhood.

The Eaton fire is the second most destructive wildfire in California’s history, destroying more than 9,000 structures in an area of nearly 22 square miles. It is also one of the state’s deadliest fires, with 19 people killed. Since the January fire, rebuilding efforts have proved to be slow-moving in the face of bureaucracy and high overhead costs.

The benefit show will take place Jan. 7 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Tickets go sale Nov. 7.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on.

The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries.

“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA notice says. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans — and some of those most in need — unless a political resolution is found in just a few days.

The administration blames Democrats, who say they will not agree to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate with them on extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Not doing so, they note, would raise premiums for millions of Americans. Republicans say Democrats must first agree to reopen the government before they will negotiate.

Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month’s benefits.

But a USDA memo that surfaced Friday says that “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.” The document says the money is reserved for such things as helping people in disaster areas.

It cited Hurricane Melissa, which grew into a Category 4 storm in the Caribbean on Sunday — though it is not expected to threaten the U.S. — as an example of why it’s important to have the money available to mobilize quickly in the event of a disaster.

The prospect of families not receiving food aid has deeply concerned states run by both parties.

Some states have pledged to keep SNAP benefits flowing even if the federal program halts payments, but there are questions about whether U.S. government directives may allow that to happen. The USDA memo also says states would not be reimbursed for temporarily picking up the cost.

Other states are telling SNAP recipients to be ready for the benefits to stop. Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, are advising recipients to identify food pantries and other groups that help with food.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) accused Republicans and Trump of not agreeing to negotiate.

“The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.”

Licon writes for the Associated Press.

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates. The goal was, basically, to protect the U.S. economy from falling into a recession.

Wall Street is expecting additional rate cuts from here, which could lead to positive outcomes for these three consumer goods companies. Each one comes with a different set of risks and potential rewards. Here’s why these stocks could be worth examining today, before more rate cuts are made.

1. Target isn’t resonating with consumers right now

Target (TGT) is a large big box retailer, offering a range of products under one roof. It competes directly with Walmart (WMT 0.64%). That’s an important comparison point because Target is doing poorly right now and Walmart is doing quite well. To put numbers on that, Target’s same-store sales fell 1.9% in the second quarter of 2025 while Walmart’s same store sales rose 4.6% in its U.S. locations.

The big difference is that Target’s business model is to offer a more premium experience, while Walmart is squarely about its everyday low prices ethos. Consumers worried about the economy and inflation, which The Motley Fool’s research shows can ravage the buying power of the dollar, appear to be voting with their feet. However, if Federal Reserve rate cuts lead to a growth uptick, consumers could trade back up to Target.

Just such a shift has happened before, so expecting it to happen again isn’t a big stretch in a sector driven by consumer sentiment. That said, Target’s shares are down more than 40% from their 52-week high, making them look relatively cheap. And the Dividend King is offering an attractive 5% yield that’s backed by over five decades of annual dividend increases.

2. Lululemon is a luxury basics clothing retailer

The story around Lululemon (LULU -0.75%) is roughly similar to that of Target. Lululemon makes athletic wear basics. However, the cost of these basics is very high, so it is really a luxury retailer. To be fair, there’s a fashion twist here and the company has made past design missteps that can’t be ignored. But overall, it has been on trend more than it has been off trend.

But one thing Lululemon can’t control is the swings in the economy and how customers react to those swings. The company’s second quarter results weren’t bad if you take a top-level view of the income statement, with revenues up 7% and same-store sales up 1%. But that was entirely driven by international growth, with sales up just 1% in the Americas and same store sales off by 4%.

It clearly looks like consumers in the Americas are pulling back on what are really discretionary purchases, despite the basic nature of the items. If rate cuts make consumers more confident in the economy again, that trend could change. With the stock down more than 50% from its 52-week high, there could be some turnaround appeal here for more aggressive investors.

3. Coca-Cola is boring and doing fairly well

Coca-Cola (KO -0.83%), the last stock up on this list, is appropriate for conservative investors. The shares are only down around 10% from their 52-week highs. But that’s enough to have pushed the stock’s price-to-sales and price-to-earnings ratios below their five-year averages. It wouldn’t be fair to suggest that Coca-Cola is trading hands at fire-sale prices, but it does appear fairly priced to a little cheap. The stock doesn’t go on sale very often, so this could be a good opportunity for long-term investors who place a high value on dividends.

On the dividend front, the beverage giant is a Dividend King with over six decades of annual dividend increases behind it. The yield is notably above the market at nearly 3.1%. And it is one of the largest and best-run consumer staples companies on the planet. If you are risk averse, Coca-Cola is a solid option. And economic growth driven by rate cuts could make it that much easier for consumers to justify splurging on what is basically very expensive water.

There’s plenty of benefit to go around from rate cuts

Federal Reserve rate cuts are a bit of a blunt instrument when it comes to impacting the economy. But they can be very effective at freeing up capital for investment. If there are more rate cuts to come, as Wall Street seems to expect, Target, Lululemon, and Coca-Cola could all benefit if the outcome is continued, if not stronger, economic growth. The upside at Target and Lululemon is more material, but Coca-Cola shows that even the most conservative investors can get in on the rate-cut investment opportunity.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Lululemon Athletica Inc., Target, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

SCRAPPING the two-child benefit cap may not help with a child’s early development and being ready for school, a report says.

The new study says ending the policy would massively help reduce child poverty but it currently has “no adverse” impact on kids by the end of their reception year.

1

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to end the cap from ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell.

But ending the policy that came into effect in 2017 would cost between £2 billion and £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

The government has a goal of raising the proportion of children starting school ready to learn from the current 68 per cent to 75 per cent by 2030.

Report author Tom Waters, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “This suggests that it might be hard for the Government to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ – simultaneously reducing child poverty and raising school readiness – through scrapping the two-child limit.”

The government is expected to set out its strategy to tackle child poverty this Autumn.

Cabinet Minister Bridget Phillipson said scrapping the cap is “on the table” while drumming up support for her bid to be Labour’s deputy leader, following Angela Rayner leaving the role.

A flood of wealth is anticipated to sweep from baby boomers to younger generations over the next couple of decades. Cerulli Associates estimates $106 trillion will pass to younger generations. Of that, a large chunk is destined to be passed on to the companies that manage their finances.

Robinhood (HOOD 1.90%) and Lemonade (LMND 2.67%) are two fintechs laser-focused on providing financial services to Great Wealth Transfer winners. Robinhood offers the next generation of investing, banking, and credit products. Lemonade does the same for insurance.

Here’s a look at each.

1. Robinhood

Robinhood is widely seen as the face of fintech by young, tech-savvy investors. It pioneered zero-commission stock trading, a win that continues to pay reputational dividends. It continues to attract interest by beefing up its premium Gold subscription. Perks include 3% IRA match, a credit card with 3% rewards, and $1,000 of interest-free margin trading. The subscription is cheap, at $5 a month as of this writing.

Robinhood has promising user base demographics. In a May 2025 Investor Day presentation, the company discloses the median age for Robinhood customers is 35. Robinhood is popular with millennials and Gen X, the two generations primed to inherit the most over the next 10 years. But what really sets it apart from competitors is how it’s sprinting to meet these users where they’ll be not next year, but a decade from now.

The company has diversified from trading into wealth management and banking, a huge profit driver. The recent unveiling of Banking and Strategies products is evidence of a company executing on an ambitious long-term vision. Both product lines are key to convincing young and maturing customers that Robinhood is a “serious” wealth manager.

The stock is far from undervalued. As of this writing, it trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of over 50x, a valuation typically attributed to tech stocks — much higher than the 29x S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.48%) average. There might be better-valued opportunities among competitors like Block.

Strong fundamentals justify its high multiples. The company is profitable and has been so for over a year. It’s grown total platform assets at a staggering 99% in a single year, and it has over $4 billion on the balance sheet — plenty to invest in growth, or lean upon during tough times.

Robinhood’s young user base, ambitious vision, and strong fundamentals position it perfectly to win the Great Wealth Transfer. Its quickly growing suite of products is proof the company is moving to meet the next generation where it’s at: online, via an award-winning interface that does investing, banking, and wealth management.

2. Lemonade

Lemonade is very well positioned to serve as a major insurer of young and maturing users. It offers insurance via the Lemonade app, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered interface that can pay out claims in as little as 3 seconds. It typically attracts customers with the promise of cheap rental insurance. As customers mature, they purchase higher-margin insurance from Lemonade, like Car and Pet.

Powerful machine learning models put Lemonade in a league of its own. From Car to Life, these models gobble up data that the company uses to improve predictions. Combined with AI models that manage customers and employees, it can scale premiums from $609 million to $1,083 million while shrinking operating expenses, excluding growth spend.

To scale quickly, Lemonade is leaning into the expansion of its car insurance product. Car insurance is a huge unlock for users who want to stick with a single insurer across all products, snagging discounts. Lemonade knows this. In the Q1 2025 Shareholder letter, the company reveals it sees a 60% boost to conversion rates in states where it offers car insurance.

Lemonade has yet to prove it’s a sustainable business. The company is unprofitable, a red flag in a volatile market that places a premium on stability.

Critics point to the Car product in particular. Car insurance is a loss leader, with an 82% loss ratio, well above the 40% to 60% industry ideal. That needs to improve. An ideal gross loss ratio is typically between 40% to 60%, according to data by Relativity6.

All signs point to Lemonade reaching profitability on a reasonable timeline. Gross loss ratios, a key insurance metric, are trending in the right direction: down. Loss ratios dropped from 79% in Q2 2024 to 69% in Q2 2025. Lemonade expects to reach adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) profitability in 2026, meaning the core business generates more profits than it spends. Investors would love to see it.

Great Wealth Transfer winners to buy and hold

Robinhood and Lemonade may be the real winners of the Great Wealth Transfer. Both are innovative fintech companies with strong and improving fundamentals. I plan on holding both in my portfolio for five years or more.

Today is the day.

At 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, give or take a few minutes, the Federal Open Market Committee should decide on its next round of interest-rate changes. Presumably it will lower its target interest rate from the current range of 4.25% to 4.5%, to one of 4% to 4.25% — a quarter-point cut. Potentially, it could lower the interest rate by twice as much — 0.5%.

Either way, and assuming a cut of any size at all, this will be the first interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve in the past nine months, the Fed having last cut rates (also by 0.25%) back on Dec. 18, 2024.

Why might the Federal Reserve cut interest rates?

Economists seem pretty certain a rate cut of some size is in the offing. According to the latest inflation update here at The Motley Fool, inflation is still running hotter (2.9%) than the Fed’s target rate of 2% — which you might think would give the Fed some pause. That said, the jobs market is showing sufficient signs of weakness that the Fed is getting concerned — and inclined to roll the dice and risk a bit of extra inflation in hopes of goosing the jobs numbers higher.

In July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that only 73,000 net new jobs were created, which was below projections. Then came August’s number, which was an objectively horrible 22,000 net new jobs — less than one-third of what economists had predicted. And all of this came after May and June jobs numbers were revised downward by more than a quarter-million.

So the jobs market doesn’t look great, and that means the Fed probably will cut rates today. Now what does this mean for you, the individual investor?

What it means for investors

Believe it or not, bad news for the jobs market and worrisome trends in inflation are both generally interpreted as good news for the stock market — at least when a Fed interest-rate cut is on the table as a possible solution. This is because when the Fed lowers interest rates, it becomes cheaper to borrow, and cheaper to pay interest on debts, which can be a boon for companies not yet earning profits.

Which kinds of companies? Well, maybe I’m biased because I write a lot about nuclear stocks. But if you ask about companies that might benefit from debt getting a bit cheaper, the first to come to my mind are the handful working to develop a new generation of small modular (and micro) nuclear reactors (SMRs). In order from smallest to largest, these include Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE -2.67%), NuScale Power (SMR -4.70%), and Oklo (OKLO -2.77%).

Investors value these three companies very differently. Nano Nuclear is worth only $1.5 billion in market capitalization, versus NuScale with an implied market cap of $11.1 billion, and Oklo tipping the scales at a weighty $14.1 billion.

But in many respects, these three companies look similar. Neither Nano Nuclear nor Oklo has any revenue to speak of. NuScale, which does have some revenue (from technology licenses, not from actual sales of either reactors or nuclear energy), still did only $56 million in business over the last 12 months — enough to value the stock at nearly 200 times sales.

Lacking revenue, it stands to reason that all three of these nuclear energy stocks are also unprofitable. What worries me more than the losses based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), though, is the fact that these companies must continue burning through their cash reserves as they work toward commercializing their technology. Any nuclear stock that runs out of cash before it starts generating positive free cash flow on its own is at risk of needing to sell shares, or take on debt, to raise the cash it needs.

It’s here that lower interest rates from the Fed could lend a helping hand.

Who benefits most from a Fed rate cut?

I expect NuScale Power to benefit more than the others from a rate cut today. With only $420 million in the bank and an annual cash burn rate of $95 million, NuScale’s on course to be the SMR stock that runs out of cash first — potentially before it reaches profitability in 2030 (according to analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence).

In contrast, both Oklo (with $534 million in cash and a burn rate of $53 million per year) and Nano Nuclear (with $210 million and $23 million, respectively) already have enough cash laid up to keep themselves in business for roughly a decade.

Relatively speaking, they’re both in stronger financial positions than NuScale is — but for this very reason, I expect NuScale stock to benefit most from today’s Fed rate decision.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.