Distance from Los Angeles: Less than an hour drive
Projected season opening date: By Thanksgiving, if Mother Nature cooperates, or by Yule on Dec. 21 at the latest.
What makes it special: Only 45 miles from Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mt. Baldy has 26 runs spread over 800 acres and three mountains. It also has a respectable vertical descent of 2,100 feet with wide-open glades, tree runs, bowls, moguls, groomed runs, cornices and quarter pipes. For those who don’t ski or snowboard, Mt. Baldy also offers snow tubing.
What’s new this season: With upgrades, Lift No. 3 now features more comfortable carriers to the top of Thunder Mountain at 8,600 feet. Chair No. 4 on the west side has a new drive and control system, allowing year-round use with both uphill and downhill loading when conditions permit. Continuous improvements to snowmaking are also helping Mt. Baldy open earlier each season. The resort’s former Last Name Brewing has rebranded as Mt. Baldy Brewery.
Lift ticket prices: Mt. Baldy season passes are currently on sale through Christmas Day: adults are $549 (regularly $799), teens and seniors are $449 (regularly $639) and children under 12 are $279 (regularly $399). You can pre-purchase lift tickets online for a discount. Walk-up tickets are $129 on busy days when the mountain is in full operation.
Pro-tip: Mt. Baldy has the most steep runs in Southern California. Advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders might want to head to Chair 1 to try “Nightmare,” a 36-degree slope that maintains its drop for 1,000 vertical feet.
On Tuesday, voters will determine the fate of redistricting measure Proposition 50. But if you’re eager to vote in person, you don’t have to wait. You can easily pop into the polls a day early in many parts of California.
Where to vote in person on Monday
In Los Angeles County alone, there are 251 vote centers that will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday. (They’ll also be open again on Tuesday, election day, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.) At vote centers, you can vote in person, drop off your vote-by-mail ballot, or even register to vote and cast a same-day provisional ballot, which will be counted after officials verify the registration.
“Avoid the rush,” said Dean Logan, the L.A. County registrar-recorder/county clerk. “Make a plan to vote early.”
Also on Monday, San Diego County’s 68 vote centers are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Orange County’s 65 vote centers from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Riverside County’s 55 vote centers and Ventura County’s nine vote centers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
All of those vote centers also will be open on election day Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Other counties have fewer in-person polling locations on Monday
San Bernardino County, however, only has six designated early voting poll stations. They’re open on Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and also on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Otherwise, San Bernardino County residents who want to vote in person on Tuesday can go to their assigned neighborhood polling location.
In Santa Barbara County, if you’ve lost or damaged a vote-by-mail ballot, you can request a replacement ballot through county’s elections offices in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria or Lompoc. Otherwise, voters can cast ballots at their assigned neighborhood polls on Tuesday.
How to drop off your vote-by-mail ballot
All Californian registered voters were mailed a vote-by-mail ballot. There are various ways to drop it off — through the mail, or through a county ballot drop box or polling place.
You can also send your ballot through the U.S. Postal Service. No stamps are needed. Note that your ballot must be postmarked by Tuesday (and received by the county elections office within seven days).
But beware: Officials have warned that recent changes to the U.S. Postal Service earlier this year may result in later postmarks than you might expect.
In fact, state officials recently warned that, in large swaths of California — outside of the metros of Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento area — mail that is dropped off at a mailbox or a post office on election day may not be postmarked until a day later, on Wednesday. That would render the ballot ineligible to be counted.
As a result, some officials are recommending that — at this point — it’s better to deliver your vote-by-mail ballot through a secure drop box, a vote center or a neighborhood polling place, rather than through the Postal Service.
“If you can’t make it to a vote center, you can go to any post office and ask at the counter for a postmark on your ballot to ensure you get credit for mailing your ballot on time,” the office of Atty. Gen. Robert Bonta said.
Most common reasons vote-by-mail ballots don’t get counted
In the 2024 general election, 99% of vote-by-mail ballots were accepted. But that means about 122,000 of the ballots, out of 13.2 million returned, weren’t counted in California.
Here are the top reasons why: • A non-matching signature: 71,381 ballots not counted. • Ballot was not received in time: 33,016 ballots not counted. • No voter signature: 13,356 ballots not counted.
If the voter didn’t sign their ballot, or the ballot’s signature is different from the one in the voter’s record, election officials are required to reach out to the voter to resolve the missing or mismatched signature.
Other reasons included the voter having already voted, the voter forgetting to put the ballot in their envelope, or returning multiple ballots in a single envelope.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A pair of court rulings declaring some of Florida’s gun restrictions unconstitutional are creating some confusion in the notoriously firearm-friendly state — and fueling activists’ calls for Republican legislators to take action to update state statutes so they abide by the new legal landscape.
Despite Florida’s history of being a gun-supporting climate, Florida’s GOP-dominated state Legislature took steps to restrict gun laws in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Since the day the measure was signed into law, gun rights advocates have been pushing to unravel it.
Now, activists say recent court rulings are fueling their push to expand gun rights in the state, emboldened by U.S. Supreme Court’s updated standards for evaluating gun laws based on the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
“Leaving unconstitutional laws on the books creates nothing but confusion,” said Sean Caranna, executive director of the advocacy group Florida Carry.
Here’s what to know.
Judge finds age restriction on concealed carry unconstitutional
A ruling by a circuit court judge in Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, found that Florida’s prohibition against people under the age of 21 from carrying a concealed firearm is unconstitutional, at least as it relates to the case in question.
Last week, Judge Frank Ledee tossed out the conviction of 19-year-old Joel Walkes, who was charged with a third-degree felony for carrying a concealed handgun. Florida statutes currently allow people between the age of 18 and 20 to possess a firearm, if they legally receive it as a gift or an inheritance, but they are barred from purchasing guns or carrying them concealed.
Ledee found the state’s prohibition is incompatible with the Supreme Court’s historical test, and inconsistent with a recent appeals court ruling that found a state law banning the open carrying of firearms is unconstitutional. In his decision, the judge pointed to the Legislature’s role in codifying and clarifying the changes.
“Distilling these inconsistencies into a framework of firearm regulations compatible with the guarantee to bear arms pursuant to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is best left to the wisdom of legislative debate,” Ledee wrote.
Open carry ruling sparks questions
Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal issued its ruling last month in a case stemming from the July 4, 2022, arrest of a man who stood at a major intersection in downtown Pensacola carrying a visible, holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.
The decision legalizes open carry, though there are preexisting limitations against carrying in a threatening manner or in certain restricted spaces like government meetings, schools and bars. The ruling has prompted some Florida sheriffs to urge caution among gun owners and seek clarity from lawmakers.
Legalizing open carry has long been a major focus of gun rights activists in the state, who oppose the slate of restrictions that Florida lawmakers implemented in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, which killed 17 people and injured 17 others. Among the law’s provisions was raising the legal gun-buying age to 21.
Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, said the recent court decisions put more onus on lawmakers to enact state statutes that line up with recent judicial rulings.
“I would not be surprised if in the next session the Florida Legislature doesn’t just take care of this by amending the statute to say, ‘clean it up.’ And then that’ll end all these lawsuits and possible lawsuits,” Jarvis said of the age-related prohibition. “And that’s really now what should happen.”
Advocates push for expanding gun laws
In the years since the 2018 Parkland shooting, lawmakers’ efforts to lower the gun-buying age to 18 have advanced in the Florida House but ultimately failed in the state Senate.
Now some advocates say the recent court rulings should force the hand of legislators who have opposed expanding gun rights in the past.
“We’ve been telling the Legislature since 2010 that this was going to be a problem for them if they didn’t act. And they chose not to act,” Caranna said.
“I hope that given some of the recent decisions from the United States Supreme Court and the Florida courts, that they will finally see that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,” he added.
Representatives for Florida’s House speaker and Senate president did not immediately respond to inquiries Wednesday.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Trump’s comments Thursday suggesting the United States will restart its testing of nuclear weapons upends decades of American policy in regards to the bomb, but come as Washington’s rivals have been expanding and testing their nuclear-capable arsenals.
Nuclear weapons policy, once thought to be a relic of the Cold War, increasingly has come to the fore as Russia has made repeated atomic threats to both the U.S. and Europe during its war on Ukraine. Moscow also acknowledged this week testing a nuclear-powered-and-capable cruise missile called the Burevestnik, code-named Skyfall by NATO, and a nuclear-armed underwater drone.
China is building more ground-based nuclear missile silos. Meanwhile, North Korea just unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic missile it plans to test, part of a nuclear-capable arsenal likely able to reach the continental U.S.
The threat is starting to bleed into popular culture as well, most recently with director Kathryn Bigelow ‘s new film “A House of Dynamite.”
But what does Trump’s announcement mean and how would it affect what’s happening now with nuclear tensions? Here’s what to know.
Trump’s comments came in a post on his Truth Social website just before meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In it, Trump noted other countries testing weapons and wrote: “I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
The president’s post raised immediate questions. America’s nuclear arsenal is maintained by the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency within it — not the Defense Department. The Energy Department has overseen testing of nuclear weapons since its creation in 1977. Two other agencies before it — not the Defense Department — conducted tests.
Trump also claimed the U.S. “has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country.” Russia is believed to have 5,580 nuclear warheads, according to the Washington-based Arms Control Association, while the U.S. has 5,225. Those figures include so-called “retired” warheads waiting to be dismantled.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute further breaks the warhead total down, with the U.S. having 1,770 deployed warheads with 1,930 in reserve. Russia has 1,718 deployed warheads and 2,591 in reserve.
The two countries account for nearly 90% of the world’s atomic warheads.
U.S. last carried out a nuclear test in 1992
From the time America conducted its “Trinity” nuclear bomb detonation in 1945 to 1992, the U.S. detonated 1,030 atomic bombs in tests — the most of any country. Those figures do not include the two nuclear weapons America used against Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
The first American tests were atmospheric, but they were then moved underground to limit nuclear fallout. Scientists have come to refer to such tests as “shots.” The last such “shot,” called Divider as part of Operation Julin, took place Sept. 23, 1992, at the Nevada National Security Sites, a sprawling compound some 65 miles from Las Vegas.
America halted its tests for a couple of reasons. The first was the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. The U.S. also signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in 1996. There have been tests since the treaty, however — by India, North Korea and Pakistan, the world’s newest nuclear powers. The United Kingdom and France also have nuclear weapons, while Israel long has been suspected of possessing atomic bombs.
But broadly speaking, the U.S. also had decades of data from tests, allowing it to use computer modeling and other techniques to determine whether a weapon would successfully detonate. Every president since Barack Obama has backed plans to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal, whose maintenance and upgrading will cost nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The U.S. relies on the so-called “nuclear triad” — ground-based silos, aircraft-carried bombs and nuclear-tipped missiles in submarines at sea — to deter others from launching their weapons against America.
Restarting testing raises additional questions
If the U.S. restarted nuclear weapons testing, it isn’t immediately clear what the goal would be. Nonproliferation experts have warned any scientific objective likely would be eclipsed by the backlash to a test — and possibly be a starting gun for other major nuclear powers to begin their own widespread testing.
“Restarting the U.S. nuclear testing program could be one of the most consequential policy actions the Trump administration undertakes — a U.S. test could set off an uncontrolled chain of events, with other countries possibly responding with their own nuclear tests, destabilizing global security, and accelerating a new arms race,” experts warned in a February article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
“The goal of conducting a fast-tracked nuclear test can only be political, not scientific. … It would give Russia, China and other nuclear powers free rein to restart their own nuclear testing programs, essentially without political and economic fallout.”
Any future U.S. test likely would take place in Nevada at the testing sites, but a lot of work likely would need to go into the sites to prepare them given it’s been over 30 years since the last test. A series of slides made for a presentation at Los Alamos National Laboratories in 2018 laid out the challenges, noting that in the 1960s the city of Mercury, Nevada — at the testing grounds — had been the second-largest city in Nevada.
On average, 20,000 people had been on site to organize and prepare for the tests. That capacity has waned in the decades since.
“One effects shot would require from two to four years to plan and execute,” the presentation reads. “These were massive undertakings.”
WASHINGTON — Twenty-two days into the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning in Washington guiding a group of middle school students from Grass Valley through the empty corridors of the U.S. Capitol.
Normally, one of his staff members would have led the tour. But the Capitol is closed to all tours during the shutdown, unless the elected member is present. So the schoolchildren from Lyman Gilmore Middle School ended up with Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, as their personal tour guide.
“I would have visited with these kids anyway,” Kiley said in his office after the event. “But I actually got to go on the whole tour of the Capitol with them as well.”
Kiley’s impromptu tour is an example of how members of California’s congressional delegation are improvising their routines as the shutdown drags on and most of Washington remains at a standstill.
Some are in Washington in case negotiations resume, others are back at home in their districts meeting with federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay, giving interviews or visiting community health centers that rely on tax credits central to the budget negotiations. One member attended the groundbreaking of a flood control project in their district. Others are traveling back and forth.
“I’ve had to fly back to Washington for caucus meetings, while the opposition, the Republicans, don’t even convene and meet,” Rep. Maxine Waters, a longtime Los Angeles Democrat, said in an interview. “We will meet anytime, anyplace, anywhere, with [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, with the president, with the Senate, to do everything that we can to open up the government. We are absolutely unified on that.”
The shutdown is being felt across California, which has the most federal workers outside the District of Columbia. Food assistance benefits for millions of low-income Californians could soon be delayed. And millions of Californians could see their healthcare premiums rise sharply if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire.
For the California delegation, the fallout at home has become impossible to ignore. Yet the shutdown is in its fourth week with no end in sight.
In the House, Johnson has refused to call members back into session and prevented them from doing legislative work. Many California lawmakers — including Kiley, one of the few GOP lawmakers to openly criticize him — have been dismayed by the deadlock.
“I have certainly emphasized the point that the House needs to be in session, and that canceling a month’s worth of session is not a good thing for the House or the country,” Kiley said, noting that he had privately met with Johnson.
Kiley, who represented parts of the Sacramento suburbs and Lake Tahoe, is facing political uncertainty as California voters weigh whether to approve Proposition 50 on Nov. 4. The measure would redraw the state’s congressional districts to better favor Democrats, leaving Kiley at risk, even though the Republican says he believes he could still win if his right-leaning district is redrawn.
The Senate has been more active, holding a series of votes on the floor and congressional hearings with Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The chamber, however, has been unable to reach a deal to reopen the government. On Thursday, the 23rd day of the shutdown, the Senate failed to advance competing measures that would have paid federal employees who have been working without compensation.
The Republicans’ plan would have paid active-duty members of the military and some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats backed a bill that would have paid all federal workers and barred the Trump administration from laying off any more federal employees.
“California has one of the largest federal workforces in the country, and no federal worker or service member should miss their paychecks because Donald Trump and Republicans refused to come to the table to protect Americans’ health care,” Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.
Working conditions get harder
The strain on federal employees — including those who work for California’s 54 delegation members — are starting to become more apparent.
Dozens of them have been working full time without pay. Their jobs include answering phone calls and requests from constituents, setting the schedules for elected officials, writing policy memos and handling messaging for their offices.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about the shutdown at a news conference Thursday with other Republican House members.
(Eric Lee / Getty Images)
At the end of October, House staffers — who are paid on a monthly basis — are expected to miss their first paycheck.
Some have been quietly told to consider borrowing money from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, which is offering a “government shutdown relief loan program” that includes a no-interest loan of up to $5,000 to be repaid in full after 90 days.
The mundane has also been disrupted. Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staffers are closed. The lines to enter office buildings are long because fewer entrances are open.
The hallways leading to the offices of California’s elected officials are quiet, except for the faint sound of occasional elevator dings. Many of their doors are adorned with signs that show who they blame for the government shutdown.
“Trump and Republicans shut down the government,” reads a sign posted on the door that leads into Rep. Norma Torres’ (D-Pomona) office. “Our office is OPEN — WORKING for the American people.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, posted a similar sign outside his office.
A sign is posted outside of the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, in Washington on Wednesday.
(Ana Ceballos / Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Vince Fong, a Republican who represents the Central Valley, has been traveling between Washington and his district. Two weeks into the shutdown, he met with veterans from the Central Valley Honor Flight and Kern County Honor Flight to make sure that their planned tour of the Capitol was not disrupted by the shutdown. Like Kiley’s tour with the schoolchildren, an elected member needed to be present for the tour to go on.
“His presence ensured the tour could continue as planned,” Fong’s office said.
During the tour, veterans were able to see Johnson as well, his office said.
Shutdown highlights deep divisions
California’s congressional delegation mirrors the broader stalemate in Washington, where entrenched positions have kept both parties at a negotiation impasse.
Democrats are steadfast in their position that they will not agree to a deal unless Republicans extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring at the end of the year, while Republicans are accusing Democrats of failing to reopen the government for political gain.
Kiley is one of the few Republicans who has called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare. Kiley said he thinks there is a “a lot of room to negotiate” because there is concern on both sides of the aisle if the tax credits expire.
“If people see a massive increase in their premiums … that’s not a good thing,” he said. “Especially in California, where the cost of living is already so high, and you’re suddenly having to pay a lot more for healthcare.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a press event Wednesday with five other California Democrats talked about the need to fight for the healthcare credits.
Garcia, of Long Beach, said he recently visited a healthcare center in San Bernardino County that serves seniors with disabilities. He said the cuts would be “devastating” and would prompt the center to close.
“That’s why we are doing everything in our power to negotiate a deal that reopens the federal government and saves healthcare,” he said.
As the shutdown continues, many Democrats are digging their heels on the issue.
At an Oct. 3 event outside of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, for instance, Rep. Laura Friedman held a news conference with nurses and hospital staff and said she would not vote for a bill to reopen the government unless there is a deal on healthcare.
Last week, the Glendale Democrat said her position hasn’t changed.
“I will not support a shutdown deal that strips healthcare from tens of thousands of my constituents,” she said.
Don’t underestimate what could be one of your largest retirement expenses.
The scary thing about retirement is that it’s hard to know exactly how much money you’ll need to cover your costs until that period of life begins. Sure, you can estimate a budget based on certain assumptions, like where you’ll live and how you’ll spend your days. But nailing down an exact budget is pretty difficult.
Meanwhile, one of the most tricky retirement expenses to estimate is none other than healthcare. That’s because the cost there will hinge on factors like:
Still, it’s important to have a basic handle on what healthcare might cost you down the line. And recent data reveals that a good chunk of Americans are clueless in that regard.
Do you know what you might spend on healthcare in retirement?
In a recent report, Fidelity found that the typical 65-year-old today can expect to spend $172,500 on healthcare costs during retirement. But it also found that 20% of Americans have never thought about what healthcare might cost them down the line.
There are two reasons it’s important to plan for healthcare costs in retirement. First, it’s one expense that’s non-negotiable.
You can downsize your home if the costs of maintaining it are too high. And you can move to a state that’s cheaper if it helps you stretch your income and Social Security benefits. But you can’t not pay for healthcare. If you need a certain medication to function, you may not have a choice about taking it.
Secondly, healthcare has, for many years, outpaced broad inflation. When Fidelity first started estimating healthcare costs for retirement back in 2002, it found that the typical senior would spend $80,000 throughout their senior years. In the past two decades and change, that projection has more than doubled. And chances are, it’ll continue to climb.
Have a plan for tackling healthcare expenses
There are steps you can take to make healthcare in retirement more affordable, like going to your scheduled physicals and screening appointments to get ahead of potential issues and choosing the right Medicare plan. But there may be only so much you can do to keep your costs down.
That’s why it’s so important to save well for healthcare specifically. And while you could always boost your IRA or 401(k) plan contributions, you may want to allocate funds in a separate account specifically for healthcare.
In that regard, a health savings account, or HSA, is a great option to look at. The nice thing about HSAs is that they’re triple tax-advantaged, which means:
Contributions go in tax-free
Investment gains are tax-free
Withdrawals are tax-free when used to cover qualifying healthcare expenses
Plus, HSAs are extremely flexible. You can withdraw your money at any time, and your money will never expire.
Also, if you end up in the enviable position of having lower healthcare costs in retirement than expected, your HSA won’t go to waste. When you’re under age 65, HSA withdrawals for non-medical expenses incur a steep penalty. But that penalty is waived once you turn 65, at which point an HSA can function like a traditional IRA or 401(k) plan.
Between Medicare premiums, deductibles, copays, and other expenses, you may find that healthcare in retirement costs more than expected. Read up on healthcare costs so you’re not caught off guard once your career comes to an end. Better yet, make sure you’re saving for your future healthcare needs so you never have to be in a position where you have to skimp on care because of the price tag attached to it.
Shares may look pricey, but Broadcom is still one of the top AI investments.
As one of the leading semiconductor companies, Broadcom (AVGO -1.24%) has handily outperformed the market recently. It’s up 51% year to date (as of Oct. 17), while the S&P 500 index has risen 13%.
Following such a rally, this might not seem like the ideal time to invest in Broadcom — the stock is trading near its all-time high. Given the tech giant’s growth, however, its stock can continue to climb. Here’s one reason why.
Image source: Getty Images.
A growing list of high-value partnerships
On Oct. 13, Broadcom and OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, announced a partnership on 10 gigawatts of custom artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators. Broadcom will be helping OpenAI design its own custom chips, and this is just the latest of several AI companies that are working with Broadcom for that purpose.
Broadcom makes custom AI chips for three major hyperscalers, believed to be Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. It’s seeing increasing chip demand from these companies, and CEO Hock Tan has also mentioned a fourth major customer that has placed $10 billion worth of orders. While there was speculation this mystery customer was OpenAI, Broadcom has now said that’s not the case.
Broadcom’s share price has been soaring, but it’s not fueled by hype. Revenue is on the rise, particularly its AI revenue, which increased 63% year over year to $5.2 billion in Q3 2025. Tech companies are increasingly turning to Broadcom for custom chips that better fit their needs and to avoid being overly reliant on graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia.
During Broadcom’s last earning call, Tan mentioned that the company has an order backlog of over $110 billion, an indicator that its excellent revenue growth should continue. Don’t let the valuation deter you — Broadcom’s crucial role in AI development makes it one of the stronger tech companies to invest in.
Lyle Daly has positions in Broadcom and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Nvidia stock has skyrocketed over the past few years amid excitement about the company’s AI dominance.
About a year ago, Nvidia(NVDA 0.86%) was facing one of its biggest moments ever. The artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant was launching its new Blackwell architecture, a system that was being met with “insane” demand as CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC at the time. The company announced Blackwell in March 2024 and the fourth quarter of the year was the first to include Blackwell revenue.
Blackwell was to be the first release of a new routine for Nvidia: launching chip or entire platform updates on an annual basis. Since that time, this new architecture has helped Nvidia’s earnings roar higher, with Blackwell data center revenue climbing 17% in the most recent quarter from the previous one. In the report, Huang said, “The AI race is on, and Blackwell is the platform at its center.” Meanwhile, Nvidia stock has reflected all of this, advancing 40% so far this year.
Now, it’s logical to wonder where Nvidia will be as this story progresses, for example, 24 months after the Blackwell launch. Here’s what history says.
Image source: Nvidia.
Nvidia’s path in AI
First, though, let’s consider Nvidia’s path in the AI market so far. The company has always been a graphics processing unit (GPU) powerhouse, but in its earlier days, it mainly sold these high-performance chips to the gaming market. As it became clear that their uses could be much broader, Nvidia developed the CUDA parallel computing platform to make that happen — and then, as the potential of AI emerged, Nvidia didn’t hesitate to put its focus on this exciting market.
That proved to be a fantastic move as it helped Nvidia secure the top spot in the AI chip market — and the quality and speed of its GPUs has kept it there. All of this has resulted in several quarters of double- and triple-digit revenue growth as well as high profitability on sales — gross margin has generally surpassed 70% in recent times.
To keep this leadership going, Nvidia committed to ongoing innovation, with the promise of updating its chips once a year. The company kicked this off with the launch of Blackwell about a year ago, then released update Blackwell Ultra a few months ago. Next up on the agenda is the Vera Rubin system, set for release late next year.
From platform to platform
All of these platforms operate together seamlessly, so customers don’t have to wait for a specific one and instead can get in on Nvidia’s current system and easily move forward with the latest innovations when needed. Still, as mentioned earlier, demand from big tech customers for the latest systems has been great — they want to win in the AI race and to do so aim to get their hands on the best tools as soon as possible.
So, where will Nvidia be 24 months after the Blackwell launch? The clues so far suggest revenue will continue to climb in the double-digits — and Wall Street’s average estimates call for a 33% increase in revenue next year from this year’s levels. And as Rubin is released, demand is likely to increase for that system as customers’ interest in gaining access to the latest AI technology continues.
But what about Nvidia’s stock price? History offers some clues. Prior to this time, Nvidia’s major recent releases happened every two years. We can look back to the launch of the Ampere platform on May 14, 2020, and the release of Hopper on Sept. 20, 2022. And each time, over the next 24 months, Nvidia stock soared in the triple digits. It climbed 120% in the two years following the Ampere release and more than 700% following the release of Hopper.
History shows Nvidia stock is on track for a triple-digit gain two years after the Blackwell launch. If we use the starting point as the first quarter of Blackwell revenue — this quarter ended on Jan. 26, 2025 — we can see the stock has climbed about 30% so far. But Nvidia still has plenty of time to post more Blackwell sales and potentially see its shares advance in the triple-digits from their level earlier this year through the first month of the 2027 calendar year.
To illustrate, a 100% gain from early 2025 levels would bring the stock price to $284, and that would result in $6.9 trillion in market cap by the start of 2027. This fits into a scenario I wrote about recently, predicting Nvidia will reach $10 trillion in market value by the end of the decade.
Of course, it’s impossible to guarantee this outcome — any negative geopolitical or economic news, or even an unexpected problem like a decline in tech spending could hurt Nvidia’s revenue and stock performance. But, if these potential risks don’t materialize, history could be right — and Nvidia stock may find itself significantly higher 24 months after the Blackwell launch.
We paid half of what we were going to – and it was a nice way to end the holiday
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We sat outside and watch planes land and take-off(Image: Sophie Buchan)
Screaming kids and a four-hour delay. That’s what my boyfriend and I were faced with when we set foot in the airport last week – and after we decided to escape to the airport lounge no matter the cost, we were shocked that we were entitled to a discount, cutting the price in half.
Flying from Tenerife, we were due to land back home in Scotland at 11pm and instead arrived home at 4am – so it’s safe to say it was a heck of a delay. Thankfully, though, as my partner is a member of Monzo Premium, he got us a discount, and we had no idea it was a perk he was entitled to.
On top of that, airport chairs are not comfy enough for a three-hour wait – and that doesn’t even include waiting to board once we’re called to our gate. So how do you get the discount and how much did we end up paying?
How to get an airport lounge discount worldwide
We ended up paying a total of around £48, which brought it down to £24 each. Saving us half the price, we were delighted. We were given free WI-FI, access to showers (towels provided) as well as all-you-can-eat food and drink – including alcohol.
Explained on the Monzo Help page, the online-based bank revealed they have teamed up with LoungeKey to give anyone with Monzo Premium or Monzo Max discounted access to airport lounges worldwide.
It explained: “You and guests can access 1,100 airport lounges around the world for a flat fee of £24 per person, per visit. This rate includes Max Family, and you will need to pay per person, per visit.
“You are required to complete strong customer authentication (SCA) before visiting a lounge for the first time. You will only need to go through this process once, as subsequent transactions will be processed from your stored card on file.
“If you replace your card you will need to re-register the payment method and complete SCA again, this includes physically presenting your new card at the lounge the first time you intend to use it.”
Do you have to pre-book?
We didn’t book and instead just turned up, as it was never our plan to go to the lounge until we were faced with loud kids and a massive wait. Monzo explained that some lounges will allow you to pre-book before your visit.
Howeve,r if you go for this option, you will be charged at least £6 on top of your discounted price. It states this price is determined by the airport lounge and has nothing to do with Monzo.
It added: “If you visit on the day without pre-booking, you will just pay the discounted price of £24 per person, but this is dependent on whether the lounge has space.”
It is worth noting that Monzo says that customers will need to have their physical Monzo card with them for their first visit. We had ours with us, but were also able to give the staff the number on our card to get the benefit too.
So where are you planning on holidaying next – and will you be getting comfy in an airport lounge? Let us know in the comments.
A lot of people start collecting Social Security specifically because they’ve stopped working, or when they’re ready to stop. But you should know that if you wish to work while collecting Social Security, that option exists.
However, there are rules you should know in the context of working while on Social Security. Here’s a rundown.
Image source: Getty Images.
Working while on Social Security has its advantages
You may find that your Social Security benefits aren’t enough to cover your retirement expenses in full. If you don’t have an IRA or 401(k) to supplement with, then you may be inclined to work in some capacity to make up the difference.
Once you reach full retirement age, which is 67 for people born in 1960 or later, you don’t have to worry about having Social Security benefits withheld for working, regardless of what you earn. But if you’re collecting Social Security before having reached full retirement age, you’ll be subject to an earnings test whose limits change annually.
This year, for example, you can earn up to $23,400 without having any Social Security withheld if you’re under full retirement age. Beyond that point, you’ll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $2 of income.
The earnings-test limit is much higher if you’re reaching full retirement age at some point in 2025. In that case, it’s $62,160. And beyond that point, you’ll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $3 of income.
If you’re under full retirement age but also earn less than the earnings-test limit, you can enjoy a nice supplement to your income without any negative impact. And even if you have benefits withheld for exceeding the earnings-test limit, you’ll get that money back eventually.
Once you reach full retirement age, your monthly benefits will be recalculated and boosted to make up for withheld Social Security earlier on. That could be a good thing, because if you get used to living on less and your monthly benefits go up substantially, it could feel like a bonus of sorts.
You may get larger monthly benefits for another reason
In addition to putting more money in your pocket, working while on Social Security could set you up for larger benefits down the line. The formula used to calculate your benefits accounts for your 35 highest-paid years of earnings while adjusting earlier wages for inflation.
If you earn a lot while collecting Social Security, you might replace a year of lower income with a higher income. That could, in turn, lead to larger benefit payments.
Let’s say you worked for 35 years, but for three of those years, you only worked part-time and earned very little. If you work part-time while on Social Security and bring in $22,000 over the course of the year, you’ll be below the earnings-test limit.
But $22,000 may also be a lot more than what you earned during one of your years of part-time work, even with those earlier wages adjusted for inflation. So you may find that working leads to a more generous monthly payday for life once the Social Security Administration is able to factor your most recent wages into your benefit formula.
Know the rules
You may have heard that working while on Social Security is not a good idea because of the earnings-test limit. Or, you may be under the impression that if you’re getting monthly benefits, you’re barred from working, period.
It’s important to understand the rules of working while collecting Social Security so you’re able to supplement your income as you please. And you may find that holding down a job while receiving benefits gives you more money not just from those wages, but in the form of larger monthly Social Security checks later on.
RMDs can seem confusing at first, but the calculation is pretty simple.
You probably think of the money in your retirement accounts as yours, but if you have traditional IRAs or 401(k)s, it’s not that straightforward. You owe the IRS a cut of your savings, and at a certain point, it forces you to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs). These are mandatory annual withdrawals that you must pay taxes on.
If you’re new to RMDs, they can seem a little intimidating. Failing to withdraw the required amount results in a steep 25% tax penalty on the amount you should’ve withdrawn, so it’s important to know how to calculate yours correctly. Let’s look at the example of a retirement account with a $500,000 balance.
Image source: Getty Images.
Three situations where you don’t have to take an RMD
You won’t have to take an RMD from your retirement account if any of the following are true:
You’re under age 73: RMDs begin in the year you turn 73. If you turn 73 in 2025, you technically have until April 1, 2026 to take your first RMD. In all subsequent years, you must take RMDs no later than Dec. 31 of that year.
It’s a Roth account: You fund Roth accounts with after-tax dollars, so you can enjoy tax-free withdrawals in retirement. Because of this, the government has no incentive to force you to take money out each year.
The account is associated with your current employer: If you’re still working, you can delay RMDs from your current employer’s retirement plan until the year after the year you retire. However, you still have to take RMDs from old 401(k)s and traditional IRAs,if you have any.
If none of these things apply to you, then you will need to take an RMD. Fortunately, they’re not too difficult to calculate.
How to calculate your RMD on a $500,000 account
You calculate your RMD using the balance as of Dec. 31 of the previous year — Dec. 31, 2024 for your 2025 RMD. If you don’t know what your balance was at that time, you may need to look it up or speak to your plan administrator.
Once you know the amount, all you need to do is divide that by the distribution period next to your age in the IRS’ Uniform Lifetime Table. The result is your RMD.
So, for example, if you had $500,000 in your 401(k) as of Dec. 31, 2024 and you turned 73 in 2025, your RMD would be $500,000 divided by 27.4 — the distribution period for 73-year-olds. That comes out to about $18,248.
You’re free to take out more than this if you’d like. But this is the minimum amount you must withdraw in order to avoid the 25% penalty.
What if you don’t want to take your RMD?
Avoiding mandatory withdrawals generally isn’t worth it. The 25% penalty will likely cost you more than what you would’ve paid in income taxes if you’d just taken the RMD as scheduled.
That said, sometimes you may not want to deal with the extra taxes an RMD can bring. In that case, consider making a qualifying charitable distribution (QCD). This is where you ask your plan administrator to send an amount equal to your RMD or a portion of it to a qualifying tax-exempt organization.
The money must go directly to the charity. If the plan administrator distributes it to you first, it does not count, even if you give it all away to charitable causes. Done properly, the IRS won’t tax you on this retirement account withdrawal, and it’ll consider your RMD satisfied for the year.
The maximum QCD you can make in 2025 is $108,000. This should be more than enough for most people.
You may have already spent an amount equal to your RMD on living expenses this year. In that case, you’re in the clear until next year. Check with your plan administrator if you’re unsure how much you’ve already withdrawn from your accounts in 2025. If you come up a little short, be sure to make some more withdrawals in the next few weeks.
According to Experian data, the average American driver pays roughly $2,328 per year for full coverage auto insurance in 2025. If you carry only the minimum coverage required by your state, that drops to about $1,546 annually.
Of course, those are just averages. Your actual rate might be far higher or much lower. It all depends on personal factors, like where you live, what kind of car you drive, and your claims history.
So how do you stack up?
My personal rate
For example, my current full-coverage policy runs about $1,047 a year here in California. I’ve got a clean driving record, great credit, a family minivan (yep, full dad mode), and I only rack up around 6,000 miles a year.
I pay less than half the national average — but it didn’t happen by luck. I make it a habit to compare quotes every so often and keep my profile in top shape.
Insurance companies use dozens of factors to gauge your risk and determine your policy rate.
Some of these factors you can control, others not so much.
Here are the biggest ones that matter:
Location: Rates differ wildly by state and even ZIP code. Drivers in Maryland, for instance, might pay more than double what drivers in Vermont do.
Driving record: Tickets, accidents, and DUIs can raise your rate for years.
Vehicle type: Minivans and sedans generally cost less to insure than luxury or sports cars.
Credit score: In most states, a higher credit score can help lower your premium.
Annual mileage: Driving less typically means less risk — and lower rates.
Coverage level: Full coverage offers stronger protection but costs more.
Deductible: Choosing a higher deductible can reduce your monthly premium.
Knowing which levers you can pull gives you real control over your rate.
Why it pays to compare
Every year, your car gets a little older, your driving record gets a little longer, and your situation changes. Maybe you’re driving less, moved somewhere safer, or finished paying off your car.
Meanwhile, most insurance companies raise your rate each renewal — even if nothing about your risk has changed. It’s just how the system works.
That’s why checking rates once a year can pay off big.
In fact, Consumer Reports found that nearly 1 in 3 drivers switched auto insurers in the past five years. And those who did saved an average of $461 a year.
Since it only takes a few minutes to shop around, it’s always worth checking if better rates are available out there.
Personally, I like to check insurance prices once a year. Most of the time, I find I’m already getting the best deal. But every so often, I stumble across a lower rate for the exact same coverage!
No lease, no financing, no $749 a month disappearing into a lender’s account. Just my old 2007 Honda Element, still rumbling down the road. She’s not the prettiest girl at the bar anymore, but she’s all I need.
At some point, I realized every “small” car payment my friends were making could have been a serious savings engine.
The power of redirecting that $749 a month
The average new car payment today is a jaw-dropping $749 a month. Skip that for 10 years, and you’ve kept nearly $90,000 in your pocket before even earning a cent in interest.
But that money doesn’t have to sit idle. Over the past few years, the first place I’ve been putting what would’ve been my “car payment” is straight into a high-yield savings account. At around 4.50% APY, that’s earned me thousands in interest while staying completely risk-free.
While I don’t want to keep all of my money in an HYSA, I keep my emergency fund with a few months of living expenses there and just make sure it’s always topped off. Beyond that, everything flows into my favorite tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Why I park my money in a high-yield savings account
I treat my HYSA like a first stop for the money I used to waste on car payments. It’s my emergency and peace-of-mind fund, and here’s what makes high-yield savings accounts so easy to love:
Safe and FDIC-insured up to $250,000
Instant access when you need your cash
Rates still around 4.00%, even as the Fed starts cutting
What you could do instead of sending money to a bank
Once I saw how quickly my savings grew, I realized it was really about peace of mind. I never worry about an unexpected bill or repair anymore. My high-yield savings account is my safety net, and every month I go without a car payment, that net gets stronger.
If you want that same feeling, start by opening a high-yield savings account that actually rewards you for saving. Rates around 4.00% APY won’t last forever, but getting started now could give you years of financial breathing room.
For years, I parked my savings at Wells Fargo because it felt safe and familiar. The problem is it was earning almost nothing.
Wells Fargo’s standard savings account still pays just 0.01% APY, which means every $10,000 earns $1 a year in interest. One dollar.
Then I finally moved my money into a high-yield savings account (HYSA) paying around 4.00% APY, and it completely changed the math. Even if rates dip as the Fed starts cutting, I’ll still earn over $1,000 in interest over the next two years.
Here’s how that adds up, and why I keep telling everyone I know to switch.
Earning hundreds more, even if rates fall
Right now, the best HYSAs are still offering between 4.00% and 4.50% APY.
To stay realistic, let’s assume rates drop gradually:
Year 1: 3.60% APY
Year 2: 3.20% APY
I keep about $20,000 in savings. Here’s what that earns me:
Year
APY
Interest
1
3.60%
$720
2
3.20%
$640
Total (2 years)
—
$1,360
Data source: Author’s calculations.
Now compare that with Wells Fargo:
Year
APY
Interest
1
0.01%
$2
2
0.01%
$2
Total (2 years)
—
$4
Data source: Author’s calculations.
That’s a $1,356 difference, just for moving my money to a better bank.
Lower balances still earn serious money
You don’t need a big balance to make this work. Even smaller amounts can grow fast in a high-yield account.
Switching accounts used to sound intimidating, but now it’s incredibly simple. Once you open a new HYSA, you can link it to your checking account, transfer funds, and start earning immediately.
Your money stays FDIC-insured up to $250,000, just like it was at Wells Fargo — only now it’s actually working for you.
If I’d switched years ago, I’d probably have several thousand dollars more by now. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
Don’t let your bank keep your interest
It takes less than 15 minutes to move your savings to a high-yield account that pays you what your money deserves.
Can you put a price on the experience of enjoying a World Series game at Dodger Stadium?
Yes, and it’s a very high one.
The Dodgers put tickets for potential World Series games on sale Tuesday, with the cheapest seat available for $881.95, according to an afternoon review of the team website. That seat — $800 for the ticket and $81.95 for fees — is located at the end of the reserve level, high above the field and next to the foul pole.
World Series prices posted on the website Tuesday ranged as high as $1,510.05. The best seats are sold as part of season packages, so that $1,510.05 seat ($1,371 ticket plus $139.05 fees) is located on the field level, near the foul pole and bullpen.
If the Dodgers advance to the World Series and play the Seattle Mariners, the Dodgers would play as many as four home games, starting Friday, Oct. 24. If the Dodgers advance and play the Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers would play as many as three home games, starting Monday, Oct. 27.
On Oct. 24, a family of four could get into Disneyland for a total of $796. On Oct. 27, a family of four could get into Disneyland for a total of $676.
Ticket prices are subject to change based on demand.
When the Dodgers put National League Championship Series tickets on sale, the cheapest price was $155. On Tuesday, the cheapest ticket on the team website for Game 3 on Thursday was $168.
However, since the game time has been set at 3 p.m. and weekday afternoon games are not popular, tickets on the resale market could be bought for about $100 Tuesday.
The danger is past, and there are lessons to learn.
Markets occasionally dump a bucket of icy water on everyone at once, and on Oct. 10, it was the cryptocurrency sector’s turn. In the late afternoon, President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on China, and then a total panic exploded in crypto. For a few terrifying minutes, prices looked like trapdoors into oblivion, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars off the sector’s market cap.
Flash crashes like these are obviously extremely uncomfortable for investors, but they’re clarifying because they expose weak financial plumbing, miscalibrated risk-taking habits, and shaky narratives. They also give long-term investors a checklist for what to do next. Here’s what you need to know, and what you need to do.
Image source: Getty Images.
What just happened
The catalyst for the flash crash had little to do with crypto itself, as the sector is largely unrelated to the flow of trade with China, which the newly threatened tariffs would affect. As the weekend unfolded, Trump and his advisors subsequently softened their tone, which helped markets to stabilize. But the damage was already done.
Prices fell shockingly fast. Bitcoin(BTC -3.26%) dropped by more than 12% from the prior week’s peak before rebounding somewhat. Ethereum(ETH -4.06%) slid by even more at the worst point.
Meme coins and altcoins were utterly shellacked. Dogecoin(DOGE -4.80%) briefly cratered by about 50% before stabilizing. Tokens outside the very largest cohort fell even harder. The crypto publication CoinDesk cited a 33% drop across the board for non-BTC, non-ETH assets, with many losing 80% or more, and a small handful losing close to 99.9% of their value in the same very short period.
The scale of this crash was historic. But why did it cascade so badly? Start with leverage.
The market was primed for a massive unwinding by a recent boom in the leveraged trading of perpetual futures in a handful of new decentralized exchanges (DEXes), and highly leveraged activity across the existing set of centralized exchanges (CEXes). Roughly $19 billion of forced liquidations of leveraged positions across DEX and CEX venues have been reported so far, which is the largest on record by a very large margin. The mechanism here was that the initial price shock caused by the tariff announcement caused a huge number of leveraged positions to blow up and get roughly simultaneously liquidated by the exchanges.
Then came problems with liquidity. Reports indicate that as exchanges were in the process of liquidating those leveraged positions, their own collateral used for borrowing was becoming worthless quite rapidly. This in turn caused some market makers to step back from providing their services to altcoins as volatility exploded amid the liquidations, leaving thin order books and allowing absurd air-pockets in pricing.
That’s likely why the downward price action became so intense so quickly. Without any liquidity available on tap for exchanges or market makers, and without any buyers at most of the prevailing prices, even a small amount of selling activity can create large price moves — and there was a lot of selling. There’s also some evidence that some of the crypto exchanges’ data oracles responsible for being authoritative sources of pricing information seized up or failed in the midst of this process. This heightened fear across both centralized and decentralized venues.
Separately, there is a significant amount of chatter alleging that an insider had advance knowledge of Trump’s new tariff policy announcement and took out a very large short position on Bitcoin in advance, pocketing around $200 million in the resulting crash. These allegations are not proven, though they rhyme with previous instances suspiciously perfectly timed trading in advance of tariff-related crypto market dumps.
However, it’s important to recognize that Bitcoin was actually the least affected asset during this event, and that its price activity was not really a major contributor to the cascade downward in and of itself.
What long-term investors should do next
The big lessons from the flash crash are simple, and they will age well.
First, do not use leverage to own crypto. Leverage turns both routine and exceptional volatility events into portfolio-destroying liquidations. Blue-chip cryptos like Solana, XRP, Chainlink, and Dogecoin can gap down hard in minutes when liquidity thins. Many traders (or short-term investors) using conservative amounts of leverage — less than 2X — were liquidated right alongside the gamblers levered to 100X.
Second, keep the bulk of your exposure restricted to crypto majors like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Chainlink. Bitcoin held up well, and large chains reported a swift rebound as the tariff rhetoric cooled. The fact that they have a real investment thesis that exists independent of market phenomena helps significantly, too.
Finally, stick to the long game. The flash crash revealed what was fragile. What it did not change is the multi-year thesis for the majors, which depends on adoption, infrastructure, and policy clarity. If you build your allocations around that reality, you will be positioned to survive and benefit.
Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Investors should look beyond Nvidia and consider semiconductor stocks that combine strong AI fundamentals and reasonable valuation.
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is transforming every corner of the global economy. Nvidia, the company at the center of this revolution, continues to be a Wall Street favorite for all the right reasons. As an undisputed leader in accelerated computing, the company’s hardware and software power much of the world’s AI infrastructure buildout.
Shares of Nvidia have already surged over 43% so far in 2025. However, despite the massive demand for its Blackwell architecture systems, software stack, and networking solutions, the stock may grow quite modestly in future months. With its market capitalization now exceeding $4.6 trillion and shares trading at a premium valuation of nearly 30 times forward earnings, much of the optimism is already priced in.
Memory giantMicron(MU 6.12%), on the other hand, is still in the early stages of its AI-powered growth story. Shares of the company have surged nearly 128% in 2025, which highlights the increasing investor confidence in its high-bandwidth memory and data center portfolio. Yet, Micron could still offer investors higher returns in 2026, while riding the same AI wave. Here’s why.
Image source: Getty Images.
Lower customer concentration risk
Wall Street has been highlighting one significant underappreciated risk for Nvidia. Nvidia’s revenues depend heavily on a few hyperscaler customers, with two accounting for 39% and four accounting for 46% of its revenues in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending July 27, 2026). Many of these hyperscaler clients are developing proprietary chips, which may offer a price-performance optimization in their specific workloads. This may reduce their dependence on Nvidia’s chips in future years.
Micron’s revenue base is significantly more diversified than Nvidia’s. The company’s largest customer accounted for 17% of total revenue, while the next largest contributed 10% in fiscal 2025 (ending Aug. 28, 2025). The company has earned over half of its total revenues from the top 10 customers for the past three years. The company has a reasonably broad customer base, including data center, mobile, PC, automotive, and industrial markets.
Hence, compared with Nvidia, Micron’s lower concentration risk makes it more resilient in the current economy.
HBM demand and AI memory leadership
Micron’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products, known for their superior data transfer speeds and energy efficiency, are being increasingly used in data centers. HBM revenues reached nearly $2 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, translating into $8 billion annualized run rate.
Management expects Micron’s HBM market share to match its overall DRAM share by the third quarter of fiscal 2025. The company now caters to six HBM customers and has entered into pricing agreements covering most of the 2026 supply of HBM third-generation extended (HBM3E) products.
Micron has also started sampling HBM fourth-generation (HBM4) products to customers. The company expects the first production shipment of HBM4 in the second quarter of calendar year 2026 and a broader ramp later that year.
Beyond HBM, Micron’s Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR) memory products are also seeing strong demand in data centers. The data center business has emerged as a key growth engine, accounting for 56% of Micron’s total sales in fiscal 2025.
Hence, Micron seems well-positioned to capture a significant share of the AI-powered memory demand in the coming years.
Valuation
Micron appears to offer a stronger risk-reward proposition than Nvidia, even in the backdrop of accelerated AI infrastructure spending. The company currently trades at 12.3 times forward earnings, significantly lower than Nvidia’s valuation. Hence, while Nvidia’s premium valuation already assumes near-perfect execution and continued dominance, Micron still trades like a cyclical memory stock. This disconnect leaves room for modest valuation expansion to account for Micron’s improving revenue mix toward high-margin AI memory products.
Wall Street sentiment is also increasingly positive for Micron. Morgan Stanley’s Joseph Moore recently upgraded the stock from equal-weight or neutral to overweight and raised the target price from $160 to $220. UBS has reiterated its “Buy” rating and increased the target price from $195 to $225. Itau Unibanco analyst has initiated coverage for Micron with a “Buy” rating and target price of $249.
Analysts expect Micron’s earnings per share to grow year over year by nearly 100% to $16.6 in fiscal 2026. If the current valuation multiple holds, Micron’s share price could be around $204 (up 6% from the last closing price as of Oct. 9), with limited downside potential. But if the multiple expands modestly in the range of 14 to 16 times forward earnings, shares could fall in the range of $232 to $265, offering upside of 20% to 37.8%.
On the other hand, there remains a higher probability of valuation compression for Nvidia, leaving less room for growth. With diversified customers, increasing AI exposure, and reasonable valuation, Micron may prove to be the better semiconductor pick in 2026.
The government shutdown has complicated things, but the COLA is still coming soon.
Every October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the upcoming year.
Up until recently, that announcement was supposed to be around Oct. 15 — right after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases September’s inflation report. But with the federal government closed until further notice, it seemed as if that report wouldn’t be released anytime soon.
New information from the BLS, however, suggests we could be getting the COLA announcement sooner than expected. Here’s when it might be coming, what it might be, and how that might affect your retirement.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
When will the new COLA be released?
The SSA calculates the COLA by averaging Consumer Price Index data from July, August, and September. That average is compared to the figure from the same period the year prior, and if it’s higher, the percentage difference will be next year’s COLA.
Before the government shut down, the BLS was expected to release September’s Consumer Price Index data on Oct. 15. But with that office almost entirely furloughed, it was unlikely the report would be published before the government reopened.
However, on Oct. 10, the BLS published an update noting that September’s inflation report would be released on Oct. 24. Generally, the SSA announces the new COLA almost immediately after the BLS inflation report is published.
What might next year’s adjustment be?
We won’t know the official 2026 COLA until the SSA makes the announcement later this month, but nonpartisan advocacy group The Senior Citizens League has estimated that it will land at 2.7%.
That figure is based on already available inflation data, as well as the projected data from September. If September’s numbers are significantly different from the estimates, the COLA may be higher or lower than predicted.
The average retired worker collects just over $2,000 per month in benefits, according to August 2025 data from the SSA. A 2.7% COLA, then, would amount to a raise of around $56 per month.
While any boost in benefits is helpful to a degree, for many retirees, next year’s COLA may be underwhelming. Inflation has stayed stubbornly high throughout the year, and tariffs have also taken a bite out of many retirees’ budgets.
Medicare Part B premiums are also expected to increase from $185 per month this year to a projected $206.50 per month in 2026, according to this year’s Medicare Trustees Report. Because Medicare premiums are typically deducted from Social Security checks, that $21.50 monthly increase will eat up a significant chunk of the COLA raise for the average retiree.
What does this mean for retirees?
It doesn’t hurt to keep an eye out for the COLA announcement to help budget for 2026, but for the most part, retirees may want to avoid relying too heavily on this adjustment to make ends meet.
Again, any extra cash can help pay the bills, especially with many older adults stretched thin financially right now. But with Social Security not going as far as it used to, it may be wise to start finding ways to reduce your dependence on your benefits.
According to a report from The Senior Citizens League, Social Security benefits lost around 20% of their buying power between 2010 and 2024. If you can swing it, finding a source of passive income or going back to work temporarily could have a bigger impact on your budget than any COLA.
This won’t be possible for everyone, but if you can beef up your savings even slightly, you won’t need to worry quite as much about future COLAs falling short. No matter where the 2026 adjustment lands, it’s wise to keep realistic expectations about how far that money will go.
Labour’s China spy trial explanation is total rubbish slams former security minister Tom Tugendhat
It didn’t bother explaining why — one minute the trial was on, the next it was dead meat.
Industrial secrets
It now transpires that the CPS took advice from British government officials.
It is entirely possible that the UK’s National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, a good mate of Keir, was one of the officials involved.
Shortly after their meeting with the CPS, the decision was taken to drop the case.
Why? They apparently told the CPS China couldn’t be called a “threat” to the UK.
Instead, it was just a “geo-political challenge”.
And so the charges against Cash and Berry wouldn’t stick.
In a previous spying case it was decided that charges were relevant only if it involved “a country which represents, at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK”.
Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous?
If China isn’t a threat to the UK, then who is?
The head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, has reported that the Chinese have tried to entice 20,000 Brits to act as spies for them, against our interests.
Did nobody think to ask Sir Ken if he thought China was a threat? I suspect I know the answer that would have been forthcoming
He also claimed that 10,000 UK businesses were at threat from the Chinese trying to nick industrial secrets.
In addition, he said that MI5 had 2,000 current investigations into Chinese spying activity — and that a new case was opened on the Chinese — behaving very deviously indeed — every 12 hours.
Did nobody think to ask Sir Ken if he thought China was a threat?
I suspect I know the answer that would have been forthcoming.
Of course the country is a threat.
It is menacing other nations down in South East Asia.
It has a whole bunch of nukes pointed directly at the West.
It arrests dissidents who want western-style freedoms.
And it does everything it can to undermine the UK’s politics and industry.
Truth be told, anybody who is working secretly for a foreign country in the UK is a threat to this country.
This seems to me so obvious that it should not need stating.
If their secret outside income involves a vast load of Yuan, some fortune cookies and cans of bubble tea, then we should investigate very seriously.
The truth in this particular case, though, is particularly damning.
It seems almost certain that Whitehall officials intervened at the behest of the Government.
And that they did this so as not to p**s off the Chinese — because aside from being a threat to the UK, which China certainly is, we are going cap in hand begging for investment from them.
Other nations don’t have a problem with employing a dual approach.
Make no mistake, we may need to do business with the likes of China, much as we did once with Russia — but they ARE the enemy
They understand that while they all need to do trade with horrible totalitarian countries such as China, they also need to count their spoons, if you get my meaning — and at the slightest sign of devious behaviour, call them out.
The Chinese understand this too.
Yes, being caught with a bunch of spies in our Parliament may be embarrassing for a short while.
But it won’t be allowed to get in the way of China making more money.
It seems that our government was too frit to risk it.
Too scared that the Chinese might react nastily and pull investment.
Or decide not to invest in the future. We mustn’t offend the Chinese.
Strategies like this simply do not work — and the Chinese, just like their big mates the Russians, will continue to spy on our institutions and do everything they can to harm our state.
Enemy is laughing
Make no mistake, we may need to do business with the likes of China, much as we did once with Russia — but they ARE the enemy.
And currently an enemy that is laughing its head off.
The government officials involved will be coming before the House of Commons Joint Committee on National Security Strategy.
If it is discovered that Jonathan Powell did warn off the CPS from pursuing the cases against Cash and Berry, then Powell should resign or be sacked.
Unless, of course, Powell was simply doing the bidding of the Prime Minister or the then Foreign Secretary, the intellectual colossus who is David Lammy.
If that’s the case then THEY should resign.
One way or another, we cannot allow Chinese spies to run amok in this country of ours just because we want to trouser some more wonga down the line, through Chinese investment.
This is a truly important week for Starmer.
The Chinese spygate scandal is the most serious he has faced since taking office last July.
It could yet be the finish of the man.
Which won’t make me lose a terrific amount of sleep, I have to tell you.
THE Man Who Never Sweats is probably feeling a bit moist under the armpits right now.
It has been discovered that Prince Andrew was still sending chummy texts to disgraced paedo Jeffrey Epstein long after the royal said he was.
Andrew is alleged to have messaged him to say: “We are in this together.”
This happened 12 weeks after the point at which Andrew claimed, in that BBC interview, to have cut off all contact with the odious slimeball.
It’s high time King Charles took action and kicked Andrew out of his Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park.
If you want to be among the top 10% of American households, you’ll need a seven-figure net worth.
Net worth is one of the most important financial numbers to know.
You should monitor your net worth because it changes over time, and it gives you a good idea of how close you are to being financially independent and shows whether you are making progress on your financial goals.
It can also be fun to see how your net worth stacks up to your peers. In particular, you may be curious about what net worth you would need to be among the top 10% of American households. The number is, unsurprisingly, pretty big.
Here’s the amount you would need, along with some details on calculating your net worth — and increasing it.
Image source: Getty Images.
How do you calculate your net worth?
Before diving into the net worth you need to be among the top 10%, it’s helpful to consider how to calculate net worth in the first place.
Net worth is essentially how much wealth you have to your name. To calculate your net worth:
Start by adding up the value of all your assets. Money in your bank account and savings account counts. So does money in your money market account. If you have CDs, these count as well. Same with investment dollars in a brokerage account. If you own real estate, a car, jewelry, personal items, or anything else of value, it counts toward your net worth.
Add up all your debt. You’ll also need to add up what you owe. Credit card debts, student loans, payday loans, a mortgage, and any other financial obligations you have will all become part of your debt calculation. You can check your credit report to confirm balances on all your debts if you aren’t sure of the amounts.
Subtract the amount of your debt from the value of your assets. If your assets are worth $500,000, for example, but you have $350,000 in debt, then you subtract $350,000 from $500,000 to discover that your net worth is $150,000.
If your net worth is negative, that’s pretty common if you’re young. Many people don’t own much, and they borrow for school, so they graduate with a lot of debt.
As you get older, though, your net worth should be growing as you build up money in brokerage accounts and retirement plans.
Are you in the top 10% of American households?
Now that you know how net worth is calculated, you may want to see where you stand.
The best information on this comes from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, which comes out once every three years. Unfortunately, the most recent data is from 2022. Still, we can take a look at that information to get an idea of what the top 10% of earners have in terms of wealth.
Based on this data from the Federal Reserve, the top 10% of American households had a net worth of at least $1,936,900, although the threshold varies by age. For example:
Among 18 to 29-year-olds, you’d need $281,550 or higher to be in the top 10%
Between 30 to 39, you’d need $711,400
Between 40 to 49, you’d need $1,313,700
Between 50 to 59, you’d need $2,629,060
Between 60 to 69, you’d need $3,007,400
At age 70 and over, you’d need $2,862,000
While these are high numbers, the amount is most likely even higher today due to the stellar performance of the stock market and the increase in real estate values in recent years.
While the Federal Reserve should have new data soon, these numbers show that it takes millions to be among the wealthiest Americans in terms of net worth.
Still, regardless of how you compare to your peers, what’s important is that you work on growing your own net worth by paying down debt, investing in your 401(k), IRA, and other accounts, and making smart financial choices that make you more financially secure over time.
