Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

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Travel demand has remained resilient this year despite mounting economic concerns.

Key Takeaways

• Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, has added Delta Air Lines to his "Best Stocks in the Market" list, citing evidence high-income consumers are continuing to spend on travel.
• Brown and colleague Sean Russo also put Expedia on the list. The company raised its outlook for full-year sales and profitability in its third-quarter earnings report last month.

Data says times are tough. The unemployment rate rose and inflation accelerated in September. Companies laid off more than 150,000 employees in October. Last month consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since 2022.

All told, it doesn’t sound like a great time to invest in companies that sell vacations.

That’s not scaring away Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Brown and colleague Sean Russo earlier this month added Delta Air Lines (DAL) to their Best Stocks in the Market list.

“The media wants for there to be some confirming evidence that the consumer is faltering,” said Brown on CNBC Tuesday. “And the reality is that they’re not.”

Why This Is Important

Travel demand has remained resilient this year despite economic concerns stemming from tariffs, inflation, and a weakening labor market. Some investors expect companies catering to affluent travelers will continue to have the most success weathering economic turbulence.

Airport security screened a record number of passengers on Nov. 30, Brown points out, at more than 3.1 million. He notes that cruise lines, hotel operators, and airlines have across the board reported resilient results despite economic fears. “The companies are telling you that the consumer is not only not slowing down their travel," Brown said. "In some categories, they’re accelerating.” 

Delta “consistently leads network carriers in operational performance,” wrote Russo earlier this month. He and Brown argue the airline’s focus on quality and premium experiences has strengthened its financials, and should serve it well in the future. 

In the third quarter, high-margin premium, loyalty, and partnerships segments, which cater to more affluent customers, accounted for 60% of total revenue at Delta, according to Russo. Those consumers feel less pressure from an uncertain job market and rising inflation.

Expedia (EXPE) is another travel company that’s found its way onto Brown and Russo’s list. Room bookings increased 11% in the third quarter, “driven by the fastest U.S. growth in three years,” the company said in November. The company also raised its forecast for full-year revenue and margin growth.

“Delta and Expedia are proof that service quality paired with pricing power can translate to returns, even in less optimal economic environments,” wrote Russo. 

News of the day for Dec. 10, 2025

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak this afternoon following the announcement of the central bank's decision on interest rates.

Stock futures are little changed this morning ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates; the central bank is widely expected to lower its key rate, and investors are eager to hear what Fed officials have to say about the outlook for the economy and monetary policy; Tech giant Oracle is due to release quarterly results after the closing bell as the debate over an AI bubble continues; Cracker Barrel's stock is sliding after the restaurant chain reported disappointing sales numbers and a weak outlook; and GE Vernova shares are surging after the power generation company provided a financial update and boosted its dividend and stock buyback plans. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Slip Ahead of Fed Interest Rate Decision

Stock futures are holding steady this morning as investors await today's Federal Reserve decision on interest rates. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the benchmark S&P 500 were hovering near unchanged in recent trading, while Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1%. The major indexes turned in a mixed performance yesterday, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.1%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, ticked higher to 4.20% this morning, trading at a three-month high. Bitcoin was just below $92,000 recently, down from a high yesterday around $94,500 but up from weekend lows below $88,000. Gold was down 0.3% at $4,225 an ounce.

Fed Widely Expected to Cut Key Rate; Dot Plot, Powell Comments in Focus

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a cut in its benchmark interest rate at the end of a two-day policy committee meeting. The decision is scheduled to be released at 2:00 p.m. ET, along with a summary of economic projections from committee members, including the closely followed "dot plot" that maps out interest rate expectations. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at a press conference a half hour after the rate decision is announced, and investors will be looking for clues on where monetary policy could be headed in the coming months. The Fed is attempting to balance its main priorities of supporting the labor market, which a rate cut would help, and keeping a lid on inflation, which could be spurred by rate cuts. President Donald Trump is set to replace Powell with his own Fed Chair nominee when Powell's term ends in May.

Oracle Earnings Due Amid AI Bubble Questions

Oracle (ORCL) is slated to release its latest earnings report after the market closes today, with the cloud computing giant expected to report another sizable increase in sales thanks to demand from AI companies. Last quarter, Oracle shares surged to a record high following its fiscal first quarter earnings report, but the stock has given back those gains in the months since amid concerns about an AI bubble in the market inflating valuations. Investors and analysts are also concerned that Oracle may be becoming too dependent on a few large customers such as OpenAI, and that the company could put its financial health at risk by accumulating debt to build out the infrastructure it needs to meet demand. Investors will be looking for more clarity on Oracle's plans to address concerns about debt. Oracle shares were up 0.5% in recent premarket trading. The stock has gained 33% since the start of 2025, but is down 36% from its record high in September.

Cracker Barrel Sinks as Sales, Outlook Disappoint

Cracker Barrel (CBRL) stock is tumbling after the restaurant chain's quarterly results and outlook disappointed. The company said after the bell Tuesday that it lost an adjusted $0.74 per share in its fiscal first quarter, slightly better than analysts had forecast, but revenue of $797.2 million was shy of the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. Comparable store sales for both Cracker Barrel's restaurants and the retail operations within its restaurants declined by more than analysts had forecast. Cracker Barrel also cut its outlook for revenue and a key profitability metric for fiscal 2026, as CEO Julie Masino said the company is planning to undertake a range of cost-cutting measures to improve its financial health. Shares were down more than 4% in premarket trading. The stock has lost about 50% of its value since the start of the year and is trading at its lowest levels since 2009.

GE Vernova Surges on Rosy Outlook, Boosted Dividend

GE Vernova (GEV) shares are surging after the former General Electric division announced a range of updates to its financial outlook as part of its annual investor day. The energy equipment manufacturer said its 2025 sales are trending towards the higher end of its $36 billion to $37 billion forecast, and lifted its projections for free cash flow this year, along with where it expects sales, free cash flow, and profit margins to be by 2028. GE Vernova's board has also approved doubling its dividend to $0.50 per share and increasing its stock buyback plan to $10 billion from $6 billion previously. GE Vernova shares were up more than 10% ahead of the opening bell.

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Some Wall Street strategists think a strong labor market could buoy stocks next year.

Key Takeaways

• Morgan Stanley sees the S&P 500 hitting 7800 by the end of next year and is bullish on this year's sector laggards.
• One reason it sees strength ahead: a setup that should support at least two more rate cuts next year.

A nice surprise in U.S. labor market data could be the gift that keeps giving next year.

Michael Wilson, Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer and chief U.S. equity strategist, in wondering why the market has behaved the way it has—the S&P 500 has had a strong year by any standard—has landed on a possible answer: April marked the end of a rolling recession and the start of a new bull market, and the Fed is still playing catch-up.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point this week, per CME Group and prediction markets data. What the central bank does next remains an open question, but Morgan Stanley thinks that job-market woes—private market data show U.S. employers cut 9,000 jobs in November, the fifth month of negative data in the past seven—could spur the Fed to lower rates even further next year as it seeks to correct a delayed reaction to lagging segments of the U.S. economy born out of a lack of labor data, boosting U.S. stocks.

Why This Matters to Investors

Morgan Stanley's Michael Wilson thinks the Fed has been slow to cut rates into the start of a new bull market, which could mean more rate cuts in 2026 than expected, supporting stocks. Wilson's view underpins Morgan Stanley's bullish take on U.S. stocks, contrasting others' calls for anemic growth in the coming years.

Investors can find confirmation that a new bull market began in April in S&P 500 constituents' earnings, which are now growing close to 10%, the best in four years, according to Wilson. "That is very important for next year, because it means the Fed has more room to cut than probably people think," he said in an interview with CNBC Tuesday.

The private sector has been experiencing a rolling recession post-Covid, with every sector going through its own recession rather than an across-the-board collapse, according to Wilson. Though real-time data hasn't given the Fed reason to cut, data revisions could help the U.S. central bank come to the realization that parts of the U.S. economy need it to move out of the so-called K-shaped recovery.

"I don't know how much they're going to cut next year, but it's unlikely they're raising rates, and they're probably going to add liquidity to the balance sheet at a time when accelerating inflation is driving better earnings growth," Wilson said. "That's a very good setup for equities typically."

CME data puts the highest odds on at least two more cuts by December 2026, assuming this week's is in the bag; Wilson has said more dovish policy "than the market currently expects" could be forthcoming. Morgan Stanley's price target for the S&P 500 is 7800 by the end of 2026, roughly 14% above current levels. Wilson is bullish on this year's sector laggards, including health care and industrials.

The risk in the bank's outlook is that inflation hits a point that forces the Fed to react in a different way, according Wilson. "The question is at what point [does the Fed] feel like they have to then raise rates into that," he said. "That will kill the bull market."

Individual investors are as optimistic about the stock market as they’ve been in months, despite concerns about bubbles and inflation.

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Key Takeaways

• Individual investors remain optimistic despite fears of bubbles and inflation.
• Many bought the dip in the biggest stocks in November.
• AI-related stocks and cryptocurrency top the list of frothy assets.
• Inflation is investors’ top concern.

Almost nothing seems to rattle individual investors lately.

They’ve overcome fears about tariffs, inflation, and a potential stock market bubble, continuing to buy their favorite stocks and ETFs all year long. Despite concerns about economic policy, overvaluations in AI stocks, and rising prices, investors are mostly optimistic about the stock market right now, according to Investopedia’s recent survey. More than 60% describe themselves as either optimistic or cautiously optimistic, while less than a third say they are skeptical or hesitant.

Buying the Dips

The late November selloff across the biggest stocks in the market—like Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Palantir (PLTR)—did not deter investor optimism. In fact, it may have emboldened them to buy more, adding to their positions in the most widely held stocks in their investors’ portfolios. According to the Schwab Trading Activity Index, or STAX, Schwab clients took advantage of the drawdowns in those mega-cap stocks and bought the dip at one of the fastest paces in history.

They did so even though the majority of respondents to our survey think that AI-related stocks are in a bubble, and nearly half feel the same way about the biggest tech stocks in the market. More than half also believe cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are frothy, despite the 25% decline in the price of Bitcoin over the past month.

Headline Risk All Year Long

Investors have had plenty to be concerned about throughout 2025. Whether it was the Trump administration’s initially aggressive tariff policies, the rise of Chinese AI model DeepSeek, geopolitical instability in places like the Middle East and Ukraine, or the reliability of government data, headline risk has been the standard all year long.

While this may have contributed to increased volatility in the stock market in recent months compared to the past few years, individual investors have mostly stayed the course with their investment strategies. They pulled back slightly on their investing plans during the tariff tantrums last April, but have steadily returned to their normal allocations across the stock market.

Concerns about recent market events have also been dissipating, a sign that investors have grown accustomed to more uncertainty.

Trusting Markets More than Policy

While individual investors are mostly optimistic about the stock market and their portfolios, their trust in this administration continues to wane, and their concerns that its policies will hurt their investments continue to rise.

Still, most believe in the relentless rise of the stock market, regardless of who might occupy the Oval Office, and expect annual returns of at least 5% over the next three years. That’s lower than the average annual returns of 14% for the S&P 500 over the past five years, but still optimistic.

Where Would You Invest an Extra $10,000?

In yet another sign of investors’ optimism and risk tolerance, most would choose to invest an extra $10,000—if they had it—in individual stocks. They’ve benefitted from owning many of the biggest and fastest-rising stocks in the market for the past several years, and expect that trend to continue for the next decade.

What's in Our Positions

Individual investors' portfolios closely mirror the top 25 stocks in the S&P 500, or the top holdings in popular ETFs such as VOO (VOO), SPY (SPY), and QQQ (QQQ).

They’ve remained loyal to these stocks, which include the Magnificent 7, as well as banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and conglomerates like Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). Many have become millionaires owning these stocks and have continued to buy them throughout this bull market, which began over three years ago.

Pick One Stock to Own for the Next Decade

Their faith in these giant stocks is so strong that not only are they their biggest holdings today, but most would buy and hold the same group of stocks for the next decade.

Old habits die hard—especially when the bull keeps running.

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CVS Health shares have added about three-quarters of their value this year, though they remain well off their highs in 2022.

Key Takeaways

• CVS Health shares climbed Tuesday after the health conglomerate raised its full-year outlook.
• The company also announced plans for a platform with AI features as part of its engagement strategy.
  

CVS wants investors to know it sees bigger profits ahead, and has new AI plans.

Shares of CVS Health (CVS) climbed about 2% Tuesday after the health conglomerate lifted its full-year forecast and outlined an AI strategy to drive higher engagement.

The parent of CVS Pharmacy, benefits manager CVS Caremark, and Aetna insurance said it now sees full-year adjusted earnings per share of $6.60 to $6.70, up from an earlier forecast of $6.55 to $6.65. It anticipates revenue of at least $400 billion compared to the previous outlook of at least $397.3 billion. For fiscal year 2026, CVS projected adjusted EPS of $5.94 to $6.14 on revenue of at least $400 billion.

The company pointed to strong earnings growth at Aetna and new customers of its pharmacy-benefits business for the stronger outlook, among other things.

“We are closing out 2025 with meaningful momentum across our businesses and we expect another year of strong earnings growth in 2026,” said CFO Brian Newman.

Why This Matters for Investors

The stronger outlook from CVS could help boost confidence in the chain's turnaround efforts under new CEO David Joyner, who assumed the job in October after a tough stretch marked by worries about rising medical costs, reduced foot traffic in stores, and competition.

During its investor day event Tuesday, CVS also outlined a new engagement plan, which includes building a platform with AI capabilities. The move will “bring together the various components of health care into one easy to use platform, anchored in a singular app,” CVS said.

With Tuesday's gains, shares of CVS Health have added about three-quarters of their value this year, though they remain well off their highs in 2022.

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Job openings moved higher in October, even as layoffs hit their highest levels in more than two years.

Key Takeaways

• Employers had 7.7 million job openings in October, more than economists were expecting and higher than August's total of 7.2 million.
• However, layoffs also increased to their highest levels since 2023, while the hiring rate dropped to levels rarely seen since the Great Recession.
• The data isn’t expected to derail an expected interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve Wednesday, as economists point to continued weakness in the labor market.

The U.S. labor is continuing to cool, but it's not crashing.

Today's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report had mixed messages for economists. October job openings were up slightly since the last report before the government shutdown, however layoffs also inched higher to hit their highest levels in more than two years.

“The latest figures reiterate that the US labor market is not collapsing, offering investors and consumers alike a bit of relief,” wrote Bret Kenwell,  eToro U.S. investment analyst. “The October jobs openings hit their highest level since January, but notably, layoffs hit a multi-year high.”

Why This Matters for the Economy

American corporations are playing defense, hiring cautiously, but not panicking. The health of the labor market has a direct influence on consumer confidence and spending, which drives overall economic growth. When hiring slows or layoffs rise, the risk of economic slowdown or recession grows.

In October, job openings came in at 7.7 million, an increase from 7.2 million job openings reported in the August release of JOLTS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). September data wasn’t released due to the government shutdown, but the October report showed that job openings in the prior month were also near 7.7 million.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires projected that job openings would remain near August levels of 7.2 million. The data shouldn’t impact the direction of the Federal Reserve, which is likely to announce an interest rate cut when it concludes its regular meeting on Wednesday, given officials' increasing concerns about the health of the labor market.

Layoffs Climb as Fewer Workers Leave Voluntarily

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that total separations in October fell to around 5.05 million, down from September and August levels. A total of 2.9 million workers quit their jobs in October, down from the 3.1 million quits in the prior month, indicating that fewer workers are willing or able to leave their jobs. Meanwhile, layoffs totaled 1.9 million, the highest since January 2023.

“Overall, the pace of layoffs remains controlled and doesn’t signal a break in the labor market. Meanwhile, a new multi-year low in the quits rate shows decreasing confidence in the job market,” wrote Oren Klachkin, Nationwide financial market economist.

Employers hired 5.1 million workers in October, with a hiring rate of 3.2%, one of the lowest rates since the Great Recession, according to Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

“To anyone job hunting, this economy feels Grinch-like,” she wrote. “While it’s encouraging that job openings ticked up in October, it’s hard to get too excited until firms start hiring people.”

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Wall Street is generally optimistic about both Oracle's and Broadcom's upcoming earnings reports.

Key Takeaways

• Tech giants Oracle and Broadcom are slated to report quarterly earnings this week, following up on results that wowed investors in September.
• Oracle stock has given up all of its gains after last quarter's earnings, weighed on by AI bubble and customer concentration concerns. Broadcom stock has charged higher.

Two tech giants shocked Wall Street with their earnings reports in September. Now they're under pressure to do it again.

Software giant Oracle (ORCL) will report quarterly results after the market closes on Wednesday, followed by semiconductor firm Broadcom (AVGO) on Thursday afternoon. Their shares are up 33% and 75%, respectively, since the beginning of the year—but the stocks have diverged in recent months, reflecting the anxieties driving a shift in the AI investor debate. 

Wall Street is generally optimistic about both Oracle's and Broadcom's upcoming earnings reports. Analysts expect both companies, among the biggest in the S&P 500, to show signs that AI demand will remain strong into next year. But recent Goldman Sachs research suggests that sector stocks may not all be pulled higher by industry-level forces in the months ahead.

Why This Is Important

In recent months, investors have grown increasingly wary of the AI investments that have fueled stock market gains for years. Oracle and Broadcom's earnings will offer investors evidence of AI demand from two perspectives, that of the AI chip supplier and that of the buyer.

Oracle in early September supplanted Nvidia as the hottest AI play on Wall Street. The stock skyrocketed 36% the day after Oracle said its cloud computing backlog more than quadrupled to nearly $500 billion. Wall Street lauded the results, calling them evidence of a “truly historic” quarter that confirmed “a seismic shift happening in computing.” 

But then reports indicated that nearly all of Oracle’s backlog growth spawned from a $300 billion, multi-year deal with OpenAI, the ChatGPT-maker that is expected to burn through more than $100 billion before turning a profit at the end of the decade. That raised concerns that too many of Oracle’s eggs were in one big, risky basket. 

Meanwhile, the debate on Wall Street about whether cloud providers like Oracle are overspending on infrastructure intensified. Oracle sold $18 billion of bonds in September to help finance its data center investments, drawing attention to the fact that its debt burden is higher and its credit rating is lower than companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META). 

Oracle’s stock languished amid concerns about customer concentration and an AI bubble. Shares are down more than 30% in the past three months, a drop that’s erased all of the stock’s post-earning gains in September. 

Semiconductor and networking equipment provider Broadcom, meanwhile, is among the best-performing tech stocks in recent months, boosted by optimism that it is chipping away at Nvidia’s (NVDA) dominance in the AI chip market.

Broadcom jumped nearly 10% after its September earnings report, when executives revealed they had secured a $10 billion order for custom chips from a new customer. As with Oracle, reports in the following days suggested the undisclosed customer was OpenAI. But unlike Oracle, Wall Street has only grown more bullish on Broadcom’s AI business—mostly because of the mid-November launch of Google’s Gemini 3, the tech giant’s first AI model to be trained exclusively with Broadcom-designed custom chips.

Silicon Valley and Wall Street insiders alike raved about the model, prompting OpenAI to reportedly refocus on improving ChatGPT to fend off stiff competition. Google has reportedly discussed selling its custom chips to Meta, further boosting confidence that Broadcom can take market share from Nvidia. 

Broadcom shares have risen nearly 20% since Google launched Gemini, outperforming both the S&P 500, up 4%, and the Magnificent Seven, up 6%. 

What This Week's Earnings Could Mean for the AI Trade

Deutsche Bank analysts in a recent note analyzed the assumptions underpinning Wall Street's forecast for Oracle's business and stock. "The company is getting little if any credit for its business with OpenAI at the current share price of ~$200," they wrote. Analysts at Citi expect Oracle to report its backlog grew $100 billion last quarter, offering "more evidence that AI infrastructure demand is broad-based."

Bank of America earlier this month raised its price target on Broadcom stock, citing an improved outlook for Google's custom chips. HSBC analyst Frank Lee forecast Broadcom's results Thursday would meet expectations before custom chip and networking demand accelerate the companies' AI business early next year.

It may, however, no longer be the case that a rising AI tide lifts all boats. According to a Goldman Sachs report, the correlation between AI hyperscaler stocks was about 20% in mid-November, down from 80% in June.

Update—December 9, 2025: This article was updated after markets closed on Tuesday with the latest stock performance data.

David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Broadcom shares have hit a series of record highs this year, most recently on Monday.

Key Takeaways

• Broadcom is scheduled to release its latest earnings report after the market closes Thursday, with sales and profits expected to continue surging.
• Current options pricing suggests the stock could continue rising into record territory after hitting a new all-time high on Monday.

Broadcom (AVGO) is slated to release its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday, with traders expecting the chipmaker's stock could hit fresh record highs after the report.

Based on current options pricing, Broadcom stock is expected to rise or fall by up to 6% by the end of the week. Based on Monday's closing price, that would lift Broadcom's stock to around $425 on the high end, further past the intraday record of $407 the stock set on Monday, or push it down to about $377.

Last quarter, Broadcom's revenue hit a record $15.95 billion as the company topped estimates, prompting some analysts to call Broadcom a "Magnificent 8" stock that could continue to grow alongside Nvidia (NVDA) if the AI industry keeps expanding. Broadcom stock rallied following the report, setting multiple record highs in the months since.

Why This Matters to Investors

Broadcom designs AI chips used by several big tech companies—including Google, Meta and OpenAI—to train and run AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini. Broadcom stock has been less affected than shares of other tech giants by the recent concerns over an AI bubble.

Analysts from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley each recently raised their price targets for Broadcom stock, but noted that the chip designer faces long-term risks. The analysts said that Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google is looking to design its own future generations of AI chips in house, rather than the current generation that it has designed in partnership with Broadcom. That could put Broadcom's market share at risk if Google is successful and eventually looks to sell its designs to other current Broadcom customers.

Broadcom's revenue is expected to jump 24% year-over-year to another record high of $17.48 billion, while adjusted earnings per share are projected to come in at $1.88, compared to $1.42 in the like period a year ago.

Analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on Broadcom stock, with all 12 analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha rating the chipmaker as a "buy." The stock has an an average price target of $432.02, as analysts expect shares to continue rising to record levels.

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

Pepsi is reducing the prices of some of its snacks.

Key Takeaways

• Pepsi is lowering the prices of some snacks as part of a new strategy hashed out with activist investor group Elliott Investment Management.
• The soda and snack giant is one of several food manufacturers and merchants talking about rolling back prices.

Shoppers are turning up their noses at pricier provisions. That pushback is prompting some major players to regroup.

PepsiCo (PEP) is the latest food and staples seller to announce price cuts. Sales improved where the New York-based company tested lower price points with retailers, who gave its snacks more shelf space, CEO Ramon Laguarta said on a conference call Tuesday.

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management had a hand in creating Pepsi's new strategy. Pepsi unveiled a strategy to improve its U.S. performance and lift its stock, lowering prices but also attempting to lure shoppers with more natural snacks and reducing costs by cutting 20% of its product lineup.

Why This News Matters to Consumers

Even with price cuts, it's unclear whether food and beverage prices will end up lower. Inflation remains above regulators' targets, and many businesses have yet to pass on the full cost of tariffs, according to analysts.

"We're choosing to invest in everyday values or reset the price, the consumer prices, from our key brands," Laguarta said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense.

Pepsi didn't respond to Investopedia's request for details about price and selection cuts in time for publication. The announcement from the maker of Cheetos and Sabra dips comes after a number of food manufacturers and merchants publicized selective price rollbacks, including General Mills (GIS), Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Kroger (KR).

Customers stopped buying everything from cashews to cereals after price increases, companies have said. Many are trying to find ways to save as concerns about the job market and inflation mount. Producers, such as Campbell's (CPB), want to help customers stick to a budget, while passing along some of the cost of tariffs, CEO Mick Beekhuizen said.

Higher prices put pressure on "ready to serve" soups, a category that had already grown out of favor with some consumers, Beekhuizen said on a conference call Tuesday. Yet condensed soups, broths and creams sold well because customers often use them to cook, a common strategy for saving money.

"Value is important when it really matters," Beekhuizen said, according to a transcript. "So going into the soup season, we have taken selective incremental actions in order to make sure that we are competitive in the marketplace."

Off The Charts: A Striking Graphic In Economic News Today

Black and Hispanic families are falling behind according to new research.

Key Takeaways

• The average white household added $85,000 in wealth this year, versus just over $25,000 for Black and Hispanic families.
  
• The unemployment rate for white workers has held steady in recent months while it's surged for Black and Hispanic workers.
  
• The new analysis underscored the inequality of the "K-shaped" economy, where better-off households gain most of the benefits while people with lower incomes struggle.
  

The average white American household added roughly $85,000 in wealth this year, compared to an increase of about $25,000 for average Black and Hispanic households, thanks primarily to surging stock values.

That's according to an analysis out this week from economists at Oxford Economics, who found that Black and Hispanic families are falling behind their white counterparts on a raft of economic metrics.

What's most remarkable, according to Oxford's lead U.S. economist Bernard Yaros, is the fact that white households on average accumulated more than three times the household wealth of Black and Hispanic households this year.

Oxford Economics, Haver Analytics

"White households hold more than 80% of the nation's wealth, and the average white household has accumulated substantially more net wealth over the past year than the average Black or Hispanic household," Yaros wrote.

White households tend to be more heavily invested in stocks, so they've benefitted from 2025's AI-fueled equities boom. Black and Hispanic households, on the other hand, tend to have more wealth tied up in their homes, the values of which have risen more slowly recently.

What This Means For The Economy

When large segments of a population are struggling according to so many metrics, like wages and wealth, the broader economy suffers and the society is more vulnerable to social upheaval.

By almost every metric, white families are doing better, according to Yaros's analysis. Black and Hispanic families have been hit harder by inflation and are experiencing higher unemployment rates as well.

Since April, when President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement started to drag on the labor market, white unemployment held steady at 3.8% through September. In the same period, unemployment for Blacks surged from 6.3% to 7.5% and from 5.2% to 5.5% for Hispanics, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The analysis underscores the inequalities inherent in America's "K-shaped" economy: Wealthier households grow increasingly secure and comfortable, while lower income families struggle to stretch their paychecks to cover necessities that keep getting more expensive.