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Federal Reserve officials seem willing to cut rates at their next meeting, if current economic conditions persist, minutes showed Wednesday.
Key Takeaways

• Members of the Federal Reserve's policy committee are worried about both high inflation and the faltering job market, according to minutes from their most recent meeting released Wednesday.
  
• While the job market is the predominant concern, higher-than-expected inflation could deter future rate cuts.
• The minutes offered a barometer of Fed officials' thinking in advance of the FOMC's next meeting on Oct. 28 and 29.
  

If you're awaiting interest rates to fall in the coming months, you probably won't be disappointed—but inflation could easily spoil the party. 

Officials at the Federal Reserve cut the central bank's influential interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point last month despite inflation remaining near the top of their list of worries, according to minutes released by the Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday.

The minutes detailed the discussions that led the Fed to cut interest rates for the first time this year. Central bankers face a dilemma as they strive to fulfill their dual mandate of maintaining low inflation and high employment. Inflation remains above the Fed's target of a 2% annual rate, while job growth has slowed to a crawl.

Fed policymakers have been wrestling with their options: cut the federal funds rate to boost job creation, or keep it higher for longer to wrestle down inflation. The Fed's key interest rate influences the economy because it dictates borrowing costs on all kinds of short-term loans.

While markets widely expect the Fed to make two more cuts at its remaining meetings this year, Fed officials are keeping a close eye on inflation, suggesting higher-than-expected price increases in the coming months could derail those expectations.

"Two more rate cuts aren’t a done deal because policymakers aren’t letting go of their inflation mandate," David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, wrote in a commentary.

How This Affects Your Finances

The minutes show that the Federal Reserve officials are still grappling with what they're next right move could be. That could also make it harder to plan your financial future, as the federal funds rate influences borrowing costs on all kinds of loans.

Although all 12 members of the Fed's policy committee voted to cut rates by at least a quarter-point, some said they would have been content to leave it unchanged.

"A few participants stated there was merit in keeping the federal funds rate unchanged at this meeting or that they could have supported such a decision," the minutes said. "These participants noted that progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective had stalled this year as inflation readings increased and expressed concern that longer-term inflation expectations may rise if inflation does not return to its objective in a timely manner."

In recent public comments, Fed officials have emphasized that the central bank is in a tough spot, with its dual mandate pulling it in opposite directions. Most have supported gradual rate cuts, with the notable exception of Stephen Miran, newly appointed to the FOMC by President Donald Trump, who has advocated for steep reductions.

At least one Fed official, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, is concerned tariffs are pushing the economy into a period of stagnant growth and high inflation, known by the portmanteau "stagflation."

"We know that tariffs push up prices on the goods that we're buying from abroad and they can slow down economic activity," Kashkari said at an event in Minneapolis Tuesday. "Some of the data that we're looking at is sending some stagflationary signal."

It's not just Fed officials who are worried about inflation and the job market.

Consumer expectations for inflation worsened, and expectations of job losses rose, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released on Tuesday. The NY Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations showed one-year inflation expectations ticking up to 3.4% in September from 3.2% in August, while expectations for annual inflation five years from now rose to 3% from 2.9%.

The FOMC is scheduled to make its next policy decision on Oct. 29.

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Advanced Micro Devices led tech stocks higher Wednesday, extending its gains in the wake of a deal with OpenAI
Key Takeaways

• The latest wave of optimism around AI helped lift tech stocks on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, while competition weighed on a credit score provider.
  
• Shares of AI chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices extended their recent rally, along with shares of server maker Dell.
• Equifax said it would offer credit scores to consumers at reduced prices, and shares of rival credit data provider Fair Isaac tumbled.

An AI chipmaker's stock extended its rally in the wake of a major artificial intelligence deal. Meanwhile, the latest salvo in an escalating competition between credit score providers weighed on one of the industry's big players.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.1% to set fresh closing highs, bolstered by gains in the tech sector and minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting suggesting the central bank could be on track toward more interest-rate cuts this year. The Dow was little changed. Find Investopedia's full daily market recap here.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares posted the day's best performance in the S&P 500 index with a nearly 12% jump, extending their winning streak following the announcement of a partnership with OpenAI. A slew of analysts have raised their price targets for AMD this week, with Jefferies upgrading its rating to "buy" from "hold."

Dell Technologies (DELL) shares surged 9.1%, after the server maker raised its outlook, citing strong demand driven by the buildout of AI infrastructure. CEO Michael Dell said the company's broad portfolio of tech products makes it well positioned to provide the compute, storage, and network capacity necessary to deploy AI at scale.

Optimism around AI helped boost other companies with exposure to the burgeoning technology as well. Shares of AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA) rose about 2% after CEO Jensen Huang said in a televised interview with CNBC that AI demand is up "substantially" this year, and that he expects it to keep growing.

Equifax (EFX) announced it will provide its VantageScore 4.0 credit scores at a reduced price or free to customers, just days after Fair Isaac (FICO) said last week that it would offer its FICO credit scores directly to firms that provide credit reports to lenders, reducing reliance on Equifax and the other nationwide credit bureaus. Fair Isaac shares dropped nearly 10%, losing the most of any S&P 500 stock Wednesday and reversing a portion of the gains posted after last week's announcement, while Equifax shares advanced close to 1%.

Live Nation (LYV) shares fell 3.4% after the Ticketmaster parent announced a plan to offer $1.3 billion in convertible senior notes maturing in 2031. The live entertainment company intends to use the proceeds of the transaction to redeem senior notes due in 2026, repay other debt, and for general corporate purposes.

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday his only regret is not investing more in major AI players like ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
Key Takeaways

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Wednesday that AI demand has grown "substantially" in the last six months.
• The CEO also said he believes the AI boom is still in its early stages, with further room for growth.

Demand for artificial intelligence is booming and only just getting started, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

“This year, particularly the last six months, demand of computing has gone up substantially,” the CEO told CNBC in a televised interview Wednesday, adding that that he believes the AI boom is still in its early stages, leaving room for further growth.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) were up 2% in recent trading, contributing to a rally in the tech sector. The chipmaker at the heart of the AI boom has seen its stock climb roughly 40% so far in 2025 as sales of its chips to power data centers surged and trade policy headwinds eased. Its move this year has helped propel Nvidia into the top spot as the world's most valuable public company, and made its CEO one of the richest people in the world.

Why This Matters for Investors

As a leading beneficiary of the AI boom, Nvidia has become something of a bellwether for the AI trade, with changes in its business and big moves in its stock able to influence broader markets.

Shares of Nvidia partners such as Micron Technology (MU) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) also climbed Wednesday, adding to gains earlier in the week on a massive OpenAI deal with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which also collaborates with the companies. AMD's deal came just weeks after Nvidia announced its own deal with OpenAI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a social media post Monday that the startup views its AMD deal as incremental to the ChatGPT maker's work with Nvidia, and that "the world needs much more compute." The move raised speculation more high-profile partnerships could be in the works, affecting a growing number of companies, with several Wall Street analysts likening the signal of strong demand for AI to a rising tide that lifts all boats.

Huang said Wednesday that his only regret is not investing more in major AI players like OpenAI and CoreWeave (CRWV), an AI data center provider in which Nvidia holds a stake.

The CEO also gave a shoutout to Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, saying Nvidia is investing in Musk's xAI and that “almost everything that Elon is part of, you really want to be part of as well." Shares of the EV maker, which were up about 1% Wednesday, have been on a tear in recent weeks, adding roughly a third of their value since the start of September as bulls have shifted more of their focus to the company's developments in autonomous driving, robotics, and AI.

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Layoffs of federal workers, who are disproportionately of minority backgrounds, is one reason why the rise in unemployment this year has focused on Blacks and Hispanics.
Key Takeaways

• Recent job losses have been concentrated among Black, Asian, and Hispanic workers.
• Government job cuts, tariffs on imports, the accelerating adoption of AI, and inflation are the headwinds deepening existing structural job gaps between racial groups.
• As a result, workers of color are now facing greater rates of unemployment even as the national U.S. rate remains low.

While headlines this year have focused on the overall jobs picture, hidden in plain sight is a troubling fact: while white workers have seen a slight downtick in unemployment since April, job losses among Hispanic, Black, and Asian American workers are all up significantly since April.

The socioeconomic forces behind these disparities—industry concentration, a legacy of discrimination, and education gaps—are long-standing, structural, and mostly unchanged. However, that doesn't mean there aren't new hurdles.

"What’s unique about the current moment is that so much of the damage is self-inflicted," Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity, and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, told Investopedia. "Massive cuts to the federal workforce, historically high and broad tariffs, and mass deportations are all policy changes that happened quickly and in a highly chaotic way, creating an environment of uncertainty that dampens economic growth."

Why This Matters To You

This isn't a new pattern—history shows that workers of color tend to feel economic pain earlier and more acutely than their white peers when job cuts loom. With Black, Hispanic, and Asian workers making up one-third of the U.S. workforce, their rising unemployment directly impacts the entire economy.

A Tale of Two Job Markets

U.S. employment data reveals growing divergences in U.S. unemployment. While the national unemployment rate stood at 4.3% overall in August, among Black workers, the unemployment rate jumped to 7.5%—an increase of 25% since May.

"No other racial/ethnic group has seen a decline in employment of that size this year," Rawlston Wilson said. "The share of employed Black Americans, age 25-54, is down significantly compared to the historically high rates in 2024. The average so far in 2025 is 76.6% compared to 77.9% by this time last year."

For Hispanic and Asian workers, the unemployment rate rose to 5.3% and 3.7%, respectively, up 10% for both groups since April. Meanwhile, unemployment among white workers ticked down, from 3.8% to 3.7% over the same time span.

These gaps persist despite strong workforce engagement. Black people have a labor force participation rate of 62.6%, higher than that of their white counterparts at 61.8%, while the rate for Hispanic people is 67%. This means these communities aren't sitting on the sidelines—they're actively seeking work but finding fewer opportunities, making the unemployment disparities even more troubling.

For women, the picture is starker. Black women’s unemployment was at 6.7% in August, double the 3.2% rate for white women. In fact, as a recent analysis by Wilson noted, "the decline in Black workers’ employment appears to be concentrated among Black women while Black men’s employment rates appear more stable."

Historical Patterns

This is not the first time racial unemployment gaps have existed or grown. Indeed, unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic workers are often higher than for other groups, and that gap typically widens during downturns.

The Great Recession of 2008–2009 is a good example. Unemployment spiked across the board, but was much higher among workers of color. Black and Hispanic unemployment hit 16% and 12.5% in 2010, respectively, while the rate for white workers had only increased to 8.7%. Indeed, over the 47 years from 1972 to 2019, Black unemployment was almost double that of white workers.

Structural Concerns

"The current racial employment gap can be primarily attributed to long-standing structural factors," Rawlston Wilson said. Here are some of them:

• Last hired, first fired: Minorities often face measurable discrimination that limits their access to older adult positions and higher-wage roles. This leaves many concentrated in entry-level or mid-tier positions that offer less protection during layoffs. Combined with lower average seniority, minority workers frequently become the first casualties when companies retrench.
• Industry concentration: Historical patterns and ongoing barriers have created an uneven distribution of workers across industries. Black workers are overrepresented in government, manufacturing, and service sectors, while Hispanic workers are overrepresented in hospitality, agriculture, and construction. Each is more vulnerable in downturns, and cuts to the federal workforce have been significant this year, even before any recession has occurred.
• Geography: State and regional disparities can be larger than national averages. For instance, in Washington, D.C., even during economic expansions, Black unemployment has been seven times higher than white unemployment.

"Without appropriate actions to address those factors, any new economic developments are likely to have a disparate impact," Rawlston Wilson said. "Dismantling the policies, programs, and institutions designed to reduce inequities will widen those gaps moving forward."

Effects of Federal Cuts, AI, Tariffs, and Inflation on Jobs

Additional forces are at play in 2025, each magnifying existing job market inequities:

• The Trump administration's federal jobs cuts have had an effect, with an estimated 275,000 employees already having left government service through September 2025. These job losses disproportionately impact Black workers, who make up 18.5% of the federal civilian workforce compared with 14.8% of the general population, with some agencies like the departments of Education, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development employing Black workers at rates of one-third or higher.
• Tariffs on imports are rippling through manufacturing, construction, and retail. At the same time, higher input costs are reducing the purchasing power of households and businesses, and production has been slow to rebound. In this way, tariffs are acting like a tax on jobs as well as household budgets. And, many of the industries hit hardest disproportionately employ higher shares of Hispanic and Black workers.
• Automation and AI are thought to be displacing jobs that involve routine clerical tasks, logistics, and customer service work. While AI can augment white-collar jobs like software programming and professional services, front-line service jobs are being automated more quickly. As a result, the workers now being replaced by AI are more likely to be minorities.
• Inflation has been stubborn. While prices have come down somewhat from post-pandemic highs, they remain elevated. Black and Hispanic families tend to spend a higher share of their income on necessities, so they are more likely to be harder hit by inflation and higher interest rates. Higher rates also dampen hiring in construction and real estate, sectors where Latino workers are disproportionately employed.

The Bottom Line 

In 2025, new headwinds from tariffs, AI-driven automation, and inflation are impacting front-line and lower-wage jobs where workers of color are overrepresented. Black, Hispanic, and Asian workers make up about one-third of the U.S. workforce, so when they are not working, not only do they face problems, but the entire U.S. economy does. Consumer spending, productivity, and tax revenues all take a hit, slowing growth and recovery for everyone.

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Nvidia shares climbed Wednesday after CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview with CNBC that AI demand is up "substantially" this year
Key Takeaways

• Major U.S. equities indexes climbed Wednesday as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence stocks boosted the tech sector.
• Nvidia's CEO said in an interview with CNBC that demand for AI has grown "substantially" this year, and shares of the chipmaker rose.
• Advanced Micro Devices shares added to their recent rally in the wake of a massive deal with OpenAI.

Major U.S. equities indexes climbed Wednesday as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence stocks boosted the tech sector. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all gained.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose after CEO Jensen Huang said in a televised interview with CNBC that AI demand is up "substantially" this year, and that he expects it to grow further.

Shares of rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) led gains on the S&P 500, adding to their recent rally in the wake of a deal with OpenAI.

Dell Technology (DELL) also jumped, after the server maker reported yesterday that it sees a “massive” growth opportunity in AI as it raised its outlook.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) shares soared to a record high as the provider of space-based cellphone service and Verizon Communications (VZ) agreed on a partnership to offer direct-to-customer broadband service across the continental U.S. 

Credit score data provider Fair Isaac (FICO) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 after score reporter Equifax (EFX) slashed prices in response to Fair Isaac providing its information directly to firms that give credit reports to mortgage companies. Equifax shares advanced.

DaVita (DVA) shares declined as Barclays lowered its price target for the kidney dialysis service provider's stock, pointing to a cyberattack that disrupted operations in August. 

Gold prices high a fresh high, and oil futures climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped. The U.S. dollar was higher versus the euro, pound, and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies traded lower. 

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Rocket Lab just signed another multi-launch contract.
Key Takeaways

• Rocket Lab shares took off as the satellite launch provider signed a multi-mission contract with Japan's iQPS, a satellite manufacturer and operator.
• Rocket Lab also announced its launch window for the next trip for Synspective, another Japanese satellite company.

Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) traded at a record high when the satellite launch provider announced details about several planned missions.

The company said it just signed another multi-launch contract with Japanese satellite manufacturing and operating firm Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (iQPS) to deploy iQPS’s commercial Earth-imaging constellation.

The three trips by Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, planned for no earlier than next year, were in addition to a previous deal with iQPS for four missions.

Why This Matters

Rocket Lab is expanding its influence in Japan’s satellite market with additional multi-mission contracts. The deals illustrate strong demand for commercial satellite launches and help solidify Rocket Lab’s role in global Earth observation and imaging capabilities.

Rocket Lab also announced the launch window for its next flight for another Japan-based satellite firm, Synspective. It said the “Owl New World” mission will blast off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand launch site on Oct. 14 or 15.

That will be the seventh trip Rocket Lab is providing for Synspective, part of a total of 21 already scheduled. The trips are designed to deploy Synspective’s “low Earth orbit constellation that provides high-frequency, high-resolution Earth observation data" that can be used for disaster response and management, national security, and environmental monitoring.

Rocket Lab shares, up 7% in morning trading, are up nearly 150% year-to-date.

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Delta is expected to post strong third-quarter results, analysts say.
Key Takeaways

• Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are expected to report relatively strong third-quarter performance due to robust international, corporate and premium ticket sales, analysts said.
• Other airlines may have struggled more as consumers take fewer domestic flights in the main cabin, analysts said.

Delta is slated to be the first airline to report third-quarter earnings this Thursday. Its results may also be the best in the industry, analysts say.

“Premium” carriers that rely more on international and first-class tickets, such as Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL), are performing well, analysts said. Meanwhile, budget carriers are seeing sluggish demand from less affluent Americans. Many are using promotions to sell domestic main cabin fares, while trying to make more money on flying passengers rather than on credit-card programs. 

“Premium carriers widen their lead as earnings recession continues to bite,” Deutsche wrote in a research note this week. “We expect half the industry to post losses.”

What This News Means to Consumers

Affluent customers' spending makes up a bigger share of the economy than it did a few decades ago, according to Moody's Analytics. This has led companies to focus more on things like higher-end cars and flights, while sometimes paring back options for those on a budget.

Delta expects third-quarter revenue to come in 2% to 4% above revenue a year earlier. Premium sales are going well; corporate travel improved; and in the current quarter, Delta started to make revenue on domestic fare, though not in the main cabin, President Glen Hauenstein recently said.

"There's a lot of consternation, I think, at the bottom end," of the market, Hauenstein said at a conference last month, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. We're at the very top, we believe, of the income bracket. So, our average consumer is well over $100,000 [in income] a year ... and that seems to be good."

United’s revenue per available seat mile (RASM), a closely watched industry metric, will likely be negative year-over-year in the third quarter, in part because of flight caps this spring at Newark Airport, the company said. RASM is likely to improve toward the end of the year thanks to “fantastic” international demand and strong corporate sales, CFO Michael Leskinen said at a conference last month.

But business has been tough for carriers that focus on domestic coach fares as less-affluent Americans watch their spending, analysts said. This has weighed on shares of Sun Country Airlines Holdings (SNCY), Alaska Air Group (ALK), Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) American Airlines Group (AAL) and JetBLue Airways Corp (JBLU), Morgan Stanley said. The industry is, generally, cutting domestic flight capacity in an attempt to curb the use of discounts, analysts said.

“Nary a day goes by that our inbox is not in receipt of an airline promotion," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. Bargain-basement fares "may have worked in the 1980s and 1990s … but are today's anachronism given the present cost of operating an airline." 

Airlines may get some relief from Spirit trimming capacity by about 25% while in bankruptcy proceedings, Deutsche Bank said.

Spirit's streamlining will likely benefit Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC), but not enough to compensate for lax demand from "the low end consumer," Bank of America said this month. Frontier, which is adding routes, expects third-quarter RASM to grow by a mid- to high single-digit percent from last year, the company said on its last earnings call.

Sun Country, another budget carrier, stands out because of success moving into new lines of business: running charter flights and transporting cargo for companies like Amazon (AMZN), analysts said. Sun Country forecast revenue being flat to up 4% compared to the third quarter of 2024.

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A Verizon partnership with space-based cellphone service provider AST SpaceMobile will bring direct-to-customer broadband service across the continental U.S.
Key Takeaways

• AST SpaceMobile and Verizon Communications will partner to provide space-based cellphone service in the continental U.S.
• The service will be available to Verizon customers in 2026.

Shares of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) blasted off, trading at an all-time high after the provider of space-based cellphone service announced it had struck a deal with Verizon Communications (VZ) to offer direct-to-customer broadband service across the continental U.S.

AST said the service will be available to Verizon customers next year and will allow them to have cell reception wherever they are without the need for specialized equipment. 

Why This Matters to You

Verizon customers will be able to get cellphone service virtually anywhere in the continental U.S. without specialized equipment. The partnership with AST SpaceMobile promises more reliable coverage in remote areas, opening the door to a new era of space-based connectivity starting in 2026.

AST noted that the agreement came after the company’s AST SpaceMobile network hit certain milestones in tests. Financial terms were not listed.

The deal “will extend the scope of Verizon’s 850 MHz premium low-band spectrum into areas of the U.S. that would benefit from the ubiquitous reach of space-based broadband technology," said Founder and CEO Abel Avellan.

Srini Kalapala, senior vice president of technology and product development at Verizon, said the partnership is “not just filling in the map; we are creating a new paradigm of connectivity that will unlock the full potential of the digital age.” 

AST SpaceMobile shares have soared 250% this year. Shares of Verizon are little changed today.

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Confluent shares entered Wednesday's session down about 25% for 2025.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Confluent shares are surging Wednesday as the data streaming company reportedly explores a sale.
• The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is working with an investment bank on the sale process, according to a Reuters report.

Confluent (CFLT) shares jumped over 10% in early trading Wednesday following a report the data streaming company is exploring a sale.

The company's move to sound out buyers comes as the artificial intelligence boom continues to boost demand for companies that support the technology's infrastructure.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is working with an investment bank on the sale process, according to a Reuters report, citing people familiar with the matter. Several private equity firms and technology companies have expressed interest in buying it, the report said.

Confluent didn't immediately respond to an Investopedia request for comment.

Why This Is Significant

The range of buyers that have reportedly expressed interested in acquiring Confluent so far speaks to the strength of demand for AI infrastructure, along with growing competition and consolidation in the space.

The rise of AI, which needs real-time continuous data, has made companies like Confluent increasingly important to maintaining underlying infrastructure. In May, Salesforce (CRM) struck an $8 billion deal to buy AI-based data management software provider Informatica (INFA).

Though Confluent shares were higher in recent trading, they remained lower for the year, having entered Wednesday's session down roughly 25% for 2025. The stock has yet to recover to its levels from July, when it plunged after the company reported that it lost business from a major customer.

News of the day for Oct. 8, 2025

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The S&P 500, which has hit a series of record highs lately, had a seven-session winning streak snapped yesterday.

Stock futures are pointing higher as the government shutdown enters its second week; gold prices continue setting records; the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes could provide insight into future interest rate levels; Tesla (TSLA) shares are higher after yesterday’s decline following the rollout of lower-cost models; and shares of software maker Confluent (CFLT) are soaring on a report the firm is considering a sale amid interest in its AI technology. Here's what you need to know today.

1. Stock Futures Rise After S&P 500 Breaks Seven-Session Win Streak

Stock futures pointed are pointing higher after major indexes slipped yesterday. Futures tied the the benchmark S&P 500 index, which had a seven-session winning streak snapped yesterday, were up 0.2% recently, as were futures linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.3%. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects a variety of consumer loans, was at 4.10%, down from 4.13% yesterday afternoon.

2. Gold Hits Another All-Time High

Gold futures were trading at more than $4,050 an ounce as investors continue to push the price of the yellow metal to all-time highs. Blowout demand for the traditional safe haven has partially been driven by the “debasement trade,” which refers to investors buying gold as a hedge against a ballooning federal debt, threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence, and the weakness of the U.S. dollar. The same trade also helped send the price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) to record levels above $125,000 earlier this week, though the cryptocurrency has retreated recently from those highs and was trading at around $122,900 this morning.

3. FOMC Minutes To Provide Clues About Fed's Thinking on Path of Interest Rates

Investors will be watching the 2 p.m. ET release of the minutes of the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), where the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in 2025. The meeting minutes will offer details on the FOMC's deliberations, providing insights into how committee members view the outlook for the economy and interest rates. One member of the committee—newly-installed Fed Governor Stephen Miran—argued that the central bank should have moved to make an even steeper cut to rates in September. The Fed’s report comes as the federal government shutdown enters its second week, delaying the release of several economic reports, including last week’s jobs report. The Federal Reserve is funded through interest charged on its investments, not congressional funding, allowing it to remain open during the shutdown.

4. Tesla Shares Tick Higher After Falling on Low-Price-Vehicle Announcement

Tesla (TSLA) shares are slightly higher in premarket trading after dropping yesterday as investors appeared disappointed in its announcement to sell a cheaper version of its electric vehicle. The company on Tuesday afternoon unveiled cheaper versions of its Model 3 and Model Y cars, priced around  $35,000 and $38,000, respectively. Investors anticipated the event but may have been expecting an even better price point. Tesla watchers have for years awaited lower-priced vehicles; some may still be hoping for a new, more affordable model, rather than lower prices on existing ones. Shares of Tesla were up 0.5% recently, after sliding more than 4% yesterday.

5. AI Software Maker Confluent Surges on Report of Potential Sale

Shares of Confluent (CFLT) were up nearly 20% in premarket trading following a report that the software provider is exploring a sale amid interest in its ability to support AI development. Reuters reported that the data infrastructure company was working with an investment bank on the sales process, as private equity firms and other suitors have expressed interest in Confluent’s technology. Coming into today's session, Confluent shares had lost about a quarter of their value in 2025.