BUSINESS

More than 270 million returns were filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during the fiscal year 2025, and most filers hope no follow-up examination letter arrives. 

The threat of that letter has long done more enforcement work than the paperwork examinations themselves in the federal tax system.

Data from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) suggests that deterrence is thinning fast at the upper end of the American income distribution today.

For those earning under $400,000 with clean W-2 income, the immediate audit risk in the mailbox has not shifted much yet. The long-term question is who ends up funding the federal government once enforcement capacity at the top disappears from Washington.

IRS audit revenue drops 35% after enforcement staffing cuts

TIGTA’s August report pegged fiscal 2025 IRS audit collections at just $6.5 billion. That marked a $3.5 billion drop from fiscal 2024 collections and represented a 35% year-over-year decline in overall enforcement revenue. The gap reflects the loss of experienced examiners across the agency. 

Enforcement and collections headcount fell to 17,517 employees by January 2026, down from a peak of 27,217 at the end of fiscal 2024, the report said.

Where the cuts landed matters as much as the raw staffing figure, and the composition falls heavily on high-income and complex returns. Losses of more than 3,600 revenue agents through mid-2025 wiped out roughly 31% of the agency’s entire auditing corps by that point.

Individuals earning above $400,000 saw roughly 43,000 examinations opened in fiscal 2025, a 26% drop from the prior year, based on the TIGTA report.

New business partnership audits fell 30% during the same period, and the IRS Global High Wealth program operated with 27% fewer employees.

Yale Budget Lab projects a $600 billion IRS revenue loss from DOGE-era cuts

The revenue lost from those cuts stretches well beyond the fiscal 2025 shortfall in enforcement collections at the tax agency. A Yale Budget Lab projection pegs the loss from those 2025 staffing reductions alone at roughly $600 billion over 2026 through 2035.

That figure adds to a tax gap already running near $700 billion in unpaid federal taxes each year across the system. The layoffs, plus a $20 billion appropriations clawback, together push projected revenue losses above $861 billion for the decade.

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The Yale team built the $600 billion projection using activity-specific return-on-investment figures drawn from published federal tax enforcement research. 

Every dollar previously spent on IRS enforcement historically returned several dollars in additional collections, so each staffing cut compounds against the Treasury.

The workforce reductions reversed a hiring build funded by earlier legislation aimed at closing the tax gap in a durable way.

Congress had appropriated $79.4 billion to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and roughly two-thirds of that money has since been rescinded.

Yale Budget Lab estimates IRS staffing cuts could reduce federal tax collections by $600 billion through 2035, adding to persistent tax-gap losses.Morsa Images / Getty Images

Enforcement pullback leans compliance system on verified W-2 income

The composition of the annual federal tax gap explains why the enforcement retreat lands unevenly across the American filer population today. 

Wage income reported on W-2 forms is reported with roughly 99% accuracy, while sole proprietor income, which faces little third-party reporting, is underreported at a rate near 55%, according to the IRS Federal Tax Compliance Research.

Natasha Sarin, Yale Budget Lab president and a former U.S. Treasury tax policy counselor, has argued that thinner enforcement effectively rewards the highest earners. 

Her research places roughly one-third of the annual tax gap on the top 1% of American earners, who were subject to the thinnest enforcement staffing by early 2026, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Sarin told NPR on Sept. 2, 2026, that pulling auditors out of the agency does not save the federal government money.

Defunding the IRS is not a money-saving proposition because you have fewer employees. It is a money-losing one, because you do a less good job of collecting taxes.

For salaried filers, the practical consequence is that the compliance system leans more heavily on income streams the IRS can already verify through third-party documents. 

Deficit fallout looms as IRS enforcement retreat continues into fiscal 2026

Those with clean W-2 income face no immediate audit spike, since the enforcement retreat has focused on complex returns, the Yale Budget Lab research showed. 

The larger fiscal story lands on ordinary taxpayers through federal deficits, and it stretches across the decade to come.

Those projected losses layer onto deficit concerns already raised by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the fiscal burden ultimately falls on ordinary taxpayers through wider federal shortfalls.

IRS chief executive officer Frank Bisignano told the Senate Finance Committee in April 2026 testimony that the agency’s advanced data and analytic strategies now catch instances of tax evasion that would have been “undetectable just a few years ago.”

The fiscal 2026 enforcement collections figure and any 2027 IRS budget action stand as the earliest measurable indicators of whether the enforcement retreat continues, according to the Yale Budget Lab analysis.

Related: IRS has hidden fix for retirees who missed Sept. 15 deadline

Usually, when a company takes things away, adds new fees, and starts charging for things it once gave away, consumers get mad. Southwest Airlines has had a very different experience.

When I used to fly 20-25 trips a year, I was very loyal to Southwest Airlines because, aside form early boarding options, the price was the price. I didn’t have to pay for a boarding pass, check luggage, or anything else aside from alcohol and WiFi.

The airline, at least back then, clearly put its passengers first and positioned itself as an outlier in the industry. Southwest Airlines used the term “tranfarency” to mock the hidden charges typical to its rivals.

As a passenger, I appreciated being able to buy a ticket and, due to my loyalty status, not even having to check in for my flight. It was an easy way to fly where the prices were fair and did not come with a gotcha.

It would seem like that would drive a successful business, but Southwest has abandoned most of what made it unique, and its business appears to have improved. That’s something CEO Bob Jordan tried to explain during Bernstein’s 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference.

Southwest Airlines has grown its business

Southwest’s results suggest that the airline’s shift away from its old model has not alienated customers in the way many longtime passengers might have expected.

Jordan believes, or at least publicly supports, the idea that consumers want to pay for extras that Southwest used to not even offer. The numbers he shared support that.

“They want access to extra legroom and different products. Just as an example only, our March business revenues were up 25% year-over-year, and that trend has sustained itself in April and May, which is a great sign,” he said.

He also made it clear that the airline has not tried to insulate its customers from rising fuel costs.

“The biggest question, of course, is, what is the consumer doing now? The industry with fuel up has had 7 consecutive fare increases since February 1. Southwest has participated in all of those,” he added.

Raising prices, he added, has not hurt sales.

“That’s the most that I could remember in my 38 years in the industry. But with fares up that much, there’s been no drop-off in demand at all. So no indication that the consumer is elastic in this fare environment,” he said.

Jordan thinks Southwest can continue passing fuel costs on to customers and suggested that the airline can perhaps not lower prices if fuel costs fall.

“I’m becoming increasingly bullish that we will be able to cover these fuel increases with revenue increases. As you look forward, I think the last thing — maybe one of the questions at some point — is whether fuel will abate and you’ll see fuel prices come down. One of the questions, of course, is, well, how sticky will these increases be?” he added.

Southwest Airlines remodeled its planes so it could sell extra legroom seats.Shutterstock

Southwest Airlines follows the industry

What Jordan essentially said is that Southwest doesn’t have to be the cheapest; it has to be in line with its rivals on base price and, like most other airlines, it can also pad its bottom line with extras like selling seat choice and extra legroom.

RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks that the airline may not have had a choice making these changes.

“Jet fuel is through the roof, labor costs doubled, and Boeing isn’t delivering planes fast enough. The old way doesn’t pay the bills,” he told TheStreet.

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With Spirit Airlines no longer serving as a check on price nationally, Southwest, Miserandino noted, has more freedom to go after the dollars its rivals are already bringing in.

“Delta and United make billions charging for checked luggage and selling extra legroom. Southwest was just leaving all that cash sitting on the runway. Passengers complain about $35 bag fees, but they still buy the flight. They made the change because you can’t give away perks for free when the margins aren’t there,” he added.

Here’s what consumers say they want

Americans are actually pretty satisfied with air travel, according to Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, latest annual survey, Air Travelers in America.

And, while that source may seem biased, the research was contracted out to Ipsos. Some of the findings included:

87% of respondents ranked price as one of their top considerations.

78% ranked schedule convenience as one of their top considerations.

Everything else, including loyalty/frequent flyer perks (33%), airline customer service (32%), personal space associated with airplane seat (30%), and perception of airline’s safety record (20%), received much lower rankings.

Nearly half of American adults flew last year, and 72% of flyers were satisfied with their air travel experience last year. Only 3% were “very dissatisfied, according to the report.

The Air Travelers in America survey was conducted Jan. 5-19, 2026, and screened a national sample of 3,847 American adults (age 18 or older) via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel.

Spirit’s death had a pricing impact

The impact of Spirit’s eventual demise was felt before the airline actually declared bankruptcy.

Spirit’s exit from about 90 routes was followed by a 14% increase in average fares, versus 6%-7% where Spirit remained, according to Business Insider.

Right after Spirit’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Northeastern Professor John Kwoka shared his thoughts on what would happen with the university’s Global News publication.

“The legacy carriers will pick up some of Spirit’s routes, but not at the same price, and in addition, they will begin to limit or raise the price of their own rock bottom fare options now that they do not have to face Spirit,” Kwoka said. “This is exactly what has happened before when low-cost carriers exited, got bought, or folded.”

Similar patterns have followed the disappearance of low-cost carriers in the past.

“I think common sense says that with reduced ultra-low-cost carrier competition, fares can go up,” said airline expert Ravi Sarathy, a professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

ALSO READ: Another airline in bankruptcy, all flights canceled

Breaking a retirement contract early rarely works in the client’s favor, but one family almost learned that lesson the hard way. The surrender charge was only the beginning of what this transfer would have cost.

A Boston listener brought this exact scenario to Suze Orman, personal finance author and host of the “Women & Money” podcast.

The family wanted to surrender the mother’s $87,000 annuity and absorb the fee, then roll the balance into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA).

Orman dismantled the proposal in a response that reflects concerns shared by many families. The exchange highlights trade-offs retirees commonly weigh when an annuity contract approaches its surrender-period end date.

Orman calls the $6,000 surrender charge two years of wasted income

The mother’s guaranteed annuity pays $250 a month in required minimum distribution (RMD) income, or $3,000 a year, and the $6,000 charge equals roughly 24 months of that income.

For the move to break even, the roughly $80,000 in a Roth would need to produce more than the fee in after-tax value. A 78-year-old in a low tax bracket gets almost none of the Roth’s core advantage, because tax-free compounding requires decades to pay off.

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The tax hit on the converted amount would also count as ordinary income this year, compounding the penalty with a separate tax bill. That combination produces a net loss before the Roth generates a single dollar of growth.

Schwab’s published guidance recommends that families facing a similar decision should calculate how much room remains in their current tax bracket before converting any amount.

The contract expires in 2028, meaning the family can access the full balance without a fee by waiting out the final two years. That timeline eliminates the only scenario where paying the penalty could be justified.

Orman warns the annuity transfer could also threaten the mother’s housing

Orman told the listener that the entire proposal fails the most basic cost-benefit test. She warned that the family had not considered how a Roth IRA conversion later in life could create a separate problem with the mother’s housing.

Orman told the listener that breaking the contract early strips away the benefit the annuity is still delivering, and that the math behind the proposed transfer produces a loss no matter how the family runs it.

There’s no reason to surrender this annuity and take a $6,000 hit, that’s essentially two years of your mother’s income. Why would you do that? That makes absolutely no sense.

The break-even math alone makes the transfer hard to justify, but the mother’s housing situation makes it worse. Federal housing subsidies for elderly tenants tie rent to a percentage of countable income, according to Congressional Research Service Report R42734 on HUD rental assistance.

Reporting roughly $80,000 as income in a single year could spike the figure HUD uses to set the mother’s rent. Orman noted that while monthly withdrawals blend into the housing calculation, a lump-sum transfer would “screw everything up.”

Suze Orman warns that surrendering an annuity could trigger losses, while a lump-sum transfer may also increase the mother’s housing costs.Brian Killian / Getty Images

The adviser commission Orman flagged behind the annuity transfer

Orman identified a financial incentive that may explain why the family received this recommendation in the first place. The roughly $80,000 remaining after the charge could generate a commission for whoever moves that money into a new product, she warned.

On the Sept. 3 episode of the “Women & Money” podcast, Orman told listeners they “cannot just take a financial adviser’s word for anything” and urged families to run their own numbers before acting on any proposed transfer.

The move produces no financial benefit for the mother, but it does produce a payday for the person who recommended it. That misalignment is what Orman told the listener to examine before agreeing to any transfer.

Orman urged families to ask any adviser how they are compensated on a proposed transaction, saying that this single question can expose whether the recommendation serves the client or the annuity’s commission structure.

What Orman tells annuity holders to check before accepting any transfer 

Orman advised listeners to pull the annuity contract and review the surrender schedule before considering any adviser’s proposal to transfer, she said on the podcast.

Knowing exactly how much the fee is now and when it expires gives the family a straightforward way to test whether the adviser’s recommendation holds up.

When that date is close, the contract itself becomes the strongest argument for staying put, because every cost the transfer introduces disappears the moment the annuity runs off on its own, Orman said.

Related: Suze Orman calls out one generous move threatening retirement

Economic forecasts are cheap to make and expensive to believe.

Anyone with a big audience can call for a boom. The people paid to project growth move in tenths of a point, because a tenth of a point on a $30-trillion-plus U.S. economy is north of $30 billion.

For most of the past 15 years, the economy has cruised in a narrow lane. Outside the pandemic crash and the 2021 rebound, annual growth has mostly landed between 1.5 percent and three percent.

Your 401(k), your mortgage rate and your employer’s hiring plan are all built around that lane. Few people budget for a higher gear.

This year has made even the old lane feel ambitious. Inflation is running well above the Fed’s two percent target, and the central bank raised rates again on Wednesday, Sept. 16, rather than cutting.

That backdrop is what makes a new post from the world’s richest man so striking. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk now says artificial intelligence (AI) will roughly double U.S. economic growth next year.

If he’s right, 2027 looks nothing like the economy most forecasters are planning for. If he’s wrong, a lot of AI-priced portfolios are leaning on a forecast that has already shrunk once.

Elon Musk predicts AI will double US growth to 4% in 2027.J Studios / Getty Images

Why US GDP growth keeps stalling near 2%

Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a 1.5 percent annual rate in the second quarter, down from 2.1 percent in the first, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The final quarter of 2025 managed just 0.5 percent.

The Fed’s scorecard tells the same story. Growth came in at 2.0 percent for 2025, and policymakers peg the economy’s long-run speed limit at 2.0 percent as well, according to the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 projections.

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The one engine running hot is AI construction. Hyperscaler spending on data centers climbed from 0.3 percent of GDP in 2019 to 1.4 percent in 2025, according to Apollo Global Management (APO) Chief Economist Torsten Slok.

Consensus forecasts have that share holding near three percent of GDP every year from 2027 through 2029, Slok wrote in an Aug. 6 note. The hyperscalers in his data are Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and Oracle (ORCL).

Musk’s AI growth forecast leaves the Fed far behind

“My guess is that AI roughly doubles US GDP growth next year from ~2% to ~4%. Maybe even more,” Musk wrote on X on Friday, Sept. 18.

That’s an aggressive number, though it’s far smaller than the one Musk offered nine months ago.

“Double-digit growth is coming within 12 to 18 months,” Musk posted on Dec. 24, 2025, in a forecast TheStreet covered at the time. That window runs through June 2027.

His new call trims the target by more than half without saying so, although “maybe even more” leaves him an exit. It still lands well above the professionals.

How the 2027 GDP growth forecasts stack up

Elon Musk: roughly four percent, “maybe even more,” according to his Sept. 18 post on X.

Most bullish Fed official: 2.9 percent, the top of the 18-person range, according to the Federal Reserve.

Fed median: 2.4 percent, up from 2.3 percent in June, according to the Federal Reserve.

Upper edge of the Fed’s 70 percent confidence band: 4.2 percent, according to the Fed’s historical forecast-error analysis.

I went through the distribution of all 18 projections, and not one Fed official penciled in anything above 2.9 percent for 2027. The last bullet is what caught my attention, though.

By the Fed’s own error bars, four percent sits inside the plausible range, just barely. Musk is betting on the edge of the distribution, rather than off the chart.

What AI data center spending can actually add to GDP growth

My analysis starts with Slok’s speed figure. Data-center capital spending is on track to rise from 1.4 percent of GDP in 2025 to 3.1 percent in 2027, roughly 0.85 percentage points a year, according to Apollo.

Growth comes from changes in spending, not levels. In a best case, then, the data-center ramp adds a bit under one percentage point to annual growth, and less in practice, because imported chips and servers subtract from GDP.

Layer that onto a two percent baseline and you land near 2.9 percent. That is almost exactly where the Fed’s most bullish official sits.

The remaining point or so has to come from AI making workers measurably more productive, and mainstream models see that arriving slowly.

AI’s lift to annual productivity growth peaks at 0.2 percentage points in 2032, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. “After adoption saturates, growth reverts to trend,” the researchers wrote.

There’s a second catch hiding in Slok’s charts. If spending levels off near three percent of GDP from 2027 to 2029, the buildout stops adding to growth the moment it stops accelerating.

A cycle that fast “can unwind at a similar pace,” Slok warned. For an economy leaning on one engine, that is the risk Musk’s post skips.

What 4% GDP growth would mean for your money

Each extra percentage point on a $30-trillion-plus economy is worth more than $300 billion in output, or roughly $2,200 per U.S. household, by my math using Census Bureau household counts.

The timing is awkward, though. Fed officials expect personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation of 3.7 percent this year, and their median path holds the federal funds rate near 4.1 percent through 2027, according to the Fed.

A hotter economy gives the Fed fewer reasons to cut, which keeps mortgage and credit card rates elevated even if your paycheck grows faster.

For investors, a four percent year would say the hyperscalers turned that spending into real revenue, while a 2.4 percent year would say the payoff is still years out.

For workers, about 40 percent of current GDP could be substantially affected by generative AI, according to the Penn Wharton researchers. Occupations near the 80th percentile of earnings are the most exposed, which puts well-paid office and finance roles near the front of the line.

Musk has argued bigger versions of this before, pitching a future where saving money matters far less. This one comes with a deadline you can check.

Why Musk’s 2027 GDP growth bet is worth tracking

The data will settle it quarter by quarter, starting with the BEA’s annual update on Sept. 30.

Watch two lines when those reports land. Business investment tells you how much of the growth is still construction, while productivity tells you whether AI is doing the work.

If productivity climbs while data-center spending plateaus, Musk’s four percent starts to look like a forecast. If growth fades as the buildout levels off, it was a construction boom wearing an AI costume.

Musk has already cut his own number once this year. The next revision may come from the BEA instead.

Related: Elon Musk warns one AI milestone dwarfs nuclear weapons

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the results a “disaster” for his center-right party.

BlackBerry‘s (BB) rebound was a surprise for investors. Its shares are up about 109% year to date, and a new earnings report is just one week away. Most of that gain has come from a business that has almost nothing to do with the phones that once made the company famous.

On the Sept. 17 episode of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” a caller asked Jim Cramer about the stock’s recent pullback, and the host told viewers to buy. BlackBerry is preparing to post its second-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Sept. 24. That means investors now have to weigh Cramer’s buy call against the report. 

The numbers will tell investors whether the turnaround under CEO John Giamatteo remains on track, and whether the stock’s recent pullback resulted from wider market pressure.

Cramer’s lightning round buy call on BlackBerry stock

During the lightning round, Cramer told the caller, “Buy, buy, buy. We’ve had the company on. I am surprised that it came back down, but there’s been a lot of selling in some very good stocks,” according to CNBC. 

Cramer has been positive about BlackBerry for months. On the June 10 lightning round, he told a different caller that “BlackBerry is good,” and added that his team had already been researching the technology and had planned a dedicated segment, CNBC reported.

In late July, he hosted Giamatteo on “Mad Money” to walk through the company’s shift into automotive and robotics software.

Cramer, who has hosted the show since 2005, rarely revisits the same mid-cap name three times in a single year. His current stance places him on the bullish side of Wall Street.

BlackBerry’s stock has more than doubled in 2026 as investors reprice its QNX and Secure Communications software businesses.lenscap67 / Getty Images

How BlackBerry actually makes money in 2026

BlackBerry is no longer the smartphone maker most Americans remember. Today, the company runs two software businesses. QNX, its embedded operating system, sits inside more than 275 million vehicles, according to BlackBerry. You can also find it inside robots, medical devices, and industrial machines. 

Secure Communications sells encrypted messaging and critical event management tools to governments. Its AtHoc emergency alerting platform is used by roughly 80% of U.S. federal agencies.

Related: Jim Cramer reveals 6 AI stocks to watch in 2026

The company sold off its Cylance cybersecurity unit last year to sharpen that focus, according to its SEC filing, and the decision is starting to show up in the numbers.

In its first-quarter fiscal 2027 results reported on June 25, BlackBerry posted revenue of $152.9 million, ahead of the $136 million Wall Street expected. It also delivered its fifth straight quarter of GAAP profit.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 144% year over year in Q1, and management pointed to a QNX royalty backlog of roughly $1 billion.

“Both our QNX and Secure Communications divisions continue to execute effectively against their strategies, beating both top line and profitability expectations,” Giamatteo said in the June earnings release.

What Wall Street wants to see in the fiscal second-quarter print

According to Defense World, analysts expect adjusted earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of about $144 million, which is in line with the company’s own guidance of $137 million to $148 million and 3 to 4 cents per share. Full-year fiscal 2027 guidance is at $594 million to $621 million.

The most closely watched line will be QNX. Stifel Canada analyst Suthan Sukumar, who initiated coverage in June with a Buy rating and a $12 price target, expects design-win momentum to keep expanding, despite weak global auto production. 

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Sukumar, Stifel’s head of Canadian technology research with more than 15 years of sector experience, wrote that “the market still misdefines BlackBerry” and described the company as “a mission-critical software layer in the physical AI stack and a dominant partner to silicon leaders like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and AMD.”

He also expects general embedded markets, which include factories and robotics, to keep growing beyond their current 20% share of QNX revenue. Any improvement there in the report would validate Cramer’s bull case.

The risks worth considering before following Cramer’s call

Wall Street consensus on BlackBerry still sits closer to Hold than Buy. Baird analyst Luke Junk maintained a Neutral rating with a $5 price target after the last earnings report, and Canaccord Genuity’s Kingsley Crane also maintains a Hold rating with a $4.60 target, Benzinga reported.

The Secure Communications business has been growing more slowly than QNX and remains sensitive to federal budget cycles. The stock also trades at a premium valuation, with a price-to-earnings ratio near 79. Such a high multiple leaves no room for error if next week’s results hit the low end of expectations.

Investors who want to follow Cramer’s call should allocate capital conservatively. A disappointing QNX royalty result, or cautious full-year commentary from Giamatteo, could quickly reprice the stock.

Related: Jim Cramer says ‘take the money and run’ on energy titan, up 18%

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.

Why we love this deal

The scorching heat of summer will soon be replaced with chilly fall days. While using the front porch or back patio is more commonly associated with the warmer months, I actually find it more enjoyable to relax outdoors in autumn. Instead of sweating in the uncomfortably high temperatures, you can snuggle up in a blanket and enjoy the cool, refreshing breeze. Think about it: One of the best ways to start your morning is by watching the sunrise with a steaming cup of coffee, and in the cooler months, with fuzzy slippers and a cozy cardigan, it’s even more enjoyable. All you need to make it happen is having is somewhere to sit. 

As summer wraps up, you can find outdoor furniture for some of the lowest prices of the season. One example is the bestselling Serwall 4-Piece Patio Furniture Conversation Set at Walmart, which is 60% off. Normally, you’d have to pay $1,200 to score the stylish set with a loveseat, two armchairs, and a matching coffee table, but with this limited-time Flash deal, you can add it to your cart for just $474 in the neutral gray colorway. Given the timeless appearance, quality materials, and premium construction, this patio set deal offers exceptional value. 

Serwall 4-Piece Patio Furniture Conversation Set, $474 (was $1,200) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Shop at Walmart

Why do shoppers love it?

With room to seat four people, this patio set is the perfect addition to any outdoor space. If you don’t have enough room for the entire bundle on the balcony or in the backyard, you could easily break it up, with a couch and table in the gazebo and the two chairs on the front porch. All the pieces are constructed with a heavy-duty high-density polyethylene, so they’re resistant to fading, cracking, or rusting when left in the rain and sunshine, giving you even more options for placement.

Related: Walmart is selling a $239 4-piece rattan patio set with cushions for 49% off

Crafted for comfort, the chairs have large padded seats equipped with premium three-layer cushions. The layers of cotton and high-density sponge deliver softness and support, while still being waterproof and breathable for long-term durability. If you happen to spill a drink on the cushions, the removable covers make for easy cleaning. For even more practicality, the coffee table has an umbrella hole, so when the sunshine is too bright, you can add much-needed shade to the setup.

Details to know 

Pieces in set: A loveseat, two chairs, and a coffee table.

Color options: Four colors are available for $532 or less, but the best deal is on the all-gray set.

Is assembly required? Yes.

Overall, shoppers have great things to say about this patio set, with an average rating of 4.5 out of five stars. “These are big, comfy chairs,” wrote one shopper. Another shopper highlighted the premium quality of the patio furniture, writing, The furniture is very heavy-duty and comfortable. It not only looks good but will last a long time.”

Shop more deals

Vcatnet 4-Piece Patio Furniture Conversation Set, $370 (was $609) at Walmart

Poteban 5-Piece Modular Outdoor Patio Furniture Set, $270 (was $460) at Walmart

Ainfox 4-Piece Outdoor Patio Furniture Sofa Set, $300 (was $600) at Walmart

Don’t miss your chance to score the Serwall 4-Piece Patio Furniture Conversation Set for just $474 at Walmart. This limited-time Flash deal won’t last long, so secure the savings while you can.

The Keeneland Yearling Sales got out of the gates in fine fashion as a record 65 horses carried at least a $1 million price tag.

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.

No matter what your personal style is like, everyone could use a good luxury watch. Whether you’re a fan of sporty dive watches, dressy pieces, or something in between, there’s something special about putting a high-end timepiece on your wrist. As a collector myself, I’m fond of automatic watches that allow you to see the inner workings of the movement. Skeleton watches, as they’re called, are watches that have at least a partially open dial, letting you see the gears within and enjoy the mechanical dance of a traditional timepiece.

Those in the know recognize Bulova as one of the pillars of American watchmaking. If you’re shopping for a luxury watch, Bulova should definitely be on your list. The brand started over a century ago in New York City, and quickly made a name for itself thanks to its technical innovations and the beauty of its watches. Today, the brand is still making exquisite heirloom pieces and great everyday wear. One of the most beautiful watches in Bulova’s catalog is currently on sale at Amazon, and we think it’s worth a look.

Bulova Classic Sutton Skeleton Watch

Courtesy of Amazon

Check price at Amazon

The Bulova Classic Sutton Skeleton Watch is currently on sale for $346. That’s an impressive 50% off the original price of $695. The watch has an automatic movement that you can see through the open-faced dial. It also has applied hour markers, a luminous handset, and a 316L stainless steel case and bracelet. Both are corrosion resistant and rustproof. The watch even has a full 100 meters of water resistance. That means you can take it into the ocean or the pool and swim without fear of internal water damage.

Benefits of an automatic skeleton watch

Skeleton watches are unique accessories with lots of benefits beyond just timekeeping. For starters, an automatic skeleton watch, by definition, needs no battery. Mechanical watches utilize the motion of your arm to wind a mainspring. The spring then releases that energy throughout the day to keep accurate time. As such, they never need a battery, and they don’t need to be hand-wound every morning.

Secondly, skeleton watches are incredibly attractive. Unlike many basic watches which often look the same, skeleton watches expose the intricacies of the mechanical pieces inside the watch. It’s incredibly satisfying to look down at your wrist throughout the day and see beautiful polished gears and springs all working together to keep you on time. It’s a gorgeous reminder of all the research and engineering that went into creating your watch in the first place.

One advantage of a skeleton watch over a more traditional design is that it’s a conversation starter. I’ve owned a few skeleton watches in my day, and they always seem to catch the eye of anyone in my vicinity. If you’re someone who likes a little spontaneous human interaction throughout the day, then a skeleton watch can offer you that. It’s a surprising tool for connecting with others at the bus stop, on line in the bank, or anywhere else you might end up in close quarters with others.

More skeleton watches

If the Bulova Classic Sutton Skeleton Watch isn’t your style, then Amazon has plenty of other beautiful options to choose from. We’ve compiled a list of a few favorites below. We’re sure there will be at least one that’s to your liking. The beauty of skeleton watches is that there’s just as much variety among them as there is among any other watch style. Take a look through the list and grab one ASAP, as the most beautiful ones tend to sell out quickly.

Bulova Stainless Steel Skeleton Watch

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Bulova Modern 3-Hand Skeleton Watch

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Bulova Classic Maquina Open Aperture Watch

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Seiko Presage Open Heart Watch

Courtesy of Amazon

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Michael Burry built his reputation spotting bubbles other people refused to see, and he made a fortune shorting the housing market years before nearly anyone else believed it could collapse.

His newest target has nothing to do with a specific stock or sector, and it caught plenty of people off guard.

This time, the man behind The Big Short turned his attention toward something much bigger than any single trade: the entire system, which he believes is funneling wealth toward a narrow slice of the population while leaving everyone else struggling to keep up with rising costs.

Burry’s blast at the economic transfer machine

Burry posted on Substack on Sept. 16 with a pointed critique of what he called economic bubbles enriching the few at obscene rates.

“I am righteously indignant over the wealth transfer to the very few that these bubbles create,” he wrote. “The whole system is about creating bubbles so the grift can happen, both inside companies, transferring wealth to their employees at obscene rates, and in politics, as we see all over.”

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In the same post, Burry pointed to the source of the problem. “Whether circular financing among tech companies or schemes emanating from Washington D.C., this extreme enrichment of the lucky few while leaving the bulk of the economy existentially worried about grocery and gas prices is as hemlock to the health and longevity of the free Republic,” he wrote.

The comments fit a pattern Burry has followed closely for months. He has spent much of 2026 building bearish positions against companies tied to the AI trade, including bets against Nvidia, Tesla, Micron, and Applied Materials. He has separately compared the current market environment to the final stretch of the 1999 to 2000 dot-com bubble.

Sanders, Warren, and Bezos weigh in on economic inequality

Burry’s comments landed amid an ongoing political fight over economic inequality that predates his post by months.

In June, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized what he called an “insanely rigged economy” after tech executives added billions to their net worth in a single day, contrasting those gains with the financial struggles many Americans face over housing, food, healthcare, and child care costs, Benzinga reported.

Sanders renewed his push in August, calling again for a federal wealth tax to fund social programs supporting working families. His broader campaign has included a proposed 5% wealth tax on America’s billionaires, a measure introduced with Rep. Ro Khanna in March that economists estimate could raise $4.4 trillion over a decade, according to Fortune.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pushed a related but narrower argument, calling for taxes on ultra-millionaires and billionaires specifically to make child care more affordable and raise pay for child care workers, pointing to years of underinvestment in early childhood education as the root of the problem.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos offered a counterargument, describing a “tale of two economies” where some Americans thrive while others struggle with rising rent and grocery costs.

Bezos argued that raising taxes on the wealthy would not meaningfully help ordinary Americans, pointing to a Queens nurse earning $75,000 a year who pays more than $12,000 in taxes as evidence that the tax system itself deserves scrutiny, according to NBC News.

Burry’s comments landed amid an ongoing political fight over economic inequality that predates his post by months.Alexander Spatari / Getty Images

Building wealth beyond the stock market

Whatever side of the tax debate someone lands on, the underlying anxiety that Burry, Sanders, Warren, and Bezos have each highlighted points to the same practical question for ordinary investors: how to build financial security when a single market or asset class cannot be relied on to perform in every environment.

Markets cycle. Sectors that lead one decade lag the next. Diversification does not prevent losses but does prevent a single bad call from wiping out everything else. Real estate and precious metals have historically moved differently from stocks, which is the point.

Self-directed retirement accounts offer another route for investors who want that diversification inside a tax-advantaged structure, letting holders invest in alternative assets such as real estate, private debt, and precious metals rather than being limited to the stocks and funds a standard IRA custodian typically allows.

What this means for everyday Americans

Burry’s warning and the political fight over wealth taxes are unlikely to resolve anytime soon, and substantial disagreement remains over what is actually driving inequality in America and which policies are most effective in addressing it.

What is harder to dispute is the underlying practical takeaway. Concentrated wealth held in a single company, industry, or asset class carries real risk. The same logic that worries Burry about systemic bubbles applies just as much to an individual portfolio running entirely on one market’s fortunes.

The tax fight in Washington will go on for years. Whatever comes of it, the practical question for anyone saving money is the same one it always is.

Is your financial life built around one market, one sector, one bet? Because that’s exactly the kind of concentration Burry has spent his career warning about, and he has a reasonable track record of being right.

Related: Michael Burry reveals his verdict on the ongoing AI bubble