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Wall Street loves a catalyst, and while earnings dates can slip and Federal Reserve meetings disappoint, a global sporting event shows up exactly on schedule, with billions of eyeballs and a thirst to match.For the beverage business, no date on that calendar is bigger than the World Cup. This year’s edition is the largest ever staged, with 48 teams and 104 matches spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.Brewers planned for this summer the way retailers plan for Christmas. Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) signed on as the tournament’s official beer sponsor, rivals wrapped cans in national colors, and analysts penciled the party into their models before a single ball was kicked.The assumption underneath all of it was simple. Fans drink when their team plays, and they drink far more when their team keeps winning.That assumption ran into a wall on the night of July 5. Two results, a few hours apart, knocked out the two most reliable beer-drinking fan bases in the tournament. By the morning of July 6, Morgan Stanley was telling clients that the great beer boom of 2026 had sprung a leak, and investors spent the rest of the session repricing the damage.

Morgan Stanley says Brazil and Mexico’s World Cup exits threaten beer’s biggest quarter.Hispanolistic / Getty Images

Why the World Cup matters so much to beer companiesThe link between soccer and beer sales is one of the most dependable relationships in consumer finance. Jefferies analysts projected the 2026 tournament would drive the additional consumption of “more than 1 billion cases of beer globally,” according to Funds Society, enough to lift the sector’s annual volume by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points.Those cases were never going to be spread evenly. The biggest spikes come from countries where soccer is a religion and beer is the sacrament, which is why Brazil and Mexico sat at the center of every model. Mexico is the world’s largest beer exporter, and Brazil ranks among the largest beer markets anywhere.More Wall Street:Wall Street’s $200 billion IPO wave threatens sell-offJ.P. Morgan unleashes $50 billion buyback after stress testBessent doubles down on Main Street over Wall StreetThe corporate map matters here. AB InBev owns Corona, Modelo, and Brazil’s Skol globally, while Constellation Brands (STZ) holds the lucrative U.S. rights to Corona and Modelo.Heineken (HEINY) runs major brewing operations across Mexico, which means all three companies drew up 2026 plans with the same two fan bases at the center.The money followed the models. Morgan Stanley itself estimated that advertising activity tied to the tournament could top $500 million, with roughly 44% of U.S. consumers planning to engage with the event, according to the same Funds Society report.The industry needed this tournament, too. Beer volumes have been soft for two years as drinkers trade down and younger consumers cut back, so a once-in-a-generation home-continent World Cup looked like the closest thing to a guaranteed win the sector had left.Related: Heat wave leads popular tourist destination to add new alcohol ruleMorgan Stanley sees a hole in beer’s biggest quarterThird-quarter sales in Latin America now risk falling short of expectations after Brazil and Mexico were eliminated within hours of each other on July 5, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Sarah Simon warned in a note to clients, Bloomberg reported.The carnage on the field was swift. Brazil fell 2-1 to Norway in East Rutherford, N.J., undone by “an Erling Haaland brace and a brilliant Orjan Nyland display,” according to FIFA. It was the first time the five-time champions missed the quarterfinals since 1990.Hours later, Mexico lost 3-2 to England at Estadio Azteca, the team’s first World Cup defeat ever at its fortress stadium, on a Jude Bellingham double and a Harry Kane penalty.Morgan Stanley’s logic is blunt. “We believe the concentration of the beer volume uplift comes from ‘deep run’ games,” the analysts wrote in the note, according to Bloomberg.Group-stage matches sell some beer. A home nation marching toward the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium sells oceans of it, and both of those oceans just evaporated.The bank called AB InBev the most exposed name given its dominance in both Mexico and Brazil, with Heineken carrying meaningful exposure of its own, according to the same report. Brazil’s exit stings more than Mexico’s, the analysts added, because its beer market is bigger and expectations ran higher.Investors did not wait for the fine print. Here is how the July 6 session shook out:Constellation Brands fell 4.9% to its lowest close since Nov. 20, according to Bloomberg.Ambev (ABEV), AB InBev’s Brazilian subsidiary, closed 2.5% lower in São Paulo, according to Bloomberg.Boston Beer (SAM) and Molson Coors (TAP) also finished the day in the red, according to Bloomberg.The S&P 500 rose 0.72% in the same session, according to Barchart.That last line is the one that caught my attention. I compared the beer names against the tape, and this was a targeted, stock-specific punishment delivered on a day the broader market rallied.Traders were not selling risk. They were selling this exact story.One detail worth keeping straight is that the analysts framed the damage as growth that now simply will not show up, rather than existing sales going backward. That is cold comfort for a sector priced for a boom.What beer investors should watch nextThe note’s built-in silver lining lasted less than a day. Morgan Stanley pointed to a deep run by the U.S. team as a potential offset, and on the night of July 6, Belgium dismantled the Americans 4-1 in Seattle.The U.S. team’s “hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended,” according to ESPN. All three host nations are now out of their own tournament, an outcome no beer model anywhere had penciled in.My analysis of the remaining bracket suggests the volume story now tilts toward Europe. England, which faces Norway in Miami Gardens on July 11, is a heavyweight beer market, and a European-flavored final helps Heineken’s home turf far more than it helps the Mexico-and-Brazil engine that powers AB InBev and Constellation.The bank has been busy handicapping World Cup winners and losers all year, from its bullish Monster Beverage call to its DraftKings forecast built partly on tournament betting volume. The beer note is the first time it has told investors the tournament may take more than it gives.The scoreboard that matters next is the earnings calendar. Constellation heads into its next report sitting at levels last seen in November, and AB InBev’s third-quarter numbers this fall will reveal exactly how many of those 1 billion projected cases were poured.Twelve days of soccer remain, and some of the biggest television audiences of the year are still ahead. The question for beer investors is no longer how big the party gets. It is who is left standing at the bar when the tab arrives.Related: The World Cup may be about to get a lot bigger

The oil market rarely needs a translator. Producers hold meetings and publish statements, but the messages that matter are written in barrels shipped and invoices sent. When the people who control the world’s crude want you to know where prices are headed, they show you rather than tell you.For most of this year, what they showed was scarcity. The war that erupted in late February closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that normally carries roughly one fifth of the world’s daily oil trade. Brent crude spiked past $120 a barrel this spring. You paid for the disruption at the pump, and your portfolio paid through hotter inflation readings and a Federal Reserve with fresh reasons to wait.Since then, the story has been a slow normalization. An interim peace framework between Washington and Tehran reopened the strait to tanker traffic in stages, trapped barrels began escaping the Persian Gulf, and crude drifted back toward where it traded before the first missile flew.Then, inside roughly 24 hours this past weekend, the two most important forces in global oil supply each made a move. On July 5, OPEC+ approved another production increase for August. A day later, Saudi Aramco cut the price of its flagship crude by the most in decades. Neither move is subtle. Together, they are about as close to a forecast as this market ever offers.

OPEC’s quiet weekend move hints at oil’s next big turn.Anton Petrus / Getty Images

Why the Strait of Hormuz still runs the oil marketThe past four months were a live stress test of the oil trade’s single most important chokepoint. When Iran restricted tanker traffic through the strait at the start of the war, three of the biggest producers in the exporting bloc, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, effectively lost their main shipping route overnight.The production math turned brutal fast. Output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, fell to 33.13 million barrels per day in May from 42.77 million in February, according to OPEC data cited by Reuters.More Oil & Gas:JPMorgan sends blunt verdict on oil, economyA big shift in the U.S. energy market is about to happenBattered oil major nabs Wolfe buy recommendationThe group kept raising its official quotas the whole time, but most of those paper barrels could not physically move. The strain cracked the alliance itself. The United Arab Emirates quit effective May 1 to produce free of quotas, leaving seven core members to manage supply: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman.Prices fell anyway. Weak Chinese crude imports, rising output from producers outside the Middle East and a record strategic stock release coordinated by the International Energy Agency pushed Brent back near $72 a barrel, roughly its level before the war began, Reuters reported.OPEC output hike and Saudi price cut tell one storyThe first move came Sunday, July 5. The seven core members agreed in an online meeting to raise production targets by another 188,000 barrels per day starting in August, their third straight monthly increase, according to the group’s statement reported by Reuters.One more increase of similar size in September would fully unwind the 1.65 million barrels per day of supply cuts the group agreed to in 2023. The producers meet again on Aug. 2.”The group of seven kept unwinding their production cuts as widely expected,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters. The open questions now, he added, are how quickly tankers cross the strait and how fast Chinese import demand recovers.Related: OPEC shake-up throws oil prices major curveballThe second move landed Monday, July 6, and it was louder. Saudi Aramco lowered the August price of its flagship Arab Light crude for Asian buyers by $11 a barrel, putting it at a $1.50 discount to the regional Oman/Dubai benchmark, according to a price list seen by Bloomberg. The last two times the kingdom sold that grade at a discount were during the price wars of 2020 and 2015, per the same report.I went back through the recent pricing decisions to put that swing in context, and the trail is hard to misread:Aramco cut its July Arab Light price for Asia by $6 a barrel, to a $9.50 premium over the benchmark, according to OilPrice.com.The August price fell another $11, flipping to a $1.50 discount, according to BloombergThe last two Arab Light discounts came during outright price wars, in 2020 and 2015, per Bloomberg.Quota increases from April through August total nearly one million barrels per day, based on Reuters figures.What cheaper Saudi crude means for oil prices and your walletA discount from Aramco is not generosity. Saudi Arabia does not sell its flagship grade below its benchmark when it expects supply to stay tight. It prices that way to keep Asian refiners buying Saudi barrels instead of cargoes from Russia, West Africa or the United States. That is what a producer does when it expects abundance.The official forecasters are drawing the same arrow. Brent is expected to average $79 a barrel in 2027 as flows through the strait normalize and shut-in production returns, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency also expects global oil demand to shrink by 1.1 million barrels per day in 2026, a casualty of the price spike itself.For your budget, crude filters into pump prices with a lag of weeks, so the relief you started feeling in June has more room to run if the trend holds. For your portfolio, the split is clean. Producers such as Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) track crude lower almost mechanically, while fuel-heavy businesses like airlines and shippers get a cost break. Cheaper oil also bleeds out of headline inflation, which strengthens the case for the Federal Reserve to resume cutting rates.My read is that the risk still runs in both directions, just not evenly. The producers left themselves exits, reserving the right to pause or reverse the increases, per the group’s statement. Talks between Washington and Tehran remain unfinished, and one bad week on the water would rewrite the math. But you need an escalation to argue for higher prices, while the lower path only requires ships doing what ships did for decades.Where oil goes from hereThe next scheduled tell is Aug. 2, when the seven producers meet again. An increase of about the same size would finish unwinding the 2023 cuts entirely. The other tell is Aramco’s September price list, and whether the discount deepens, holds or snaps back.Watch the water, too. Brent traded near $72 on Monday, July 6, close to its lowest levels since late February, and every recovered tanker route adds barrels the market spent the spring living without.Cartels do not add supply into a falling market by accident, and anchor producers do not discount their crown jewel to be kind. When both happen in the same 24 hours, the signal needs no translation. Supply is winning. Until something closes that strait again, the burden of proof sits with anyone betting on higher oil.Related: JPMorgan resets oil price target for rest of 2026

If you are working hard to stay away from debt but still find yourself tied to a monthly payment, you are not alone.But personal finance author and radio host Dave Ramsey often reminds his followers that carrying debt of any kind is an unnecessary risk — especially when your income isn’t guaranteed from month to month.In fact, one recent advice-seeker asked Ramsey about managing a fluctuating income while balancing savings and an auto loan, according to an email sent to TheStreet from Ramsey Solutions.“Dear Dave,” wrote a man named Mike. “I’ve never had a credit card in my life. I do have a $600 monthly car payment right now, and it’s my only debt. I owe $10,000 on the vehicle.””Currently, I have a six-month emergency fund saved, plus $25,000 in a regular savings account,” he added. “I’m in sales, so my pay often fluctuates from month to month. Should I pay off the car from savings, or hang on to that money just in case things in my job take a downturn?”Ramsey offered some advice about how Mike should approach his immediate financial structure, including the risk associated with variable income.“I’m proud of you for never caving in to the temptation of credit cards,” he wrote. “That sets you apart from the vast majority of folks in America today.” “But I’m not letting you off the hook on the car payments.”Dave Ramsey explains the true cost of car loansRamsey was quick to acknowledge the man’s solid financial foundation while pointing out the danger of keeping the loan.“I don’t care what anyone else says, debt is never a good thing,” he wrote. “And it’s absolutely the last thing you want in your life when your job compensation structure is unpredictable.”He urged the advice-seeker to visualize how much more freedom his monthly budget would have without the burden of a loan.“Now, it sounds to me like you’re in pretty good shape financially, except for the car payments,” he continued. “It may be the only debt you have, but it’s still like a ball and chain around your neck when it comes to your money.”The Ramsey Show host then focused on the mathematical and emotional benefits of becoming completely debt-free.“I want you to take a moment, and think about all the great things you could do if you didn’t have that monthly payment flying out the door,” he wrote. “I mean, an extra $600 in your pocket every month would be pretty cool, right?”Ramsey encourages eliminating risk and choosing freedomThe personal finance coach had a straightforward action plan for using existing savings to clear the remaining balance.“If I were in your shoes, I’d take $10,000 out of savings today, and pay off that car,” he asked. “You’d be completely debt-free in a heartbeat, plus you could rebuild your savings in no time with the money you’ll free up.”He also reassured the reader that taking this step would not leave him financially exposed.“On top of all that, you’d still have your emergency fund of six months of expenses sitting there untouched,” he added.That’s when Ramsey drove home his core philosophy regarding borrowing money and peace of mind.“Debt always equals risk, Mike. Always,” he wrote. “Write a check today, man, and pay off that car. You’ll be surprised at how much lighter and more comfortable you feel with no debt—or the potential consequences of debt — weighing you down!”

Dave Ramsey advises paying off a car loan with savings rather than dealing with a monthly car payment burden with interest.Shutterstock

3 real-world approaches to paying off the carI decided to calculate what might happen over a two-year window by looking at three very basic, but different, approaches you might take to paying off the car, should you find yourself in Mike’s circumstance.Each scenario assumes you have a $10,000 balance at a 6% interest rate with 18 months left on the loan, resulting in that $600 monthly payment. By comparing these paths, we can clearly see the hidden costs of holding onto debt versus the power of freeing up your cash flow.Scenario 1: Paying off car loan immediatelyIf you write a check to eliminate the loan today, you instantly save about $480 in remaining interest charges. Your savings account drops from $25,000 to $15,000, but your six-month emergency fund remains completely safe and untouched. Because you no longer have a $600 monthly car payment, you can immediately redirect that cash back into your savings. Over the next 24 months, pocketing that extra money allows you to completely rebuild your savings back to its original strength, leaving you with no debt and maxed-out financial security.Financial tally:You spend exactly $10,000 to kill the debt, save $480 in interest, and accumulate $14,400 in freed-up cash flow by month 24.Scenario 2: Keeping cash in savings while paying off carIf you decide to hold onto the $25,000 out of fear of a job downturn, you will finish out the 18 months of payments as scheduled. Over this time, you will hand over that extra $480 in interest to the lender. Even if your savings account earns a decent interest rate, the math rarely works in your favor after factoring in taxes on that interest. While you maintain a larger cash cushion initially, you spend a year and a half sending $600 out the door every month, leaving your monthly budget highly vulnerable to any sudden drops in your sales commissions.Financial tally: You spend a total of $10,480 over 18 months, losing $480 to interest while your monthly budget remains squeezed until the loan naturally expires.Scenario 3: Investing instead of paying car loan immediatelyIf you decide to leave the car loan alone and put that $10,000 into a conservative investment, you are essentially gambling that your investment returns will beat the 6% guaranteed cost of the debt. A conservative investment, like a high-yield savings account or short-term bonds, typically yields around 4% to 5%, which is a very reasonable and safe expectation but fails to outpace the 6% cost of the loan. While trying for a higher return in the stock market historically averages 7% to 10% over long periods, expecting that gain over a short two-year window is highly unreliable due to unpredictable market downturns. Over a short two-year window, market fluctuations could easily leave you with less than you started with, all while you are still stuck making those heavy monthly payments. Choosing to invest while carrying a high monthly obligation increases your overall financial risk without providing a guaranteed reward.Financial tally: You spend $10,480 on the car loan. In this scenario, your investment must grow by more than $480 after taxes over 24 months just to break even with the cost of your debt.However, you could hold onto that investment over a longer term than just the 24 months and give it more of a chance to earn value.Note: This piece of financial journalism is for educational purposes only and not for formal tax or investment advice.Related: Dave Ramsey warns Americans on 401(k)s, IRAs (he’s not wrong)

Time was, the future looked so bright for Meta Platforms that founder Mark Zuckerberg had to wear shades—AI-powered smart glasses, that is.In Zuckerberg’s words, 2023 wasn’t just Meta’s “year of efficiency” — it was actually the company’s best year ever. Shares surged 178% as the digital advertising industry rebounded from the pandemic, and the company gained market share from rivals like Alphabet and Snap.But that turnaround came at a steep human cost. Meta eliminated roughly 21,000 jobs as part of a sweeping corporate restructuring plan aimed at streamlining operations and boosting profitability.The story has become more complicated in 2026. Although Meta continues to post impressive earnings growth that surpasses analyst expectations, investors have become increasingly concerned about Meta’s enormous spending on artificial intelligence. The tech giant raised its 2026 AI capex guidance to as much as $145 billion, even though Zuck himself admitted that AI “hasn’t really accelerated in the way that we expected.”And those AI glasses? Many customers have mixed feelings on the wearables due to unsettling privacy concerns and the fact that AI still can’t quite get things right, leading investors to wonder whether Meta’s big bets will ultimately pay off.As a result, Meta’s shares have fallen roughly 16% to 18% year-over-year as of July 2026, and Meta has once again turned to layoffs to balance its AI ambitions with more practical cost control.So just how large is Meta’s workforce today — and where are its employees located? @alejandra_n_h And that’s on always having a backup plan. The #metalayoffs was one of the biggest life altering moments of my life. I decided to use it as an opportunity to not only build a business but build a platform. It’s crazy that I’m still receiving opportunities to share about my journey after my layoff and how something that turned my life upside down gave me the freedom to build my dream life. #unemployed #lifeat40 #selfmployed #bayareatech #rebuildingmylife #buildingmydreamlife #corporatedropout #businessowner #techlayoffs #portfoliocareer ♬ original sound – silly guy How many employees does Meta have in 2026?Meta’s global workforce numbered 78,865 employees as of December 31, 2025, as reported in the company’s 2026 annual report. That’s a more than sixfold increase from the end of 2015, when the company had 12,691 employees, a sign of significant growth as it expanded its existing businesses and added new ones.Related: How many employees does Nvidia have? From R&D to sales

AI glasses, as worn by founder Mark Zuckerberg, are just one of Meta Platform’s latest billion-dollar bets. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Bloomberg / Getty Images

Where are Meta’s employees located?Meta has come a long way from its beginnings as a social networking site in a Harvard dorm room. “The Facebook,” as it was known in the early 2000s, evolved into a trillion-dollar technology company encompassing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as AR hardware and spatial computing. In 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms to reflect its expanding identity.Meta’s workforce spans a range of functions, including engineering, machine learning, and data science. It also employs workers in its product and program management divisions, as well as in business operations roles in finance, legal, communications, and human resources.Its headquarters are in Menlo Park, California, but Meta also maintains dozens of corporate hubs around the country and worldwide, including:San FranciscoSeattleNew YorkAustinWashington, DCLondonParisDublinSydneySao PauloTel AvivHas Meta had layoffs recently?On January 14, 2026, the company laid off 1,500 workers in its Metaverse division in order to shift spending to its AI glasses. Then on May 20, 2026, the company laid off an additional 8,000 employees across numerous departments. That means that roughly 1 out of every 10 Meta employees (or 10%) lost their job. These reductions were intended to offset Meta’s investments in AI.More on tech stocks:Nvidia’s stock split history: Everything you need to knowAMD’s stock buybacks explained: History, balance & outlookDoes Intel pay dividends? History & future prospects explained“Success isn’t a given,” Zuckerberg explained in a company memo, going on to add that “AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes” and “the companies that lead the way will define the next generation.“In addition to the job cuts, Meta transitioned 7,000 employees into new AI-focused roles. It also canceled plans to hire 6,000 new workers.A source told CNBC that additional layoffs are expected in August 2026 and later in the fall, although Zuckerberg’s memo stated that they “do not expect other companywide layoffs this year.”For now, all eyes are on Meta’s next earnings release on July 29, 2026, to see whether its aggressive AI spending is finally paying off — or if more cost-cutting could still be ahead.Related: How many employees does Apple have? A deeper look at the tech giant’s workforce

Millions of borrowers who had managed their payments for years have slipped into default since late 2025, and the federal government is preparing to resume seizing wages, tax refunds, and Social Security benefits to collect debts after a pause the Education Department announced in January 2026.Federal ReserveBank of New York data show that roughly 3.6 million borrowers entered default over two recent quarters. Most new defaulters are nearly 39 years old, and roughly 30% were current on their loans before the pandemic pause, while nearly half had no payment due at the time. The largest at-risk group, meanwhile, has not faced a payment bill in nearly two years. About 7.5 million people enrolled in the now-defunct SAVE repayment plan are receiving notices in July 2026 directing them to choose a new repayment option within 90 days.Many recent student loan defaulters were current before federal pauseThe Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report captured the crisis in two consecutive quarters. About one million borrowers defaulted in the fourth quarter of 2025, and another 2.6 million followed during the first quarter of 2026, the bank’s researchers confirmed.The share of balances at least 90 days past due climbed to 10.3% in the first quarter of 2026. That figure was 9.6% just one quarter earlier, the New York Fed reported, approaching levels not seen since before the pandemic suppressed delinquency rates.More Fed:Warsh’s first Fed meeting resets interest rate-cut betsHot May CPI sticks a pin in Fed rate-cut betsGoldman Sachs sends strong message on next Fed rate cutWhat sets this cycle apart is who is defaulting, and nearly 30% of recent defaulters were current on their loans before the pause. Close to half had not yet taken out loans or owed no payment due to grace periods or income-driven plans, the New York Fed found.Only about 4% of borrowers in the current wave were already in default before the pandemic, the researchers noted. That breakdown reveals a new group struggling to restart payments, rather than a carryover of chronic nonpayment from earlier years.How the SAVE plan collapsed and expired protections fueled the slideFederal student loan payments resumed in October 2023 after a pause that lasted more than three years. The Department of Education then offered a 12-month grace period that shielded missed payments from credit bureaus, but that buffer ended on Sept. 30, 2024.The SAVE plan, introduced by the Biden administration in 2023 as the most affordable federal option, was blocked by courts in 2024. A settlement between the Trump administration and Missouri ended the program permanently on March 10, 2026, and about 7.5 million borrowers spent nearly two years in forbearance while the legal fight played out.

The SAVE plan ended, payment protections expired, and millions of student loan borrowers now face growing financial pressure and credit risks.miniseries/Getty Images

Default triggers penalties that compound for years across borrowers’ financesA federal student loan enters default after 270 days of missed payments, according to NPR. Once that line is crossed, the government can garnish up to 15% of a borrower’s disposable income and seize tax refunds and Social Security payments.Credit scores for recently defaulted borrowers fell an average of 91 points, from 567 to 476, the New York Fed found. That drop puts most borrowers below the threshold required for a mortgage or auto loan, and the default notation remains on a credit report for seven years.Department of Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent warned that skipping federal student loan payments is no longer tolerated, Investopedia reported.Not paying your loans is no longer an option.”Default is always more expensive, whether it be monthly or whether it be in the long term,” The Institute of Student Loan Advice (TISLA) President Betsy Mayotte told PublicSource in January 2026.Jay Hurt, former CFO at the Office of Federal Student Aid, also explained to NPR that the default wave has broader consequences for higher education institutions, regional economies, and the national economy overall.New student loan repayment plans arrive as borrowers seek path forwardTwo new federal repayment plans launched on July 1, giving borrowers additional options as the SAVE transition unfolds. The income-driven Repayment Assistance Plan sets payments between 1% and 10% of earnings, with a $10 monthly floor, while the Tiered Standard Plan assigns fixed payments over 10 to 25 years based on total balance.”Income-driven repayment is proven to be the best solution to get people out of trouble,” Hurt told NPR. Defaulted borrowers have two main paths back to good standing: loan rehabilitation, requiring nine on-time payments within 10 months, or a Direct Consolidation Loan, which typically takes four to six weeks, according to the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance project. With the Treasury Department preparing to resume wage garnishments on defaulted borrowers once the current collections pause ends, Mayotte and other student loan advisors have urged borrowers to check their loan status through their servicer or StudentAid.gov before the next round of notices goes out.Related: Student loan borrowers are making one decisive bet

Back-to-school shopping isn’t just about filling a backpack anymore. Parents want affordable basics. But they also want clothes and accessories their kids will actually be excited to wear.In 2025, families with students in elementary through high school were aiming to spend an average of $858.07 on clothing, shoes, school supplies, and electronics, according to the National Retail Federation.What this means is that even parents on a budget are willing to stretch financially if it means getting their hands on stylish trends.That’s the opportunity Target is chasing this year.Target recently unveiled its 2026 back-to-school and back-to-college assortment with a heavy emphasis on two things — style and newness. That’s a smart combination.Style matters almost as much as priceIn today’s economy, parents are watching every dollar.Deloitte’s 2025 Back-to-School Survey found that parents approached shopping last year with a healthy dose of restraint. Given that inflation is even more elevated this year than it was the same time last year, it’s fair to assume that parents will be spending cautiously in the coming weeks. Related: Costco reveals why Kirkland keeps beating name brandsKnowing that, Target is aiming to strike the balance between fashion-forward and price-conscious. The company is rolling out thousands of new products across apparel, school supplies, dorm décor, and accessories while leaning into trend-driven brands and exclusive collections designed to make shopping feel a little more fun. At the same time, it’s keeping prices low on many essentials, with school supplies starting at less than $1 and thousands of items priced under $20.And the fact that Target is on the ball could help its bottom line tremendously.Parents are shopping earlier this year as higher food and gas prices continue to squeeze household budgets, says Reuters. Rather than wait until August, many families are hunting for deals throughout the summer in an effort to spread expenses across multiple paychecks. Given that the typical family is expected to spend $922 on back-to-school shopping this year, according to PwC, that’s important.

Target is keeping prices low on many essentials, with school supplies starting at less than $1 and thousands of items priced under $20.Shutterstock

It’s a smart play for TargetTarget’s latest push isn’t just about selling school supplies. It’s about giving shoppers another reason to ditch rivals like Walmart and Amazon during one of retail’s biggest shopping seasons.Back-to-school is second only to the holidays for many retailers, making it a critical opportunity to bring families into stores and onto their websites. More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryCostco makes major investment in online shopping for membersOnce shoppers are browsing for school supplies, they’re also likely to pick up groceries, home goods, beauty products, and other everyday purchases. That’s why Target’s strategy makes so much sense.In an environment where consumers are scrutinizing every purchase, the retailer isn’t competing on price alone. It’s trying to convince parents they can save money and buy products their kids will be excited to use.Target’s back-to-school push is also consistent with the pledge it made during its most recent earnings call to focus on fresh, exciting inventory while being mindful of cost.”Where we’re investing in product newness, we’re investing in elevating the guest experience,” CEO Michael Fiddelke said during the call.”You can expect us to keep the foot on the gas to make sure we’re always bringing the freshest and latest assortment,” he added.If Target pulls off a successful back-to-school season, it could boost the company’s bottom line. It could also strengthen customer loyalty heading into the all-important holiday shopping season.Maurie Backman owns shares of Target.Related: Target makes its smartest $1 billion investment yet

Tesla (TSLA) has introduced the stretched Model Y L electric SUV in the U.S., effectively expanding its most successful EV into another segment.It can cost billions to develop an all-new car from scratch. Rather than go that route, Tesla has stretched the Model Y platform to target the popular family-oriented segment of the market, while leveraging existing manufacturing and engineering systems. The new EV also fills the gap left by the discontinued Model X.EV demand has become less predictable, and profitability is under pressure. Tesla’s decision to capitalize on a best-selling nameplate in the lucrative U.S. market may be one of the automaker’s smartest strategic moves.Tesla builds on Model Y success storyThe Tesla Model Y has become the driving force behind the carmaker’s business, consistently ranking as its top-selling vehicle in America and globally.The new Model Y L is expected to build on this tremendous success, Autoblog notes. Outwardly similar to the normal Model Y, the new derivative is approximately seven inches longer.The extended body length and wheelbase primarily benefit third-row passengers, who now have much more space than in the standard model, which is available with a cramped third row. Tesla has also added amenities inside the Model Y L, and cargo space has increased.More Tesla:Tesla’s $1.4 trillion valuation rests on what happens next in one cityTesla is doing in China what it couldn’t do in the U.S.Tesla’s blowout quarter comes with a warning signThe new SUV starts at $61,990 in the U.S. for the Launch Series, over $20,000 more than the smaller Model Y but significantly less than the recently discontinued Model X, which was previously Tesla’s flagship SUV.Sales of the Model Y L have been strong in China, despite tough competition from BYD, reports Reuters. This validates Tesla’s decision to introduce the model in the U.S., given that market’s appetite for family-friendly three-row crossovers. The strategy has allowed Tesla to expand its U.S. range with a proven nameplate, rather than invest billions in an all-new vehicle.

Tesla has stretched the Model Y platform to target the popular family-oriented segment of the market.Tesla

Why Tesla’s move could be profitableBy developing a larger vehicle from an existing platform, Tesla can lower development costs and reduce manufacturing complexity. The higher price point should improve margins, and more expensive derivatives are expected to arrive at a later stage.Related: BYD’s Tesla win comes with a hidden warningThe Model Y has been the best-selling EV in the U.S. for several years, with 357,528 units sold in 2025. The Model 3 sedan was a distant second, recording 192,440 sales, according to a Cox Automotive EV report.Between these numbers and Tesla’s record Q2 2026, the signs point to the Model Y L being a significant success in the United States.What it means for Tesla’s futureTesla is optimizing its lineup rather than expanding it with all-new products. Its automotive growth strategy could revolve around more variations of existing models, rather than all-new products that are costly to develop.The minimal resources deployed to develop and build the Model Y also allow Tesla to focus on other key aspects of its business beyond the automotive sector. Alongside its autonomous driving technology, the company is also focused on its AI, energy storage, and robotics divisions.The success of Tesla’s auto business is key to supporting other projects, which is why it needs the Model Y L to succeed.The company’s strong Q2 deliveries didn’t satisfy investors, with stocks falling by 8%, reports Forbes. Wall Street wants to see strong profits, not only strong sales, which is why a higher-margin vehicle like the Model Y L becomes increasingly valuable.If the Model Y L’s strong performance in China is repeated in the U.S., Tesla will have shown that building upon its current lineup can be more profitable than launching all-new models. In a challenging EV market, that could be a major competitive advantage.Related: Elon Musk sends wakeup call on runaway AI spending

Over the July 4, 2026, weekend, I covered Jim Cramer’s buy call on AST SpaceMobile. He was clear that it wasn’t something to flip fast. He called it a great speculative stock with a two-year money-making window. Monday morning, July 7, Cramer was back with another aerospace name, and this one is significantly closer to Earth. Cramer posted his recommendation on X (formerly Twitter).With Boeing and GE Aerospace taking off, it might be worth it to buy some HONA, which reversed after a very good run. All three are pure play aero, but HONA has the most upside imo.Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) only began trading as an independent company on June 29, 2026, after completing its spinoff from the Honeywell conglomerate. The stock closed July 6 at $237.70, down 3.82% on the session, but was trading slightly higher in premarket following Cramer’s post, according to Yahoo Finance.Cramer’s logic is worth unpacking. A freshly independent aerospace business with record backlogs, a pure-play institutional story, and meaningful upside potential before the market has fully priced in the standalone thesis.Also Read: History of Honeywell: Company timeline, milestones & factsWhy Cramer sees the most upside in Honeywell of the three aerospace namesThe comparison between Boeing (BA) and GE Aerospace (GE) that Cramer makes is deliberate. Both have been bullish in 2026, driven by the same commercial aviation recovery and defense spending cycle that benefits Honeywell Aerospace. He argues that HONA, being newly public and not yet fully discovered by institutional investors who previously held it only as part of the Honeywell conglomerate, carries the most re-rating potential.As a spinoff, HONA is still in the early stages of building a standalone investor base. Conglomerate holdout sellers, who received shares as part of the separation and do not want aerospace-only exposure, create mechanical selling pressure in the weeks after a spinoff. More Jim Cramer:Jim Cramer surprises investors with his favorite stock pickJim Cramer says it’s time to buy one surging space stockJim Cramer makes bold buy call on one booming energy stockThat technical dynamic often depresses freshly spun shares below fundamental value temporarily. Cramer appears to be reading the recent pullback in Honeywell Aerospace as exactly that kind of post-spinoff dip.CEO Jim Currier framed the independence thesis clearly at the company’s investor day. “We have a purpose-built management team just solely focused on one strategy, one mission as opposed to disparate missions of a conglomerate,” Currier told CNBC. “The greatest growth for us is occurring in the commercial transport market and in defense and space.”What Honeywell Aerospace actually is — $78 billion in market value and record backlogsBefore the spinoff, the aerospace division was consistently the primary growth driver inside the Honeywell conglomerate, delivering margin expansion and strong order flow year after year. Honeywell Aerospace generated as much as $15 billion in annual revenue in 2024, from a balanced mix of commercial and military defense contracts, according to company disclosuresThe business makes aircraft engines, avionics, auxiliary power units, and a range of aviation systems. In a recent CNBC report, Currier noted that HONA has “record” backlog orders from both Airbus and Boeing. That positions HONA directly inside the two most important commercial aircraft production ramps in the world right now.Related: Jim Cramer gets Micron CEO to reveal what’s next for AI chipsThe parent Honeywell reported a backlog approaching $38 billion at the start of 2026, with orders up 7% year over year, according to the Q1 2026 earnings release. That foundation transferred to the standalone aerospace entity.The standalone 2026 projections, per CNBC reporting, call for adjusted EBITDA of $4.65 billion to $4.75 billion, with free cash flow of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in the second half of 2026 alone. Brokerages are forecasting adjusted 2026 EPS of $8.34, according to the same reporting. By 2030, Honeywell Aerospace is targeting annual earnings of at least $6.5 billion and free cash flow of at least $4 billion.

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) only began trading as an independent company on June 29, 2026, after completing its spinoff from the Honeywell conglomerate.LightRocket via Getty Images

The long-term targets and why the Honeywell standalone story matters for youCramer’s “most upside” call rests on a specific dynamic that spinoff investors understand well. When a division gets separated from a conglomerate, the market often takes time to assign it a multiple appropriate for a pure-play business rather than the blended discount it received within a diversified parent.Honeywell Aerospace is targeting 6% to 8% organic annual sales growth through 2030 and 9% annual earnings growth over the same period, according to a report by Seeking Alpha. Related: Honeywell Aerospace makes strong debut after spinoffThat growth profile, delivered with the margins of a tier-one aerospace supplier, is the type of story that typically commands a premium multiple once institutional ownership normalizes.Here is my take on the setup. Cramer is identifying the window between the mechanical post-spinoff selling pressure and the point where the standalone story is fully priced in. At $237 with record commercial and defense backlogs, a clear growth runway to 2030, and a management team that has been liberated from conglomerate capital allocation constraints, the investment case is straightforward. Currier and his team now have nothing to hide behind and nothing to blame. The aerospace cycle is their opportunity to capture, and the standalone structure is designed precisely for that.Related: Honeywell approves aerospace spinoff to launch 2 public companies

Financial planners have spent years pushing one message to pre-retirees: wait until 70 to claim Social Security for the biggest possible monthly check.That guidance carries a price tag most retirement calculators do not show, and the total may be large enough to change your claiming strategy.Waiting eight years past the earliest eligibility age of 62 means forgoing 96 monthly benefit checks before a single delayed payment arrives at your door, according to the AARP.The trade-off between a larger check later and nearly a decade of skipped payments is more complicated than one break-even number can capture.How skipping 96 Social Security checks adds up to $144,000A person entitled to $1,500 per month in Social Security benefits at age 62 gives up $18,000 annually by choosing not to file. Over eight years, those skipped payments total $144,000 in benefits that could have been spent, invested, or used to preserve retirement accounts.That figure is significant for most household budgets, and the share of retirees who wait until 70 remains very small. About 8.4% of men and 9.3% of women who claimed Social Security in 2022 began receiving benefits between ages 70 and 74, U.S. News reported.Only 10% of non-retired Americans plan to wait until 70, the 2025 Schroders U.S. Retirement Survey noted.Delayed retirement credits growby about 8% for each year a worker waits past full retirement age, which is 67 for people born in 1960 or later, the Social Security Administration confirmed.For workers born in 1960 or later, waiting until 70 locks in a permanent 24% increase over the full retirement age (FRA) baseline, a boost that applies to every check for life; older cohorts with an FRA of 66 receive up to 32%.The break-even formula misses the true value of a dollar todayRetirement planning conversations often center on the break-even age, or the point when total benefits from delaying surpass total benefits from filing early. That crossover typically falls around age 80, AARP confirmed in its analysis of Social Security timing.That calculation has a significant blind spot, because standard break-even math treats a dollar received at age 63 as worth the same as one collected at 78. Joe Elsasser, CFP, President of Covisum, a Social Security claiming software company, argues that break-even fixation causes people to overlook how claiming timing affects their taxes, portfolio withdrawal rates, and spousal protection. By just focusing on the break-even analysis, prospective Social Security beneficiaries neglect to consider their full financial plan. That includes the impact their income will have on their taxes, as well as how their benefit income will impact the rest of their portfolio.Inflation erodes purchasing power over time, and benefits collected earlier can be invested, applied toward debt, or spent at today’s prices.Jason Fichtner, former acting deputy commissioner and chief economist at the Social Security Administration, warned that this framing steers retirees toward premature conclusions.“I continue to think a break-even analysis is the wrong framing for considering when to take Social Security retirement benefits,” Fichtner told CNBC.

Break-even analysis overlooks inflation, taxes, investment opportunities, and spousal benefits, potentially leading retirees to make suboptimal Social Security claiming decisions.Portra/Getty Images

The IRA drain that rarely enters the Social Security conversationWhen retirees delay filing, they still need income during those bridge years, and for many households, that source is a traditional individual retirement account or 401(k).The Motley Fool noted that a person withdrawing $25,000 annually from an IRA while waiting for larger Social Security checks will drain $200,000 over eight years.That money could have remained invested and continued compounding, which means the delay strategy carries an opportunity cost measured in lost portfolio growth.A tax bracket surprise that arrives after retirees turn 73Delaying Social Security produces the largest possible monthly check, but that bigger payment arrives just a few years before required minimum distributions from tax-deferred accounts begin.Those mandatory withdrawals start at age 73 for people born between 1951 and 1959 and at 75 for those born in 1960 or later, Congress.gov stated.Combining a larger Social Security benefit with mandatory IRA or 401(k) withdrawals can push retirees into a higher federal income tax bracket.More Social Security:Fidelity offers a lifeline to millions before Social Security shiftsSocial Security retirees could pocket a bigger 2027 raiseSocial Security’s funds will run out sooner than expectedUp to 85% of those benefits become taxable once combined income rises above certain thresholds, which can sharply reduce net income, The Motley Fool reported.Filing earlier allows retirees to spread income more evenly across their post-career years, potentially keeping them in a lower tax bracket. Claiming sooner avoids the concentrated income spike that can hit households when large benefits and required distributions overlap in the mid-70s.When the Social Security waiting game still pays offThese costs do not automatically make delaying the wrong decision, and financial experts caution against treating the claiming strategy as a universal formula. Fichtner and other retirement researchers, as reported by CNBC, have argued that retirees with a family history of longevity, strong health, and enough liquid savings to cover bridge years without IRA withdrawals may still gain from waiting.Spousal planning adds another dimension, because the higher earner’s benefit determines the survivor payment for the remaining spouse. Waiting until 70 locks in the maximum survivor protection, which can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over a surviving partner’s lifetime, according to the SSA.The right filing age depends on health, savings balance, household tax picture, and expected retirement spending, the SSA noted.Fichtner and other researchers recommend running individual claiming scenarios against household income, tax, and health assumptions rather than relying on a single break-even figure, CNBC reported.Related: Social Security 2027 COLA data collection is happening right now

During my childhood in the 1980s, my family sometimes ate out at a cafeteria-style steak chain that has almost entirely disappeared. Before that chain collapsed down to a single restaurant, I got a chance to eat there in the 2000s. It was basically what I remembered, and while I could see what young me liked about it, adult me wasn’t as impressed.When it comes to fast food, however, nostalgia works, even when something isn’t as good as you remember it.When Burger King brings back its classic Italian sandwich, for example, it doesn’t matter that it’s wafer thin, includes more breading than chicken, and features some highly questionable sauce and cheese. It’s a comforting blast from the past that’s enjoyable a few times a decade, even if I can easily get a better chicken parmesan sandwich at pretty much any pizza place.Burger King, Pizza Hut, Friendly’s, and many of the chains from my youth still exist, and many of their classic menu items remain.But if you grew up with Red Barn, a burger chain that had around 400 locations across 19 states, plus Canada and Australia, your nostalgic craving will go unfulfilled. Not only did the chain close all its locations, but the restaurant group that kept its legacy (or at least its recipes) alive has also shut down.Red Barn was an innovatorRed Barn had menu answers for its biggest rivals’ signature sandwiches, but it was actually a true innovator in the space.”The popular fast-food chain was extremely aggressive with menu development, such as ‘The Big Barney,’ their equivalent to McDonald’s Big Mac. What isn’t really commonly known, or perhaps more accurately said, is that the Big Barney actually preceded the Big Mac into satisfied stomachs by a couple of years,” according to Cleveland Vintage.Other Red Barn burger options included the “Barnbuster,” which was similar to a Whopper or Quarter Pounder.Red Barn, the nostalgia site reported, also had a signature store design.”The Red Barn’s look and feel was also very distinctive and nostalgic. The bright red barn exteriors were complemented by clean, large window front designs and somewhat limited interior seating,” it shared.Restaurants need to change with the timesRed Barn wasn’t doomed because it lacked good food or memorable branding. It struggled because, unlike McDonald’s, it stopped evolving as the fast-food business changed.McDonald’s constantly evaluates its brand and thinks about how to evolve, CEO Christopher Kempczinski noted during the chain’s first-quarter earnings call.”So we’re naturally heading into right now that remodel cycle. And we’re taking the opportunity as we approach that to also think about, are there any other things that we need to go do around this business to set it up for the future,” he said. More Restaurants:105-year-old burger chain closes an 87-year-old restaurant49-year-old beloved steakhouse chain closes 41 locations32-year-old high-end restaurant chain closes all locationsIt’s a fluid situation that calls for constant investment and change.”Certainly, one of the things that we’ve seen over the last several years is just the growth of digital, the growth of delivery. That means that the kind of customer flows or customer journey in our restaurant looks a little bit different, how might we adjust that, et cetera. So we are certainly working with franchisees to think about what that restaurant in the future needs to look like,” he added.Red Barn was an early innovator in fast food.”Red Barn’s menu featured hamburgers, chicken and fish, touted by the mascots Hamburger Hungry, Fried Chicken Hungry and Big Fish Hungry. It was one of the first fast-food chains to install a salad bar,” according to Kiplinger. That innovation, however, stalled out.”Under Red Barn’s last set of owners, an investment group, Red Barn restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada began to close when leases expired around 1988,” the news site reported.Red Barn’s decline wasn’t driven solely by a lack of consumer recognition. Ownership changes and reduced investment left it unable to keep pace with larger rivals.

Chains have had to adapt to more delivery and on-the-go dining.Shutterstock

Red Barn actually died twicePast success can’t sustain restaurant brands as consumer needs change.Darren Tristano, president of the restaurant industry tracking firm Technomic, told CBS News that younger people in particular are on the go and want their food to be, too.“They’re looking for convenience, quality, portability and healthfulness,” Tristano said.Red Barn struggled to adapt, but its menu lived on well after its original demise. “The company filed for bankruptcy in 1986, signaling the end of a fun-filled era in American fast food. Some former locations temporarily operated as The Farm and served the original menu, but the last known one closed in 2020,” according to Tasting Table.Red Barn has a devoted fan baseWhile both Red Barn and its unofficial successor, The Farm, have closed, the original chain still has a devoted social media following. George Elliott Noble Jr, a former Red Barn worker, posted his memories on the Facebook fan page for the brand. “I recently had a Whopper at Burger King. The sloppily assembled sandwich had two thin tomato slices, about the size of a half-dollar. I thought to myself, I’d never send out a Barn Buster like that,” he wrote.Thirty-one people responded to his comment, including many other former employees.”I can remember making the breakfast sandwiches at 6 a.m. when the drivers would come in going to school and coming back in the afternoon to make lunch and dinner for. Having a grill full of burgers and two fryers going on at the same time, full of chicken,” posted Glen Harry.The active page contains images, requests for recipes, and significant reminiscing from people who continue to miss Red Barn.Related: Convenience store giant closing multiple chains