Intel’s revenue expectations were roughly $1 billion less than what analysts were expecting.
SUCCESS
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The ’24-Hour Rule’ That Keeps Retirees From Blowing Their Savings on Impulse Buys
Impulse buying — whether it’s on a new pair of shoes, ticket to a show or flight — can take a significant chunk out of your savings. But if you’ve ever been tempted by “limited-time” deals or special discounts, you’re not alone.
Most shoppers (89%) have made some sort of impulse buy, with more than half (54%) spending more than $100 on a whim, according to data from Capital One Shopping. In 2024, the average shopper made impulse buys adding up to $282 each month.
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Falling into this trap regularly can be detrimental for consumers at any age. But those in retirement, who are likely living off savings and income like Social Security instead of a regular paycheck while potentially spending on new hobbies and travel, should be especially careful of developing this habit.
What is the 24-hour rule?
The 24-hour rule initiates guardrails on impulse spending. It requires you to wait a full day before buying non-essential items. The pause causes you to distance yourself from the fear of missing out and urgency that comes with “limited-time” deals and sales.
You can adjust this rule to fit your specific needs. For instance, if you’re traveling and want to pick up a souvenir, you likely don’t have the time to stick to the 24-hour rule. But if you’ve suddenly decided you need to purchase a new sofa or stereo system, sleep on it and decide in the morning whether you still want to make the purchase. That way, you can still enjoy some shopping while protecting your long-term financial security.
How impulse spending can drain retirement savings
Many retirees are living on a fixed income, and they don’t have the flexibility to work extra hours or pick up a side hustle to make ends meet. That can trigger more investment portfolio withdrawals than you’d like if you don’t have what you need to cover your expenses and you’ve spent too much of your savings.
An impulse purchase may seem small, but those home gadgets, hobby gear, gifts, travel add-ons and wellness products — for instance — accumulate over time. Small treats can turn into monthly habits that can put unnecessary stress on your retirement. Even if you spend $200 per month on impulse spending, that will add up to $2,400 per year. That’s money that could be growing in your retirement account.
How retirees can use the rule without feeling deprived
While the 24-hour rule is designed to protect your finances, you don’t want to feel too restricted. It makes sense that you’d want to spend some of the money you spent so long earning and saving.
But moderation is key, as is determining what works for you. For example, you can establish a mandatory waiting period for all purchases that hit a specific threshold, such as $50 or $100. You can also opt to keep a wish list instead of adding items to your cart. Upon reviewing the wishlist a few days later, you may end up removing some items. You can also create a “fun money” category in your monthly budget so you have room to make non-essential purchases comfortably.
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Despite higher candy prices, Halloween will still be widely celebrated with resourceful shoppers searching out deals or swapping for healthier alternative treats.
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Morgan Stanley cuts Seagate stock price target but sees 72% upside
As mentioned in my previous Seagate BofA coverage, I spend a good part of my day on my computer. And between work documents, trading journals, downloaded reports, photos, and backups, I’m constantly adding new files.
I hardly notice how much space they’re taking up, but I know they’re slowly eating into my storage.
While looking into Seagate today, I can’t help but wonder how much more space I’ll need a few years from now. And if I’m using this storage on my own, imagine what businesses and AI data centers need.
Research firm TrendForce said AI is generating so much data that storage infrastructure is struggling to keep up. Demand for nearline hard drives, which are widely used in data centers, has surged beyond what manufacturers can produce.
Western Digital is a Seagate competitor and has validated the massive demand. During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Irving Tan said Western Digital had already sold out its hard drive capacity for 2026, according to a transcript published by Investing.com.
The shortage is also affecting everyday buyers, with external drive deliveries potentially taking six to 10 weeks longer. According to TrendForce, Western Digital raised hard drive prices, citing unprecedented demand.
Seagate (STX) is one of the companies caught in the middle of this growing storage crunch. In its Oct. 27 fiscal first-quarter 2027 results, it reported $4.2 billion in revenue, non-GAAP EPS of $7.68, and a record $1.5 billion in free cash flow.
CEO Dave Mosley said long-term customer visibility points to a “multi-year growth phase.” However, Seagate shipped less storage than Wall Street expected.
Also Read: BofA sees 80% upside for Seagate stock, but Micron shares look cheaper
Seagate’s reset quarter: fewer exabytes, higher prices
In a note shared with me at TheStreet, Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $1,148 from $1,200. It kept an Overweight rating and a Top Pick designation. The bank sees about 72% upside from the $667.85 close on Oct. 27. BofA sees 80% upside, TheStreet reported.
Here is the miss. Nearline exabytes, the measure of how much data Seagate’s data center drives hold, hit a record 198 but grew just 2% from the prior quarter, short of Morgan Stanley’s 6%.
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December-quarter EPS guidance came in below the $9.50 to $10 some big investors hoped for, though 6% above consensus. Morgan Stanley lowered its fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings-per-share estimates to $40.84 and $76.64, respectively.
The shares have still returned 154.27% year to date and 214.84% over one year, according to Yahoo Finance. They trade at 8.3 times Morgan Stanley’s 2028 EPS, near the low end of their historical valuation range.
Seagate shipments slipped while prices jumped
Seagate traded a few bits for better pricing. Price per terabyte rose 16% from the prior quarter because demand outran supply. Management says customers are prioritizing storage access over price, with no signs of demand destruction.
Morgan Stanley says technology, yield, and data center power challenges did not hold shipments back. A shift toward smaller enterprise drives and staging new products for customer testing explain much of it.
Related: Seagate’s booming business comes with an unexpected twist
The new high-capacity storage products use HAMR, or heat-assisted magnetic recording, which lets drives hold more data on the same disks. Seagate’s Mozaic 4 line offers 40-terabyte drives, and more cloud and enterprise customers are expected to qualify them in the coming months.
Management expects a meaningful jump in exabytes in December, the key proof point, though it gave no number.
Customers are locking in supply. Most of Seagate’s data center exabytes are allocated through 2028, and customers are signing long-term agreements through 2030.
Rising costs were another disappointment. Cost per terabyte increased 3% from the previous quarter as memory and other externally sourced components became more expensive.
That’s a sharp reversal from a year earlier, when costs were falling by roughly 15%. Pricing offset it, with non-GAAP gross margin at 57.8%, up 5 points, and management guiding to further gains through fiscal 2027.
Management also dismissed headlines that Seagate and Toshiba were competing for TDK’s hard drive business, which Bloomberg reported Oct. 6 and both companies pushed back on.
Seagate says even a doubling of Toshiba’s output would win it only a few points of share. It plans about 25% annual exabyte growth on largely flat unit production, which Morgan Stanley reads as supply discipline.
Seagate’s cost per terabyte increased 3% from the previous quarter as memory and other externally sourced components became more expensive.NurPhoto / Getty Images
Morgan Stanley sees $1,148 as demand outruns supply
Cash is the cushion. Seagate retired $1.2 billion of debt, repurchased $400 million of shares, and raised its dividend about 3% to $0.76.
Buybacks should step up in the March 2027 quarter, and Morgan Stanley says fewer shares should lift EPS. About $4.4 billion remains authorized.
The $1,148 target is 15 times 2028 EPS of $76.64, against the $59.38 Wall Street consensus. The bank’s verdict is that the story has bent in the short term but is not broken.
For investors, December shipments will show whether Seagate can grow volume without giving up price.
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Walmart’s $200 2-in-1 tablet and keyboard performs ‘just like a computer,’ and it’s 50% off
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
When cozied up on the couch at the end of athe long day, the tablet is my go-to electronic. My eyes are tired, and squinting at the small smartphone screen to browse social media or play mobile games isn’t an option because it fatigues them further. Even smaller tablets are around triple the size of an iPhone, providing a better viewing experience for surfing the web or streaming Netflix. The only area I find the tablet lacking is the cumbersome typing, but this issue is easily resolved by pairing the device with a wireless keyboard. In fact, adding a Bluetooth keyboard to your tablet essentially transforms it into a mini computer to maximize your productivity.
Getting a tablet bundle with all the accessories will often be a better value compared to buying them individually. That’s the case with the Domaton 10-Inch Android 16 Tablet and Keyboard, which is half off and available for just $100 with a Flash deal.
Domaton 10-Inch Android 16 Tablet and Keyboard, $100 (was $200) at Walmart
Courtesy of Walmart
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Why do shoppers love it?
The Domaton Android 16 tablet comes with every accessory needed to streamline your setup, including a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus pen, and a protective case. With access to the Google Play Store, you can download productivity software like Google Docs and Sheets, giving you the option to perform basic computing tasks. You can also install all the entertainment apps you know and love, like TikTok, WhatsApp, or ChatGPT. Whatever you download, you’ll get a crisp and clear view thanks to the high-definition 10.1-inch touchscreen display. One shopper raved, “I have been using this tablet daily for 8 hours per day with zero complaints! I really didn’t expect it to run as smoothly and as quickly as it does.”
Related: Amazon is selling an AI-enabled 2-in-1 laptop and tablet for $75
Running on the easy-to-use Android 16 operating system, this tablet is user-friendly and runs smoothly. It’s equipped with 20 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and 128 GB of ROM to keep up with multitasking without lag. If you want to download endless videos and memes, the tablet’s storage is expandable by up to 1 terabyte. You can even take video calls on the device or snap photos with an 8-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel rear camera. It’s also constructed with a long-lasting battery, which can play movies up to 8 hours on a single charge.
Details to know
Screen size: 10.1 inches.
Operating system: Android 16.
Memory and storage: 20 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage space.
With the holidays soon arriving, this tablet would be a thoughtful gift for a special someone in your life. “I bought it for Christmas for my husband — he loves it,” wrote one shopper. They added, “This tablet is just like having a computer! It has a keyboard and everything.”
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Upgrade your entertainment and computing experience with the Domaton 10-Inch Android 16 Tablet and Keyboard. Don’t miss your chance to score it at half off while it’s on sale for only $100.
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The No. 1 Rule for How Much Cash You Should Keep in Retirement
Cash is a valuable asset for retirees since it offers certainty at a time when you likely need to start tapping your savings, and you can earn interest on it with a high-yield savings account and other cash equivalents.
But if you keep too much cash, you risk falling behind inflation and missing out on potentially high returns in the stock market. That’s why many financial advisors recommend keeping one to two years of cash on hand in retirement, plus some money in bonds, certificates of deposit (CDs) and other low-risk investments.
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Why too much cash is risky
Your cash typically doesn’t earn high interest in a traditional savings account, and usually doesn’t earn anything in a checking account. A high-yield savings account can help, but real returns after accounting for inflation and taxes are much lower than the advertised rate. That’s why it’s essential to keep your money working for you.
While retirees likely aren’t looking for many new investing opportunities, they should still keep ample cash to cover their needs. This buffer can help prepare you for emergencies, and allow you to be less nervous about sharp market fluctuations since the stock market’s performance does not impact your ability to cover living expenses. It’s even easier to stay invested if you are receiving Social Security, dividends and other income sources that make the need to sell assets less likely.
How much cash to keep
Many financial advisors recommend retirees keep at least enough money to cover a year of essential expenses, but that amount will look different for each person. Some retirees have enough cash to cover up to three years of expenses in liquid accounts. If you are more risk averse or want to travel a lot in retirement, you may want to save more. If you have a pension or other forms of income, you may not need to save as much.
Experts at T. Rowe Price recommend holding enough cash to cover one to two years of living expenses beyond predictable Social Security and pension income in addition to what you keep to cover daily needs such as gas and groceries.
What to do with the rest of your money
Having enough cash to cover up to 12 months of living expenses is a good start, but that doesn’t mean you should put all your remaining money into the stock market. A tiered bucket approach can ensure your cash reserves grow at a healthy pace while giving your stock portfolio more time to rally.
Short-term cash constitutes the funds that can cover up to one year of expenses, but there are medium-term assets like bonds that provide cash flow you can turn to. You can pick maturity dates that range from one to three years, so you are never locked out of those funds for too long. Money for long-term goals can still be invested in stocks, depending on your strategy.
While stocks are a popular choice, it may also make sense to invest in inflation hedges like gold and other commodities that can hold steady or gain value when stocks go down. Many experts suggest allocating 5% to 10% of your portfolio to gold.
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