Stock Indexes Hit Fresh Records; Fed Meeting Kicks Off; Amazon Announces Mass Layoffs

AI’s Rapid Rise Leaves Young Workers Struggling to Adapt in Today’s Workplace

39 minutes ago

As artificial intelligence reshapes the modern workplace, many young workers say they’re struggling to keep pace—and subsequently having a hard time finding jobs.

Recently, the labor market has been slow to add workers, especially recent college graduates. As of June 2025, 4.8% of recent college graduates were unemployed, compared to 4% of all workers, according to the latest report from the New York Federal Reserve.

Many economists say tariffs are partly to blame, but a significant factor, which has been brewing for several years, is the growing use of artificial intelligence in the workforce. These tools have increasingly affected early-career white-collar workers such as software developers and accountants.

As technology and AI advance in offices, seven out of 10 workers feel they are unprepared for today’s workforce, according to a recent survey by Instructure, the makers of Canvas, an online education management system. For young workers, the situation is even worse, with 87% of Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, reporting they feel unprepared.

Read the full article here.

–Elizabeth Guevara

The Price of Gold Continues Sliding. Investors Should Monitor These Critical Levels

1 hr 7 min ago

Gold’s (XAUUSD) retreat from its recent record high accelerated on Tuesday, with profit-taking weighing on the precious metal after strong gains in recent months.

The spot price of gold slipped below the $3,900/oz level this morning as signs of a potential breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks ahead of a meeting later this week between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping eased demand for the safe-haven asset. Gold’s recent decline has coincided with a stock market rally that continues lifting major indexes to record highs.

The price of gold, recently at around $3,910, has fallen 11% from the record high set early last week, though is still about 50% higher year-to-date, boosted by economic uncertainties, geopolitical tensions, and purchases by central banks around the world.

After hitting its all-time high on Oct. 20, gold has undergone a retracement, a move that coincides with the relative strength index recently dropping below its neutral threshold, signaling waning bullish momentum and raising the possibility of a deeper short-term pullback.

In early trading Tuesday, the precious metal fell below the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level when applying a grid from the August low to October high.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

UPS Stock Pops on Strong Q3 Results

2 hr 2 min ago

United Parcel Service’s turnaround plan seems to be working.

UPS (UPS) shares soared more than 12% before the bell after the shipping giant reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The Atlanta-based firm reported adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share on revenue that fell 3.7% year-over-year to $21.42 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected adjusted EPS of $1.31 and revenue to fall further to $20.89 billion.

“We launched our Efficiency Reimagined initiatives to undertake the end-to-end process redesign effort which will align our organizational processes to the network reconfiguration,” UPS said. “We have reduced our operational workforce by approximately 34,000 positions and closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of 2025 as a component of this initiative.” 

UPS, which last quarter did not provide a revenue or profit forecast “given the current macro-economic uncertainty,” guided for $24 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, a tick above Visible Alpha consensus. 

Shares of UPS entered Tuesday down nearly 30% this year.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Rises on Profit Beat, Lifted Outlook

2 hr 55 min ago

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock was nearly 4% in premarket trading after the healthcare giant reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit and lifted its full-year earnings outlook.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $2.92 per share, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had projected $2.74 per share. Revenue of $113.16 billion was essentially in line with expectations.

“We remain focused on strengthening performance and positioning for durable and accelerating growth in 2026 and beyond, and our results this quarter reflect solid execution toward that goal,” CEO Stephen Hemsley said.

UnitedHealth Group raised its 2025 EPS outlook to at least $14.90 per share and adjusted EPS to at least $16.25 per share, up from at least $14.65 per share and at least $16.00 per share, respectively.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group entered Tuesday down about 28% this year.

Stock Futures Little Changed After Indexes Set Fresh Records

3 hr 44 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were fractionally lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures ticked 0.1% higher.