Stock Market Today: Futures Tick Higher After Indexes Tumble; AMD Shares Drop; Gold Rises Back Above $5,000

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February 04, 2026 09:38 AM EST

How to Choose the Best Repayment Plan After SAVE: A Borrower’s Guide

FROM 21 minutes ago

If you’re one of the millions of student loan borrowers currently enrolled in an embattled repayment plan, you will need to make changes to your accounts soon.

In December, the Department of Education announced it will eliminate the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan, also called SAVE. The official end date for this income-driven repayment plan, which impacts about 7.4 million borrowers, has not been announced. However, once SAVE is gone, its borrowers will need to find a new repayment plan.

Student loan borrowers on the Saving for a Valuable repayment plan will have to find a new plan soon.

Investopedia / Photo Composite by Elizabeth Guevara / Getty Images


Student loan borrowers can use the Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator to compare repayment plans. Borrowers can enter their income, family situation, and loan balance into the tool to see their monthly payments under each offered repayment plan, when they would finish payments, and how much interest they would accrue over their repayment term.

Here is an overview of the current and future repayment plan options.

Read the full article here.

Elizabeth Guevara

February 04, 2026 08:40 AM EST

The Super Bowl Isn’t for Days. The Excitement Around the Ads Is Already Here

FROM 1 hr 18 min ago

Companies are encouraging football fans to do some pregaming.

Brands are teasing Super Bowl commercials, encouraging those who can’t wait for the Seattle Seahawks to take on the New England Patriots next weekend—or for the glitzy ads and elaborate half-time show associated with the championship. The Super Bowl, one of the most-watched television events around, generates millions of dollars in ad revenue from firms looking to get in front of its audience.

Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdales are expected to appear in Super Bowl ads again this year.

Kevin Carter / Getty Images


Brands selling everything from software to snacks are trying to build buzz for their Super Bowl LX ads before they air. Real estate listing company Redfin released footage of musician Lady Gaga performing the theme song from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for its upcoming ad. Svedka vodka shared a clip of a dancer teaching choreography to a robot slated to perform in a commercial. Budweiser, a Big Game advertising fixture, published an entire 60-second ad—starring a young Clydesdale horse and baby bald eagle—ahead of Sunday’s broadcast.

Read the full article here.

Sarina Trangle

February 04, 2026 08:09 AM EST

AI Has Eliminated Entry-Level Jobs But These Graduate Careers Are Still Flourishing

FROM 1 hr 50 min ago

Recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree, but having a hard time finding a job? Going to graduate school in these fields may lead you to some better prospects.

This year, the labor market has been slow to add workers, with tariffs stifling many companies’ abilities to hire. Additionally, a significant factor contributing to the slowing labor market, particularly for recent college graduates, is the growing presence of AI in the workforce. Those factors have pushed many students to turn to graduate school instead of immediately entering the labor market.

As more undergraduate students complete their education and enter a stagnant job market, graduate school is becoming a more attractive option for many.

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However, some graduate degree programs may offer you better job prospects than others.

Of those with a graduate degree, substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors are expected to be in high demand over the next several years, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lawyers and career counselors are also projected to have plenty of jobs to choose from.

Read the full article here.

Elizabeth Guevara

February 04, 2026 07:48 AM EST

Millions of Legal Immigrants Are About to Lose Access to Government Loans for Small Businesses

FROM 2 hr 11 min ago

The Small Business Administration is cutting off lending to any business with any amount of non-citizen ownership, excluding more than 5 million business owners from federal loans.

Starting March 1, the SBA will no longer lend to businesses if any of their ownership is not a citizen, down from the 5% foreign ownership currently allowed. The move, announced Monday, is the latest step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut off legal immigrants from government funding and services. Before Trump took office again in 2025, the SBA gave out loans to businesses as long as they were at least 51% owned by citizens or lawful permanent residents. (Illegal immigrants were already excluded.)

The Small Business Administration, under the leadership of Kelly Loeffler,.

Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg / Getty Images


By removing the ability of lawful permanent residents to receive loans, the SBA is potentially affecting millions of businesses.

The SBA does not publicize how much of the $44.8 billion its two largest programs lent in fiscal 2025 went to noncitizen business owners. However, according to the Census Bureau, noncitizens make up a significant percentage of small business owners: in 2023, 5.2 million owner-operators were not citizens, or 15.9% of all non-employer businesses in the country.

Read the full article here.

Diccon Hyatt

February 04, 2026 07:23 AM EST

Texas Instruments Calls $7.5B Acquisition of Silicon Labs ‘Significant Milestone’

FROM 2 hr 36 min ago

Texas Instruments CEO Haviv Ilan believes the company’s roughly $7.5 billion acquisition of Silicon Laboratories is a “significant milestone.” Silicon Labs shareholders are rejoicing.

Silicon Labs (SLAB) stock soared 25% in premarket trading after Texas Instruments (TXN) acquired the smaller semiconductor firm for $231 per share.

“The acquisition of Silicon Labs is a significant milestone that strengthens our long-term embedded processing strategy,” Ilan said. “Silicon Labs’ leading embedded wireless connectivity portfolio enhances our technology and IP, enabling greater scale and allowing us to better serve our customers.”

Texas Instruments will pay $231 per share in cash for Silicon Laboratories.

Desiree Rios / Bloomberg via Getty Images


Texas Instruments, whose shares declined 3%, plans to fund the transaction with a combination of cash on hand and debt financing. It sees the deal closing in the first half of 2027 and expects it to be accretive to its earnings, minus transaction-related costs, in the first full year post-close.

The Financial Times had reported yesterday that Texas Instruments was in advanced talks to acquire Silicon Labs.

February 04, 2026 06:50 AM EST

100% Stocks? One Expert Makes the Case for an All-Equity Portfolio in Your Working Years

FROM 3 hr 9 min ago

Investing for retirement often means balancing growth with stability. For many investors, it makes sense to hold a portion of their portfolio in conservative assets, such as bonds, to reduce volatility and risk.

However, James Choi, a professor of finance at Yale, suggests that people should keep 100% of their portfolios in stocks for most of their working lives.

The conventional wisdom about investment risk isn’t right for everyone.

Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty Images


In a recent podcast episode of the ‘Behavioral Divide with Hal Hershfield’, Hershfield asked the economist what financial advisors could learn from academics. Choi explained that traditional financial advice is often too conservative when it comes to asset allocation.

“The reason is that a lot of the advice out there does not take into account the biggest economic asset that working people have: their working capital. In other words, the future stream of wage income and Social Security retirement benefits they have coming to them,” Choi said. “The thing to realize is that shocks to your labor income or Social Security benefits are uncorrelated with the stock market’s return.”

Read the full article here.

Trina Paul

February 04, 2026 06:23 AM EST

Stock Futures Tick Higher After Indexes Tumble

FROM 3 hr 36 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were fractionally higher.

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S&P 500 futures pointed up 0.1%.

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Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.3% higher.

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