XLU Oct 2025 86.000 call
- Yahoo Finance Video
Top tips for positioning your portfolio, paying taxes: Wealth!
On today's episode of Wealth!, Host Alexandra Canal breaks down key personal finance tips, from balancing your portfolio to preparing to file your taxes. Matt Powers, Powers Advisory Group managing partner, discusses how to best position your portfolio in a rate-easing cycle and an election year. In a lower interest rate environment, Powers focuses on traditional defensive sectors like utilities (XLU), consumer staples XLP (XLP), and financials XLF (XLF), noting that “we still expect some short-term volatility as we enter October, which is historically the most volatile month of the year in election years.” As mortgage rates hit a two-year low, Yahoo Finance's Dani Romero breaks down what it means for potential homebuyers as they navigate the housing market. Meanwhile, Danielle Hale, Realtor.com's chief economist, breaks down the pros and cons between buying now and waiting. "Now we're at that seasonal slowdown sweet spot for buyers. So there's less competition which can make it easier to snag a deal on a home. At the same time, you might see lower rates if you wait into the spring. But you might have to offset those lower rates with more competition and better prices. You know, in essence, I don't think buyers can go wrong either way," she tells Yahoo Finance. In August, LegalShield's Consumer Stress Legal Index ticked up to its highest level since November 2020. In presidential battleground states, stress rose even more, and historically, that elevated battleground stress during October and November has resulted in a Republican White House win. LegalShield SVP of Consumer Analytics Matt Layton explains, "Our index is really made up of three different subindices: The bankruptcy index, foreclosure index, and a consumer finance index. Each of those three individuals are also increasing over the last several months. But when we speak to our lawyers, we hear issues like job security, layoffs — folks are concerned about their jobs. They don't have enough money at the end of the month to pay their bills." If you received a tax extension in April, the due date is October 15 — just over two weeks away. Tom O’Saben, National Association of Tax Professionals director of tax content, notes that it is crucial to pay your taxes on time to avoid any penalties, which could be as much as 5% per month. In addition, failure to pay the penalty could end up being as much as 25% of the tax itself. He warns that the statute of limitations for the IRS to audit a return is unlimited for returns that aren't filed, compared to the normal three-year window. If you don't have the ability to pay your taxes in full, O’Saben explains that the IRS offers both short-term and long-term payment plans. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
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Morgan Stanley turns neutral on defensive sectors
Morgan Stanley is out with a new call recommending investors lock in their gains on defensive stocks (XLV, XLU) as they tend to underperform in the month following the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut. Catalysts Hosts Seana Smith and Madison Mills report more on the call and break down how the upcoming labor market data could impact investors' defensive plays. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
- Yahoo Finance Video
Microsoft goes nuclear to power AI data centers: Expert
Nuclear energy has been a hot topic in investors' minds after Microsoft (MSFT) and Constellation Energy (CEG) announced an agreement to restore a dormant nuclear power plant to power the tech company’s AI and cloud data centers. Radiant Energy Group founder and managing director Mark Nelson joins Josh Lipton and Julie Hyman to explain how nuclear energy could power the artificial intelligence era. Microsoft wants to restore the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania, known for one of the largest nuclear disasters in the US when one of the plant's two reactors melted down in 1979. A nuclear engineer himself, Nelson explains that the plant’s other reactor “kept going for 40 years. The only reason it closed in 2019 is because fossil fuels were really cheap.” He says there’s a renewed interest in nuclear energy today because “we're running out of other energy sources… we're running out of power, and we're realizing that if we're going to have everybody buy electric vehicles, we have to be able to charge it from power plants that run all the time.” Nuclear power plants could help meet the energy-intensive needs of training and running AI, which has brought the utilities sector into focus. Nelson says building new nuclear plants and restoring existing ones could help. “The very best American design for a nuclear plant is being built in China over and over again for about four years or so per reactor and about $3 billion. I don't think we're going to meet China's prices for building our reactors, but we could probably do a lot better building our reactors if we do it in series with the same design, the same plant layout, and we do it over and over," the expert tells Yahoo Finance. “Fortunately, we've got designs that are licensed and ready to go today at existing nuclear plants that already serve tens of millions of customers. Aand those are the plants that are being approached by the data centers. So I think to get over this hump, we have to accept that we've got outstanding equipment ready to install. We've just forgotten how to do it and we need to do it the same way every time.” For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
