The Daily Editor

Why are US stock market futures down today, and will Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to drop or rise again? US stock index futures slipped on April 20 after a strong rally last week. Investors reacted to rising tensions between the United States and Iran. The reopening and closure of the Strait of Hormuz changed market sentiment.

 » Read more about: Why are US stock market futures down today, and will Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to drop or rise again? Wall Street futures, US stocks to watch, analysts insights …  »

Growth investor Cathie Wood was surprisingly quiet last week, as the market raced to new highs. She lightened her stake on a pair of positions across her Ark Invest ETFs on Monday. She didn’t make any trades on Tuesday or Wednesday. She pared back on a single holding on Thursday. It wasn’t until Friday that Wood actually bought something,

 » Read more about: Cathie Wood Buys the Netflix Dip: Should You?  »

For many older Americans, Social Security benefits are the ticket to a stress-free retirement, especially if combined with personal savings or other income streams. But there are many seniors who mostly live on Social Security alone. And for people in that situation, the program’s annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, are extremely important.

 » Read more about: Social Security Raise Could Be Bigger in 2027 – But Retirees May Not Benefit  »

Quick Read

• The Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, retroactive to January 2024. This move restored $800 to $1,000+ monthly for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and federal employees who had been penalized for non-covered pensions, with $17 billion distributed to 3.1 million beneficiaries by mid-2025.

 » Read more about: Teachers, Firefighters, and Federal Employees: Your Social Security Benefits Just Got Bigger  »

Social Security benefits are a lifesaver for millions of retirees, but the benefits become less valuable as prices continue to rise. Those monthly checks don’t go as far when groceries, gas, and seemingly everything else are more expensive now than even just a few years ago.

That’s why Social Security has an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to help offset some of the effects of inflation.

 » Read more about: 5 Critical Facts About Social Security COLAs Every Retiree Should Know  »

 » Read more about: Social Security Updates: Retirees Who Get More — and Who Misses Out  »

Key Points

• Tesla robotaxis are live in Dallas and Houston, meaning it now has ridesharing services in four cities.

• CEO Elon Musk expects Tesla to have robotaxis in dozens of U.S. cities by the end of 2026.

• Morgan Stanley analysts think robotaxis have an addressable market of at least $1 trillion in the U.S.

 » Read more about: Tesla Stock Investors Just Got Good News From Elon Musk About a Trillion-Dollar Market  »

Nvidia (NVDA +1.67%), along with many other growth stocks, had a rough start to the year. Investors worried about the war in Iran and potential weakness in the U.S. economy, and this hurt their appetite for stocks that generally require booming markets to thrive.

 » Read more about: Wall Street Turbulence: How Resilient is Nvidia?  »

 » Read more about: High Growth Tech Stocks To Explore In April 2026  »

The combination of geopolitical instability and macroeconomic uncertainty is leading many risk-averse investors to search out safe-haven assets. It’s no surprise, then, that gold has been soaring in value for more than a year now.

But here’s what is surprising: investors are now looking into ways to buy gold in the form of cryptocurrencies that can be traded and managed on the blockchain.

 » Read more about: Why Some Investors Are Buying Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency Instead of Bitcoin  »