Most employer 401(k) plans allow mid-year changes to the deferral election percentage. Before the bonus pay period, raise the deferral rate high enough to funnel as much of the bonus as possible into the 401(k), up to the annual limit.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated that the proposed rule aims to fulfill President Trump's promise for a new golden age by fostering a retirement system that allows more Americans to retire with dignity.
QYLD has been running the covered call playbook on the Nasdaq-100 since December 2013, and with $8.3 billion in assets, it remains the dominant fund in this category. The strategy is straightforward: hold the Nasdaq-100 and sell covered call options against the entire index each month, collecting premium that gets distributed to shareholders as income.
CrowdStrike recorded its first-ever positive GAAP net income of $38.69 million, flipping from a $86.29 million loss in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue grew 23% year-over-year to $1.305 billion, edging past estimates. Ending ARR hit $5.25 billion, up 24%, while net new ARR of $330.7 million surged 47% year-over-year, a record.
Among the S&P 500 companies that pay dividends, the vast majority of them distribute cash payments to the shareholders once every three months. Only a few of them pay dividends on a monthly basis. I discovered three monthly-paying S&P 500 dividend stocks with something special in common. Notably, all three of them have recently outperformed the S&P 500 index in terms of share-price gains.
Anthropic sought explicit contractual restrictions to prevent its AI from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, in contrast, insisted it must be able to deploy contractor technology for any lawful purpose. Negotiations broke down, the Department of Defense moved to terminate the contract, and it designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, effectively restricting many government agencies and defense contractors from working with the company.
Preferred shares represent a hybrid form of ownership. They're classified as equities for accounting and capital structure purposes. However, this asset's cash flows resemble debt. Holders receive fixed or floating dividends that must be paid before common shareholders see a cent, giving these securities a senior position in the payout hierarchy.
Aggressively invest in high-yielding stocks and reinvest the dividends continuously until you consider retirement. After all, each reinvested dividend payout buys you more income-producing shares without any out-of-pocket expenses. Better, by doing so, you're compounding the earnings and expediting the growth of your portfolio.
Investors love dividend stocks, especially blue-chip varieties, because they offer a significant income stream and substantial total-return potential. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation. Blue-chip stocks are shares of large, well-established, financially stable companies with a consistent and reliable performance history.
All United State Defense Contractors, and the Defense Industry as a whole, BEWARE: While we make the best Military Equipment in the World (No other Country is even close!), Defense Contractors are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment. This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!
Less than 40% of employees received a bonus last year, down from 44% in 2021. And in 2024, the average bonus payout was $1,786, down from $1,857 a year earlier, according to the study. That's not the only pay-related trend to watch in 2026. Pay transparency will also be a hot topic this year, said ADP Chief Talent Officer Jay Caldwell. In June, counties in the European Union will be required to comply with new pay transparency laws, mandating salary disclosures in job advertisements (much like many U.S. states).
When an ETF pays weekly distributions sometimes exceeding 1% of its share price while claiming a 35% yield, you have to look closer and understand what's going on. Roundhill QDTE ETF ( NASDAQ:QDTE) launched in March 2024 with a simple promise: sell daily options on tech stocks, collect the premium, distribute it weekly. Nearly two years in, the fund has attracted $913 million in assets and a devoted following of income seekers.
Markets were also bruised as a planned €220bn tie-up between mining giants Glencore and Rio Tinto was shelved. The pair have had a long-running, on-off engagement that has seen them try to tie the knot before. "Many wondered whether it might be third time lucky when Rio Tinto and Glencore got back around the table to discuss a deal which would have created the world's biggest mining company - but today it emerged it was not to be,"
Warning to executives: Don't get too comfortable in your corner office. Nearly one in nine CEOs was replaced last year, the highest rate since the financial crisis, and CFO turnover hit a seven-year high, according to new data from Russell Reynolds Associates. The replacements are younger and greener. More than 80% of the 168 incoming CEOs were first-timers with no prior experience running public companies.
Wall Street bonuses were expected to be big after a surge in activity last year - but how big? As the biggest banks have started to announce year-end bonuses, the requisite celebrations and grumblings are trickling out. Early investment banking compensation data from recruiting firm Prospect Rock Partners indicates that bonuses are up a modest 1 to 2% overall compared to last year, and that VPs may be emerging as the primary winners.
UnitedHealth Group tumbled 19.1% despite reporting a profit for the latest quarter that was a bit better than analysts expected. More attention was on the company's forecast for revenue in the upcoming year, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations and could be weaker than it was in 2025. It and other health care companies also felt tremendous pressure from a projected rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government, which fell well short of what investors had hoped.
As we kick off 2026, activist investor campaigns are no longer just prevalent; they are global, sophisticated, and have increasingly become an acute threat to corporate leadership. The escalating pressure is undeniable: Barclays data shows that activist investor campaigns hit a high last year - surpassing 2024 by 5% - with 32 CEOs resigning as a result (a record) - and showing no signs of slowing down.