For: April 30, 2026
>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed mixed on Wednesday. It comes as oil prices have been on the rise, with West Texas Intermediate futures and Brent crude futures both trading over 100-dollars a barrel. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 280 points to 48-861. The S&P 500 fell 2 points to 71-35. The Nasdaq gained 9 points to 24-673. Investors today will be watching how the markets react to quarterly results released after yesterday's closing bell from four leading tech companies. Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft all beat Wall Street forecasts.
>>Powell: No Rate Cut Until Progress On Inflation
(Washington, DC) -- The Federal Reserve is leaving interest rates unchanged. In what's likely to be his last press event as Fed Chair, Jerome Powell said recent economic activity is expanding at a "solid pace," but warned the Iran war has lead to a lot of economic uncertainty.
>>Trump Says US Govt Intel Stock Made Country $30B
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump says federal stock holdings in Intel have generated more than 30 billion dollars in recent months after he authorized a U.S. government investment in the semiconductor company last summer. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote that the United States made "over 30 billion dollars in the last 90 days on that stock alone." He added that there were other investments in which the government had also taken equity stakes. The administration announced in August that Intel had agreed to give the federal government a ten percent ownership share, using funds reallocated from programs established under the previous administration.
>>Uber Users Can Now Book Hotels In App
(San Francisco, CA) -- Uber is taking the next steps to become a one-stop shop for travel after adding hotel bookings to the app. The company's CEO shared the development in an announcement on Wednesday, noting that "Uber is now an app for everything." The rideshare app will offer more than 700-thousand hotel listings directly on the app in partnership with Expedia Group as a way to help "reduce the number of steps for travel." Users will get reminders to schedule rides and see options for Uber Eats "room service" that can deliver food, along with any forgotten items, directly to the hotel.
>>Google Launches AI Tool For Flash Flood Predictions
(Mountain View, CA) -- Google is launching a new Flood Hub to help better predict flash flood risk. Flash floods have been a challenge to forecast for years, but Google's new system seeks to address the issue by aiding meteorologists and emergency managers with predictions up to 24 hours in advance. The tool differs from traditional river forecasting because it focuses on rapid flooding driven by intense rainfall, and Google said it trained the model using millions of real-world flood reports. Despite the advancement, experts generally agree that these AI tools are meant to strengthen the ability of local forecasters and not replace them.
>>Non-Homeowners Expectations For Future Homeownership
(Undated) -- Current non-homeowners have a range of expectations when it comes to the timeline of buying their first property. According to a new Gallup poll, 19 percent of the non-homeowner respondents said they believe they are going to purchase a house "in the next five years," which is down from 25 percent in 2025 and 34 percent in 2018. However, when looking at plans to purchase "in the next year," six percent of respondents agreed which is up from the previous year. Similar findings were recorded when asked about buying a home "in the next 10 years," as 28 percent of respondents agreed, marking an increase from 23 percent last year.
