For: October 8, 2025
>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed lower on Wall Street yesterday. Uncertainty over the shutdown along with a decline in Oracle shares weighed on markets. Gold prices topped four-thousand dollars an ounce for the first time ever as investors hedged their bets and moved into safe-haven assets. At the closing bell, the Dow lost 91 points to 46-602. The S&P 500 dropped 25 points to 67-14. The Nasdaq fell 153 points to 22-788.
>>Trump Addresses Back Pay For Furloughed Workers
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump is suggesting that some furloughed government workers could receive back pay while others won't. Trump's comments follow a memo from the Office of Management and Budget which raised the possibility that federal workers may not be entitled to back pay from their time off during the government shutdown. The president says "it really depends on who you're talking about" when asked about compensation for furloughed workers, and he blamed Democrats for putting their jobs in jeopardy. Despite uncertainty regarding back pay eligibility, President Trump added that "for the most part, we're going to take care of our people."
>>WTO Slashes Global Trade Outlook For 2026
(Geneva) -- The World Trade Organization is slashing its global trade outlook for 2026. In its latest Global Trade report issued Tuesday, the WTO cited U.S. tariffs as the key reason. The Geneva-based group warned next year's growth will slow sharply from its previous expectation of one-point-eight percent to just a half-percent. Meanwhile, it hiked its trade forecast for 2025 largely due to the front-loading of imports into the U.S. ahead of higher trade tariffs.
>>Carlyle Report Shows Employment Growth Flat
(Washington, DC) -- Employment growth was reportedly flat last month, according to investment giant Carlyle. The company is putting out numbers since the government shutdown has stopped the release of official reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers showed 17-thousand new jobs in September. Last week, payroll processor ADP showed a loss of 32-thousand jobs.
>>OpenAI Reports Big Jump In Active Users
(San Francisco, CA) -- OpenAI says they now have 800-million active weekly users. That's a 60-percent increase from the 500-million active weekly users they reported just seven months ago. It comes as OpenAI tries to convince more developers to use the company's ecosystem.
>>Broadway Negotiations
(New York, NY) -- Efforts to avert a Broadway strike will continue today with negotiations. The union representing more than 50-thousand professional actors and stage managers working in live theater has authorized a strike if negotiations fail to result in a better production contract after the current one expired last month.
