Markus Andrews

Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the largest credit rating companies are wrongfully damaging millions of student loan borrowers’ finances, a new proposed class action lawsuit says.
The Trump administration has reported borrowers as late to the credit rating companies while it lacks “operational capabilities” to handle the accounts of more than 40 million Americans, said Wayne Johnson, who headed the country’s $1.6 trillion education debt portfolio during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Wayne Johnson at the Gables of Wolf Creek, the retirement community he owns in Macon, Georgia
Annie Nova | CNBC

A Republican who oversaw the country’s $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio during President Donald Trump’s first term has funded a class action effort against the administration over its current borrower policies.
The proposed class action lawsuit, filed this week in federal court in Atlanta, said Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the largest credit rating companies are violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act — a federal law that, among other provisions, requires information in consumer credit reports to be accurate.

According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration reported federal student loan borrowers as late on their bills to credit rating agencies while being unable to enroll them in repayment plans or to provide them with sufficient consumer support. It said Equifax, Experian and TransUnion did not make sure the reported data was correct, leaving borrowers with damaged credit.
Wayne Johnson, the 2024 Republican nominee for Congress in Georgia’s 2nd District and a former chief operating officer at the Office of Federal Student Aid, is financially backing the class action effort.
Johnson told CNBC that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a Republican is behind a lawsuit to make sure borrowers aren’t unfairly reported to the credit rating agencies.
“I want to stop damaging people and the economy,” Johnson said, and “I don’t want to piss off voters.”

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More than 40 million Americans hold student loans. The Trump administration said in April that more than 5 million borrowers were in default, and more were at risk.

“This is a story about millions of responsible student loan borrowers who want to make payments but are unable to do so because of the lack of operational capabilities of the department,” Johnson said.
In an email, an Education Department spokesperson called the class action effort “an embittered attempt by ideologues” to change the administration’s efforts to get defaulted borrowers back into repayment.
An Equifax spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
Experian and TransUnion did not respond to requests for comment.

Collection efforts have affected borrowers’ credit

The Trump administration restarted collection efforts on defaulted student loans in May, a move experts said has put millions of borrowers at risk of wage garnishment and lower credit scores.
A May analysis by TransUnion found that consumers who faced default in recent months saw their credit scores fall by 63 points, on average. For super prime borrowers — or those with credit scores above 780 — who were seriously delinquent, scores sank as much as 175 points. Credit scores typically range between 300 and 850.
Collection activity had been paused for roughly five years, a remainder of Covid-era policies meant to offer relief to borrowers.
Trump officials’ focus on recouping payments from defaulted student loan borrowers was a reversal of the Education Department’s strategy under former President Joe Biden, which centered more on providing borrowers with additional options to get current on their bills.

The collection activity also began shortly after the Trump administration terminated nearly half of the Education Department’s staff, including many of the people who assisted borrowers.
More than 1 million federal student loan borrowers are stuck in a backlog to enroll in repayment plans, according to court records from mid-September.
“The U.S. Department of Education has painted delinquent borrowers with a broad brush of hyperbole and threatened them with enforced collections, even though these borrowers have been unable to make payments,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. More

Exxon is in advanced talks with power providers and tech companies to supply data centers with natural gas plants that use carbon capture technology, CEO Darren Woods said.
Exxon aims to capture 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions emitted by natural gas plants that power data centers, Woods said.

Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer Exxon Mobil Corp., speaks during a panel discussion at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on July 15, 2025.
Brian Kaiser | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Exxon Mobil is holding advanced talks with power providers and technology companies to cut the emissions of AI data centers that rely on natural gas by deploying carbon capture technology, CEO Darren Woods said Friday.
“I’m hopeful that many of these hyperscalers are sincere when they talk about the desire to have low emission facilities, because certainly in the near to medium term we’re probably the only realistic game in town to accomplish that,” Woods said on Exxon’s earnings call.

Hyperscalers refers to companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft that are building large data centers to train and run artificial intelligence applications.
Exxon aims to capture 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions emitted by natural gas plants that power data centers, Woods said. The oil major is talking with power companies to decarbonize their plants, he said.
 “We’re pretty advanced in the conversations,” the CEO said.
The tech sector has mostly secured renewable energy to offset the emissions from their data centers, though they are now making major investments in nuclear power as well.
Some companies are turning to natural gas as well as they search for reliable power. Meta, for example, signed an agreement with the utility Entergy in Louisiana to power a data center campus with natural gas.
“We secured locations. We’ve got the existing infrastructure, certainly have the know-how in terms of the technology of capturing, transporting and storing [carbon dioxide],” Woods said. More

Series I bonds will pay 4.03% through April 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Friday.
The latest I bond rate is up from the 3.98% rate offered through October.
Current I bond owners will see rates adjust based on their purchase date.

Jetcityimage | Istock | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced new rates for Series I bonds. 
Newly purchased I bonds will pay 4.03% annual interest from Nov. 1 through April 30, which is up from the 3.98% yield offered through Oct. 31.

The new rate includes a variable portion of 3.12%, based on inflation data, and a fixed portion of 0.90%. The combined rate is 4.03% after rounding, according to the Treasury. The fixed rate is down from 1.10% announced in May.

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In May 2022, the I bond rate hit a record high of 9.62%, and many investors flooded into the government-backed, nearly risk-free asset. 
Since then, some shorter-term investors have redeemed holdings amid falling inflation and rates. But other long-term investors have purchased I bonds over the past couple of years to lock in the higher fixed rate.

How I bond rates work

I bond rates have a variable and fixed portion, which the Treasury adjusts every six months, in May and November. The combined yield is known as the “composite rate,” which is paid to investors for a six-month period.   
The variable rate is tied to inflation, and stays the same for six months after your purchase date, regardless of the Treasury’s next adjustment. 

Meanwhile, the fixed rate stays the same for the life of your I bond after purchase. The fixed portion can be harder to predict, and the Treasury doesn’t disclose how it calculates the change.

How the change impacts current I bond investors

If you currently own I bonds, there’s a six-month timeline for rate changes, which shifts depending on your original purchase date.
After the first six months, the variable yield changes to the next announced rate. But the fixed rate stays the same for the entirety of your holding.
For example, let’s say you purchased I bonds in March. Your variable rate would be 1.90% and shifts to 2.86% in September. Your fixed rate remains at 1.2%. At that point, your new composite rate would be 4.06%.
You can earn I bond interest for up to 30 years, or less if you redeem the assets before that. However, you can’t cash in I bonds for at least one year after purchase. If you redeem within five years, you lose your last three months of interest. More

Certain filers could see bigger tax refunds next year, thanks to retroactive changes enacted via President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
The July legislation added several tax breaks that apply to 2025, which could affect returns filed in 2026. 
The IRS hasn’t updated tax withholding tables, which could mean many employees will overpay taxes through 2025.
However, not everyone should expect a bigger refund or smaller tax bill, experts say.

Agshotime | E+ | Getty Images

Certain filers could see bigger tax refunds next year, thanks to retroactive changes enacted via President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” according to analyst projections.
The July legislation added several tax breaks that apply to 2025 — including a larger standard deduction, “bonus” deduction for older adults and tax break on tips, among others. Those could affect returns filed in 2026. 

However, many workers are still having the same tax withheld from their paychecks as before Trump’s law because the IRS hasn’t updated the 2025 tax tables that tell companies how much to take out.
“As a result, many taxpayers will pay too much in tax this year and see larger tax refunds or smaller tax bills next year,” Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in an October report.
A separate note released Friday from investment bank Piper Sandler projected “a record tax refund season in 2026,” with middle and upper-income households likely to benefit the most. An estimated $91 billion of tax relief could arrive between February and April 2026, with $59 billion paid via refunds and $32 billion from lower taxes owed, according to the note.

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Another report from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in August also predicted higher tax refunds for some filers based on IRS tax withholding tables staying the same.
Typically, you get a refund when you overpay taxes throughout the year. For W-2 workers, that largely depends on your paycheck withholding throughout the year.

The reports come amid economic uncertainty for many families as the government shutdown continues and a looming deadline approaches to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food stamps to more than 40 million Americans.  
In 2025, most filers planned to use tax refunds for essential expenses, such as rent, groceries and paying down credit card debt, according to a survey from Talker Research, commissioned by TaxSlayer, that polled 2,000 U.S. taxpayers in December 2024.
However, higher earners are expected to save the “majority” of refunds issued in 2026, according to the Piper Sandler report.
The average refund through Oct. 17 was $3,052 for 2025, up slightly from $3,004 in 2024, according to the latest IRS data reported last week.

Not everyone will see a bigger refund

While some taxpayers could see a higher refund in 2026, others won’t see much of a difference compared with previous tax years, according to Alex Muresianu, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.
For example, certain new tax breaks apply only to “specific types of income,” such as overtime pay or tipped earnings, he said. Both deductions have restrictions and income limitations.
Another tax break that could apply to a subset of filers is the bigger cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT. Most taxpayers don’t claim the SALT deduction because it’s restricted to those who itemize tax breaks.
For many filers, Trump’s new law is an extension of the sweeping tax cuts enacted in 2017. “The basic structure of it is going to be very much the same tax code that you’ve been used to for the past eight years,” Muresianu said.  More

Open enrollment for health insurance offered via the Affordable Care Act marketplace starts Nov. 1 in most states.
Prospective enrollees will likely see much higher premiums for health insurance.
That’s largely because enhanced subsidies that lower insurance premiums are still in limbo amid the government shutdown.
About 22 million of the 24 million ACA enrollees receive those enhanced premium tax credits.

The U.S. Capitol building, weeks into the continuing U.S. government shutdown, in Washington on Oct. 27, 2025.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters

Open enrollment for health insurance bought on the Affordable Care Act marketplace starts Nov. 1 in most states — but millions of people may get a financial surprise when they try to sign up.
That’s because a congressional deadlock tied to the extension of enhanced subsidies for insurance premiums has continued with no end in sight.

Consumers are “going to get huge sticker shock, because prices are going up,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and certified financial planner based in Jacksonville, Florida.
That sticker shock could have significant ramifications for consumers’ finances and the choices they make about health coverage, experts say, contributing to a higher population of uninsured and underinsured consumers and soaring premiums in years to come.
While the percentage of Americans who have ACA marketplace health insurance is small, the share could be large enough to swing a close election, KFF reported in October.

ACA subsidies at the heart of the government shutdown

During open enrollment, consumers pick their health plans for the coming year.
While open enrollment generally lasts through Jan. 15, there’s a Dec. 15 deadline to ensure coverage starts at the beginning of 2026.

However, prospective enrollees are in financial limbo.
Congress has yet to extend the enhanced subsidies that make insurance premiums cheaper for about 22 million of the 24 million Americans who buy insurance over the ACA exchanges.
Recipients’ health premiums are set to increase by 114% in 2026, on average, without the enhanced subsidies, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
Certain enrollees, such as early retirees with modest incomes, face much larger increases, health experts said.

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The enhanced subsidies are at the heart of the federal government shutdown that started Oct. 1. The shutdown is already the second-longest in U.S. history, behind a 35-day shutdown during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The enhanced subsidies, also known as enhanced premium tax credits, have been available since the Biden administration passed them in 2021 and extended them in 2022. They are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
Democrats are pushing to extend the subsidies as part of a deal to end the shutdown. Republicans have said they want to negotiate the subsidies separately.
More than half, 57%, of ACA marketplace enrollees live in Republican congressional districts, according to a KFF analysis from earlier this month. This year, about 80% of all premium tax credits, or $115 billion, went to ACA marketplace enrollees in states won by President Trump in last year’s election, KFF found.
There are 39 congressional districts where at least 10% of the population is enrolled in the ACA marketplaces and where, had it not been for enhanced subsidies, their 2024 average premium payments would have been double or more, according to KFF.
These districts are largely concentrated in Trump-won states: The bulk, 20, are in Texas, with another seven in Florida and three in Georgia.

What this means for open enrollment

Absent a deal, many people who try to enroll in a health plan via the Affordable Care Act marketplace will see significantly higher premiums during open enrollment, said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of the ACA program at KFF.
The financial stakes vary according to factors such as household income, age and state.
For example, the average 60-year-old couple making $85,000 would see their annual premiums increase more than $22,600 in 2026, according to KFF.
A 45-year-old earning $20,000 in a state that didn’t expand Medicaid would see premiums rise from $0 to $420 per year, on average, it found.

Maskot | Getty Images

There are many potential implications to the congressional impasse and consumers’ sticker shock during open enrollment, Cox said.
Many people may opt not to sign up for coverage rather than pay higher premiums, and therefore would be uninsured, Cox said.
Others, such as self-employed entrepreneurs and gig workers, may choose to try to find a more traditional job that offers employer-based health insurance so they don’t have to sign up for a marketplace plan, Cox said.
Some people may opt to buy lower-tier plans that come with smaller upfront premiums but much higher deductibles on the back end, meaning they’d be on the hook for a hefty bill if they need to use their insurance, Cox said.

If young, healthy people don’t enroll, insurers would be left with a relatively older, less healthy population of enrollees — likely leading insurers to raise their annual premiums even more in the future due to the pool of higher-risk enrollees, she said.
The damage may be done, even if Congress does eventually extend the enhanced subsidies, experts said.
“There’s certainly a very real possibility that people will log on Nov. 1 and say, ‘Gosh, I can’t afford that premium,’ and they don’t come back to look again even if there were a subsequent enactment of enhanced subsidies,” said Jonathan Burks, executive vice president of health and economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

What prospective ACA enrollees should do

As things stand, enhanced subsidies will expire.
Prospective enrollees in an ACA marketplace plan should pick their 2026 health insurance coverage with this in mind, Cox said. In other words, don’t pick a plan based on the expectation that Congress will extend the enhanced subsidies, she said.
However, she recommends enrollees pay close attention to the news. If Congress reaches a deal, enrollees should come back and look again, because their options and costs may have changed, Cox said.
“If it were me, I’d probably make a note on my calendar to shop over Thanksgiving or in early December,” with an eye to the Dec. 15 deadline, Cox said.

There’s certainly a very real possibility that people will log on Nov. 1 and say, ‘Gosh, I can’t afford that premium.’

Jonathan Burks
executive vice president of health and economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center

Luckily, the open enrollment period offers relative flexibility, Burks said.
Consumers can pick a plan and select another plan later within the open enrollment period without consequence, he said.
“People shouldn’t feel the need to rush into a decision, nor is there a real cost if they make a decision early on, [then] circumstances change and they want to evaluate that decision before the end of the open enrollment period,” Burks said.
Current enrollees who take no action will be reenrolled into the same plan or a similar one if the current plan is no longer available, experts said.

How to think through health insurance decisions

Even consumers who are healthy and rarely go to a doctor should have insurance, even a plan with a high deductible, in case there’s a major unforeseen health event, said McClanahan, the founder of Life Planning Partners and a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
Those with minor health issues such as hypertension or diabetes and who see a doctor regularly can consider buying a high-deductible plan — which generally carry lower upfront premiums — on the ACA marketplace, she said.
Pair that coverage with a direct primary care physician model. Such doctors charge a subscription for care — maybe $150 or $200 a month — and provide all basic primary care such as basic laboratory tests and imaging services, she said.
Those with serious illnesses who go to the doctor frequently would be best suited by buying a good health insurance plan with a broad network of doctors and, ideally, a lower deductible, McClanahan said.
Of course, this may be challenging for households that lose enhanced subsidies, she said. More

The 2.8% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 will push up the maximum full retirement benefit, as millions of monthly checks increase starting in January.
Additionally, workers who are under full retirement age and claim benefits face new limits for how much they can earn before their benefits are reduced.

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images

The new 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment doesn’t just increase Social Security checks, starting with January payments — it also boosts thresholds related to the maximum retirement benefit.
The maximum Social Security benefit for workers who claim at full retirement age will increase to $4,152 per month in 2026, up from $4,018 per month in 2025, following the 2.8% COLA.

The Social Security Administration detailed the change on Oct. 24 as part of its announcement about the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment in 2026 for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefit payments. The news, originally slated for Oct. 15, was delayed due to the federal government shutdown.
Other changes for 2026 in the release included a boost to the taxable earnings cap and higher earnings test thresholds for older adults who claim benefits while they are still working.
Workers who receive the $4,018 maximum full retirement age benefit in 2025 would have earned the taxable maximum in each year starting at age 22, according to the Social Security Administration.

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The 2.8% benefit boost for 2026 is expected to push the average monthly Social Security benefits for all retired workers up to $2,071 per month in 2026, up from $2,015 per month in 2025.
The average benefit for disabled workers will move to $1,630 in 2026, up from $1,586 in 2025.

Estimated average monthly Social Security benefits for 2026

Before 2.8% COLA
After 2.8% COLA

All retired workers
$2,015
$2,071

Aged couple, both receiving benefits
$3,120
$3,208

Widowed mother and two children
$3,792
$3,898

Aged widow(er), alone
$1,867
$1,919

Disabled worker, spouse and one or more children
$2,857
$2,937

All disabled workers
$1,586
$1,630

Source: Social Security Administration

Full retirement age is the point at which workers can receive 100% of the benefits they’ve earned. Beneficiaries who wait longer to claim may receive enhanced benefits. For every year past full retirement age, up to age 70, that a retiree waits to claim, they may receive an 8% increase in benefits.
Beneficiaries can claim retirement benefits as early as age 62 but take a permanent benefit cut for doing so.

Workers who collect benefits may face earnings test

Individuals under full retirement age who collect retirement benefits and continue to work face new thresholds next year for how much they can earn before their benefits are reduced. The Social Security Administration calls this a retirement earnings test.
The reductions can be a “rude wake-up call” for beneficiaries who claim retirement benefits early and are unfamiliar with the rules, according to Bill Shafranksy, a certified financial planner and senior wealth advisor at Moneco Advisors in New Canaan, Connecticut.
“They not only could face a massive reduction to their benefit, but sometimes I’ve seen it where the benefit actually zeros out entirely,” Shafranksy said.

Importantly, the benefits that are withheld are added to monthly benefits once the beneficiary reaches full retirement age.
In 2026, those workers who are under full retirement age may earn up to $24,480 per year, or $2,040 per month. For every $2 in earnings above that limit, $1 in benefits will be withheld. In 2025, the threshold is $23,400 per year, or $1,950 per month.
Workers who reach full retirement age in 2026 will have a higher threshold that year — $65,160 per year, or $5,430 per month. For every $3 in earnings above that limit, $1 in benefits will be withheld. In 2025, that threshold is $62,160 per year, or $5,180 per month. More

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It’s been a stellar few months for shares of San Francisco-based biotech company Rigel Pharmaceuticals, which has approved treatments for hematology and oncology — as well as potential new drugs in the pipeline.
The stock has jumped about 50% in just the last three months, earning it a spot on CNBC’s list of top performing stocks of companies based in the City by the Bay. To find the stocks, CNBC screened for names based in the area that had market caps above $500 million. We then screened for the top performers over the last three months via FactSet.

“We have a business that’s growing substantially,” CEO Raul Rodriguez said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan. “[We] grew 30% on average for four years, and this year, about 50% … adding new products, growing those products, financially disciplined, so that we are profitable.”

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Rigel Pharmaceuticals year to date

Rigel blew away analyst expectations when it reported second-quarter results in August. Its earnings were $3.28 per share, versus the $2.58 a share anticipated from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue came in at $101.7 million, well above the $88.9 million consensus estimate. The company also lifted its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $270 million to $280 million, up from its prior forecast of $200 million to $210 million.
It also saw growth across the three drugs currently on the market. Tavalisse treats patients with low platelet counts due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Gavreto is a lung cancer treatment, while Rezlidhia is a targeted treatment for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that have an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation.
There are currently two clinical programs underway, with one being led by its partner Eli Lilly for an autoimmune and inflammatory disorder treatment called Ocadusertib. The other is for what Rigel is calling R289, which aims to treat patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (LR-MDS), a type of blood cancer.
R289 is now in the early stages of clinical trials and Rodriguez hopes to present some data at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December.

“We’re starting a new phase of the trials, where we’re adding a substantially larger number of patients,” he said. “So by the end of next year, we’ll be able to say something much more definitive about this product and this indication.”
Rigel is expected to announce its latest quarterly results on Nov. 4.
Correction: Rigel’s R289 treats patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. The company has treatments for hematology and oncology. A prior version of this story misstated the drug’s name. More