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Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments. 1. What Netflix earnings mean for Disney 2. Halliburton has a cheap valuation 3. Bausch + Lomb chairman steps down 4. Quick mentions: AAPL, AMZN 1. What Netflix earnings mean for Disney Netflix (NFLX) shares were up Wednesday after the streaming service reported that it only lost 970,000 subscribers, which was better than the street expectations of 2 million. Not-so-bad news was good news to investors. What does this mean for Investing Club holding and fellow streaming giant, Disney (DIS)? Now that Netflix earnings is out of the way, Disney is in the spotlight. Cramer says we may see a run in Disney if the dividend comes back or the balance sheet gets better. The Investing Club’s take: Disney has many franchises and is entering new markets while Netflix’s growth may be “tapped out,” said Jeff Marks, the Club’s director of portfolio analysis. “Let’s stop conflating Netflix and Disney,” Cramer said in Wednesday’s Investing Club ‘Morning Meeting. Disney can strengthen its streaming by monetizing its famous characters. Netflix doesn’t have this leverage. 2. Halliburton has a cheap valuation Halliburton (HAL) CEO Jeff Miller joined CNBC’s Mad Money on Tuesday and said his company has an edge when it comes to technology and innovation in the oil sector. The interview followed Halliburton reporting better-than-expected earnings results for the second quarter. In its earnings call with investors, management also stressed the current energy market is less prone to the boom and bust cycles of the past and it expects stronger years ahead. We like Halliburton because it’s one of the leaders in its sector and has a cheap valuation. “If you’re looking for something to buy because you think you’re underinvested, and you agree with me that the rally is still on, my choice is Halliburton,” Cramer says. 3. Bausch CEO steps down Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) said Joe Papa has resigned as chairman of the board. He will remain CEO of the company until a successor is found. Bausch Health Companies (BHC) in May spun off eye-care business Bausch + Lomb from the rest of its pharmaceutical brands. Cramer called the timing of the long-awaited breakup a “major gaffe,” as we expected the company would breakup in a way that maximized shareholder value. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen . Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is now on the board of the company, likely to help direct ways to increase shareholder value, and we see this as a positive for the company. Right now, the Club has a 4 rating on Bausch Health — meaning we do not want to buy or sell until we hear more of the activist investor’s plans for the company and learn more of the outcome of the Xifaxan litigation. 4. Quick mentions: AAPL, AMZN Investing Club holding, Amazon (AMZN) had its price target lowered at Jefferies to $150 from $163, but maintained a buy rating. The e-commerce giant sees pressure from inflation and a looming recession, but the analyst suggests the stock has already priced in those headwinds. “I like it because I think retail will bottom,” Cramer said on Amazon. Fellow FAANG stock and Club holding Apple (AAPL) also had price target drop. Morgan Stanley went to $180 from $185. The analyst lowered the price target in anticipation that third-quarter earnings results next week will come in slightly below Street expectations. “If you don’t own Apple yet this close to when it reports, I think you got to wait and see,” Cramer said. But if you already own it, continue to hold and don’t trade it. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long DIS, HAL, BHC, AMZN, AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) “As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade” THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.”

Jim Cramer standing in front of the NYSE, June 30, 2022.
Virginia Sherwood | CNBC More

Netflix’s second-quarter results could turn out to be a pivot point for the company.
The results may have set a floor for Netflix’s subscriber losses, leading to a new period of sustained gains.
It’s also possible its maneuvers to restart growth will prove ineffective, and the second quarter will mark the end of the company’s heyday.

Co-founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings attends a red carpet for the Netflix launch at Palazzo Del Ghiaccio on October 22, 2015 in Milan, Italy.
Jacopo Raule | Getty Images

Netflix’s second-quarter earnings results can be interpreted in two very different ways. The company’s future depends on which reading turns out to be correct.
The world’s biggest streaming company announced Tuesday that it lost nearly 1 million subscribers for the three-month period from April to June, marking the second straight quarter it lost customers. Still, that was less than the loss of 2 million the company had forecast and Netflix shares were up about 6% at $214 in midday trading Wednesday.

The second-quarter results offer a new bull case for Netflix investors. If the quarter serves as a “bottom” — the point at which the company stopped losing subscribers and started growing again, even if at a snail’s pace — investors have a new growth story. In the next quarter, the streaming giant forecast it would add 1 million subscribers. This may be the primary reason shares rose on Wednesday.
“With signs of stabilization in the subscriber base emerging, we believe the prospect of a prolonged period of subscriber losses is becoming increasingly unlikely,” Stifel analyst Scott Devitt said in a note to clients. Stifel upgraded its rating on Netflix shares to “buy” on Wednesday.
But the results, which some investors found good enough, may only lead to temporary relief. The bear case for Netflix is that Wednesday’s bump in share value is a “dead cat bounce” — Wall Street lingo for a temporary recovery after a substantial fall. Netflix faces intensifying competition from major players pushing into the streaming market, including Disney’s Disney+, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and HBO Max. That has raised questions about whether Netflix will be able to hold on to its dominance, particularly in the lucrative U.S. market.

The new case for growth

Previously, Netflix bulls have leaned in to the notion that the company would turn its massive global scale of 221 million subscribers into positive free cash flow by increasing pricing and reducing churn. This transformation from a money-losing venture to a free cash flow machine would enrich shareholders.
That’s now happened, or, at least, is about to happen. Netflix said in its shareholder letter it will generate $1 billion in free cash flow for 2022. In 2023, Netflix said there will be “substantial growth” in free cash flow.

And yet, shares are still trading 70% lower than all-time highs set in November.
A second wave of subscriber growth could be the company’s new narrative for investors. There’s reason to believe Netflix subscribers will once again surge ahead. The company announced it will crack down on password sharing and launch a cheaper advertising supported tier in 2023. Both of those initiatives may lead to more sign-ups.

End of its heyday

If Netflix’s subscriber growth doesn’t reaccelerate, the second quarter of 2022 will serve as the inflection point when it became apparent the company’s halcyon days were over.
“Where do its sub losses end, given strong competition from newer, lower-priced, deeper-pocketed streaming services?” wrote Needham analyst Laura Martin. “222 million global subs may turn out to be the peak subscribers for Netflix.”
This may prove to be the case if the company can’t turn enough of its password sharers into long-term paying subscribers. Netflix said in its shareholder letter that it’s encouraged by its early learnings from tests in Latin America that it can convert password sharers to paying customers.
In Tuesday’s conference call, Netflix Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann said the company planned to spend about $17 billion on content in 2022 and would stay in that “ZIP code” for the next “few years.” That’s a change from nearly every year in the past decade, when it has ramped up content spending to build market share. As its revenue growth has slowed, Neumann acknowledged spending on new programming will also moderate.
“Our content expense will continue to grow, but it’s more moderated as we adjusted for the growth in our revenue,” said Neumann.
It remains to be seen if Netflix can continue to expand its subscriber base without an ever-ballooning content budget — especially since the company typically raises prices each year. The worry is particularly stark in the U.S. and Canada, where Netflix lost 1.3 million subscribers in the second quarter, marking the third quarter in the last five when its customer base has declined.
“Given the risk of elevated churn with every price hike from here, the realistic worry is that the company will be hard-pressed to materially reaccelerate growth in these regions,” said Michael Nathanson, an analyst at research firm MoffettNathanson.
In coming years, investors may look back on this year’s second quarter as the moment Netflix either began its second growth act or its slow migration into a value stock.
WATCH: CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Netflix

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Europe is suffering under extreme temperatures and fires exacerbated by drought and winds.
“Yesterday was the busiest day for the fire service in London since the Second World War,” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, told Sky News on Wednesday.
Beyond the U.K., firefighters in France, Spain and Greece firefighters are fighting to keep back wildfires.

An aerial view shows the rubble and destruction in a residential area following a large blaze the previous day, on July 20, 2022 in Wennington, Greater London.
Leon Neal | Getty Images

Europe is suffering under an unprecedented heat wave, leaving firefighters in London dealing with a huge surge in emergency calls.
“Yesterday was the busiest day for the fire service in London since the Second World War,” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, told Sky News on Wednesday.

Fireman work next to buildings destroyed by fire on July 19, 2022 in Wennington, England. A series of grass fires broke out around the British capital amid an intense heatwave.
Carl Court | Getty Images

On a normal day, the fire service will get 350 calls, Khan said. On a busy day, the London fire service would get 500 calls. On Tuesday, the London fire service received more than 2,600 calls, Khan said. There were 41 properties destroyed in London due to wildfires and 16 firefighters were injured battling the blazes, Khan said.
“It is important for us to recognize that one of the consequences of climate change and these sorts of temperatures that lead to the fires you are seeing,” Khan said. “The challenge in London is we have a lot of grass, a lot of green spaces and a lot of that impinges on properties. And when you have not had rain for a long period, when the grass is incredibly dry, fires can start very quickly and spread even faster because of wind and that leads to properties being destroyed.”

The scene after a blaze in the village of Wennington, east London after temperatures topped 40C in the UK for the first time ever, as the sweltering heat fuelled fires and widespread transport disruption. Picture date: Wednesday July 20, 2022.
Aaron Chown | Pa Images | Getty Images

“A lot of the problems we have here today are a direct consequence of climate change, excess death because of the heat wave,” Khan said. “A lot of these problems can be solved by tackling climate change expediently, rather than kicking the can down the road.”
Beyond the U.K., firefighters in In France, Spain and Greece are fighting to keep back wildfires exacerbated by heat and dry conditions.

A wildfire broke out late in the late afternoon hours, on the 19th of July 2022 on Mount Penteli outside of Athens.
Iason Raissis | Nurphoto | Getty Images

“High temperatures and ongoing drought are two primary factors that contribute to wildfire conditions, and southern Europe has had both of those lately,” Alexandra Naegele, a researcher at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told CNBC.

“Combined with high wind days, these conditions have resulted in the rapid spread of wildfires across the continent,” Naegele told CNBC. 

Firefighters guard while the wildfire burns the hills outside Tabara, Zamora, on the second heatwave of the year, in Spain, July 18, 2022.
Isabel Infantes | Reuters

“In the future, this kind of heatwaves are going to be normal. We will see stronger extremes,” said Petteri Taalas, the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, part of the United Nations.

Firefighters gestures as they work to extinguish a wild fire in Drafi agglomeration, north of Athens, on July 19, 2022.
Aris Oikonomou | AFP | Getty Images

“We have pumped so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the negative trend will continue for decades. We haven’t been able to reduce our emissions globally,” Taalas said in a statement published Tuesday. “I hope that this will be a wake-up call for governments and that it will have an impact on voting behaviors in democratic countries.”

Firefighters work during a fire that broke out in the Monts d’Arree in Brasparts, in Brittany, France, July 19, 2022 in this handout picture obtained on July 20, 2022. 
Julien Trevarin/sdis 29 | Reuters

The high temperatures have been influenced by a meteorological event called a “heat dome,” Alyssa Smithmyer, a meteorologist with weather forecasting company, AccuWeather, told CNBC. A heat dome has been causing the record-high temperatures in western and central Europe, she said.
“A heat dome is a term used when a widespread area of high pressure sits over a region or country and lingers for days or even weeks, trapping a very warm air mass beneath it. An area of high pressure will push air to the surface, and this process will warm the air through compression,” Smithmyer told CNBC.

Firefighters prepare to operate as the wildfire approaches in the region of Pallini. A wildfire rages for a second day in Mount Penteli near Athens in Greece causing extensive property damages.
Nicolas Koutsokostas | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The heat dome conditions make rain unlikely.
“Due to the influence of the high pressure, there is often minimal chances of precipitation or even clouds as the heat dome lingers over a region. As the high pressure lingers over a region for an extended period of time, temperatures can rise to extreme values,” Smithmyer told CNBC. “The lack of precipitation or cloud cover will further exacerbate temperatures under these conditions.” 

Smoke rises as a wildfire burns on Mount Penteli, next to the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, in Athens, Greece, July 19, 2022.
Alkis Konstantinidis | Reuters

Smoke billows from a wildfire at the border with Slovenia seen from Rupa, Italy, July 20, 2022.
Borut Zivulovic | Reuters

“The potential impacts of very high ozone pollution on human health can be considerable both in terms of respiratory and cardio-vascular illness,” Mark Parrington, a senior scientist from Copernicus, said in a written statement published Tuesday.
“Higher values can lead to symptoms such as sore throat, coughing, headache and an increased risk of asthma attacks. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition estimates that ozone pollution causes approximately one million additional deaths per year. This is why it is crucial that we monitor surface ozone levels,” Parrington said.

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Ntrafi, Athens, Greece, July 19, 2022.
Costas Baltas | Reuters

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Years of arguments about the streamer’s content investment are over as cash flow turns positive, apparently for good.
Cash flow could double or triple next year off this year’s estimated $1 billion.
But top-line growth is slowing, and the long-term ceiling for subscribers is significantly lower, analysts say.

A sign is posted in front of Netflix headquarters on April 20, 2022 in Los Gatos, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

A day after Netflix reported that its second-quarter slide in subscribers was much smaller than investors had feared, a different takeaway may sink in from the earnings report at the world’s largest streaming service: A years-long debate about whether Netflix is spending too much on content seems to be over now.
The key is that Netflix eked out a positive number for operating cash flow in the quarter, despite spending $1.3 billion more on content than it did in the first three months of this year, as it launched a new series of its “Stranger Things” franchise and wrapped up its $200 million “The Gray Man” action thriller. For the first half of the year, Netflix said it made $1 billion in cash flow – a number analysts say will double, and may triple, by 2023.

“Netflix’s revenue will grow 10% to 15% next year, but the content spend will grow zero,” said Robert Cantwell, manager of the Compound Kings Exchange Traded Fund in Nashville, which has 3.9% of its fund in Netflix stock as of July 19. “You’ll see $3 billion to $3.5 billion next year in free cash flow.”
Critics have long zeroed in on the fact that Netflix’s spending on new movies and TV shows has been more than its reported profits because of accounting rules that let the content investment be reported as expenses over several years. But that ended in the first quarter of this year, and was sustained in the second even with the extra spending.

Netflix said on its quarterly earnings presentation that it will keep content spending level at about $17 billion annually for the next couple of years. Two executives said spending would stay “in that zip code.” That’s up from $11.8 billion in 2020, and little changed from $17.7 billion last year. 
The company spent most of earnings call talking about its plans to add an advertising supported tier to its service offerings, letting Netflix cash in on households that don’t want to pay $10 to $20 a month for a subscription. Many of those households are using passwords belonging to friends or family, skirting Netflix’s rules. 
The combination of leveling off content spending and adding ad revenue is where the cash flow increase will come from, according to Cantwell and Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney.

Mahaney says Netflix the company should reach $2.5 billion in 2023 cash flow and could reach $4 billion by 2024.
“If you generate $4 billion in cash flow, that’s [more than] a 4% yield,” said Mahaney, a longtime Netflix bull who now rates the shares as a market performer. “That’s solid. On 2023, it’s trading at 45 times free cash flow. That’s not so interesting.” 
Neither analyst doubts that Netflix’s ad strategy will work. Competitors like Hulu get about 15% to 20% of revenue from advertising now, Cantwell said, and Mahaney says Netflix should have made this move a couple of years ago. 
At Netflix, 20% of sales would be as much as $6 billion a year, for a company whose market cap is about $91 billion now. That revenue would carry gross margin higher than the 40% profit the company’s content business generates now, with less capital investment, Cantwell said.
Because it will take time to build up the ad business, it should contribute $250 million to $300 million to cash flow next year, Cantwell said.
The problem is, the extra cash flow still doesn’t change the fact that Netflix is making a transition from being one of the century’s best growth stocks – its 2002 IPO price, adjusted for stock splits, works out to $1.07 a share, and it went as low as 65 cents later that year – to being a play for value investors who look for fatter earnings and pay lower price-to-earnings multiples to get them.
At the peak, Netflix bulls talked about the company attracting as many as 800 million global subscribers, Cantwell said, up from 221 million now. That ship has likely sailed, he said, as many international markets have proven tougher to crack than some assumed. Netflix has already captured 73 million subscribers in the U.S, and Canada, more than half of the households in the two nations combined.
The cash flow won’t be big enough to really galvanize value investors until 2024 or later, Mahaney said.
“It’s a transition,” he said. “Growth is becoming much more moderate and cash flow is getting much more interesting.”
But growth has been Netflix’s calling card for years, and a reliable magnet to attract content creators, customers and investors alike. With growth slowing, the pace of new content addition leveling off, and its competitive advantages over rivals in technology having closed, the risk is that it will need to relax its newfound spending discipline to stay ahead of rivals like Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max and Disney Plus, Cantwell said.
“The challenge is that it assumes Netflix can make content that has long-term library value, and that is one of the hardest bets to make about Netflix at this point,” he said. “You’re betting on them to make better content than they have.” More

Buying your first car after graduation (or while you’re still in college) can be tricky — especially at a time like this when prices are soaring.
The average price of a new car was $46,000 in June and the average price of a used car was $28,000, both up more than 20% since the start of the pandemic, according to Cox Automotive analysis of vAuto Available Inventory data. The market is so competitive that buyers are paying thousands of dollars over the asking price in many cases. And prices aren’t expected to come down until at least 2023.So, under those circumstances, if you’re in the market for your first car, it’s going to be a challenge.

Before you get caught up in the buying frenzy, there’s one thing you have to get straight first: How much can you afford to spend on a car?

Figure out your budget

First, be clear on what your budget is: How much money you have/make, what your bills are and what is left over.
“You have to figure out what you truly can afford,” said A’Shira Nelson, Wellspring Tax Manager and founder of Savvy Girl Money, a financial activism service dedicated to helping millennials achieve their long-term financial goals. “I recommend about 15% of your monthly income to be allocated to auto expenses. This includes auto payments, gas and insurance,” Nelson said.
Generally, financial experts suggest that you spend between 10% to 15% of your budget to allow for adequate management of other expenses as well. The worst thing you can do is get in over your head and start to miss payments on some of your bills and/or have your debt start piling up. So don’t talk yourself into spending more just because your heart is set on your dream car. Stay within your budget. That probably means getting a used car that fits your needs now and waiting a few years to get your dream car.

When calculating your budget, be sure to include all your monthly expenses. In addition to your automobile expenses, you have to account for rent, groceries, shopping, household bills, and fun extracurricular expenses as well.

Most recent college graduates will need to factor in monthly student loans payments as well. Then, once you have configured an estimated cost of living, you should know what you can afford to pay toward a car.
It may be helpful to even follow the 50/30/20 rule where 50% of your paycheck is spent on necessities, 30% on wants and 20% on savings. There are other tools at your disposal, such as online budget calculators that can help you configure specific costs such as the Edmunds Car Affordability Calculator.
John Carroll University graduate and former student athlete, Lucia Cannata, said she is prioritizing staying within her budget as she prepares to buy a car.
As a real estate agent, Cannata, a 2022 college graduate, is paid after she makes a house sale, so the time in which she could receive a paycheck varies anywhere from once a month to every week or two.
“I really want a Ford Bronco. That is my dream car,” Cannata said.
It is important to be realistic and know what is affordable for you. Cannata knows she can’t quite afford the cost of a Ford Bronco right now, but she plans to use the first car she does buy as an opportunity to responsibly start managing her finances — which is a huge step toward eventually buying that dream car. 
 “The most important thing is that I figure out what I can afford to pay towards my car each month,” she said.

Lucia Cannata, a 2022 graduate from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio and a real estate agent for Howard Hanna.
Source: Kayla Ivey

Start saving ASAP and consider using cash for the purchase

Now that you have a budget helping you plan how much you can spend on a car, start saving right away. It is never too early or late to start putting money aside, even during your undergraduate years, so after each paycheck be sure to stash some money away into a savings or investment account.
That’s because the more you can pay up front in cash for that first car, the smaller your monthly payments will be. Don’t use all your savings, though — remember you need a cushion for some emergencies or unexpected expenses that may come up!

Do your online research and compare cars and dealer prices online

Nelson of Savvy Girl Money also recommends that you hop on your computer and start looking at cars to compare prices at the different dealers near you.
“Sometimes the cost of the car depends on the location,” said Nelson. “For example, maybe in Akron, Ohio, I can get a more affordable one than I’ve tried to purchase in Cleveland. That’s why it’s important to do your research to get an idea of different areas where the car might be more affordable.”
“Researching is probably one of the most important steps of the process,” Cannata said. “Since I wanted to trade in my old car, it was important that I knew what it was worth so that I would know how much I would have towards my new car.”
There are a lot of different sites for buying a car and researching prices including CarMax, Carvana, Vroom, Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds.  
So once you’ve made your way through the initial financial planning steps, it’s time to start shopping. At this stage, ask yourself these four questions:
1.       What size car do I want?
As always, planning is of the essence. It is important to have somewhat of an idea of the type of car you are looking for.
“The first thing I always tell people when they ask me for advice is to think about what size car you want,” said Grant Feek, CEO of the online car marketplace TRED. “I really encourage people to know if they want a compact car, standard SUV, full-size SUV — know the size you want. I would start there.”
Once you know the size vehicle you want, remember to take fuel economy into account because an SUV, say, will cost you more in gas prices than a small sedan.
2.       Do I want to buy new or used?
Once you’ve decided on the size of car, you then need to know if you want to buy a new or used car. Ultimately, you will have to continue taking those earlier factors in consideration such as knowing your budget and looking at how much money you have saved because there are advantages and disadvantages to both options.
The market and the economy are always changing so there may be times when the new car market is a better deal than used and vice versa. A used car will need maintenance or tuneups sooner than a new car would, which would be another expense you need to factor into the budget.
When you purchase a new car, you are purchasing directly from franchised dealerships aligned with the manufacturers. “You’re not going to have to worry about the condition of the vehicle, the previous owners damaging the car in any way, being defrauded in terms of getting the title for the vehicle,” said Feek. “There are plenty of quality-of-transaction assurance benefits.”
More from College Voices:Tips for college students: How to rent your first apartmentAre you doing your job search right? How to land your first job after graduationSetting up a budget right out of college is easy—and smart
Buying a new car would be a good option to consider if you are planning to own it for a while, Feek said. However, he would not recommend buying a new car right now with the current inflation of car prices.
If you are a recent college graduate and or a first-time buyer, it is most likely that you want to save as much money as possible. So definitely shop and compare. When buying a used car, you have to decide if you want to buy from a private seller or dealership and then find the best price.
A private seller may offer the best price, but you have to take extra precaution during the process to avoid vehicle or title fraud. “You have to be really careful and make sure the seller actually has the title of the vehicle and can hand it to you,” said Feek. “You have to confirm their identity to verify the seller, so make sure you look at their license and the name matches the title. Then you have to get the vehicle inspected to make sure it is in good shape.”
3.       Do I want to lease a car?
In the same way that a lot of people rent an apartment before buying a house, leasing a car is another option instead of buying. Although you would never outright own the car, it’s an option that works for a lot of first-time buyers.
But with this option it’s really important to know the terms of the lease, such as what the cap is on how many miles you will drive during the term of the lease, what the interest rate is, what your maintenance requirements are and what the penalty is if you want to get out of the contract early.
4.       How do I inquire about the best car insurance rate?
So once you know the size of car you want and whether are going to buy new, used, or lease, you will need to inquire about a car insurance plan.
You can compare rates and reviews from companies like Progressive, All State, Liberty Mutual and Geico. Using online resources such as Bankrate and Insurify can help you navigate the car insurance process to find the best fit for you.
Whether it’s driving discounts or insurance bundling deals, there are many ways for young drivers to save.
“You can bundle your auto and home insurance policy or your renter’s insurance policy,” said Insurify Research Lead, Emily Leff. “Most young drivers or recent grads are more likely to be renting, so bundling renter’s insurance policies will probably be more relevant to them.”
Always look for discounts available or other advantages to find an insurance coverage plan that is most accommodating and affordable for your current financial state.

You are on your way to making your purchase … Now what?

After recently going through this process herself, Junys Javier, a current master’s student at Farleigh Dickinson University, advises anyone who may be getting ready to buy a car to do their research and accept that the first car may not be ideal.
“You may have to make these sacrifices to have something to get you from point A to point B. Just know the car that you eventually want to have will come. Your first car will probably not be your dream car and that’s OK.”

Junys Javier, a graduate student at Farleigh Dickinson University and a sales intern at Univision.
Source: Junys Javier

The car-shopping process can be an exhilarating yet stressful one but try not to become too overwhelmed. Be sure to utilize all the tools and resources that are available to you, do your research and ask questions.
Along with knowing your budget, Feek says one of the most important things to always remember is the cost of vehicle maintenance.
“Knowing the car has been cared for according to the manufacturer’s recommendations is the most important factor, and after that, buying a car with the lowest mileage that will fit into your budget is a good way to minimize the risk of costly repairs.”
″College Voices″ is a guide written by college students to help the class of 2022 learn about big money issues they will face in life — from student loans to budgeting and getting their first apartment — and make smart money decisions. And, even if you’re still in school, you can start using this guide right now so you are financially savvy when you graduate and start your adult life on a great financial track. Taylor Anthony is a 2022 summer intern with CNBC’s news desk. In the fall, she will be a senior at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, pursuing a major in communication with a concentration in digital media and a minor in Spanish and Hispanic studies. The guide is edited by Cindy Perman.
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Macy’s is speeding up its plans to open smaller stores that aren’t attached to suburban shopping malls, in a bid to evolve with its customers’ shopping preferences coming out of the Covid pandemic.
The department store chain said it will open three stores this fall that each represent ways Macy’s is thinking about how it aims to reposition its real estate in the future.
“We want to be convenient and we want to make it easy,” Marc Mastronardi, Macy’s chief stores officer, said in an interview.

In 2020, Macy’s opened its first Market by Macy’s location, which was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Source: Macy’s

Macy’s is accelerating its plans to open smaller stores that aren’t attached to suburban shopping malls, in a bid to evolve along with its customers’ shopping preferences coming out of the Covid pandemic.
The department store chain said Wednesday that it will open three stores this fall that each represent ways Macy’s is thinking about how it aims to reposition its real estate in the future. That includes:

Combining some of its different businesses under one roof
Closing one of its department stores at a traditional mall to open a smaller-format Macy’s store, known as The Market by Macy’s, in a more densely populated part of town nearby
Adding another Market by Macy’s location in an area where it already has multiple of those shops

“We want to be convenient and we want to make it easy,” Marc Mastronardi, Macy’s chief stores officer, said in an interview. “Customer behavior just keeps changing. And the more that we have the agility as an organization to shift and react, this feels like the next natural evolution.”
This fits into a broader strategy that Macy’s laid out to investors in February 2020, shortly before Covid-19 cases began to ramp up in the United States. At the time, the company said it planned to shutter 125 stores in lower-tier malls within three years and would explore formats outside of malls.
Since then, Macy’s has opened five stores under the Market by Macy’s banner, which are about one-fifth of the size of its full-line locations and tout services such as buy online, pick up in store. It will reach eight by the end of this year.
Going small and getting away from the mall has become somewhat of a trend in the retail industry. It’s a blueprint that retailers from Gap to Nordstrom have been following. Kohl’s also said it’s aiming to open 100 smaller-footprint locations over the next four years. Macy’s last year opened its first pint-sized Bloomingdale’s shop, called Bloomie’s.

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Some of America’s malls have lost appeal – and tenants – as consumers nowadays tend to seek a quick and convenient shopping experience. Shoppers are also much less interested in spending hours browsing sprawling, multilevel shops, leading retailers to test slimmed-down versions.
“There are malls that are underperforming and this is an opportunity to get into a market in the right spot and in a new format,” said Mastronardi.
This fall, Macy’s will open its first-ever dual Market by Macy’s and Macy’s Backstage store, which is a competitor to off-price chains including T.J. Maxx, in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Second, it plans to shutter one of its mall-anchored department stores in the Chesterfield area of St. Louis in order to open a smaller Market by Macy’s location nearby, in an open-air strip mall known as Chesterfield Commons.
And third, Macy’s will open a Market by Macy’s store in Johns Creek Town Center, in Suwanee, Georgia, marking its third such location in the metro-Atlanta area.
Mastronardi said the Atlanta market has proven to be a place where people show an affinity for the Macy’s brand, and it’s also a highly trafficked area, giving Macy’s a reason to have a beefed-up presence.
He also said Macy’s customers are spending three times more online, on average, in markets where the retailer also has bricks-and-mortar stores.
“When we can be near a customer with a physical format our digital business is significantly better,” he said.
Macy’s counted 511 of its namesake locations, 55 Bloomingdale’s stores and 160 Bluemercury makeup shops, as of April 30.

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Shoppers explore a mostly empty mall in Columbus, Ohio.
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Don’t expect the stream of departures from retailers’ C-suites to stop anytime soon.
Already this year, Gap and Bed Bath & Beyond abruptly replaced their CEOs as the companies’ sales plunged. GameStop fired its chief financial officer in the middle of the video game retailer’s efforts to revamp its business. After sticking around to help Dollar General navigate the pandemic, the company’s longtime CEO said he was retiring.

As the retail sector stares down an increasingly challenging landscape, experts say executive shakeups will likely become more common. Stimulus spending that boosted sales during the pandemic will no longer mask any underlying business struggles. Surging inflation is raising worries that shoppers will pull back on spending. And after the strain of the past two years, some executives are ready for a change of pace.
“Retail CEOs are going to have to earn their seats and earn their money, because their jobs just got a lot harder in the last six months,” said John San Marco, a senior research analyst covering the retail industry at Neuberger Berman.

What’s driving the exodus of retail executives

With the retail industry facing growing challenges, the exodus of executives likely won’t stop anytime soon.

Scrutiny from activist investors is one reason executives could find themselves out of a job.

Company boards are also holding executives accountable for poor performance.

In some cases, longtime executives are retiring after pandemic burnout.

Wall Street is becoming wary of the retail industry too as the economic backdrop gets choppier. Shares of the S&P Retail exchange-traded fund are down about 30% so far this year, worse than the S&P 500’s 18% decline over the same time.
As pressure builds for retail executives to drive growth, there’s a greater probability they’ll disappoint boards and shareholders and be shown the door, San Marco said. In other cases, executives might see the writing on the wall and want to leave while they’re still riding high.
Here are three reasons executives across the industry could be looking for a new job in coming months.

1. Activist heat

Some executive shakeups are the culmination of intense scrutiny from activist investors.
“If your stock price has plummeted, if your market value is less than your revenue, you’re going to be a target for activists,” said Catherine Lepard, a partner in the retail practice at Heidrick & Struggles, which helps company boards with succession planning and executive searches.

A Bed Bath & Beyond store is seen on June 29, 2022 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Bed Bath & Beyond, for example, became the target of Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen, whose RC Ventures amassed a nearly 10% stake in the company. Cohen pushed for changes, including spinning off or selling the company’s baby goods chain and slashing pay for CEO Mark Tritton.
About three months later, Tritton got pushed out as sales declines persisted, losses mounted and inventory piled up. Sue Gove, an independent director on the board, was installed as interim CEO.
Cohen also turned up the heat on GameStop after buying shares of the legacy brick-and-mortar videogame seller. He was tapped to lead its digital push as the chair of its board and the company got a slate of new leaders, including Amazon veteran Matt Furlong who became its new CEO and Mike Recupero, also of Amazon, who became its chief financial officer.
More shakeups followed − including the firing of Recupero earlier this month, just a year after he was brought into the company.
Dollar Tree, which had fallen behind rival Dollar General, also made sweeping changes to its leadership after getting caught in the crosshairs of an activist investor. The company settled with investment firm Mantle Ridge by adding seven new directors to its board. In late June, Dollar Tree also said it would get a fresh batch of leaders.

A Kohl’s store in Colma, California.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Kohl’s also came under scrutiny from the hedge fund Macellum Advisors, which for months pushed the retailer to pursue a sale and shake up its slate of board of directors. The retailer managed to reelect its slate of 13 board directors earlier this year. But last week, it said its chief technology and supply chain officer is departing.
David Bassuk, global co-leader of the retail practice at AlixPartners, said the activist investor attention on the retail sector is turning up the pressure on company boards across the industry.
“There’s a lot of concern heading into the third quarter and fourth. It’s not getting easier soon,” he said.
A survey of 3,000 business executives this fall by AlixPartners found that 72% of CEOs said they were worried about losing their jobs in 2022 due to disruption. That’s up from the 52% who said the same in 2021.

2. Patience wears thin for poor performance

When a retailer posts consecutive quarters of sluggish sales, fails to post a profit, or falls behind its competitors, turnover in the C-suite becomes more likely.
Craig Rowley, a senior client partner for the hiring consulting firm Korn Ferry, likened the dynamic to what happens in sports: “If you have a team and for three or four years you’re not winning, what do you do? You change up the coach.”
Earlier this month, Gap said its CEO Sonia Syngal was stepping down after the company’s Old Navy business saw a new strategy backfire. Old Navy, once a growth driver for the company, had pushed into plus sizes to appeal to more customers. But the effort left the chain with too much clothing in larger sizes, and not enough of the sizes customers wanted.
Syngal was replaced by Bob Martin, Gap’s executive chairman of the board, as interim CEO. Old Navy CEO Nancy Green had already departed just a few months earlier.
After struggling to become profitable, luxury resale retailer The RealReal also announced in early June that founder Julie Wainwright was stepping down as CEO. Chief Operating Officer Rati Sahi Levesque and Chief Financial Officer Robert Julian were named interim co-CEOs.
As the sales surge from the pandemic fades, Neuberger Berman’s San Marco said old leaders are being pushed out and new ones are being brought in to slash expenses and shrink brick-and-mortar footprints.
“Some of the CEO changes have taken place at companies that probably will end up being a lot smaller than they are today,” he said.
Victoria’s Secret could offer a playbook for some retailers, San Marco said. The lingerie retailer spun off from its parent company and brought in new leadership after losing customers to trendier rivals.
Last week, the company appointed executives into three new leadership roles. It also announced it was cutting about 160 management roles, or roughly 5% of its home office headcount, to streamline operations and slash expenses.

3. Pandemic burnout

In some cases, longtime retail leaders are also voluntarily deciding to leave after helping companies navigate the pandemic.
Among those who’ve stepped down after long tenures are Walmart’s former CFO Brett Biggs, Home Depot’s former CEO Craig Menear, and most recently, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos.
Some companies asked executives to delay retirements over the past 18 months to help resolve supply chain snarls, labor shortages and more, said Lepard of the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
Now Lepard expects to see more delayed retirements being announced, along with executives looking for a slower pace after burnout from the pandemic.
“The last couple of years for CEOs have been exhausting,” she said, adding that the departures will make room for new talent.
As risk of an economic slowdown looms, she said more boards are looking for leaders with strong track record for operational execution and financial discipline.
Retailers are also increasingly tapping outsiders to lead their companies in new directions, according to Bassuk of AlixPartners. Walmart, for instance, tapped former Paypal executive John Rainey, who started last month as the company’s new chief financial officer.
In the past, Bassuk said companies would weigh whether to pick executives with experience in either sales or operations.
“That’s no longer the debate,” he said. “Now, companies want someone from another industry to bring in new thinking.”

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SMALL BUSINESS PLAYBOOK 2022
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The pandemic created challenges for small businesses that federal programs aren’t well-equipped to handle.
There will be more economic turmoil ahead, and Congress needs to upgrade the SBA in the first reauthorization of the agency in over two decades.
Main Street is struggling to hire workers, access capital, support employee child-care and win government contracts, all of which Congress can help fix, writes Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

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The U.S. economy is going through one of the most difficult periods I’ve seen in my 40-year career. Inflation, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions — all of them are hitting big business hard and small businesses even harder.
And so this week, at Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses summit in Washington, D.C., I’ll be joining leaders from across the country to call for action. The pandemic created a slew of new challenges for small businesses, but the federal programs they rely on aren’t well-equipped to help. It’s time to give those programs an upgrade so small businesses have the tools they need to navigate the turmoil ahead.

And rather than pass these reforms one by one, Congress should put them together in a single legislative package: the first reauthorization of the Small Business Administration (SBA) in over 20 years.
Now, it’s true small businesses got a lot of help during the early days of the pandemic. It was only last year that Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, which provided grants and loans to millions of small businesses so they could keep their doors open and their employees on their payrolls.
But now that the economy is running hot, the recovery is in danger. According to a recent survey of 1,533 graduates of Goldman Sachs’ business education program, 10,000 Small Businesses, 93 percent are concerned that the United States will enter a recession within the next year. Eighty-nine percent of small business owners say economic trends like inflation, supply chain issues, and workforce challenges are having a negative effect on their business. Eighty percent say inflationary pressures have risen in the last three months and 75 percent say inflation is hurting their businesses’ financial health.

David Solomon, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs & Co., speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, April 29, 2019.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

We already have a wide range of federal programs designed to help, but they need to be reformed to address the challenges ahead. Congress can lend a hand by taking action on the following four issues. 
First, small businesses are struggling to find and keep good workers. Lawmakers should consider new programs to help small business compete with big business to retain and develop talent. For example, Congress could enhance paid leave programs and create new tax credits to support small businesses’ hiring and retention efforts.

Second, the pandemic not only increased the need for capital but also starkly exposed gaps in credit markets, especially for Black-owned small businesses. According to Goldman Sachs survey data, 48 percent of Black small business owners say they expect to take out a loan or line of credit for their business in 2022 — yet just 19% are “very confident” in their businesses’ ability to access capital. And so Congress should strengthen the capacity of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to provide more credit to small businesses in underserved communities. 
Third, child care is one of the most significant economic vulnerabilities highlighted by the pandemic. According to Goldman Sachs survey data, 80 percent of small business owners support Congress increasing access to affordable child care. Congress could help by expanding and enhancing programs designed to lower the cost of child care and increasing access in what are known as “childcare deserts” across the country. 
Fourth, the barriers to entry for small businesses looking to win contracts with the federal government are too high. From 2010 to 2019, the number of small businesses providing common products and services to the federal government shrank by 38 percent. Even more alarming, the number of new small-business entrants into the federal procurement marketplace fell by 79 percent.
The federal government already has goals for the share of contracts awarded to various types of small businesses, including those owned by women and those located in historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones). Yet the women-owned small businesses federal contracting goal has been met just twice since it was established in 1994 and the HUBZone goal has never been met.
A modernized SBA could help set things right. Congress should level the playing field by streamlining processes and widening the scope of procurement opportunities, particularly for minority- and women-owned small businesses.
All of these reforms would go a long way toward making small businesses as resilient and tenacious as ever. Despite the challenges they face, 65% of small business owners remain optimistic about the financial trajectory of their business this year. With a modernized SBA, and other efforts from policymakers, Congress can help ensure that small businesses remain pillars of our economy and local communities.
The path ahead will be bumpy, no doubt, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you should never bet against America. It’s our entrepreneurial spirit that drives the most resilient economy in the world. And if the public and private sector work together, we can make sure small business owners have the tools they need to keep the economy on course. 
—By David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs More