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Travelers should prepare for potential flight disruptions this holiday weekend as the government shutdown continues.
Shortages of air traffic controllers have delayed flights at some U.S. airports this week, including Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee.
During a federal government shutdown, “essential” workers such as air traffic controllers and TSA agents worth without pay.

The Hollywood Burbank Airport air traffic control tower stands in Burbank, California, on Oct. 6, 2025.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Travelers should prepare for potential flight disruptions this holiday weekend as the government shutdown continues, a group representing the largest U.S. airlines said Friday.
Air traffic controller shortages this week delayed flights at some U.S. airports, including in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee.

“It is safe to fly, but ATC staffing shortages strain the system and cause flights to be spaced out, slowing down everything. In some cases, flights may be delayed or even cancelled,” said Airlines for America, whose members include Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and others.
Bad weather could also snarl travel over the long weekend. The National Weather Service on Friday issued a flood watch for New York, Long Island, and parts of Connecticut and New Jersey from an expected storm.
During a federal government shutdown, “essential” workers such as air traffic controllers and TSA agents worth without pay, while many other employees are placed on furlough.
A more than monthlong shutdown starting in late 2018 ended hours after a shortage of air traffic controllers snarled air travel in the New York area.
Absences of air traffic controllers rose this week as the current shutdown stretched into its second week, Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, reiterated to staff on Friday.

“Air traffic controllers are still required to report to work and carry out their critical duties. The safety and efficiency of our airspace depend on them,” he said in a note to employees, which was seen by CNBC.
Tuesday will mark the first partial paycheck for air traffic controllers, and Oct. 28 would be the first suspended payday, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the controllers’ union, said on Friday.
The union said it plans to start informational leafleting on Tuesday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport about the effects of the shutdown on controllers. Similar events are scheduled at other airports in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Philadelphia.
“Participating air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals plan to engage with travelers to explain how the government shutdown introduces unnecessary risk to the National Airspace System (NAS) and is detrimental to efficiency,” the union said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian earlier this week told CNBC that the carrier has so far not seen “any impacts at all” to its operation because of the shutdown. However, he said that could change if it continued for another roughly 10 days.
On Friday, close to 3,700 U.S. flights were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware, below the average daily rate of about 4,100 for U.S. airlines so far this year.

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A U.S. bankruptcy court approved a $475 million lifeline for Spirit and a $150 million injection from one of its biggest aircraft lessors.
Spirit last week unveiled that it had secured debtor-in-possession financing, a lifeline that allows bankrupt companies to keep operating.
Spirit filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August for the second time in a year.

A Spirit Airlines flight arrives at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 18, 2025.
Quinn Glabicki | Reuters

Spirit Airlines won approval for a $475 million lifeline and a $150 million payment from its biggest aircraft lessor in court on Friday, as the struggling budget airline races to stabilize itself after its second bankruptcy since November.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the $475 million in debtor-in-possession financing, a lifeline that bankrupt companies can use to continue operating, along with $150 million from AerCap and the rejection of 27 airplane leases. Spirit said on Friday that $200 million would be immediately available for the carrier.

Spirit has been cutting dozens of routes, announced plans to slash its fleet, and last month said it would furlough about one third of its flight attendants to cut costs. The airline is in talks with its pilots’ union and is seeking about $100 million in cuts from that group.
“We are pleased to have reached another significant milestone in our restructuring, which represents continued progress toward securing a successful future for Spirit,” Spirit CEO Dave Davis said in a news release Friday.
Spirit’s problems piled up in recent years: An engine recall, a failed acquisition by JetBlue, a jump in labor and other costs, and a shift in consumer tastes for more upmarket offerings.
Spirit has spent more than a year trying to offer travelers roomier seats and other fare packages beyond the cheap tickets and a la carte add-ons like seat selection and cabin baggage that it’s been known for for years.

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday the WNBA could be next to play games in China. 
Silver spoke exclusively with CNBC courtside from the first of two NBA games in Macao, marking the league’s return to China after six years.
The NBA announced a new collaboration with the Chinese Basketball Association to develop elite Chinese players, coaches and referees.

MACAO — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday the WNBA could be next to play games in China. 
Silver spoke exclusively with CNBC courtside from the first of two NBA games in Macao. 

“We have to get through a new collective bargaining agreement with our players,” he said. “But once we do, there’s so much interest in women’s basketball here, I think we’d love to bring a WNBA game to Macao or to mainland China.” 
The games this weekend mark the NBA’s return to China after a six-year hiatus. The league is actively trying to grow its footprint in its No. 2 market, where roughly 425 million Chinese follow NBA league, team and player accounts on social media, according to league data.
Silver said his focus now is growing talent in the country. The league announced a partnership Friday with the Chinese Basketball Association to help support the development of elite Chinese players, coaches and referees. 
Sixteen Chinese players have played in the NBA and WNBA, according to the league. 
“Let’s do more to develop the game here, really at the youth level,” Silver said. “If they have Chinese players in the NBA, that takes interest to a whole another level.”

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More than half of moneyed business owners are looking to move to another country, according to a new survey by HSBC.
Tax savings were one of the least-cited reasons to move, with entrepreneurs more likely to cite personal safety or expanding their business as motivations.
Singapore was the most popular destination, while the U.S. came in fifth.

The Merlion statue in the central business district of Singapore, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Lionel Ng | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Moneyed entrepreneurs are looking to move, but not necessarily for the reasons you would expect, according to a new survey by HSBC.

The bank polled 2,939 business owners with at least $2 million in investible assets or a total net worth of $20 million during April and May of this year. A whopping 57% reported they were considering adding a new residence over the next 12 months, up from 55% in last year’s survey. Wanderlust is greater among Gen Z entrepreneurs, with just over three-quarters in that cohort reporting they were considering a move.
When asked about their reasons for moving to a new country, only a third of all respondents cited tax efficiency as a motivator. Tax savings ranked eighth overall behind other factors such as improved security and safety (47%) and better education opportunities (52%). Respondents to the survey could select multiple options. The most popular motives at 67% each were to expand their business to new markets or to gain access to new investment opportunities. The desire for a better quality of life came in a close third at 63%.
Taxes, the report said, “create acres of news coverage, but among the majority of our entrepreneurs, this does not appear to be the deciding factor about where to live.”
The report comes as a wealth tax proposal has gained traction in France and amid fears that recent U.K. tax changes will cause a wealth exodus.

A relatively small proportion of U.S. respondents to the HSBC survey cited interest in moving, but those who did were most likely to show interest in experiencing a new culture, accounting for 72% versus the global average of 57% and an average of 61% for ultra-high-net-worth individuals worth at least $100 million. According to the report, French entrepreneurs “are most content to enjoy their own culture” as only 39% indicated interest in moving.

Respondents were most likely to cite Singapore (12%) or the UK (10%) as potential destinations, with Japan and Switzerland tied at 9%. Despite the survey being conducted in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement in early April, the U.S. was cited by 8% of respondents, the same percentage as last year. However, the U.S. came in fifth in terms of most-desired locations for moving after tying for second place last year.
This year’s report noted that Japan has gained traction with Asian entrepreneurs.

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Switzerland was the only country where attaining a better quality of life was a bigger draw (57%) than accessing investment opportunities (49%) or expanding a business (48%). It was also the only hotspot other than Japan where experiencing a new culture ranked higher than educational opportunities.
While entrepreneurs are more likely to consider moving for business reasons, they were more likely to cite worries about adjusting to a new environment (40%) than about reestablishing their business operations (36%). More

Morgan Stanley on Friday told its financial advisors that the firm was broadening access to crypto investments to all clients and allowing such investments in any type of account, including retirement accounts, CNBC has learned.
Starting Oct. 15, advisors will be able to pitch crypto funds to any client. Previously, the option was limited to those with an aggressive risk tolerance and at least $1.5 million in assets.
Morgan Stanley will rely on an automated monitoring process to make sure that clients aren’t overly concentrated in the volatile asset class

Morgan Stanley’s office in Canary Wharf financial district on Jan. 30, 2025 in London, UK.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images

Morgan Stanley on Friday told its financial advisors that the firm was broadening access to crypto investments to all clients and allowing such investments in any type of account, including retirement accounts, CNBC has learned.
Starting Oct. 15, advisors will be able to pitch crypto funds to any client. Previously, the option was limited to those with an aggressive risk tolerance and at least $1.5 million in assets who wanted crypto in a taxable brokerage account.  

The move marks the latest expansion of access to crypto at the world’s largest wealth management firm after the U.S. government’s stance toward the nascent asset class flipped with the election of President Donald Trump. Last month, Morgan Stanley said it would soon enable trading of bitcoin, ether and solana at its E-Trade subsidiary.
Over the past two decades, Morgan Stanley has become an industry juggernaut, amassing $8.2 trillion in client assets across its wealth and investment management operations. In recent years, the bank has repeatedly shown it is keen to defend its position amid the rise of platforms including Coinbase and Robinhood.
As Morgan Stanley drops its eligibility requirements for crypto funds, it will rely on an automated monitoring process to make sure that clients aren’t overly concentrated in the volatile asset class, said people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified speaking about internal policy.
The bank’s global investment committee recently issued a model that recommended a maximum initial allocation to crypto of up to 4%, depending on goals ranging from “wealth conservation” to “opportunistic growth.”
The committee “considers cryptocurrency as a speculative and increasingly popular asset class that many investors, but not all, will seek to explore,” Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer for wealth management at the firm, said in the Oct. 1 report.

As of now, advisors are still limited to pitching bitcoin funds from BlackRock and Fidelity, but Morgan Stanley is watching the industry for possible additions to those offerings, including other types of crypto, according to the people familiar.
Clients can ask to be placed into any listed crypto exchange-traded product, they added. More

There are now an estimated 241,700 individuals with crypto holdings worth $1 million or more, up 40% from last year, according to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.
Bitcoin’s price has more than doubled over the past year, as the dollar falls and concerns grow over deficits and fiscal spending.
A group of economists who analyzed crypto wallets sheds light on some common characteristics and overall spending.

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
The price surge in bitcoin helped created another 70,000 new crypto millionaires over the past year, adding hundreds of billions of dollars in potential spending to the economy, according to new studies.

There are now an estimated 241,700 individuals with crypto holdings worth $1 million or more, up 40% from last year, according to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. There are 450 crypto centimillionaires, or those with crypto holdings of $100 million or more, and 36 crypto billionaires, according to the report.
Bitcoin’s price has more than doubled over the past year, as the dollar falls and concerns grow over deficits and fiscal spending. More friendly regulation in the U.S. and wider adoption by investors and traditional financial services companies has also increased demand. On Monday, bitcoin topped $125,000 for the first time before settling back down to around $122,000. 
The total market cap of the world’s cryptocurrencies has soared to over $4.3 trillion, adding $2 trillion in paper wealth over the past three years. While still small relative to the recent stock market gains – with Nvidia itself worth over $4 trillion – the crypto boom has created substantial wealth for millennials and the younger investors who were early investors in crypto.
“Bitcoin is becoming the foundation of a parallel financial system, where it is not merely an investment for speculation on fiat price appreciation, but the base currency for accumulating wealth,” said Philipp Baumann, founder of Z22 Technologies, a crypto trading firm.
The new class of crypto wealthy is so recent that reliable research on their spending and investing habits remains scarce. But a new paper by a group of economists who analyzed crypto wallets sheds light on some common characteristics and overall spending.

The study, by Brigham Young University professors Darren Aiello, Mark Johnson and Jason Kotter, along with Scott Baker at Northwestern University, Tetyana Balyuk at Emory University and Marco Di Maggio at Imperial College London, looked at crypto investors based on transfers to and from crypto exchanges.
They found that crypto investors spent roughly 9.7 cents for every dollar in added crypto wealth. This ratio, known as the marginal propensity to spend, was more than 2 times the level typically found for gains in the stock market or home values. Since crypto investors tend to be younger, they also tend to spend more of their wealth gains compared to older investors.
The report’s authors estimate that the added wealth generated by crypto gains accounted for $145 billion in additional spending in 2024, or about 0.7% of total U.S. consumption.
Crypto declines, however, have the reverse effect.
“While the massive rise in crypto wealth over the past decade has likely contributed positively to economic growth through consumption spillovers, this symmetry suggests that major crypto crashes could exert significant negative pressure on the economy as investors cut consumption expenditures,” according to the study.
The authors say crypto investors tend to fall into two broad categories – casual crypto investors, who have a relatively small portion of their investments in crypto, and the “all-in” investors, who allocate 100% of their investments in crypto. The more diversified crypto investors tend to spend more of their gains. The “all-in” investors rarely change their spending, since they have “strong convictions” about crypto’s future and rarely sell.

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When it comes to their spending, the crypto wealthy who load up on Lamborghinis and Rolexes appear to be more of a high-profile exception than the rule. The study said most of the consumption is on restaurants, entertainment and general merchandise.
An earlier study from the group found that real estate is highly popular among the crypto wealthy. The research looked at home prices in counties with large crypto populations versus counties with low crypto populations. The study found that when bitcoin spiked, home prices grew 0.46% faster in the crypto-heavy counties.
“We find that increases in crypto wealth cause significant house price growth,” according to the study.
Bitcoin’s current boom may not lead to a sudden flood of spending, however. Tad Smith, the former CEO of Sotheby’s and now partner at 50T Funds, a growth equity firm focused on digital assets, said many wealthy crypto investors are holding on to their bitcoin and other tokens expecting a further run-up in price.
“They want to be fully invested because this is the moment they’ve been waiting for,” Smith said. “For them, this is not the time to sell.”
Smith said that while some longtime mega-holders of bitcoin, known as “whales,” may be occasionally cashing in a small portion of their holdings in the current price run-up, the vast majority of committed crypto investors are pouring even more money into the asset class.
Over the longer term, Smith said that as crypto investors get older and start families, more of their spending will go to real estate rather than flashy cars or watches.
“In the last big cycle, they were younger,” Smith said. “Now many of them have kids, and they have a growing family to think about. So their lifestyle choices are different.”
The spending of the crypto wealthy is also likely to accelerate as crypto-backed lending products become more acceptable. Zac Prince, head of GalaxyOne, the new trading and finance platform of Galaxy Digital, said buying a house has been difficult for many wealthy crypto investors because of their crypto collateral.
“Today if you want to borrow against your crypto, there are relatively limited options,” he said. “I’ve heard countless horror stories from people who have millions of dollars in crypto and they want to buy a house, but they can’t get approved for a mortgage by traditional bank lenders.”
But that tide may be turning. Bill Pulte, the FHFA director, issued a directive to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider crypto currency assets in their underwriting guidelines for mortgage loans.
Prince said that as lenders allow more borrowing by the crypto wealthy, their spending will increase, since they won’t have to sell their positions for liquidity.
“The strategy of ‘buy borrow die’ has been around for a long time,” he said. “The problem is crypto investors haven’t been able to access borrowing.” More

The NBA returns to China after a six-year hiatus, marking a pivotal moment in rebuilding its relationship with its second-largest market.
The league is investing heavily in infrastructure and community outreach in China, including retail expansion, youth clinics and refurbished courts.
Players and teams are curating local content to grow their presence, with stars like Jalen Brunson actively connecting with Chinese audiences.

Michael Porter Jr. #17 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots the ball during practice and media availability as part of 2025 NBA Global Games China at Venetian Arena on October 9, 2025 in Macao, China.
Ryan Stetz | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

MACAO — The National Basketball Association returns to China for the first of two Macao games on Friday, and the impact extends beyond the preseason.
The weekend marks a major milestone for the NBA, as years of rebuilding its relationship with its second-largest market culminate with the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets facing off in the Venetian Arena here. For the NBA, it could mean unlocking future growth in China as television viewership declines in the U.S.

The NBA’s return to China comes after a six-year hiatus following 2019 comments by Daryl Morey, then-Houston Rockets general manager, voicing support for Hong Kong protestors and setting off an international crisis. For the next three years, the league was largely absent from Chinese airwaves in China. Nearly every Chinese sponsor cut ties with the NBA.
But the NBA’s history in China dates back to the 1970s. Since 1979, the NBA and USA basketball have played a total of 48 games in China, according to NBA data. Demand for the 2025 Macao games, set for Friday and Sunday, was high: At the upper end, tickets were going for more than $3,000.
And there are signs of progress off the court, too.
The league on Thursday announced a renewed partnership with Alibaba, making the tech company’s cloud unit the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China. The partnership already included a dedicated NBA section across Alibaba platforms that allow fans in China to engage in content or shop for NBA merchandise.
Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai owns the Nets.

The NBA is hoping to tap into basketball fans among China’s 1.4 billion-person population as the league grapples with cord-cutting and changing viewership habits at home. Last season, television viewership dipped.
Meanwhile, in China, the NBA has won a massive fan base. It’s the most-followed sports league on social media, according to the league, with 425 million followers across league, team and player platforms. To put that number in perspective, that’s more than the entire population of the United States.
The league has also been investing in infrastructure in China. It now has four flagship stores, 45 NBA kids stores, seven NBA e-commerce flagship stores and more than 5,000 partner retail stores across the country.
“We’ve created a lot of fan experiences here, and the goal is to really make something special where the fans of the NBA in Asia and China can really get a true taste of what the NBA has to offer,” said Patrick Dumont, Dallas Mavericks owner and Las Vegas Sands president, who was an architect of the NBA’s return to China. Las Vegas Sands owns the Venetian in Macao, where the two preseason games will be played.

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To raise awareness and give back to the local communities, the league has hosted more than 140 community outreach events and built 100 spaces for children and family to learn, live and play in China since 2004. More than 400 current and former NBA players have participated in this program.
This week, the Nets are hosting 13 youth clinics across Hong Kong and Macao, in addition to a basketball court refurbishment project in Hong Kong.
It’s not just at the league level where professional basketball is tapping into China’s potential. At least seven NBA teams and 10 individual players are working with East Goes Global, a marketing and consulting firm that bridges the western brands with Chinese audiences.
“We’re able to localize a ton of their western-facing content, creating new, unique content, even showing up to a lot of the team’s media days to shoot China specific content,” said Andrew Spalter, founder and CEO of the company.
East Goes Global, run by brothers Andrew and Matthew Spalter, also works directly with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson to grow his international profile in China.
“Jalen is actively speaking to his Chinese audience more so than most athletes have ever done in the past. He’s trying to learn calligraphy, he’s eating Chinese foods, he’s collaborating with Chinese influencers and celebrities,” said Matthew Spalter, chief operating officer at East Goes Global.
Dumont said the Macao games are part of a multi-year deal and that executives are already thinking about next year.
“I think it’s the classic win, win, win,” he said. “It’s great for the NBA because it gets to bring its best product, top teams, real games, real experiences, and it allows local fans who maybe don’t have the ability to get to the U.S. to get to experience the NBA and see basketball played at the highest level.” More

Levi Strauss is raising its prices, which is helping the denim maker post better than expected profits.
The jeans company said its decision to increase the price of certain items has not led to a drop in demand.
Levi beat Wall Street’s quarterly expectations on the top and bottom lines and raised its full-year guidance.

A pedestrian walk by sign is posted in front of Levi Strauss headquarters on Oct. 9, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Levi Strauss’s profits are growing more than Wall Street expected despite higher costs from tariffs, thanks to targeted price increases and a shift away from wholesalers, the company said Thursday as it reported fiscal third quarter results. 
During the quarter, Levi’s gross margin grew 1.1 percentage points to 61.7%, up from 60.6% in the year-ago period and better than the 60.7% analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 

In an interview with CNBC, CEO Michelle Gass said the company has started to raise the price of some of its jeans and clothes and will hike more prices in the U.S. and other markets next year.
“As we’ve been taking these targeted actions, we’ve not seen an impact to demand. We’ll of course, stay very, very close to that but … we’re taking a surgical, thoughtful approach on any pricing,” said Gass. “We know that we’re a brand that is known for great quality and value. We don’t take that for granted. We know we have to earn that every day.” 
Finance chief Harmit Singh added demand is “really strong” and most of the company’s revenue growth is not coming from price increases.
Price hikes are helping Levi’s margins, but the company is also discounting less and selling more through its own website and stores instead of wholesalers, which comes at a higher margin. 
The denim maker said its strong results led it to raise its full-year outlook, but added it’s still taking a “prudent” and “conservative” look at the rest of the year as it navigates ongoing macroeconomic volatility, Singh said. 

Here’s how Levi’s performed during the quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 34 cents adjusted vs. 31 cents expected
Revenue: $1.54 billion vs. $1.50 billion expected

Though Levi’s posted better-than-expected results, shares dropped more than 6% in extended trading. Its stock had climbed about 42% this year through Thursday’s close.
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Aug. 31 was $218 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with $20.7 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items related to impairment and restructuring charges, among other expenses, Levi posted adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share. 
Sales rose to $1.54 billion, up 7% from $1.44 billion a year earlier.
Levi’s is now expecting its full year sales to rise 3%, up from its prior guidance of between 1% and 2% growth, far exceeding expectations of a 2.9% decline, according to LSEG. 
It’s expecting its full year adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.27 and $1.32, up from a prior range of between $1.25 and $1.30. At the high end, the outlook is in line with Wall Street estimates of $1.31 per share, according to LSEG. 
The jeans company said it’s expecting its operating margin to be between 11.4% and 11.6%, which is also in line with expectations of 11.6%, according to StreetAccount. It’s now expecting its gross margin to rise by 1 percentage point, which is the outlook Levi’s delivered earlier this year before it factored tariffs into its forecast. At the time, its guidance didn’t reflect any tariff impact. The following quarter, it cut its gross margin guidance by 0.2 percentage points because of the new duties. 
Now, Levi’s is returning to that original outlook, as long as U.S. tariffs on imports from China remain at 30% and rest-of-world duties stay at 20% for the remainder of the year. 
Under the direction of Gass, Levi’s has been working to grow its direct sales, expand beyond jeans and win over more female shoppers – strategies that helped the business grow both its top and bottom lines. 
During the quarter, direct-to-consumer revenue, or sales from Levi’s website and stores, grew 11%, driven by strength in the U.S. market, while women’s was up 9%. Levi’s is benefiting from strong momentum in the denim category, but the company is growing its assortment outside of just jeans, which gives it a hedge if fashion trends change.
Other types of clothes beyond denim bottoms, including tops, now make up nearly 40% of the business. The company’s efforts to sell more tops is also resonating with consumers, as that category was up 9% during the quarter. More