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To get a leg up in the competitive world of college admissions, there’s almost no limit to what some families will spend on private consultants for their children.
At Command Education in New York, for example, families pay $120,000 a year for counseling services through high school, not including SAT or ACT test prep. By graduation, they’ve spent roughly half a million dollars.

Ivy League architecture at Princeton University.
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At the nation’s top schools, including many in the Ivy League, acceptance rates hover near all-time lows.
“College admissions only ever gets more competitive and there’s a lot of stress from families about the stakes and how to get in,” said Thomas Howell, the founder of Forum Education, a New-York based tutoring company.

For some families, getting their child into a top school is an investment, and to that end there is almost no limit to what they will spend on tutors, college counselors and test prep.

‘Top 20% or bust’

Meanwhile, as the sticker price at some private colleges nears six figures a year, some students have opted for less expensive public schools or alternatives to a degree altogether. For those willing to pay for a four-year, private college, it should be worthwhile, the sentiment often goes.
“The value proposition of higher education is splitting,” Howell said, “it’s either a top school or a real value.”
For this crop of college applicants, it’s “top 20% or bust,” he added.
As a result, universities in the so-called “Ivy Plus” are experiencing a record-breaking increase in applications, according to a report by the Common Application.

The “Ivy Plus” is a group that generally includes the eight private colleges that comprise the Ivy League — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale — plus the University of Chicago, Duke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford.
To get into this elite group of schools, many families look for outside help to get a leg up.
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“The consensus is it’s only worth going to college if it’s a life changing college,” said Hafeez Lakhani, founder and president of Lakhani Coaching in New York. 
“What hasn’t changed is people with enormous resources willing to invest over $100,000, which is about 20% of our clients,” Lakhani said. “This might be the single largest thing they’ve spent on other than a car.”
Lakhani Coaching’s clients spend an average of $58,000 on counseling, but some have spent as much as $800,000 over the course of several years, according to Lakhani.
At that price point, students receive “essentially a ‘SEAL-team’ level tutor through almost every class,” he said. Lakhani was equating the academic support with the highest level of organization and execution that epitomizes the training of a Navy Seal, the special operation force that stands for sea, air and land teams.
Lakhani charges $1,600 an hour for his services, the top rate at his company, and still, families often choose to work with him over the less senior coaches there, some of whom charge about $290 an hour, he said.
Even if he charged more, that dynamic likely would not change, he added.
Parents often say, “it’s worth the investment,” he added. “That word investment comes up over and over again.”

Christopher Rim, founder and CEO of college consulting firm Command Education.
Courtesy: Christopher Rim

At Command Education in New York, counselors meet with students weekly starting in eight or ninth grade. Families are charged $120,000 per year, not including the Standards Admission Test (SAT) or American College Test (ACT) test prep. By graduation, they’ve spent roughly half a million dollars.
Command caps the clientele at 200 students worldwide, mostly on a first-come, first-served basis, although they will turn students away if they don’t think they can deliver the desired outcome, according to Christopher Rim, the founder and CEO.
“At the end of the day, results are most important,” he said.

‘This is not a neighborhood tutor’

Ten years ago, Howell started Forum Education in New York City, but his business ballooned since the pandemic, he said.
“Two things happened after Covid, the normal learning environment disintegrated, there was more time in the day for tutoring — and a greater need for it,” Howell said.
In the face of increased demand, rates are also rising, to the tune of roughly 30% a year, he said.
His tutors now charge up to $1,250 an hour for academic help, which does not include college counseling.
The vast majority of students come from New York City private schools with household incomes over $1,500,000 according to Howell’s account. Last year, these families spent around $38,0000, on average, on tutoring, often in addition to a college consultant.
“This is not a neighborhood tutor picking up a side gig,” Howell said. These academic tutors work full-time in the field and make well into the six-figures, he said, and two tutors on his staff earned more than $1,000,000 last year.
To be sure, the business of college counseling is growing year after year, driven in part by increased concerns about college’s return on investment, which is making these specialists a worthwhile expense, according to IBISWorld, a market research firm. In 2024, total revenue reached $3 billion.

‘An imperfect meritocracy’

Of course, many high schools have tutors and counselors who serve the same purpose at no cost at all.
However, depending on the number of students in a class, it can be difficult to get personalized advice about college planning.
Plus, the number of counselors available to students has been steadily dwindling for years. Currently, the national student-to-counselor ratio is 405 to 1, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Those that can afford outside help do have an advantage.
Children from families in the top 1% are more than twice as likely to attend an “Ivy Plus” college as those from middle-class families with comparable SAT or ACT scores, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

“Higher education is an imperfect meritocracy,” Lakhani said.
However, the wealthiest students hailing form the country’s top private schools are primarily competing amongst themselves as schools look to build a diversified class.
“When you are applying from an affluent family, the people you are competing against are people in a similar bucket,” Lakhani said.
The irony is most don’t want to admit that they’ve received private help, even if they are fortunate enough to get it.
“Every parent wants to say their child does it on their own,” Rim said.

Is an Ivy League degree worth it?

A study by Harvard University-based non-partisan, non-profit research group Opportunity Insights compared the estimated future income of waitlisted students who ultimately attended Ivy League schools with those who went to public universities instead.
In the end, the group of Harvard University- and Brown University-based economists found that attending an Ivy League college has a “statistically insignificant impact” on earnings.
However, there are other advantages beyond income.
For instance, attending a college in the “Ivy-plus” category rather than a highly selective public institution nearly doubles the chances of attending an elite graduate school and triples the chances of working at a prestigious firm, according to Opportunity Insights.
Leadership positions are disproportionately held by graduates of a few highly selective private colleges, the Opportunity Insights report found. 
Further, it increases students’ chances of ultimately reaching the top 1% of the earnings distribution by 60%.
“Highly selective private colleges serve as gateways to the upper echelons of society,” the researchers said.
“Because these colleges currently admit students from high-income families at substantially higher rates than students from lower-income families with comparable academic credentials, they perpetuate privilege,” they added.
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As a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment goes into effect in 2025, millions of beneficiaries will see bigger monthly checks.
High earners who consistently have maximum earnings over the course of their careers typically get the highest benefits.
But even beneficiaries with moderate earnings can benefit by waiting to claim until age 70, experts say.

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Millions of Social Security beneficiaries will benefit from the 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for 2025, set to take effect in January.
With that increase, the maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age will jump to $4,018 per month, up from $3,822 per month this year, according to the Social Security Administration.

But while those maximum benefits will see a $196 monthly increase, retirement benefits will go up about $50 per month on average, according to the agency.
The average monthly benefit for retired workers is expected to increase to $1,976 per month in 2025, a $49 increase from $1,927 per month as of this year, according to the Social Security Administration.

Who gets maximum Social Security benefits?

The highest Social Security benefits generally go to people who have had maximum earnings their entire working career, according to Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
That cohort generally includes a “very small number of people,” he said.
Since Social Security retirement benefits are calculated based on the highest 35 years of earnings, workers need to consistently have wages up to that threshold to earn the maximum retirement benefit.

“Very few people start out at age 21 earning the maximum level,” Van de Water said.

Workers contribute payroll taxes to Social Security up to what is known as a taxable maximum.
In 2024, a 6.2% tax paid by both workers and employers — or 12.4% for self-employed workers — applies to up to $168,600 in earnings. In 2025, that will go up to $176,100.
Notably, that limit applies only to wages that are subject to federal payroll taxes. If a wealthy person has other sources of income, for example from investments that do not require payroll tax contributions, that will not affect the size of their Social Security benefits, said Jim Blair, vice president of Premier Social Security Consulting and a former Social Security administrator.

How can you increase your Social Security benefits?   

There are beneficiaries who are receiving Social Security checks amounting to more than $4,000 per month, and they usually have waited to claim until age 70, according to Blair.
“Technically, waiting until 70 gets you the most amount of Social Security benefits,” Blair said.
By claiming retirement benefits at the earliest possible age, at 62, beneficiaries receive permanently reduced benefits.
At full retirement age — either 66 or 67, depending on date of birth — retirees receive 100% of the benefits they have earned.
By waiting from full retirement age up to age 70, beneficiaries stand to receive an 8% benefit boost per year.
By waiting from age 62 to 70, beneficiaries may see a 77% increase in benefits.
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However, because everyone’s circumstances are different, it may not always make sense to wait until the highest possible claiming age, Blair said.
Prospective beneficiaries need to evaluate not only how their claiming decision will affect them individually, but also their spouse and any dependents, he said.
“You have to look at your own situation before you apply,” Blair said.
Also, it is important for prospective beneficiaries to create an online My Social Security account to review their benefit statements, he said. That will show estimates of future benefits and the earnings history the agency has on record.
Since that earnings information is used to calculate benefits, individuals should double-check that information to make sure it is correct, Blair said. If it is not, they should contact the Social Security Administration to fix it.

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Starting in 2025, certain heirs with inherited individual retirement accounts must take yearly required withdrawals or face a penalty.
The rule applies to most non-spousal beneficiaries if the original account owner had reached their required minimum distribution age before death.
But some heirs should consider taking funds out sooner, depending on their situation, even if annual withdrawals aren’t required, experts say.

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What to know about the 10-year rule

Before the Secure Act of 2019, heirs could “stretch” inherited IRA withdrawals over their lifetime, which helped reduce yearly taxes.
But certain accounts inherited since 2020 are subject to the “10-year rule,” meaning IRAs must be empty by the 10th year following the original account owner’s death. The rule applies to heirs who are not a spouse, minor child, disabled, chronically ill or certain trusts.

Since then, there’s been confusion about whether the heirs subject to the 10-year rule needed to take yearly withdrawals, known as required minimum distributions, or RMDs.

“You have a multi-dimensional matrix of outcomes for different inherited IRAs,” Dickson said. It’s important to understand how these rules impact your distribution strategy, he added.
After years of waived penalties, the IRS in July confirmed certain heirs will need to begin yearly RMDs from inherited accounts starting in 2025. The rule applies if the original account owner had reached their RMD age before death.
If you miss yearly RMDs or don’t take enough, there is a 25% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn. But it’s possible to reduce the penalty to 10% if the RMD is “timely corrected” within two years, according to the IRS.

Consider ‘strategic distributions’

If you’re subject to the 10-year rule for your inherited IRA, spreading withdrawals evenly over the 10 years reduces taxes for most heirs, according to research released by Vanguard in June.
However, you should also consider “strategic distributions,” according to certified financial planner Judson Meinhart, director of financial planning at Modera Wealth Management in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“It starts by understanding what your current marginal tax rate is” and how that could change over the 10-year window, he said.

For example, it could make sense to make withdrawals during lower-tax years, such as years of unemployment or early retirement before receiving Social Security payments. 
However, boosting adjusted gross income can trigger other consequences, such as eligibility for college financial aid, income-driven student loan payments or Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for retirees. More

Nearly 2 in 5 cardholders have maxed out or come close to maxing out a credit card, according to a new report.
The growing share of maxed-out borrowers is also an indication of where delinquencies are headed.

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Between higher prices and high interest rates, some Americans have had a hard time keeping up.
As a result, many are using more of their available credit and now, nearly 2 in 5 credit cardholders — 37% — have maxed out or come close to maxing out a credit card since the Federal Reserve began raising rates in March 2022, according to a new report by Bankrate.

Most borrowers who are over extended blame rising prices and a higher cost of living, Bankrate found.
Other reasons cardholders blame for maxing out a credit card or coming close include a job or income loss, an emergency expense, medical costs and too much discretionary spending.
“With limited options to absorb those higher costs, many low-income Americans have had no choice but to take on debt to afford costlier essentials — at a time when credit card rates are near record highs,” Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement.

As prices crept higher, so did credit card balances.
The average balance per consumer now stands at $6,329, up 4.8% year over year, according to the latest credit industry insights report from TransUnion.

At the same time, the average credit card charges more than 20% interest — near an all-time high — and half of cardholders carry debt from month to month, according to another report by Bankrate.  
Carrying a higher balance has a direct impact on your utilization rate, the ratio of debt to total credit, and is one of the factors that can influence your credit score. Higher credit score borrowers typically have both higher limits and lower utilization rates.
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Credit experts generally advise borrowers to keep revolving debt below 30% of their available credit to limit the effect that high balances can have.
As of August, the aggregate credit card utilization rate was more than 21%, according to Bankrate’s analysis of Equifax data.
Still, “if you have five credit cards [with utilization rates around] 20%, you have a lot of debt out there,” said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and the chairman of Debt.com. “People are living a life that they can’t afford right now, and they are putting the balance on credit cards.”

Generation X at risk

More than any other generation, Gen Xers in their 40s and 50s are most likely to have maxed out a credit card or come close in the past two and a half years, according to Bankrate’s report. 
Of Gen Xers, 27% have maxed out their credit cards compared to 23% of millennials and 17% of Baby Boomers. Young adults in Gen Z are the least likely to have maxed out a card, according to the survey, which polled more than 3,500 adults, including 3,015 who are credit cardholders and 1,104 who have either maxed out their credit cards or come close.
Gen X, the so-called “sandwich generation,” must contend with supporting the generations ahead of them and their children at a time when the costs of higher education and health care have never been higher, studies also show.

Potential problems ahead

Cardholders who have maxed out or come close to maxing out their credit cards are also more likely to become delinquent.
Credit card delinquency rates are already higher across the board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and TransUnion both reported.
“Consumers have been measured in taking on additional revolving debt despite the inflationary environment over the past few years, although there has been an uptick in delinquencies in recent months,” said Tom McGee, CEO of ICSC, formerly known as the International Council of Shopping Centers.
A debt is considered delinquent when a borrower misses a full billing cycle without making a payment, or what’s considered 30 days past due. That can damage your credit score and impact the interest rate you’ll pay for credit cards, car loans and mortgages — or whether you’ll get a loan at all.
Some of the best ways to improve your credit standing come down to paying your bills on time every month, and in full, if possible, Dvorkin said. “Understand that if you don’t, then whatever you buy, over time, will end up costing you double.”
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 16: Traders and others work on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) floor in New York City. 
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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at another record, and what’s on the radar for the next session.

Dow record

The Dow set another record close Wednesday, rising 337.28 points
Cisco was the biggest gainer, rising more than 4% after Citi upgraded the stock to a buy rating. CSCO is up over 10% in the last month and closed at its highest since last September.
UnitedHealth was the biggest point contributor to the Dow, rebounding a bit after Tuesday’s post-earnings drop. It was up 2.7%, adding 98 points to the index, but is down 3% in a month
The S&P 500 rose about 0.5%, closing just half a percent off its record from Monday.
The Nasdaq Composite was up roughly 0.3%, 1.6% off its July high
The small-cap Russell 2000 led Wednesday’s gains, up 1.64% and setting its highest close since November 2021. 

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Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2024

Netflix on deck

The streaming giant reports Q3 earnings after the bell on Thursday, as the stock is trading near all-time highs. CNBC’s Julia Boorstin will have a full report on the quarter.
Netflix is up almost 7% in the last three months and has nearly doubled over the past year.
It’s far outpaced other streamers and media companies in that period.
Disney is down 1.75% in three months
Warner Bros. Discovery is up 0.25% over the past three months.
Comcast — which owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC — is up 6.7% in the period.
Roku is up nearly 20% in the past three months.
Spotify is up roughly 25% in that time.

Semis in focus

We get another read on the health of the chip sector and the artificial intelligence trade when Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reports before the bell. CNBC’s Seema Mody will have all the numbers
The world’s largest contract chip maker, which counts Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm among its customers, is up less than 1% over the past three months. However, shares are up 80% this year
Nvidia is up 7.4% in three months
AMD is down 12% in three months
Qualcomm is down 18% in three months
Intel is down 35% in three months
Micron Technology is down 14% in three months
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is down 9.6% in three months
ASML continued its downdraft for a second day, falling another 6.4%. It closed at its lowest since last November and is 38% off its all-time high hit in July

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in 2024

Morgan Stanley’s strong quarter

The investment bank’s shares soared to an all-time high after it beat estimates for third quarter revenue and profit, and the firm saw strength across its businesses.
The 6.5% jump was the stock’s best day since November 2020.
Financial focus now turns to the regional banks, with several names reporting Thursday morning.
KeyCorp is up more than 10% in the last three months.
Truist Financial is up about 5% in three months.
Huntington Bancshares is up 11% in three months.
M&T Bank is up 16% in three months.
The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) was up 1.4% Wednesday and closed at its highest level since March of last year, before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Flying high

United Airlines shares jumped 12% after its earnings report last night – the best performer in the S&P 500.
The stock closed the day at its highest since February 2020 and is up 75% this year
Its strength lifted other airline stocks.
Delta was up nearly 7% Wednesday and is up about 40% in 2024.
American Airlines was up 7% Wednesday but is down 6% year to date.
JetBlue was up almost 3% Wednesday and is up 28% this year.
UAL’s strength helped the S&P Industrial Sector set a record close. 

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Year-to-date performance for United Airlines

Utility players

The utility sector was the best performer in the S&P 500 Wednesday, rising 2%
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) closed at an all-time high, and it’s up about 30% this year
The most recent moves come after Amazon Web Services announced it had signed an agreement with Dominion Energy to explore development of a small modular nuclear reactor
Dominion was up 5% Wednesday and is up around 29% this year
Wednesday’s top utility performer was Vistra Corp, up almost 6%. The stock is also the best performer in the S&P 500 this year, up 252%
Constellation Energy was up 5% Wednesday and 139% this year
AES Corp was up almost 3% Wednesday but down 7% this year

Trump Media jumps

The parent company of the former President’s Truth Social Network rose 15.5%, posting its highest close since late July
Trump Media & Technology Group is up four of the last five trading days and has gained 166% since hitting an all-time low late last month

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Many Americans face a retirement savings shortfall, but setting aside more could get easier for some older workers in 2025.
Enacted in 2022, the Secure Act 2.0 ushered in several retirement system improvements, including higher 401(k) plan catch-up contributions.
Starting in 2025, workers aged 60 to 63 can boost annual 401(k) catch-up contributions to $10,000 — or 150% of the catch-up limit — whichever is greater.

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Many Americans face a retirement savings shortfall. However, setting aside more money could get easier for some older workers in 2025.
Enacted by Congress in 2022, the Secure Act 2.0 ushered in several retirement system improvements, including updates to 401(k) plans, required withdrawals, 529 college savings plans and more.

While some Secure 2.0 changes have already happened, another key change for “max savers,” will begin in 2025, according to Dave Stinnett, Vanguard’s head of strategic retirement consulting.
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Some 4 in 10 American workers are behind in retirement planning and savings, according to a CNBC survey, which polled roughly 6,700 adults in early August.
But changes to 401(k) catch-up contributions — a higher limit for workers age 50 and older — could soon help certain savers, experts say. Here’s what to know.

Higher 401(k) catch-up contributions

Employees can now defer up to $23,000 into 401(k) plans for 2024, with an extra $7,500 for workers age 50 and older.

But starting in 2025, workers aged 60 to 63 can boost annual 401(k) catch-up contributions to $10,000 — or 150% of the catch-up limit — whichever is greater. The IRS hasn’t yet unveiled the catch-up contribution limit for 2025.  
“This can be a great way for people to boost their retirement savings,” said certified financial planner Jamie Bosse, senior advisor at CGN Advisors in Manhattan, Kansas.

An estimated 15% of eligible workers made catch-up contributions in 2023, according to Vanguard’s 2024 How America Saves report.
Those making catch-up contributions tend to be higher earners, Vanguard’s Stinnett explained. But they could still have “real concerns about being able to retire comfortably.”
More than half of 401(k) participants with income above $150,000 and nearly 40% with an account balance of more than $250,000 made catch-up contributions in 2023, the Vanguard report found.

Roth catch-up contributions

Another Secure 2.0 change will remove the upfront tax break on catch-up contributions for higher earners by only allowing the deposits in after-tax Roth accounts.
The change applies to catch-up deposits to 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plans who earned more than $145,000 from a single company the prior year. The amount will adjust for inflation annually. 
However, IRS in August 2023 delayed the implementation of that rule to January 2026. That means workers can still make pretax 401(k) catch-up contributions through 2025, regardless of income. More

Americans tend to overspend during the holiday shopping season and this year will be no different according to forecasts.
With interest rates near an all-time high, leaning on credit cards, or even buy now, pay later, to purchase gifts will come at a high cost if there are missed or late payments.

Americans often splurge on gifts during the holidays.
This year, holiday spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 is expected to increase to a record total of $979.5 billion to $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Even as credit card debt tops $1.14 trillion, holiday shoppers expect to spend, on average, $1,778, up 8% compared to last year, Deloitte’s holiday retail survey found.
Meanwhile, 28% of holiday shoppers still have not paid off the gifts they purchased for their loved ones last year, according to another holiday spending report by NerdWallet. 

How shoppers pay for holiday gifts

Heading into the peak holiday shopping season, 74% of shoppers plan to use credit cards to make their purchases, NerdWallet found.
Another 28% will tap into savings to buy holiday gifts and 16% will lean on buy now, pay later services. NerdWallet polled more than 1,700 adults in September.  
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Buy now, pay later is now one of the fastest-growing categories in consumer finance and is only expected to become more popular in the months ahead, according to the most recent data from Adobe. Adobe forecasts buy now, pay later spending will peak on Cyber Monday with a new single-day record of $993 million.
However, buy now, pay later loans can be especially hard to track, making it easier for more consumers to get in over their heads, some experts have cautioned, even more than credit cards, which are simpler to account for despite sky-high interest rates.

The problem with credit cards and buy now, pay later

Credit cards are one of the most-expensive ways to borrow money. The average credit card charges more than 20% — near an all-time high.
Alternatively, the option to pay in installments can make financial sense, especially at 0%. 
Yet, buy now, pay later loans “are just another form of credit, disguised as something for free,” said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and the chairman of Debt.com.
The more buy now, pay later accounts open at once, the more prone consumers become to overspending, missed or late payments and poor credit history, other research shows.
If a consumer misses a payment, there could be late fees, deferred interest or other penalties, depending on the lender. In some cases, those interest rates can be as high as 30%, rivaling the highest credit card charges. 
“This is just another way for financers to put their hands in the pocket of consumers,” Dvorkin said. “It’s a trojan horse.”
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading in New York City. 
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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated from recent highs, and what’s on the radar for the next session.

Apple

Despite concerns about the new iPhone, Apple hit a new all-time high on Tuesday.
The stock ended the session up more than 1%, closing at $233.85. It hit a high of $237.49 before curtailing its gains for the day.
Apple is up 5% in a month and 35% in six months.

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Apple shares over the past six months

DJT

Trading in Trump Media & Technology Group was wild on Tuesday.
The stock finished down nearly 10%. It is down nearly 4% after hours.
Check out the volume: 89 million shares. That is almost triple the ten-day average.
The stock is up 68% in October. 

Regional banks

The big banks are just about done reporting. Now, the regionals move in.
Citizens Financial, based in Providence, Rhode Island, reports before the bell. The stock has gained 12.5% in the past three months, and it’s up 5.5% in a week. The stock hit a new high on Tuesday.
First Horizon, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, will also report before the bell. First Horizon is down 1% over the past three months. The stock is up 8% in a week and 4.3% from the July high.
The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) hit a new high on Tuesday. The ETF is up 6.7% in a week, and it has gained up 10.3% in three months.
Wells Fargo, by the way, is up 10% in a week. In a rare interview on “Mad Money” Tuesday night, CEO Charles Scharf, who’s been leading a buyback charge, said, “We invest in much as we can inside the company and that’s our first priority.”
Goldman Sachs is up 5.2% in week.
Citigroup is down 4.7% in two days.
JPMorgan Chase is up 5.5% in the past week.
Bank of America is up 5.5% in a week, as well.
Morgan Stanley is up 4.4% in a week. The bank reports on Wednesday morning before the bell, and CEO Ted Pick will be live on CNBC TV in the 10 a.m. hour, Eastern.

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Wells Fargo shares in the past week 

The chips

CSX

The railroad reports after the bell Wednesday.
CSX is up 2.6% in the past three months.
It is 11.5% from the February high, but it’s up 4.8% in a week.
Canadian National Railway is 14% from the March high.
Canadian Pacific is 11% from the March high.
Union Pacific is 5% from the February high.
Norfolk Southern is 3.5% from the March high. Shares are up 4.6% in a week. More