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The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday.
For consumers, this means relief from high borrowing costs — particularly for mortgages, credit cards and auto loans — may be on the way.

People shop at a grocery store on August 14, 2024 in New York City. 
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will lower its benchmark rate by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, paving the way for relief from the high borrowing costs that have hit consumers particularly hard. 
The federal funds rate, which is set by the U.S. central bank, is the interest rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another overnight. Although that’s not the rate consumers pay, the Fed’s moves still affect the borrowing and savings rates they see every day.

Wednesday’s cut sets the federal funds rate at a range of 4.75%-5%.
A series of interest rate hikes starting in March 2022 took the central bank’s benchmark to its highest in more than 22 years, which caused most consumer borrowing costs to skyrocket — and put many households under pressure.
Now, with inflation backing down, “there are reasons to be optimistic,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
However, “one rate cut isn’t a panacea for borrowers grappling with high financing costs and has a minimal impact on the overall household budget,” he said. “What will be more significant is the cumulative effect of a series of interest rate cuts over time.”
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“There are always winners and losers when there is a change in interest rates,” said Stephen Foerster, professor of finance at Ivey Business School in London, Ontario. “In general, lower rates favor borrowers and hurt lenders and savers.”
“It really depends on whether you are a borrower or saver or whether you currently have locked-in borrowing or savings rates,” he said.
From credit cards and mortgage rates to auto loans and savings accounts, here’s a look at how a Fed rate cut could affect your finances in the months ahead.

Credit cards

Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark. Because of the central bank’s rate hike cycle, the average credit card rate rose from 16.34% in March 2022 to more than 20% today — near an all-time high.
Going forward, annual percentage rates will start to come down, but even then, they will only ease off extremely high levels. With only a few cuts on deck for 2024, APRs would still be around 19% in the months ahead, according to McBride.
“Interest rates took the elevator going up, but they’ll be taking the stairs coming down,” he said.
That makes paying down high-cost credit card debt a top priority since “interest rates won’t fall fast enough to bail you out of a tight situation,” McBride said. “Zero percent balance transfer offers remain a great way to turbocharge your credit card debt repayment efforts.”

Mortgage rates

Although 15- and 30-year mortgage rates are fixed, and tied to Treasury yields and the economy, anyone shopping for a new home has lost considerable purchasing power in the last two years, partly because of inflation and the Fed’s policy moves.
But rates are already significantly lower than where they were just a few months ago. Now, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is around 6.3%, according to Bankrate.

Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree, expects mortgage rates will stay somewhere in the 6% to 6.5% range over the coming weeks, with a chance that they’ll even dip below 6%. But it’s unlikely they will return to their pandemic-era lows, he said.
“Though they are falling, mortgage rates nonetheless remain relatively high compared to where they stood through most of the last decade,” he said. “What’s more, home prices remain at or near record highs in many areas.” Despite the Fed’s move, “there are a lot of people who won’t be able to buy until the market becomes cheaper,” Channel said.

Auto loans

Even though auto loans are fixed, higher vehicle prices and high borrowing costs have stretched car buyers “to their financial limits,” according to Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights.
The average rate on a five-year new car loan is now more than 7%, up from 4% when the Fed started raising rates, according to Edmunds. However, rate cuts from the Fed will take some of the edge off the rising cost of financing a car — likely bringing rates below 7% — helped in part by competition between lenders and more incentives in the market.
“Many Americans have been holding off on making vehicle purchases in the hopes that prices and interest rates would come down, or that incentives would make a return,” Caldwell said. “A Fed rate cut wouldn’t necessarily drive all those consumers back into showrooms right away, but it would certainly help nudge holdout car buyers back into more of a spending mood.”

Student loans

Federal student loan rates are also fixed, so most borrowers won’t be immediately affected by a rate cut. However, if you have a private loan, those loans may be fixed or have a variable rate tied to the Treasury bill or other rates, which means once the Fed starts cutting interest rates, the rates on those private student loans will come down over a one- or three-month period, depending on the benchmark, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. 
Eventually, borrowers with existing variable-rate private student loans may be able to refinance into a less expensive fixed-rate loan, he said. But refinancing a federal loan into a private student loan will forgo the safety nets that come with federal loans, such as deferments, forbearances, income-driven repayment and loan forgiveness and discharge options.
Additionally, extending the term of the loan means you ultimately will pay more interest on the balance.

Savings rates

While the central bank has no direct influence on deposit rates, the yields tend to be correlated to changes in the target federal funds rate.
As a result of Fed rate hikes, top-yielding online savings account rates have made significant moves and are now paying more than 5% — the most savers have been able to earn in nearly two decades — up from around 1% in 2022, according to Bankrate.
If you haven’t opened a high-yield savings account or locked in a certificate of deposit yet, you’ve likely already missed the rate peak, according to Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s credit analyst. However, “yields aren’t going to fall off a cliff immediately after the Fed cuts rates,” he said.
Although those rates have likely maxed out, it is still worth your time to make either of those moves now before rates fall even further, he advised.
One-year CDs are now averaging 1.78% but top-yielding CD rates pay more than 5%, according to Bankrate, as good as or better than a high-yield savings account.
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Homeowners shouldn’t expect much of a difference in mortgage rates after the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut in years.
That’s because “a lot of these rate cuts are already priced in,” Chen Zhao, the economic research lead at Redfin, an online real estate brokerage firm, recently told CNBC. 
Here’s how to know it when it’s time to refinance your mortgage, according to experts.

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The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, on Wednesday, its first interest rate cut since March 2020. But homeowners shouldn’t bet on the move as an opportunity to immediately refinance their mortgage.
That’s because “a lot of these rate cuts are already priced in,” Chen Zhao, the economic research lead at Redfin, an online real estate brokerage firm, recently told CNBC. 

While mortgage rates are partly influenced by the Fed’s policy, they are also tied to Treasury yields and the economy. Home loan rates have already started to come down in recent weeks, slightly induced in part by favorable economic data and indications the Fed could cut rates.
As of Thursday, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the U.S. was 6.20%, according to Freddie Mac data via the Fed. That’s down from this year’s peak of 7.22% on May 2.
More from Personal Finance:What homeowners and buyers need to know as first rate cut is on the horizonDon’t expect ‘immediate relief’ from the Federal Reserve’s first rate cutMortgage rates are falling, improving home buying conditions
It can be very difficult to perfectly time a mortgage refinance by looking at mortgage rate activity alone, said Jeff Ostrowski, a housing expert at Bankrate.com.
“It’s almost impossible to figure out what mortgage rates are going to do from week to week or month to month,” Ostrowski said.

Yet there are ways homeowners can determine when a refinance makes the most sense to them, experts say, especially if more rate cuts are slated before the end of the year.
Here’s how to know when it’s time to refinance your mortgage, according to experts.

‘This is going to be a much smaller wave’

Refinance activity increased to 46.7% of total applications during the week ending Sept. 6, up from 46.4% the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
While there has been an increase in refinances as mortgage rates come down, “compared to the massive refinance boom” in 2020 and 2021, “this is going to be a much smaller wave of refinances,” said Ostrowski.
Most homeowners have a mortgage rate below 5%, said Jacob Channel, senior economic analyst at LendingTree.

A refinance will mostly benefit a “small number of people” who bought homes “when rates were at 8%,” said Ostrowski.
Whether it’s smart for homeowners to refinance their mortgage will depend on factors such as their existing borrowing and repayment timeline, experts say.

How to know when it’s time to refinance

If you are thinking about refinancing, look carefully at what’s going on with rates in the market, reach out to lenders and see if doing so now or in the near future makes the most sense for you, Channel said.
“The only person who can decide whether or not refinancing is going to be worth it is you, based on what’s going on in your life,” he said.
Here are three criteria that can help you determine if a refinance makes the most sense to you:
1. You can cut your rate by 50 basis points or more
To know when it makes sense to refinance, homeowners need to see a notable drop in mortgage rates in order to benefit, experts say. The prevailing rate should be at least 50 basis points below your current rate, Zhao said.
But that’s not a “hard and fast rule,” Channel said.
Some experts set a higher bar: It “makes sense” to consider a refinance if rates have fallen one to two points since you took out the mortgage, Ostrowski said.
Even if your existing mortgage has a high rate, you might want to consider waiting until the central bank is further along in its cuts. The expectation is that rates are to steadily decline throughout the rest of 2024 and into 2025, according to Zhao.
2. You can afford refinance costs
There are two ways to pay for a refinance: with cash up front, or by rolling the expense into your new loan, boosting your monthly mortgage payment.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to refinancing a loan, Melissa Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage in New York, told CNBC in August.

Generally, a refinance is going to cost between 2% and 6% of the loan amount that you are refinancing, said Channel.
For example: If your current loan amount is $250,000 and you’re refinancing the total amount, expect to pay anywhere between 2% and 6% of $250,000, or roughly $5,000 to $15,000.
If you plan to refinance, make sure you can afford the associated costs, such as closing costs, an appraisal and title insurance. The total cost will depend on your area.
3. Your savings will outweigh the costs
You can also look into your “break-even point,” or the moment your savings eclipse the cost of the refinance, said Channel.
Here’s an example on doing that math: If you decide to refinance your mortgage and it costs $6,000 and you’re saving $200 a month, divide $6,000 by $200. The result is the number of months that you have before your refinance has “paid for itself.” More

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on September 04, 2024 in New York City. 
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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching during Tuesday’s trading and what’s on the radar for the next session.

The Fed

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The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield in 2024

Housing in the U.S.A.

The face of fear

“Fast Money” did a good bit led by chartmaster Carter Worth Tuesday night.
He chartered three defensive sectors: utilities, real estate investment trusts and consumer staples. He compared them to the S&P 500 and showed them vastly outperforming, about as “far above trend using the 150-day moving average than at any time on record.”
The S&P utilities sector currently has a relative strength index of 76. An RSI reading above 70 generally means that a security is overbought. It’s no guarantee that it’s about to fall. Rather, the RSI is just one metric traders look at when determining how fast an asset is moving one way or the other. An RSI below 30 generally means that the asset is oversold.
Utilities are up 25% in six months. The S&P tech sector is up more than 12% in six months.
The S&P real estate sector also has an RSI above 70. It is up roughly 18% in three months, while tech is down 4.5% in that same time period. 

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S&P 500 Utilities Sector in 2024

Paid up

Visa, Mastercard and American Express all hit 52-week highs today.
Visa is up 9% in a month.
Mastercard is up about 7% in a month.
American Express is up 5.4% in a month.

The equal-weight S&P 500

General Mills

The consumer brands company is up 12.4% in the past three months.
General Mills reports Wednesday morning before the bell.
The stock is paying a 3.2% dividend as of Tuesday’s close. More

If you’ve inherited a pretax individual retirement account since 2020, you could face a sizable tax bill without proper planning, experts say. 
Certain heirs must empty inherited IRAs within 10 years and waiting could balloon future withdrawals and tax consequences.
“If you decide not to take a distribution from an inherited IRA in a year and it continues to grow, the tax bill increases right along with it,” according to Carl Holubowich, a certified financial planner and principal at Armstrong, Fleming & Moore.

Greg Hinsdale | The Image Bank | Getty Images

If you’ve inherited a pretax individual retirement account since 2020, you could face a sizable tax bill without proper planning, experts say. 
Previously, heirs could take inherited IRA withdrawals over their lifetime, known as the “stretch IRA.”

However, the Secure Act of 2019 enacted the “10-year rule,” which requires certain heirs, including adult children, to deplete inherited IRAs by the 10th year after the original account owner’s death.
But waiting until the 10th year to make IRA withdrawals “could mean sitting on a tax bomb,” said certified financial planner Ben Smith, founder of Cove Financial Planning in Milwaukee.    
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Pretax IRA withdrawals incur regular income taxes. The 10-year rule can mean higher yearly taxes for certain heirs, particularly for higher earners with bigger IRA balances.
Shortening the 10-year withdrawal window can compound the issue, experts say.

Larger withdrawals can significantly boost your adjusted gross income, which can have other consequences, such as higher capital gains tax rates or phaseouts for other tax benefits, Smith said.
For example, Smith has seen people lose eligibility for the electric vehicle tax credit, worth up to $7,500, by taking a large inherited IRA withdrawal in a single year.

Required withdrawals for inherited IRAs

Since 2019, there’s been confusion over whether certain heirs needed to take yearly withdrawals, known as required minimum distributions, or RMDs, during the 10-year window. 
After years of waived penalties, the IRS finalized RMD rules for inherited IRAs in July.
Starting in 2025, certain beneficiaries — heirs who are not a spouse, minor child, disabled, chronically ill or certain trusts — must begin taking yearly RMDs from inherited IRAs. The RMD rule applies if the original account owner reached their RMD age, or “required beginning date,” before death.
Starting in 2020, the Secure Act raised the required beginning date for RMDs to age 72 from 70½. But Secure 2.0 enacted two increases: RMDs beginning at age 73 starting in 2023, and age 75 in 2033.

IRA withdrawals are ‘a matter of timing’

Even if RMDs aren’t required, heirs should still consider spreading out inherited IRA withdrawals, experts say.
“If you decide not to take a distribution from an inherited IRA in a year and it continues to grow, the tax bill increases right along with it,” according to CFP Carl Holubowich, principal at Armstrong, Fleming & Moore in Washington, D.C. “That money will be taxed at some point, it’s just a matter of timing.”  

If you decide not to take a distribution from an inherited IRA in a year and it continues to grow, the tax bill increases right along with it.

Carl Holubowich
Principal at Armstrong, Fleming & Moore

Some heirs may consider bigger inherited IRA withdrawals in lower-income years during the 10-year window or other tax-planning strategies, experts say.

Future income tax brackets

Individuals may also consider future federal income tax brackets, IRA expert and certified public accountant Ed Slott previously told CNBC.
Without changes from Congress, dozens of individual tax provisions, including lower federal income tax brackets, will sunset after 2025. That would revert rates to 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6%.

“Every year you don’t use [the lower brackets] is a wasted opportunity,” Slott said. 
But with control of the White House and Congress uncertain, it’s difficult to predict whether the federal tax brackets will change after 2025.

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“No Spend September” is a social media trend that involves a full month of cutting nonessential purchases.
The trend can bring “conscientiousness in spending,” said Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner, as well as president and CEO of Francis Financial, a financial planning firm based in New York City.
But if not careful, it can backfire, said Francis, who is also a CNBC Financial Advisor Council member.

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Victoria Szafarski currently has $10,000 in credit card debt. 
The New Yorker’s outstanding balance peaked at $25,000 last year, before she took on a second job as a waitress for a few months. The extra cash Szafarski brought in helped her make headway paying down the debt and increase her savings.

“I felt very isolated, I felt embarrassed, I felt like a failure,” said Szafarski, 27. 
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Her next tactic to reduce the balance: participate in “No Spend September,” a social media trend that involves a full month of cutting nonessential purchases. The #nospendchallenge hashtag on TikTok has more than 18,300 posts as of Sept. 16.
“‘No Spend September’ is a great way to check back with yourself,” said Szafarski, who is chronicling her attempt with money diaries on TikTok.
Experts agree.

A no-spend period can bring “conscientiousness in spending,” said Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner and the president and CEO of Francis Financial in New York City.
Here’s more on what ‘No Spend September’ can mean for you.

‘We fritter money away every single day’

While you are still going to spend money on fixed essentials such as a car payment or monthly rent, No Spend September is about being thoughtful in how you’re spending money, said Francis, who is a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
“For the vast majority of us, we fritter money away every single day, from a $6 latte to a $12 salad,” said Francis. “These are all things we can not do for a little bit of time.” 
While you could potentially have a no-spend month on your own, joining the September trend can help provide a sense of community and support, said Francis.
“There’s a lot of benefit from that. It’s inspirational,” she said.
When it comes to her own finances, Szafarski believes September can also be a “good time to reset” because it’s easy to spend money in the summer, she said.
But you may set yourself up for failure if you have a restrictive mindset.
“Depriving yourself for long periods of time can create a boomerang effect of spending,” Francis said.
To that point, here’s a guideline of how to benefit from No Spend September. 

How to benefit from a no-spend challenge

If you’re thinking about participating in the No Spend September trend or your own no-spend challenge, consider taking a “deep dive” into what you’re spending on by looking through your credit card bills and bank statements, Francis said. 
“Are there things you’re spending money on that you don’t really need or you’re not really using?” she said. 
Here are three other guidelines to consider if you plan to participate:
1. Start small
Different people can have different tolerances, said Francis. If a monthlong challenge feels daunting, “think about doing a ‘no-spend week’ and start with that,” she said. 

2. Set short- and long-term goals
Set goals for that no-spend week or month, said Francis.
They can be key goals such as paying down a credit card balance, saving a set amount in an emergency fund or boosting your retirement contribution, she said.
“But also think about your longer-term goals,” she said, and how you can adjust your spending in sustainable ways going forward. “It’s not realistic to have a ‘no spend’ month for the rest of your life.” 
3. Find ways to creatively avoid splurges
A no-spend challenge can help you identify your biggest discretionary expenses and find a creative way to still enjoy it without the splurge.
For instance, Szafarski had ingredients and groceries she knew were about to expire. Instead of going out to dinner with a friend in the city, she said to her: “Let’s make a meal. I have these vegetables. I don’t know what you have, but let’s come together and cook.”
“We’re not going out to dinner and spending a ton of money, but we’re still getting that sense of togetherness, that community,” Szafarski said.

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MAY 05: Bausch + Lomb eye vitamins are offered for sale at a drug store on May 05, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Bausch + Lomb parent company Bausch Health is spinning off the eye-care company with an upcoming IPO which will list on the New York Stock Exchange and TSX with the ticker symbol “BLCO”. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Bausch Health, formerly known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, is a multinational specialty pharmaceutical company with global headquarters in Canada. It serves various therapeutic areas, including dermatology, gastroenterology, neurology and ophthalmology.
The company operates through five main business segments — Bausch + Lomb, Salix Pharmaceuticals, International Rx, Solta Medical and Diversified Products. Bausch Health remains a significant player in the health-care sector, particularly due to the strength of its Bausch + Lomb division in eye care.

Activist investor Carl Icahn filed a 13D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Bausch Health on Feb. 11, 2021, stating that he intended to engage in discussions with the company’s management and board, regarding ways to enhance shareholder value. Those steps include the company’s strategic review, which was ongoing at the time, as well as possible board representation. Later that month, Icahn and the company entered into a director appointment and nomination agreement, pursuant to which the company agreed to increase the size of the board to 13 directors from 11 and appoint Icahn portfolio managers Brett Icahn and Steven Miller as directors.
In May 2022, Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) was spun off as a separate publicly traded entity, but it continues to be a core part of Bausch Health’s business through its retained 88% ownership. At that time, former Icahn portfolio manager Richard Mulligan was added to Bausch Health’s board. In June 2022, John Paulson was named chair, after previously serving on the board from June 2017 through May 2022. The board is presently comprised of 10 directors and includes Brett Icahn, Steven Miller and Richard Mulligan with John Paulson as non-executive chair.  

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Bausch + Lomb’s 2024 performance

This past weekend, the Financial Times reported that BLCO retained Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of the company. BLCO presently has an enterprise value of roughly $10 billion, but this value is depressed by various factors including its control ownership by Bausch Health and the large amount of debt on Bausch Health’s consolidated balance sheet – $20.4 billion, of which $4.6 billion is BLCO debt that is consolidated at Bausch Health. As a result, a sale of control to a new entity would solve both issues and likely garner a much higher value than where BLCO presently trades. This would greatly benefit BLCO stockholders, of which Bausch Health is the largest.

Understanding valuations in event of a sale

BLCO’s estimated 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is $966 million. Peers like The Cooper Companies and Alcon trade at a 19.5-times and 18.5-times enterprise value/EBITDA multiple, respectively. Assuming an average multiple for BLCO of 19-times yields an enterprise value of $18.35 billion. With $4.35 billion of net debt on the BLCO balance sheet, the implied equity value would be $14 billion. With 351.9 million shares outstanding, that is a per share equity price of $39.79. BLCO ended Friday’s session at $15.55 per share — that is, before the Financial Times’ report. As an 88% owner of BLCO, Bausch Health’s value derived from such a sale would be $12.32 billion.
Moreover, its four other divisions have an aggregate $2.45 billion of last 12 months’ EBITDA. The Salix division, which pertains to gastroenterology, has been the company’s most profitable division after Bausch + Lomb, with $2.25 billion of LTM revenue and $1.55 billion of LTM operating income. However, 87% of that business is derived from the Xifaxan drug, that comes off of patent in January 2028. With 3.5 years remaining under patent and assuming 5% annual revenue growth (growth was 6% last year), the Xifaxan business would have a present value of $4.25 billion assuming there are absolutely zero sales after 2027, which is an extremely conservative assumption. The value Bausch Health would attain from just the BLCO sale and the Xifaxan business would be more than enough to retire its $15.45 billion of remaining net debt, leaving a company with $1.43 billion of net cash and four profitable business lines (“RemainCo”) with an aggregate EBITDA of $­­1.17 billion, after allocating the full corporate overhead from Xifaxan that is not included in the Xifaxan valuation above.

So, what is RemainCo worth? The International Rx business’ (26.8% of RemainCo operating income) best peer is Recordati which trades at 15.99-times EV/EBITDA. The Diversified Products business (45.9% of RemainCo operating income) should be similar to lower-growth pharma businesses including Viatris and Organon & Co. which trade at 7.13-times and 8.37-times EV/EBITDA, respectively. The Solta medical business (12.3% of RemainCo operating income) is trickier. Peer InMode trades at only 4.23-times EV/EBITDA, but its revenue has declined 31.15% in the first half of 2024 versus the first half of 2023 while Solta’s revenue has grown at 18% during the same time period. That means Solta’s multiple should certainly be at a material premium to InMode. The last piece of RemainCo would be the remaining portion of Salix (the non-Xifaxan piece), which comprises 14.9% of RemainCo operating income and whose peers Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals trade at 9.57-times and 9.72-times EV/EBITDA, respectively.
A valuation analysis for a company as complex as BHC using peer multiples is as much of an art as it is a science and certainly some of these multiples may be too high while other may be too low. While a weighted average multiple would be 9.8-times, we think using an 8-times multiple is fair. That would imply a value of $9.36 billion for RemainCo. Adding the value of the proceeds from BLCO sale, the Xifaxan cash flows and RemainCo yields a total value of $25.93 billion for Bausch Health. After subtracting 100% of the Bausch Health debt, that would yield an equity value of $10.49 billion or $28.19 per share. The stock ended Friday at $6.32.
Most articles about reported M&A announcements or explorations will include the phrase “the sale process may not result in a transaction” and this situation is no different. However, with four of 10 directors at Bausch Health being hedge fund portfolio managers and three of 10 at BLCO (Brett Icahn, Icahn portfolio manager Gary Hu and John Paulson), these boards do not think like the typical corporate board. Further, BLCO CEO Brent Saunders is a highly respected health-care CEO, but also a noted dealmaker and would likely not show the resistance normally seen from CEOs of companies being sold.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. More

Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) floor on September 13, 2024, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Stocks @ Night is a daily newsletter delivered after hours, giving you a first look at tomorrow and last look at today. Sign up for free to receive it directly in your inbox.
Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching on Monday as the 30-stock Dow touched a new high and what’s on the radar for the next session.

Intel

The stock picked up ground after hours, jumping as much as 8%.
The company is creating a separate entity for the foundry side of the business.
Intel also announced it will produce custom artificial intelligence chips for Amazon Web Services.
CEO Pat Gelsinger told Jon Fortt and Morgan Brennan on “Closing Bell Overtime” on Monday that “we’ve taken it to a whole another level,” when speaking about the Amazon Web Services deal.
He also said his company’s new chip, 18A, is “making great progress.”
Speaking about last week’s board meeting, Gelsinger told Fortt and Brennan: “I and the board are aligned in the strategy for Intel foundry and moving to the next phase in the foundry journey.”
Shares closed higher by more than 6%, ending the session at $20.91. The 52-week high is $51.28, hit back on Dec. 27.

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Intel shares in 2024

The Apple suppliers

Apple dropped 2.8% on Monday after a few analysts questioned early iPhone 16 orders.
Shares are 9% from the July 15 high.
Arm dropped 6%. It’s a big part of the new phone. The stock is 27% from the July 9 high.
Cirrus dropped 6% Monday as well, down 15% from the late August high.
Qorvo fell 6.7%. The stock is 23% from the mid-July high.
Skyworks fell 5% Monday. The stock is 20% from the July 16 high.
Broadcom fell 2.2%, and shares are 11.4% from the 52-week high.

Gold

The commodity hit a new high this morning before backing down and closing flat.
The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) hit a high on Monday morning. The ETF ultimately ended the day lower by 0.5%.
The GDX is up nearly 9% in a week. First Majestic, Coeur and New Gold are the best performers in the last week, all up about 30%. Anglogold, Westgold and Ramelius are the worst performers.

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First Majestic’s performance in the past five trading sessions

China

Coffee

The commodity is up 10% in the last week and a half.
Dry weather in Brazil is being blamed.
Coffee is up 63% in a year.
Starbucks is flat in a year. The stock has been reacting to other news including Brian Niccol taking over as the new CEO.
J.M. Smucker owns Folgers. The stock is 10% from the February high and up 8% in three months. More

No one likes a surprise tax bill, and there is still time to take action if you have not paid enough taxes for 2024, experts say. 
Employees can use “back of the napkin math” to double-check 2024 withholdings, assuming your situation is similar to last year, said certified financial planner Tommy Lucas at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo.
If your tax situation has changed from 2023, you can use a free withholding tool from the IRS.

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One way to estimate tax withholding

You can start by finding your total federal taxes paid for 2023, which is listed on line 24 of your tax return. If your gross income and tax situation has not changed from last year, you are likely to owe a similar amount for 2024, Lucas explained.   
Next, you will need to review your pay stubs.

If you have paid roughly 75% of last year’s total taxes by the end of September, “you’re going to be pretty darn close, assuming everything is the same as the prior year,” he said.  

However, “there’s a whole slew of things that can change” from year to year, such as a second job, higher income, divorce, marriage or birth of a child, which makes your tax situation different, Lucas said. 
In those scenarios, you will need a more in-depth analysis to double-check your 2024 withholding, he said.    

IRS tax withholding estimator

If your tax situation changed this year, experts recommend periodically using a free tool from the IRS, known as the “tax withholding estimator.”
The tool factors in your marital status, dependents, number of jobs, other sources of income, most-recent paystub, taxes withheld, estimated tax payments and other details.  
After plugging in your information, the IRS provides a prefilled Form W-4, which you can then provide to your employer to increase or decrease your withholding.

Alternatively, you could make payments directly to the IRS to cover your 2024 tax shortfall, Lucas said.
Either way, “you’ve got to keep an eye on it,” or you could face an unexpected tax bill, along with penalties and interest, said Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt.

What to know after updating your withholding

If you update your tax withholding via Form W-4, you will want to make sure the change is accurate and reflected in future paychecks through the end of the year, Lucas said.
But your withholding should be temporary through 2024 and you will need to resubmit Form W-4 again in January, he warned. Otherwise, you could withhold too much for 2025. 

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