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- Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates October layoffs by U.S. employers totaled 153,074.
- Supreme Court appeal suggests Trump tariffs may need to be rolled back.
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Live Updates
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This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
Big employment news today — or perhaps the correct term is un-employment news. One day after HR company Automatic Data Processing estimated private payrolls grew by 42,000 in October, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has just released a report estimating job cuts in October totaled 153,074, nearly triple September’s layoffs and up 175% from October 2024.
With the federal government shut down and no official government data to confirm or deny Challenger’s data, or put it in a broader context, today’s news has the potential to shake the market.
For now, it’s… not. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is actually looking pretty healthy so far, up 0.2% premarket. And why is that?
Perhaps investors are thinking all these layoffs, caused by cheap AI replacing expensive workers, and allowing corporate profits to rise. Or investors could be encouraged by the way oral arguments went before the Supreme Court yesterday, with the Justices apparently doubtful of President Trump’s ability to legally and unilaterally impose tariffs on imports without Congressional assent.
That seems to foreshadow a Supreme Court repeal of the tariffs, lowering costs for corporations that import much of the goods they sell.
Whatever the reason, the stock market seems to be ticking higher today. At least for now.
Earnings
In earnings news today, S&P 500 component DuPont (NYSE: DD) missed earnings by seven cents with $1.09 per share earned in Q3. Revenue also missed, coming in $210 million below expectations at $3.1 billion. DuPont also warned full-year profit will fall far short of expectations at $1.66 per share, and sales will miss for the year as well.
DuPont stock is still up 1% premarket however.
Oil major and S&P 500 component ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) in contrast beat earnings by 16 cents this morning, with $1.61 per share in Q3 profit. Conoco also raised guidance for oil production and lowered guidance for costs.
Conoco stock is up 0.6% premarket.