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Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on Nigerians to reaffirm their confidence in President Bola Tinubu as his administration advances broad reforms to rejuvenate the economy.

This was disclosed in a statement he released in Abuja to celebrate Muslims on the occasion of this year’s Maulud.

“In the spirit of this season, I urge all Nigerians to reaffirm their trust and backing for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as he spearheads a comprehensive economic revitalization agenda, underpinned by an unyielding passion for transformative change, aimed at elevating the standard of living for all Nigerians.

All party members should use this occasion to reflect on their faith and renew their commitment to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Let us work together to build a society that is just, equitable, and peaceful.

This auspicious occasion is a significant milestone in the Islamic calendar, and it serves as a reminder of the Prophet’s teachings of peace, love, and compassion. As we celebrate his birthday, we must reflect on his exemplary life and strive to emulate his noble qualities.

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was a shining example of leadership, wisdom, and kindness. His message of Islam is a beacon of hope and guidance for humanity. As we commemorate his birthday, we must recommit ourselves to the principles of justice, equality, and fairness that he espoused,” the statement reads.

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A bond-market indicator is sending signals investors should pay close attention to, financial advisors say. 

The indicator is the yield curve, which tracks the relationship between shorter- and longer-term Treasury yields. The latter are typically higher, but until recently the curve was inverted, with higher yields on shorter-term Treasurys—generally an indication that investors expect rates to fall or the economy to weaken. 

The 10-year yield finished Friday at 3.657%, while the two-year was at 3.587%.

Now, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to begin a rate-cut cycle next week, things may be returning to normal. That, according to experts, could mean it’s time for investors to rethink their fixed-income portfolios. Here are some of their suggestions. 

After a two-year campaign of interest rate hikes aimed at fighting inflation, the Federal Reserve is poised to cut its federal funds rate—which influences everything from interest rates to bond yields—at its meeting next week.

Although yields on bonds are likely to come down as a result, there are still opportunities to incorporate fixed-income investments into portfolios, according to Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Charles Schwab.

Yields move inversely to bond prices, so when yields fall, bond prices rise. That means investors can benefit from price appreciation if they invest in bonds before yields decline further.

“For the retail client, a lot of times, they've been sitting in cash waiting for the Fed to make a move, so they've already missed the peak of rates,” Jones said. “The direction of travel is lower…That means there’s room for further price appreciation as the Fed cuts.”

The yield curve is returning to normal because of signs that inflation and the economy are cooling, says Jeff Johnson, head of U.S. fixed income products at Vanguard.

“If we're talking about rates falling because the economy is cooling, that does represent what could potentially be a more challenging and volatile period for equity,” Johnson said. “That's another reason why you want to add fixed income to the portfolio—to provide balance and diversification against riskier parts of the portfolio.”

Since bonds with shorter maturities tend to more closely follow changes in the Fed’s benchmark rate, Jones thinks it’s a good time to invest in bonds with maturities between three months and five years. 

“If you're tactical and looking at what’s going to do well during this rate cutting cycle in the first six to 12 months, it's probably under five years just because that has the most room to decline,” Jones said. 

Some experts, however, urge caution when investing in shorter-maturity bonds.

“Investors need to be aware of reinvestment risk. This means that when their current bonds mature, they might have to buy new bonds that pay lower interest rates,” Greg Onken, Wealth Partner at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, said via email. “Longer-term fixed-income opportunities can also help investors lock in current rates.”

When it comes to figuring out which fixed-income investments are best, experts offer varying recommendations—some prefer bond exchange-traded funds while others suggest bond ladders, a strategy of investing in bonds of varying maturities to spread out interest risk.

Johnson recommends broadly diversified bond ETFs that invest in a wide range of fixed-income investments like Treasurys and corporate debt across the maturity spectrum. He prefers ETFs with intermediate maturities.

Jones thinks bond ladders are a good option because they let retail investors avoid trying to time the Fed’s moves.

And investors don’t need to limit themselves to Treasury bonds. Jones notes that corporate bonds can offer higher yields—though investors need to be mindful of their credit quality, since they are riskier than Treasurys.

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McKay Floyd was looking for a cheap dresser. She found a new job.

For Floyd, a former teacher, “flipping furniture,” or re-doing and modernizing old pieces, started as a way to get a new dresser into her son’s room. That eventually turned into her full-time job. 

With inflation still making it hard for households to keep up with essential bills, many Americans have taken on extra jobs to make ends meet. More than half of Americans say they have taken on a so-called side hustle, according to a recent MarketWatch survey.

Floyd, 29, was a fifth-grade teacher in Atlanta. One summer, she realized that updating her 2-year-old’s bedroom would be more expensive than she had anticipated. In an effort to save some money, Floyd said she used skills and knowledge she had gained working with her grandfather to fix up a cheap dresser she bought on Facebook Marketplace.

After re-doing the dresser, Floyd was curious to see if she could sell it for a profit. She listed the dresser for sale and found takers.

“I ended up selling it really quickly," Floyd said, so she did it again. "And then, honestly, after that, it just never stopped. I didn't plan on doing it full-time at that point in my life.”

After she found a steady stream of business, Floyd decided to making flipping furniture her main source of income.

Floyd typically buys furniture from Facebook Marketplace or thrift stores for $50 or less. She then takes it home to clean, restain, repaint or otherwise upgrade. The piece then goes back onto Facebook Marketplace, where Floyd lists larger pieces for $500 or more.

Floyd says she makes anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000 a month on her projects. The variation, she said, depends on how many pieces she can find as well as how many she sells.

“That is definitely something that I did struggle with—just not knowing how much I would make every month—coming from teaching where you get paid once a month, the same amount every month," Floyd said.

Social media has helped fill gaps during months when Floyd doesn't make as much money, she said.

Floyd mostly uses TikTok to advertise her projects and said most of her sales come from people who saw the piece on social media. Collaborations with companies have also helped her make some extra money.

Working from home has been a blessing and a curse, Floyd said. It can be both lonely and hectic, as she balances caring for her son while working on furniture in her garage.

“I have quite the odd schedule, and sometimes I find that really hard,” Floyd said. “But overall, I'm glad that I can do this because it also gives me the time to be able to spend with my son and to stay home, which, without furniture flipping, I would never be able to do or want to do.”

For those thinking about getting into the “flipping” business, Floyd suggests practicing on something small, such as an old dresser you already have. From there, you can build your skills and eventually transition into re-doing more expensive pieces.

“A pro is just being able to work from home and making more than I was teaching, making my own schedule and getting to flip furniture," Floyd said. "I do love flipping furniture, and I love getting to be creative and come up with designs.”

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Major U.S. equities indexes climbed Friday to wrap up a week of gains as recent data on inflation and the jobs market helped lift expectations that the Federal Reserve could be set for a steeper interest rate cut at its meeting next week. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% Friday, while the Dow and the Nasdaq both closed around 0.7% higher.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares notched the top performance of any S&P 500 stock for the second straight day, surging 10.8% on Friday. The entertainment giant said Thursday that it renewed its distribution deal with Charter Communications (CHTR), a year before the existing agreement was set to expire.

Shares of online crafts marketplace Etsy (ETSY) jumped 7.6% on the day, bouncing off a 52-week low set by the stock in intraday trading earlier in the week. A proposal by the Biden administration to limit tariff exemptions that often benefit Chinese e-commerce companies helped push Etsy shares higher.

Align Technology (ALGN) shares added 6.5% on Friday as Piper Sandler reiterated its "overweight" rating for shares of the provider of clear teeth aligners and other dental products. Analysts pointed to strong trends in the U.S. orthodontics market over recent months that could drive strong quarterly results.

Adobe (ADBE) shares dropped 8.5%, the biggest daily decline in the S&P 500, following the release of the software firm's results for its fiscal third quarter. Although sales and profits grew from a year ago and exceeded analysts' forecasts, Adobe's fourth-quarter sales guidance came in below expectations.

Shares of GPS navigation and wearable technology provider Garmin (GRMN) slid 5.1% after the investment bank Barclays downgraded the stock to "underweight" and reduced its price target. Analysts suggested Garmin's valuation has become overextended following a year of strong gains for the stock. Barclays analysts also said Garmin could see softer sales in the second half of the year.

Boeing (BA) shares fell 3.7% as thousands of workers for the aviation giant went on strike Friday. The first strike at the company in more than 16 years began after workers voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract deal. The labor dispute could complicate Boeing's efforts to stabilize its supply chains and resolve production issues after a series of safety incidents.

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Adobe (ADBE) shares plunged nearly 9% Friday amid concerns about its weaker-than-expected outlook, but analysts were bullish on the stock, suggesting the company's projections were conservative and that it could get a boost from artificial intelligence (AI) demand.

Adobe’s Digital Media arm, which includes Creative Cloud subscriptions, brought in record net-new annualized recurring revenue (ARR) for the third quarter, but missed analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter guidance. Jefferies analysts said they suspect Adobe's outlook "could be very conservative," citing strong tailwinds from pricing and AI monetization.

The analysts said fiscal 2025 “could be the year of AI monetization" for Adobe, noting that the company is “already seeing some monetization, though early, as new users buy higher-priced plans, existing users upgrade, enterprises buy Firefly Services, and new products such as Acrobat AI Assistant get adopted.”

Upgrades by Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers to access Firefly, the company's family of generative AI models, will be a key performance indicator to watch, Bank of America analysts said.

“It is notable that Adobe is driving meaningful AI generation and running training and inferencing on large scale Firefly models, while delivering healthy margin expansion,” the analysts said, adding that it “also speaks to the advanced nature of Firefly models, relative to competing [large language models].”

Nearly three-quarters or 11 of the 15 of the analysts covering Adobe tracked by Visible Alpha held a "buy" or equivalent rating for the stock as of Friday. Their average price target of $620.86 would imply over 15% upside from Friday's closing price of $536.87.

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The U.S. government is on track to spend more than $1 trillion on interest payments this year, surpassing military spending for the first time in history.Interest payments on the national debt (held by the public in the form of Treasury securities) will cost the government $1.2 trillion in the government's fiscal year ending in October, the Treasury Department said in a monthly report on the budget. Net interest outlays are the third costliest item in the budget behind Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Economists have grown increasingly concerned about the potential impact of those payments on the U.S. economy. Interest payments took up 2.4% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product in 2023, and The Congressional Budget Office estimates that could swell to 3.9% over the next 10 years.

Two major factors have driven those payments skyward. First, the government spent trillions to support households and the economy during the pandemic, paying for it by borrowing rather than raising taxes. Second, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates starting in 2022 to fight inflation, which pushed up how much the government owes for that debt.Although the Fed is set to gradually lower those interest rates starting next week, the pressure on the budget is likely to keep ratcheting up in the years to come.The results of the presidential election could have a major impact on the trajectory of the budget deficit. Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have proposed tax cuts and new spending that could push up the budget deficit. Harris has also proposed offsetting those new costs with tax increases on the wealthy and corporations. Trump has proposed heavy tariffs on foreign goods, but mainstream economists are skeptical those would bring in much revenue compared to the impact of the tax cuts.

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