How to access your IRS online account before tax season opens

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images Read more CNBC personal finance coverage This is one of the ‘most important steps’ before tax season opens, IRS says How tax-efficient investing could boost your portfolio returns in 2026 and beyond For 2026, these new 401(k) details ‘matter more than ever,’ advisor says We’re in a ‘hiring recession,’ […]

Student loan forgiveness is taxable again: How to prepare

Songsak Rohprasit | Moment | Getty Images Student loan borrowers whose debt is canceled in 2026 or later may face a significant tax bill. A law that shielded student loan forgiveness from taxation at the federal level — part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 — expired on Dec. 31, 2025. President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful […]

Prediction markets are booming. How to tax winnings is anyone’s guess

Polymarket banner outside the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 7th, 2025. Kevin Stankiewicz | CNBC Prediction markets are booming, with monthly trading in the billions and a recent estimate from a consulting firm saying that the relatively new phenomenon could grow to $1 trillion by the end of the decade. That’s a lot of […]

This oil drilling stock is remarkably cheap. How to trade it with options

The “Dogs of the Dow” is an investment strategy, often employed at the end of a year in anticipation of some potential “mean reversion” that identifies underperforming stocks with high yields. As the name implies, it looks for these within the Dow Jones Industrial Average . The strategy then holds those securities for a year […]

This cybersecurity stock is emerging as an AI play. How to play it with options

Akamai is emerging as an upcoming AI beneficiary with a business transformation that is materially reshaping its long-term growth trajectory. Historically known as a content-delivery (CDN) provider, Akamai has recently repositioned itself as an edge-native cloud and AI compute platform, leveraging its global infrastructure footprint to offer lower-latency, lower-cost inference workloads. This transition is finally showing […]

Disney’s chart is pointing to a rebound. How to capture a trading profit using options

Disney (DIS) shed nearly 13% in just nine trading sessions following its recent earnings report, where flat revenue numbers spooked investors despite a solid bottom-line performance. However, the narrative is shifting. The stock staged a solid rebound last week and is now flashing strong signs of a technical recovery. While the bounce is already underway […]

How to play further gains in copper using options on this mining stock

The sharp rally in gold and silver can be read as a market referendum on the credibility of paper money. Large, persistent government deficits imply that future financing may rely on a mix of higher taxes, financial repression and — most relevant here — central banks keeping borrowing costs contained. When investors suspect that debt […]

How to claim money from ‘Trump accounts’ program

Tech CEO Michael Dell and his wife Susan pledged Tuesday to contribute $6.25 billion to so-called Trump accounts, a type of tax-advantaged savings account for children. The commitment will expand access to seed money for eligible children too old to qualify for the $1,000 grants that are set to come from the Department of the Treasury. With the additional funds, […]