CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Higher, S&P 500 Index And Nasdaq Hit New Record Highs, Social Security COLA Estimate 2.7% For Next Year 8/13/25

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. We've got another record setting day on Wall Street, the S&P 500 index, and the NASDAQ. Out of the gate, built on the record highs they opened with setting new highs. The Dow is up 272 points this morning, a half percent. Nike shares leading it higher, up 1.8%. The S&P 500 index up 26 points, almost a half percent. The NASDAQ is up 111 points. That is a half percent. NVIDIA shares are up a quarter percent this morning. Inflation came in better than expected for July. The number came out yesterday. It did go up, but it wasn't devastating. The fear was that terrorists were going to start really showing up in the inflation data.

So while inflation has ticked a little bit higher, it's not to the point where if the Fed's going to take a balanced view of looking at the labor market and the inflation data that's going to prevent them from cutting. September. It wasn't as bad as feared. Economic data can be funny. It's a psychological game of, you know, it's good news, good news, or as good news, bad news. In this case, it's a situation where not bad news was good enough. Ned Davis researches Ed Clissold on CNBC. Still with inflation climbing. New estimates for the Social Security cost of living increase for next year are now out. It stands at 2.7 percent. Nothing's final, but it does go up as inflation goes up, and inflation is rising. About one in five Americans collect Social Security. The increase for this year was two and a half percent.

And the head of the Social Security Administration says they're not running out of money. Isn't the future insolvency? Like, isn't that the hard truth about Social Security? You know, we will always face a curve and there will always be a solution, right? I mean, if you hear what people forecast. It's 83% in 33. We're in 25. There's lots of time to fix this. The Inspector General found 17 billion in improper payments. We already reduced half of that. So proper payments matter. I expect when we get to the latter half of the year and into next year, we'll be talking about what to do about solvency. Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano on CNBC.

With mortgage rates sitting closer to 6.5% last week, refinancing activity popped higher. And the number of people who applied for mortgages to buy a home was up 17% over the same week last year. Home prices are weakening, but they're still quite high historically compared with incomes. Mediterranean food chain Kava stock was lower after the company lowered its outlook on disappointing same story.

sales growth. Kodak says it may not be able to stay in business. This just a day after Spirit Airlines said it would need a cash infusion to keep flying. The number one challenge for businesses trying to hire new workers last year was candidates will drop out of the running for positions where remote work isn't offered, at least for a few days a week. A new hire rights survey found that at least some of the businesses not embracing flexible remote work or missing out on some of the best available talent. Candy Giant Mars, investing in gene editing research through a company that uses CRISPR

to develop new cocoa plants more resistant to disease and hotter temperatures to try to stabilize the supply of cocoa. Food Dives says aging trees and plant disease in West Africa, which produces 70% of the world's cocoa, have depleted the crop, and that's been pushing cocoa prices to record highs. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC.

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