Market Performance: February 14, 2024.

Dow Jones futures were little changed overnight, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures ahead of key economic data early Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1.4%, or around 500 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) saw a similar drop, after the benchmark faltered Monday in its bid to keep its historic rally above 5,000 going.

Twilio (TWLO), AppLovin (APP), JFrog (FROG), Upwork (UPWK), Fastly (FSLY) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) were big earnings movers after the close. The stock market rally rebounded Wednesday after Tuesday's sharp sell-off on hot inflation data. Small caps and leading growth stocks led.

Nvidia (NVDA) continued to climb the Magnificent Seven ranks, with its market valuation topping Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). Late Wednesday, the AI giant disclosed investments. Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) tested a key level as the Dow giant's underperformance vs. the S&P 500 hit a one-year low.

Mastering Passive Income: A Comprehensive Guide

Passive income is all about earning money with minimal ongoing effort. Implementing a passive income strategy provides a way for you to make money while you sleep, travel, and pursue other interests.

Remember that passive income isn't an instant get-rich-quick type of scheme. Rather, it requires thorough planning, research, and labor. But if you're willing to put in the work now, you can unlock a powerful wealth-building tool for increased financial freedom later on.

Understanding passive income

Passive income streams allow you to collect money from something you own — a rental property, dividend-paying stock, or even your automobile — with little sustained effort. That said, many passive income ideas require a significant upfront investment of time and labor to generate profits later on.

Compared to active income streams (such as earning a salary or hourly wages through employment), passive income requires less day-to-day labor. It also offers increased flexibility so you can free up time for hobbies and other interests.

However, money earned through royalties, investments, and online business ventures isn't guaranteed revenue. Unlike a paycheck from an employer, there's a chance that your passive income sources will stop generating sufficient funds as they are susceptible to external factors like market conditions, third-party affiliates, and general consumer interest.

Loud Budgeting: The New Financial Accountability Trend to Adopt

The topic of money makes everyone uncomfortable, making it a notoriously taboo subject and one that many of us avoid getting into. Needless to say, the idea of openly discussing finances and budgeting earns a hard pass unanimously.

But while this behavior and mentality have been the gold standard for proper social etiquette for decades, TikTok’s loud budgeting trend is shaking up the world as we know it.

A money trend that is loud and proud is a surprise to us, but we have to admit: We’re actually excited about it and think it’s here to stay.

Regardless of your current financial state or your comfortability around numbers, we firmly believe that everyone can benefit from loud budgeting. Habitual and frugal spenders alike, listen up: We’re breaking down everything you need to know about the loud budgeting trend and how to start incorporating it into your life and conversations ASAP.

What is loud budgeting?

Coined by TikTok user Lukas Battle, loud budgeting is exactly what it sounds like. This trend encourages being shamelessly dedicated to and vocal about your financial situation.

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