Hey Rebels! Done doing money the wrong way? Let's dive into this week's issue to help you change how you do money, investing and business in less than 10 minutes.
Weekly Intel
Stay current with top news from the business, money, and investing world.
Top Stories
⏰ Fall back: Daylight saving time happened yet again this year, despite a recent poll showing that 80% of Americans don’t like it. Nothing makes me prouder to be an Arizonan than the fact that it is one of two states (along with Hawaii) that do not practice this cruel and unusual form of punishment (more).
🍬 More tricks and less (chocolate) treats: This year’s Halloween candy haul included less chocolate because cocoa supply is tight—thanks to bad weather and crop issues in West Africa—and confectioners are responding by cutting back on cocoa content and shifting toward non-chocolate treats (more).
💇🏽♀️ Just a trim: The Fed cut rates by a quarter point last week. What does this mean for your personal finances? (more).
By the numbers
⚾ $500 million: The amount the LA Dodgers paid to win the 2025 World Series (more).
📦 14,000: The number of people Amazon laid off last week - though CEO Andy Jassy claims AI is not the driving force (more).
🪙 $165 billion: How much the Ethereum blockchain now holds in stablecoins and other “digital dollars,” placing its reserve size ahead of the foreign-exchange reserves of Singapore and India (more).
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The Financial Rebellion Way
Knowledge and action to help you achieve a life you desire.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Investing is like when your wife asks you to take the trash out —she means you need to do it NOW. Stop waiting for the “perfect” time to invest. Here’s your no-excuses guide to starting today:
The 10-Minute Wealth Builder: Download Acorns, link your debit card, and boom, you’re an investor.
Every time you buy a $3.75 coffee, Acorns rounds up to $4 and invests that quarter.
Spare change becomes retirement money while you live your life.
Set up weekly or monthly auto-deposits for extra power—ten minutes to set up, decades of compound interest to enjoy.
Your Other Quick-Start Options:
Stash: Pick stocks and ETFs based on your interests, start with $5
Betterment: Robo-advisor that builds your portfolio automatically
E*TRADE: More control, more options, still beginner-friendly
Robinhood: Commission-free trading with a slick interface
The Reality Check: Every day you wait is money you’re leaving on the table. While you’re overthinking it, inflation is eating your savings account alive. Pick one app—doesn’t matter which—and put in what you’d spend on lunch. Then do it again next week. And the week after.
Markets - stocks and crypto
In under 3 minutes, start investing spare change, saving for retirement, earning more, spending smarter, and more.
Click the image above or this link to earn a special $40 bonus.
Prices for the week ending October 17, 2025:
▼ S&P 500 | 6,840 | -0.13% |
▲ NASDAQ | 23,724 | +0.80% |
▲ GOLD | 4,011 | +0.84% |
▼ CHIPOTLE (CMG) | 31.69 | -23.14% |
▲ APPLE (AAPL) | 270.37 | +1.61% |
▼ BITCOIN (BTC) | 107,715 | -2.16% |
▼ ETHEREUM (ETH) | 3,703 | -4.94% |
Stock Moves
Still riding the AI high: After a marathon of earnings reports this week, U.S. stock-market futures rose at the start of November, driven by optimism about solid corporate earnings, especially in AI-related tech. (more)
Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride: Despite dealing heavily with China, Nvidia and Apple are two of the most valuable stocks in the world (more).
Hold the guac: Chipotle stock sinks as younger consumers struggle (more).
Crypto Moves
Rate cuts and crypto: Bitcoin steadied near $109,000, up 0.7%, while Ether dipped 1.2% amid cautious ETF flows and fading expectations for more Fed rate cuts (more)
Crypto home base: Coinbase maintains a competitive edge in the US cryptocurrency market, primarily driven by its robust regulatory compliance and intuitive user platform. (more)
Royal flush: I never thought my love for royal family gossip and crypto would collide, but here we are. Inside the former Prince Andrew’s dealings with crypto. (more)
Real Money Moves
William, 19 - Logan, Utah
Each week, we feature a reader’s smartest and dumbest money moves. We’re all in this together; let’s learn from each other.
Best Money Move - Hiring the right person and paying them what they’re worth
“Finding someone who knows what they’re doing and has a lot of experience in the field and paying them what I should be paying them to do these jobs.”
“It’s really changed a lot for me just having someone that I can rely on.”
“I’m more than happy to pay them a lot more than what I was originally thinking I would be paying a technician.”
Worst Money Move - Overpaying inexperienced employees
“Paying employees that I know aren’t really doing a great job, but I really needed the help.”
“I was paying them way more than I should be paying them for what they were doing and accomplishing.”
“I ended up losing out on a lot of money and I lost a lot of clients that weren’t happy with the services.”
The bottom line: Every money move teaches you something — whether it builds your net worth or humbles your ego.
Got a story? Send it in. You might help someone dodge a mistake or make a smarter call.
Side Hustle Differently
Each week, we focus on money-making opportunities for a side hustle that could potentially become a full-time venture. No MLM schemes, no “passive income” lies, just real strategies for stacking cash outside your 9-5
The Hot Pool Boys
What it is: William turned a Craigslist-style handoff of a failing pool business into “The Hot Pool Boys,” a profitable pool and spa service company that maintains everything from backyard pools to out-of-state Airbnb properties across Utah.
• The Zero Experience Start: William bought a couple of clients and some equipment from a guy moving out of town, then shadowed him twice. “I would say I learned a lot, but I didn’t learn anything. I could figure out how to hook up a hose… but I never really understood how it worked.” His solution? YouTube University and pure determination.
• The Overnight Crisis That Changed Everything: After struggling alone, William hit rock bottom: “I was almost just like, all right, I’m going to give up. I’m going to text all the clients… and just tell them, I can’t do it.” Instead of quitting, he realized: “I might not know how to do it, but I can find someone who knows how to do it.”
• The Golden Hire: Found Sheldon, a technician with 15+ years of experience who “can do anything I put in front of him.” William learned the expensive lesson of paying inexperienced workers too much rather than paying one expert what they’re worth—and watched his business transform.
Big picture: While his peers are applying for jobs at Home Depot, 19-year-old William built a profitable pool service company by refusing to quit when he didn’t know what he was doing. His advice to anyone on the fence: “Especially if you’re young, take risks…you have a lot of time to fall on your butt. You can fail and then try again at something else.”
Check out the Financial Rebellion podcast to learn about how to turn your passion into profit.
Word of the Week - Market Cap
🧢 The total value of a company’s shares is calculated by multiplying the stock price by shares outstanding.
Trusted Partners
Where you bank is a big deal. We are big fans of credit unions to help you become financially rebellious. Here are some of our current partners that we work with around the country, so you can get to know them and the value of becoming a member to help you achieve your financial goals and dreams.
Did you know the myths about credit unions versus banks? Debunked here.
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Interested in becoming a Financial Rebellion Partner? Reach out to [email protected].
We’ll catch you next week. Rebels OUT.
Todd Romer: Founder and Writer
Corinne Clarkson: Writer and Editor
Dallin Merrill: Chief Newsletter Overlord
Disclaimer: The advice provided in Financial Rebellion is not considered to be financial or legal advice of any kind. It is your responsibility to dig deeper on any opinions or recommendations given.