$650 Million

The Nasdaq hit an intraday high Friday powered by gains in large-cap technology stocks. The index finished the week in positive territory and has notched gains for seven straight weeks. In S&P 500 news, about one-third of companies that comprise the index have reported earnings for the quarter and nearly 75% have surpassed Wall Street’s estimates. Several prominent tech firms will release earnings next week including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.

The Internal Revenue Service announced new federal tax brackets for 2025 along with updated capital gains rates and estate tax limits amongst other inflation adjustments for the upcoming year. The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly will be increased to $30,000 and single filers will get an increase to $15,000 in 2025. Marginal tax bracket thresholds have been increased, as well, to the following levels:

37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $626,350 ($751,600 for married couples filing jointly)
35% for incomes over $250,525 ($501,050 for married couples filing jointly)
32% for incomes over $197,300 ($394,600 for married couples filing jointly)
24% for incomes over $103,350 ($206,700 for married couples filing jointly)
22% for incomes over $48,475 ($96,950 for married couples filing jointly)
12% for incomes over $11,925 ($23,850 for married couples filing jointly)
10% for incomes of $11,925 or less ($23,850 or less for married couples filing jointly)

The tax on capital gains has also been modified for inflation and the new ranges for 2025 are:

0% long-term capital gains for single taxpayers with incomes ranging from $0 - $48,350
15% long-term capital gains for single taxpayers with incomes ranging from $48,350 - $533,400
20% long-term capital gains for single taxpayers with incomes above $533,400
0% long-term capital gains for married filing jointly taxpayers with incomes ranging from $0 - $96,700
15% long-term capital gains for married filing jointly taxpayers with incomes ranging from $96,700 - $600,050
20% long-term capital gains for married filing jointly taxpayers with incomes above $600,050

Other modifications of note include the estate tax and gift tax exclusion amounts. The basic estate tax exclusion amount has been increased to $13,990,000 for 2025, up from $13,610,000 in 2024. The annual exclusion amount with respect to the gift tax has been raised from $18,000 this year to $19,000 in 2025. Several tax provisions that were part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire at the end of the calendar year 2025. These figures will be restored to the 2017 numbers unless Congress chooses to extend these higher exemption amounts.

An iconic bygone has agreed to sell itself to a group of lenders to preserve its brand name and key parts of the organization. Tupperware Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, agreed this week to a sale to its own creditors for $23.5 million in cash and $63 million in debt relief. Tupperware had planned an open auction sale of its assets, but that plan was nullified. The company tried to sell itself on three occasions in the past 18 months prior to its bankruptcy filing but was unsuccessful. Those of us who are old enough may remember the phenomena of ‘Tupperware Parties’ years ago in which independent dealers hawked the reusable food storage containers to their friends and neighbors inside their homes. These parties were especially popular among women looking to earn supplemental income. Despite Tupperware’s recent financial woes, the brand has a lasting image, and its products offer a great deal of utility for leftover food. Finally, the World Series begins Friday and features teams from the two largest markets in the country. The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will meet for the 12th time in the World Series which is the most times the same two teams have met in baseball’s postseason. It’s been reported that the teams have a combined $650 million payroll for this season alone which speaks to something unique to baseball. Of the four major professional sports in America, baseball is the only one without a salary cap. This means that team owners can spend to their heart’s content to attract the most talented players. Baseball does have what’s called a Competitive Balance Tax, also known as a ‘luxury tax.’ Teams that have payrolls above a threshold ($237 million for 2024) are taxed on every dollar above this limit. This tax rate then increases for the number of successive years a team has exceeded the limit. On the field, it’s the first time since 1981 that the two will meet in the World Series to determine baseball’s champion. The Yankees and Dodgers also met in the 1978 World Series. To this day, that remains the most-watched World Series averaging 44 million viewers per game.

Matt Savoti, MBA