Yahoo Finance

340,000 accountants have quit the profession in the last five years And three out of four of those left are expected to retire in the next decade, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, America’s tax system is getting more complicated than ever. But just as the industry faces a massive talent shortage, Gen Z is quietly stepping in to save it.

"The vast majority of crypto assets are totally worthless." When the head of digital assets at BlackRock says that, you sit up and pay attention. That's Robert Mitchnick, who I spoke to today. There's an ever-vaster mosaic of cryptocurrencies, by some counts in the tens of thousands. As I pointed out to Robbie, some investors still view them as a lottery ticket. And some are leveraging up to increase their exposure. That's one of the reasons behind the mini-crash in many of these altcoins on Oct. 10. For reference, Robbie manages the biggest spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, which at more than $90 billion in assets has been one of the fastest-growing in history. So to be fair, he's got a vested interest in investors concentrating on the biggest coins. But it definitely doesn't mean he's wrong. Anyone thinking of mortgaging your house to buy, say, SUIRWAPIN? (Yes, that's a real coin, and it's down 53% today, according to Coindesk). https://lnkd.in/eqgQjXDh

President Trump floated a list of demands for China, citing rare earths, fentanyl, and soybeans as his top issues to address with Beijing at the negotiating table and before the fragile tariff and trade truce between the world's largest economies expires. "Right now, China is paying a tremendous amount of money in tariffs," President Trump said. "They'd be paying about 157% tariff, which is, you know, record-setting type tariff. We can lower that. But they have to do things for us, too. It's no longer a one-way street." Read more: yhoo.it/4o2eSwI

In the late 90s and early 2000s, gas power generation was booming. Companies rushed in, eager to make money building gas plants and selling electricity on the market. But demand never caught up, and developers went bankrupt. Today, demand on the electric grid for power from data centers and other AI tech is skyrocketing, and experts I spoke with told me the frenzied demand feels a lot like the gas generation boom. When a utility company receives a grid connection request for something like a new AI-focused data center, they spend millions getting the infrastructure in place to make it happen. But if some of those marquee deals the Big Tech players are signing fall through, the utility is stuck with stranded assets generating no revenue and two options: pass that cost on to ratepayers, whose electric bills are already rising, or write down the loss themselves. From me for Yahoo Finance over the weekend, a look at the threat utilities face if the tech companies asking for huge amounts of power don't or can't follow through. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/e6dW8egu

Medicare open enrollment for 2026 started last week, and beneficiaries of Part D prescription drug plans are in for some unpleasant changes.

Can the "buy the dip" trend survive a trade war, market volatility, and uncertainty with the Fed? Yahoo Finance's Allie Canal explains. Read more: yhoo.it/499Np7z

Smart watches have helped the luxury watch industry, Ulysse Nardin's CEO says. ⌚️ Read more: yhoo.it/46XbBZr

Want to get into gold? Here's how to jump into "the game." Read more: yhoo.it/4nWOG6s

Consumers will confront a holiday shopping season darkened by lingering inflation, tariffs, and diminished job prospects.