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Forbes
6 minutes ago
- Forbes
Microsoft's Critical Password Warning — Users Have 5 Days To Act
Unsaved Microsoft Authenticator passwords will be deletd on August 1. Passwords: You can't live without them, despite the advance of passkey technology, but unless you act before August 1, the passwords you have generated using Microsoft's Authenticator app will be deleted. Yes, deleted. This should not come as a surprise, not least as Microsoft has been warning users for the longest time of the password changes to come: In June no new passwords could be added to the app, during July the autofill feature ceased to work and, in just five days time on August 1, your saved passwords won't be accessible via the app anymore. All of this, seemingly in the name of better security, and with password hacking such a cyber-epidemic, that might not be a bad thing. Or at least it wouldn't be if I actually believed that to be the case. Here's what you need to know and do. Microsoft Passwords Deadline — What You Need To Know The whole password deletion and usage debate revolves around one simple act: Microsoft has decided to discontinue the autofill function of the Microsoft Authenticator app as part of an update to streamline the process 'so you can use saved passwords easily across devices.' The reasoning behind this seems, dare I say, a little spurious to me. After all, Microsoft readily admits that 'autofill in Microsoft Authenticator has been a way to securely store and autofill passwords on apps and websites you visit on your phone,' and that hasn't changed. What has changed is the desire to get users to move to the more secure passkey technology and, perhaps more pertinently, to move to the Microsoft Edge web browser. There's nothing wrong with the password management functionality of the Edge browser, nor the Chrome browser, nor most any browser. From my perspective, however, a dedicated password manager app is a much better option when it comes to password security and management. Removing that option, unless you have set up passkeys for your Microsoft Account as Authenticator will still support these and disabling Authenticator in these circumstances will disable your passkeys, just serves to complicate matters. As the whole passkeys thing I've just mentioned goes to prove. How convoluted is it all? Here's what Microsoft said: 'Your saved passwords (but not your generated password history) and addresses are securely synced to your Microsoft account, and you can continue to access them and enjoy seamless autofill functionality with Microsoft Edge.' Microsoft Passwords Deadline — What You Need To Do Before August 1 Let's start with the Edge browser requirement, which Microsoft has stated you are welcome to ignore and use a different provider, such as Google Password Manager, iCloud Keychain, or any other password management app. Microsoft said that once you set Microsoft as your default autofill provider on your phone, you will need to export passwords from Microsoft Authenticator and then import them into the new service. 'For security reasons, you will need to manually recreate your payment info,' Microsoft added. However, your time is fast running out to do this if you haven't already. Although your passwords that have already been saved in Microsoft Authenticator will be visible to Microsoft Edge, from August 1 they will no longer be accessible in the app and, therefore, you won't be able to export them anywhere. And, of course, any generated passwords that have not been saved from the app generator history into the saved passwords category will be deleted. If you are happy to use Edge as your password autofill provider, then Microsoft has easy-to-follow instructions on its support pages.
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The S&P 500 Is Going to Plunge at Least 30%, Based on What a Forecasting Tool With a 100% Historical Success Rate Has to Say
Key Points The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average have endured a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows since the year began. A time-tested valuation tool capable of providing the closest thing to an apples-to-apples comparison as investors can get is offering one of its loudest warnings ever. Time in the market has consistently trumped trying to time the stock market's downturns. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › It's been a roller-coaster ride for Wall Street and investors through nearly seven months of 2025. In early April, the wheels fell off the wagon, with the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), growth-inspired Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC), and iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) plunging. In a two-day period (the close of April 2 to the end of April 4), the S&P 500 registered its fifth-worst two-day percentage drop (-10.5%) since 1950. One week after this chaos began, all three major stock indexes recorded their largest single-day point gains in their respective histories -- and they haven't looked back. The broad-based S&P 500 has rallied by more than 25% in just three months for only the sixth time in its history and surged to a record high. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite has surpassed 21,000 for the first time, with the Dow just 4 points away from an all-time closing high, as of July 23. Between the hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and President Donald Trump's administration working out a couple of key trade deals, it would appear nothing can slow down the stock market. But looks can be deceiving... Wall Street's benchmark index is primed for a history lesson Let me preface any and all discussion regarding forecasting tools with this warning: Nothing is guaranteed on Wall Street. Even predictive tools and correlative events that have, historically, been 100% accurate in the past can't concretely guarantee what'll happen in the future. With the above being said, a 100% historical success rate in forecasting future stock returns is generally something investors should pay attention to. At any given time, there are one or more headwinds threatening to drag the stock market lower. Uncertainty regarding President Trump's tariff and trade policy, the potential for the prevailing rate of inflation to pick back up, and Moody's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA1 from AAA are all examples of downside catalysts that can spark a stock market correction, bear market, or crash. But among this laundry list of potential problems for stocks, perhaps nothing is more worrisome than valuations. Most investors rely on the time-tested price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio when quickly assessing the relative cheapness or priciness of a given stock. A company's P/E ratio is calculated by dividing its share price by its trailing-12-month earnings per share (EPS). It's a handy tool for evaluating mature businesses, but it often falls short with growth stocks and during recessions when corporate earnings are temporarily disrupted. The valuation tool with an uncanny track record -- i.e., 100% success rate -- of forecasting future stock returns is the S&P 500's Shiller P/E Ratio, which is also known as the cyclically adjusted P/E Ratio, or CAPE Ratio. Rather than accounting for 12 months of trailing EPS, the Shiller P/E is based on average inflation-adjusted EPS over the trailing-10-year period. Accounting for a decade of EPS and adjusting it for inflation minimizes the impact of economic shock events, which allows for the closest thing to an apples-to-apples comparison as investors can get. As of the closing bell on July 23, the S&P 500's Shiller P/E Ratio stood at 38.79, which is just fractionally below its high for the current bull market of 38.89, set in December. To put this figure into context, it's the third-priciest continuous bull market when back-tested to January 1871. The only higher readings were observed prior to the dot-com bubble (an all-time peak of 44.19 in December 1999), and immediately prior to the start of the 2022 bear market (just above 40 during the first week of January 2022). When back-tested 154 years, the Shiller P/E has surpassed a multiple of 30 just six times, including the present -- and this is where historical precedent comes into play. Following the previous five occurrences where the Shiller P/E topped 30, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and/or Dow Jones Industrial Average fell between 20% and 89% (this latter figure is a Great Depression outlier). What this signals is that extended valuations aren't well tolerated by Wall Street over an extended period. Furthermore, none of these five 20% (or greater) pullbacks in the broader market found their respective bottoms with the S&P 500's Shiller P/E higher than 27. In other words, the minimum historical expectation is for the Shiller P/E to retrace to 27. Were this to occur, the broad-based S&P 500 would need to lose about 30% of its value. Based solely on what this valuation forecasting tool tells us, Wall Street's benchmark index can lose 30% of its value at some point in the presumed not-too-distant future. Time in the market consistently trumps trying to time the market Thankfully, history is a pendulum that swings (disproportionately) in both directions. Although sizable moves lower in the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average can play on the emotions of investors, time and perspective have a way of rewarding those who exercise patience and focus on the horizon. Every year, the analysts at Crestmont Research refresh a published data set that examines the rolling 20-year total returns (including dividends) for the S&P 500 that dates back to the start of the 20th century. Despite the S&P not officially being incepted until 1923, researchers were able to tabulate total return data by tracking the performance of its components in other major indexes back to 1900. This yielded 106 rolling 20-year periods (1900-1919, 1901-1920, 1902-1921, and so on, to 2005-2024). What Crestmont's calculations show is that all 106 of these rolling 20-year periods produced a positive total return. Hypothetically (because an S&P 500 index fund has only existed since 1993), if an investor had purchased an S&P 500 index fund at any point between 1900 and 2005 and simply held this position for 20 years, they would have generated a profit, including dividends, 100% of the time. What's particularly powerful about Crestmont's analysis is these positive returns occurred despite numerous recessions, a few economic depressions, two pandemics, and multiple wars. No matter how dire things seemed for Wall Street at any given moment, investors who held for 20 years always came out ahead. To build on this point and demonstrate how important time in the market is relative to trying to time its inevitable downturns, let's take a closer look at another data set published by Bespoke Investment Group on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2023. The data set you see above represents a comparison of the calendar-day length of every S&P 500 bull and bear market since the start of the Great Depression in September 1929. The 27 bear markets in the broad-based index spanning nearly 94 years (until June 2023) lasted an average of 286 calendar days, or less than 10 months. In comparison, bull markets have averaged 1,011 calendar days, or approximately 3.5 times longer than the typical bear market. Further, the longest S&P 500 bear market since the Great Depression endured for 630 calendar days in the mid-1970s. Including the current bull market (extrapolated to present day), more than half (14 out of 27) of S&P 500 bull markets have lasted longer than 630 calendar days. If the Shiller P/E correctly forecasts a 30% decline in the benchmark S&P 500, long-term-minded investors should use it as an opportunity to invest for their future, knowing that time and history are firmly in their corner. Should you invest $1,000 in S&P 500 Index right now? Before you buy stock in S&P 500 Index, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and S&P 500 Index wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Moody's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The S&P 500 Is Going to Plunge at Least 30%, Based on What a Forecasting Tool With a 100% Historical Success Rate Has to Say was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Missed Palantir's Huge 100% Run in 2025? These Stocks Could Be Next.
Key Points Palantir's massive run-up is tied to its valuation increasing. Any stock in the market could double under the same circumstances that Palantir's did. 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies › Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) has been one of the best-performing stocks so far this year, with its price more than doubling. Finding stocks that can achieve that is a dream for every investor, and considering the circumstances of Palantir's run-up, nearly any stock could be a candidate for such performance. So, what stocks could duplicate this incredible run moving forward? Let's take a look. Palantir's run-up isn't business-related Although Palantir posted strong earnings results in Q1, 39% revenue growth normally doesn't justify the stock doubling. Furthermore, that's year-over-year revenue growth, and considering the stock has risen around 800% since the start of 2024, there's something a bit odd here. The mismatch between growth and stock performance can be attributed to the stock's valuation, which has exploded over the past year. Palantir has risen from a stock that traded in the typical software valuation range of 10 to 20 times sales to more than 120 times sales. A good rule of thumb is that a software company should be increasing its revenue at a rate greater than its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. Ideally, it's growing at two to three times this rate. However, Palantir's growth is a third of its valuation, indicating an incredibly expensive stock. This indicates that most of Palantir's movement has come from market exuberance rather than business performance. Considering Palantir's stock entered the year trading at an already expensive 65 times sales, the rise is almost directly tied to its valuation rising to an even more expensive level. If its stock were truly tied to the business, then it wouldn't be valued as high. For reference, when Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) was tripling its revenue year over year, it never traded for more than 46 times sales. Furthermore, it's still growing much faster than Palantir is right now and is far cheaper. The reality is that Palantir's stock has become far too expensive for its growth rate, and an unrealistic valuation has driven its impressive performance. Any stock has the potential to be bid up substantially by its shareholders and yield incredible returns, as seen with Palantir. So, if you're looking for a stock that may double, then literally any stock in the market is a candidate if the circumstances are the same as Palantir's. However, here are a couple stocks that have the potential to realistically double, without requiring unreasonable valuations to achieve it. Alphabet Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is the parent company of Google, and doesn't receive the same premium that many of its big tech peers do. This is unfortunate, as its growth rates are often comparable to those of some of its peers. The big concern is that Google Search could be overtaken by generative AI, so the market prices it at a discount to its peers. Currently, Alphabet trades at 20 times forward earnings. Most of its big tech peers trade in the low- to high-30s forward P/E range, so if Alphabet can return to receiving the same premium as its peers, then it has the potential to double. While I don't think a true double is realistic, I believe a 50% gain is easily achievable if the market recognizes that Google Search is here to stay. IonQ IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) is a leader in quantum computing. Although this technology hasn't proved its worth, it's rapidly approaching that point. 2030 is expected to be a key year for quantum computing deployment, and if IonQ can prove that its technology is a top option, the stock could be poised for a significant rise. By 2035, this market is expected to be worth $87 billion, providing IonQ with a substantial revenue base to capture. Considering that IonQ is currently a $11 billion company, it could be poised for a significant stock rise if it announces a breakthrough in its pursuit of making quantum computing commercially relevant. The reality is that any stock can double under the circumstances that Palantir's did. But, if you're looking for two stocks with realistic possibilities to double, Alphabet and IonQ may not be too far off. Should you invest $1,000 in Palantir Technologies right now? Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Missed Palantir's Huge 100% Run in 2025? These Stocks Could Be Next. was originally published by The Motley Fool
