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TL;DR: Use code STOCKS20 at checkout to save 20% on the usual deal price of this AI stock-picking app. Typically $68.99, you can get a lifetime subscription for $55.19 for a limited time (reg. $486). Opens in a new window Credit: Sterling Stock Picker Sterling Stock Picker: Lifetime Subscription $55.19 $486 Save $430.81 Get Deal With wild stock market swings constantly in the news, I found myself wondering ‘Can I make money, too?’ I’ve always been curious how people actually make money in the stock market, but I never knew where to start (especially without blowing my paychecks).Then, after hearing someone on TikTok brag about making a four-figure profit, I decided I was missing out on building my savings. They said they use Sterling Stock Picker to research new investments, ask questions, and keep track of their portfolio.Learning the stock market ropesMy biggest concern wasn’t that the market wouldn’t eventually recover, but that I would choose ‘bad’ stocks due to my lack of experience. Sterling Stock Picker helped me feel calm with the 5-minute questionnaire covering my wants and ability to handle risk.Then, I started researching stocks with help from AI. I also learned about something called exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are like groups of stocks. I didn’t know what these were at first, so I consulted the AI assistant, Finley AI, and it told me that it’s like putting a stake into a huge nest of companies at once rather than individually.Once I selected a few ETFs to invest in, I opened a free brokerage account (sadly, you can’t directly invest through Sterling Stock Picker). I purchased my shares and put the information into Sterling Stock Picker so I could view my portfolio with fun graphs and charts and get alerts when prices change — which may help me determine when to sell.How it’s going (so far)Well, it’s only been a few days since I’ve made my investments and, if you’ve been keeping up with the news, things have been up and down. One day, my $1,000 portfolio was up $100, and the next, it was down $20. As a total beginner, I won’t offer any formal advice to you other than to do your research and be well-informed, and Sterling Stock Picker is a great tool to do just that.Use code STOCKS20 at checkout to get a Sterling Stock Picker lifetime subscription for $55.19 for a limited time (reg. $486).StackSocial prices subject to change.

This week, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers received scam texts after their state's official text messaging system was breached by hackers, according to a report from NBC News.New York’s Office of Information Technology Services told NBC News that "around 188,000 people get text messages from the state and that around 160,000 received the scam text." Scam texts are on the rise. By now, you've probably been inundated by them. Text messages from scammers claiming they need your information for a package delivery. Or maybe there's a mystery charge on your bank account. We've also reported on DMV scam texts, inflation refund scam texts, wrong number messages, and the list goes on.However, this latest scam text campaign shows just how much the issue is escalating.This week, a mobile text messaging service called Mobile Commons, with customers such as the New York state government, the charity Catholic Relief Services, and progressive organizing group Fight for a Union, was hacked. And once Mobile Commons' systems were breached, the hackers weaponized the service to send scam texts to people who had signed up for text message updates from those organizations.“On the evening of Monday, November 10th, an unauthorized third party gained illegal access to our platform through what we believe was a spear phishing attack or similar social engineering method," Mobile Commons said in a statement to NBC News. "The intruder’s access was active for a four-hour period ending at 12:10 AM on November 11th before being detected and removed. During this time, multiple attempts were made to send spam messages through our system. A limited number of these messages reached subscribers before our security protocols identified and shut down the malicious activity.”According to NBC News, the scam texts that were sent urged users to call a toll-free number in reference to a declined bank transaction involving a large sum of money. Of course, the transactions did not exist. The hacker's aim is to convince its targets to call the number, assuming it's a legitimate text from their banking institution, and then likely convince the user to complete a real transaction to fix the issue. In reality, that legitimate transaction would not go to the bank or nonexistent vendor, but to the scammers. Mobile Commons told NBC News that user information was not accessed in the breach. However, the company declined to mention how many subscribers received the scam texts. It's also unclear how many people fell for the scam and suffered financial damages as a result.Mashable would like to remind readers that the safest course of action is to never interact with a phone number or link claiming to be from a financial institution. Readers should instead contact the bank or credit company directly via their official phone number to check on the legitimacy of any such text message.

Turns out everyone kind of thinks there's an AI bubble.According to a report from CNBC, top tech executives are worried about an AI bubble messing up their business. Like other infamous bubbles — the dot-com bubble, the cryptocurrency bubble, and the housing bubble of the 2000s — an AI bubble could cause massive disruption to the wider economy. A bubble occurs when the price of something rises above its actual value, typically because investors become overly excited. And investors have been very excited about AI. A recent report from Stanford University estimated that AI investment reached $109.1 billion in the U.S. in 2024. That's 12 times higher than China's investment and 24 times higher than the UK's investment.CNBC reported that Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick, investor Michael Burry, and Picsart CEO Hovhannes Avoyan are all worried about a potential AI bubble. In fact, even some AI leaders are getting nervous."I think the evaluations are pretty exaggerated here and there, and I think there is signs of a bubble on the horizon," Jarek Kutylowski, CEO of German AI firm DeepL, told CNBC.This isn't the first time we've heard about a potential AI bubble. In August, OpenAI's Sam Altman talked about his own AI bubble fears to a small group of reporters, including The Verge's Alex Heath, over dinner in San Francisco."When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth," Altman told the reporters. "If you look at most of the bubbles in history, like the tech bubble, there was a real thing. Tech was really important. The internet was a really big deal. People got overexcited. Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes. Is AI the most important thing to happen in a very long time? My opinion is also yes."

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it plans to roll back some of the restrictions on commercial flights it implemented at 40 major U.S. airports during the shutdown. The agency says the current mandatory 6% flight cuts are being downgraded to 3% even though the record 43-day shutdown ended Nov. 12. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has repeatedly said restrictions would remain until staffing at air traffic control facilities stabilizes and safety metrics improve. The unprecedented order, in place since Nov. 7, has affected thousands of flights. The head of the FAA said troubling data showed the measure was needed to ease pressure on the aviation system as the shutdown entered its second month and controller absences rose. Unpaid for more than a month, many controllers cited financial strain and the need to take on side jobs. The flight cuts started at 4% and later grew to 6%. The FAA originally had a 10% target, but officials held off on further rate increases because they said more controllers were coming to work amid news that Congress was close to reaching a deal to end the shutdown. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse. Duffy hasn’t shared the specific safety data that prompted the cuts, but he cited reports during the shutdown of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions and pilot concerns about controllers’ responses. How long it will take for the aviation system to stabilize is unclear. The flight restrictions upended airline operations in just a matter of days. Many planes were rerouted and aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Airlines for America, the trade group of U.S. airlines, warned there could be residual effects for days. Some experts predicted the problems could linger longer but airline executives were optimistic that flying could quickly return to normal ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel week. The nationwide shortage of controllers isn’t new, but the shutdown put a spotlight on the problem and likely made it worse. Duffy said that by the end of the shutdown, 15-20 controllers were retiring daily and some younger controllers were leaving the profession.

The best early Black Friday TV deals at a glance: BEST 50-inch TV deal Hisense 50-inch QD6 QLED 4K TV $199.99 (save $130) Get Deal Best 55-inch TV deal Amazon 55-inch Omni Mini LED QLED 4K Fire TV $694.99 (save $125) Get Deal Best 65-inch TV deal Hisense 65-inch U6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV $547.99 (save $300) Get Deal Best 75-inch TV deal TCL 75-inch QM6K Mini LED QLED 4K TV $698 (save $301.99) Get Deal Best 100-inch TV deal Hisense 100-inch QD6 QLED 4K TV $1,497.99 (save $502) Get Deal It's officially the best time of year to buy a TV. And you don't even have to wake up at 2 a.m., ready to throw fists in a Walmart or Best Buy. While Black Friday proper — which falls on Nov. 28 in 2025 — will likely produce some unmatched deals as in years past, there's plenty of price drops already worth grabbing a couple of weeks early. Whether you're looking to upgrade to a larger screen or swap your LED model for a QLED model, this is the time.As Mashable's TV expert Leah Stodart noted last year, QLED TVs have officially gone from swanky to accessible. That means it's easier than ever for the average household to make the jump to a QLED 4K TV at a budget-friendly price — particularly during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And you will certainly notice the difference in quality.We're keeping track of all the early Black Friday TV deals worth shopping below and will continuously update this list with any new price drops that roll in. Several Hisense, TCL, and Amazon Fire TV models are already down to record-lows, so feel free to shop ahead of the rush. TVs are one of the biggest purchases this time of year and they do tend to sell out. Read on for a rundown of our top picks.Psst: If you're not sure what to do with your old TV, you can recycle it at most Best Buy stores for free.Best early Black Friday 50-inch TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 50-inch QD6 QLED 4K TV $199.99 at Best Buy $329.99 Save $130 Get Deal Why we like itThis deal really highlights why we love the Hisense TV brand so much: you can get a QLED 4K TV for under $200. The QD6 model is a well-rounded budget TV that utilizes the Fire TV platform and features built-in Alexa, as well as Dolby Vision HDR and DTS Virtual X audio for better picture quality and crisper sound. It won't wow you quite like a premium QLED would, but you'll still notice a difference from the quantum dots — particularly when watching in the daytime. This 50-inch model is great for smaller living rooms, bedrooms, and apartments and at $199.99, its beating its Prime Day price by nearly $40 at Best Buy. It's currently sold out at Amazon.Best early Black Friday 65-inch TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 65-inch U6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV $547.99 at Amazon $847.99 Save $300 Get Deal Why we like itIf you're not sure what size TV to get, we consider 65 inches to be the sweet spot for most folks. While the Hisense U6 Mini LED QLED TV falls into the budget-friendly category, its specs don't scream "budget" at all. It features a Mini LED backlight system, which essentially means its uses smaller LEDs to deliver a brighter and more detailed picture. Plus, it packs a 144Hz native refresh rate, WiFi 6 connectivity, an ATSC 1.0 tuner under the hood, and support for HDR in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. It uses the same interface as Amazon's own Mini LED Fire TV and is equipped with on-board Alexa. Our friends at PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis) called it "easily the brightest and most colorful budget-friendly TV we've tested." At $547.99, the 65-inch Hisense U6 is already down to its best price ever at Amazon ahead of Black Friday.Best early Black Friday 75-inch+ TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 75-inch QM6K Mini LED QLED 4K TV $698 at Walmart $999.99 Save $301.99 Get Deal Why we like itWalmart and Amazon are both featuring this excellent deal on the TCL QM6K TV, which our friends at CNET (also owned by Ziff Davis) dubbed the "best TV under $1,000 in 2025." It checks all…