As founders and C-suite executives grow wealthier from soaring stock gains, billionaire Mark Cuban says employees deserve a piece of that pie too.

Responding to a recent Oxfam report about billionaire wealth increasing by $33 trillion since 2015, Cuban posted on X that the reason behind the surge is that “the stock market has gone straight up.”

“You know who is funding the increase, particularly lately? Retail investors. 401ks,” Cuban wrote. “The better question is, why are we not giving incentives to companies to require them to give shares in their companies to all employees, at the same percentage of cash earnings as the CEO?”

While many companies already offer stock ownership or profit-sharing, many cap what employees can get.

For example, the tech company Intel has an enrollment period twice a year, where employees buy stock up to 15% of their salary at a 15% discount—or a maximum of $21,250 a year. Meanwhile, tech giant Adobe offers employees to contribute up to 25% of their salaries (with a maximum of $21,250 per year) at a 15% discount.

Cuban says wealth isn’t the problem—it’s how companies use it

With an estimated net worth of $6 billion, Shark Tank star Mark Cuban has built his fortune by betting on ownership. He began his career founding broadcast.com before selling it to Yahoo in a $5.7 billion deal in 1999. Nowadays, he owns a minority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and is co-founder of his 2022 venture Cost Plus Drugs. 

Given his success, the investor says wealth gains for leaders are okay, just as long as it’s benefiting everyone properly: “Compassion and capitalism—not greed—are what can make this country far greater.”

“Multiple studies show that when everyone owns stocks, the results are better. Which matches my experiences with multiple companies,” Cuban told Fortune.

The billionaire added that the more “liquid net worth” a CEO has, the more opportunity they have to benefit others and change their life for good.

“The value of those dollars become much greater, to you, and so many others, when you use your business, or other expertise to help others.”

Cuban has previously shared profits through bonuses

Cuban has long argued that companies should give employees stock options and he’s backed up that philosophy in his own ventures. For example, he has often shared profits through cash bonuses rather than equity grants.

“In every business I’ve sold, I’ve paid out bonuses to every employee who’d been there for more than a year, ” he said in a previous X post.

In the post, he wrote that while at Broadcast.com, 300 out of 330 employees became millionaires. Meanwhile, at MicroSolutions (the first company he founded) he paid out 20% to 80 employees. The Mavericks he said wasn’t a full exit, but he paid out more than $35 million to staff.

• Global stock markets fell after China banned certain U.S. shipping firms. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “If they want to slow down the global economy, they will be hurt the most.” Asian and European indexes all dropped on the news, and S&P 500 futures were in sharp decline prior to the bell in New York. The index itself dropped nearly 1% immediately after the open.

A broad-based selloff swept global stock markets this morning after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Financial Times that China “will be hurt the most” if it doesn’t submit to Washington’s trade demands. At the same time, China showed no signs of backing down from President Trump’s trade war: It imposed sanctions banning Chinese companies from doing business with the U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.63% on the news.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.87% this morning. The index opened the better part of 1% lower almost immediately. Markets in Asia and Europe were almost all down, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 off 2.58% and Europe’s Stoxx 600 down 0.49% by midmorning.

Beijing’s new export controls on rare earth materials—which the U.S. is dependent on—are “a sign of how weak their economy is, and they want to pull everybody else down with them,” Bessent said. “Maybe there is some Leninist business model where hurting your customers is a good idea, but they are the largest supplier to the world,” he told the FT. “If they want to slow down the global economy, they will be hurt the most.

“They are in the middle of a recession/depression,” he added, “and they are trying to export their way out of it. The problem is they’re exacerbating their standing in the world.” (China is, in fact, doing very well. Its exports rose 8.3% in September, and the World Bank expects China’s GDP to grow 4.8% this year. U.S. growth is forecast at 1.4%.)

The mood among traders today is a stark reversal from yesterday, when the S&P 500 rose 1.56% after investors realized that Trump and China President Xi Jinping will likely meet at the upcoming APEC conference at the end of October—an opportunity for both men to reach one of Trump’s famous deals.

Elsewhere, there wasn’t much to cheer up the markets. A third of bettors on Polymarket think the U.S. government shutdown will continue beyond Nov. 8.

Pantheon Macroeconomics noted that consumer sentiment remains low: The University of Michigan’s consumer survey, which asks whether buyers feel now is a good time to make a major purchase, lately “points to year-over-year growth in this measure of core spending slowing to near-zero soon, a far cry from the 6% pace earlier this year,” according to Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. labor market remained mired in its low-hiring, low-firing doldrums through September, though the economy overall "may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday.

He noted that at policymakers will take a "meeting-by-meeting" approach to any further interest rate cuts as they balance job market weakness with the fact that inflation remains well above their 2% target.

Powell also said the end of the central bank's long-running effort to shrink the size of its holdings, widely known as quantitative tightening, or QT, may be coming into view.

His comments came from the text of a speech prepared for delivery before a gathering held by National Association for Business Economics in Philadelphia.

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stocks were mixed, with the Dow and S&P 500 up on the day, while the Nasdaq was down.

BONDS: U.S. Treasury yields fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note slipping to 4.02% and the two-year note down at 4.6%.

FOREX: The dollar index slid in wake of Powell's comments, down 0.3% at 99.03.

COMMENTS:

CALLIE COX, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA:

"Jay Powell dropped a major piece of news when he mentioned that the Fed could stop culling the size of its balance sheet in the coming months. The Fed has been reducing its runoff for months now, but the idea of a stable balance sheet could help lower yields in the middle to long part of the curve. That’s a hidden source of relief – especially to homeowners – that rate cuts alone may not be able to deliver."

"Otherwise, Powell didn't say anything too surprising. He repeated the 'no risk-free path' comment, which I'm guessing will be a buzzy monetary policy phrase for the rest of the year. Both sides of the Fed's mandate are still under threat, even though Powell and company have chosen to focus on unemployment. Inflation worries still linger, and they may stick around until a weaker job market starts to put pressure on wages and spending."

"It's a good time to think about your saving, borrowing and investing strategies. Today's environment requires a Swiss Army approach of sorts – deploying cash on market drops (but with an eye towards value) and adding fixed income strategically."

CHRIS GRISANTI, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST AT MAI CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, NEW YORK:

"The Powell speech was somewhat more dovish than I expected. He didn't say anything groundbreaking, but he did emphasize his concern about the slowing job market more than he usually does. Listening to the whole speech, his concerns seemed skewed towards recession rather than inflation. This gave me more confidence in rate cuts coming before the end of the year. Having said that, I am confident that the Fed remains data dependent, and stronger jobs numbers, once we start getting them again, or hot inflation readings could alter this projection. But for now, rates are coming down."

Mortgage rates are down across the board today. According to Zillow, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased by four basis points to 6.24%, and the 15-year fixed rate has dropped by four basis points to 5.52%.

Mortgage interest rates tend to follow the 10-year Treasury yield, which has been falling over the last few days. The 10-year Treasury yield isn't guaranteed to keep falling, so now could be a good time to lock in a mortgage rate.

Learn about the best mortgage lenders right now.

Today's mortgage rates

Here are the current mortgage rates, according to our latest Zillow data:

• 30-year fixed: 6.24%

• 20-year fixed: 5.80%

• 15-year fixed: 5.52%

• 5/1 ARM: 6.38%

• 7/1 ARM: 6.11%

• 30-year VA: 5.70%

• 15-year VA: 5.32%

• 5/1 VA: 5.43%

Remember that these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.

Today's mortgage refinance rates

These are the current mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

• 30-year fixed: 6.38%

• 20-year fixed: 5.86%

• 15-year fixed: 5.72%

• 5/1 ARM: 6.72%

• 7/1 ARM: 6.74%

• 30-year VA: 6.07%

• 15-year VA: 6.05%

• 5/1 VA: 5.47%

Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Refinance rates are usually higher than purchase rates.

Refinance interest rates

Yahoo Finance mortgage calculator

A mortgage calculator can help you see how various mortgage term lengths and interest rates will affect your monthly payments. Use this mortgage calculator to play around with different outcomes.

The Yahoo Finance mortgage calculator also considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when calculating your estimated monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a better idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.

30-year vs. 15-year fixed mortgage rates

As a general rule, 15-year mortgage rates are lower than 30-year mortgage rates. When comparing 15- versus 30-year mortgage rates, know that the shorter term will save you money on interest in the long run. However, your monthly payments will be higher because you’re paying off the same loan amount in half the time.

For example, with a $400,000 mortgage with a 30-year term and a 6.24% rate, you'll make a monthly payment of about $2,460 toward your mortgage principal and interest. As interest accumulates over decades, you’ll end up paying $485,696 in interest.

If you get a $400,000 15-year mortgage with a 5.52% rate, you’ll pay about $3,273 monthly toward your principal and interest. However, you’ll only pay $189,065 in interest over the years.

If that 15-year mortgage monthly payment is too high, remember you can always make extra mortgage payments on your 30-year loan to pay off your mortgage faster and ultimately pay less interest.

Fixed-rate vs. adjustable-rate mortgages

With a fixed-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in from day one. However, you will get a new rate if you refinance your mortgage.

An adjustable-rate mortgage keeps your rate the same for a set period of time. Then the rate will go up or down depending on several factors, such as the economy and the maximum amount your rate can change according to your contract. For example, with a 7/1 ARM, your rate would be locked in for the first seven years, then change every year for the remainder of your term.

Adjustable rates sometimes start lower than fixed rates, but once the initial rate-lock period ends, you risk your interest rate going up. ARM rates have also been starting higher than fixed rates recently, so sometimes you don't get a rate break.

Determine how to choose between an adjustable-rate vs. fixed-rate mortgage.

When will mortgage rates finally drop?

Economists don't expect drastic mortgage rate drops before the end of 2025.

In 2024, mortgage rates trended downward from early August to the Sept. 18 Federal Reserve meeting, when the central bank announced a 50-basis-point slash to the federal funds rate.

The Fed decreased its rate again at its November and December meetings (by 25 bps each time). However, it paused for months to consider the next move.

Finally, the Federal Reserve announced its first rate cut of 2025, with a quarter-point decrease on Sept. 17. Wall Street expects two more rate cuts before the end of the year. Currently, the CME FedWatch tool predicts a nearly 99% chance of the next quarter-point cut at the Fed's Oct. 29 meeting.

Learn how the Federal Reserve rate decision impacts mortgage rates.

Mortgage rates today: FAQs

What is today's 30-year fixed rate?

According to Zillow data, today's 30-year fixed rate is 6.24% for home purchases and 6.38% for refinances. These are the national averages, so keep in mind the average in your state or city could be different. Your rate will also vary depending on your personal finances.

Are mortgage rates expected to drop?

Mortgage rates aren't expected to move much by the end of 2025. Even with another fed funds rate cut in October, other financial factors are likely to keep rates mostly steady.

Will mortgage rates go down in 2026?

Mortgage rates might ease a bit lower in 2026. Depending on the economy, inflation, and the Fed, any decreases may be relatively small.