TUCSON, Ariz. — A YouTube clip showing a faint light at the Catalina Foothills house of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, circulated this week and revived online claims that someone had returned to the property. Authorities have not confirmed the footage or tied it to the investigation.

Guthrie was last seen Jan. 31 after a relative dropped her off following dinner. Her garage opened shortly before 9:50 p.m. and closed minutes later. She was reported missing Feb. 1 when she did not arrive at a friend’s house to watch a church service. Relatives found blood on the front porch. Pima County sheriff’s officials and the FBI have treated the case as a kidnapping for ransom. No suspect has been publicly named.

A content creator using the account marktheshark943 posted video he described as “breaking news,” pointing to a yellow glow near a door or window and saying a rock previously seen in the driveway was gone. Photos of the rock circulated online. Neither claim has been independently verified, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has not issued a statement about lights or landscaping at the house.

Similar videos appeared earlier this month. Another creator filmed illuminated windows and speculated on camera that timers or occupants could explain them. Neighbors and social media users have long watched the dark-sky foothills property. The house had multiple cameras and more than a dozen outdoor fixtures when Guthrie disappeared. That does not mean a new light equals a new lead.

Comments on the latest clip included “Someone is playing games!” and talk of taunting. Those are posts, not evidence. Family members, including daughter Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, live nearby. People online have guessed they visit to maintain the house. There is no public confirmation of who, if anyone, was inside.

Sheriff Chris Nanos said in February that relatives are not suspects. “To be clear, the Guthrie family, to include all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects.” He has also said Guthrie was not wandering because of dementia. “She is as sharp as a tack.” She uses a pacemaker and daily heart medication and has trouble walking.

The last major public images remain doorbell video of a masked person, about 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10, in gloves and an Ozark Trail backpack, at the door the night she vanished. The camera disconnected about 1:47 a.m. Investigators recovered some Nest data with Google’s help. Gloves found near the house were tested. A hair lead went nowhere, Nanos said later. Two ransom-style notes were released July 31; one claimed she had died. Human remains found in August near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard were not linked to the case, the sheriff’s department said.

In July, Nanos told “Today” the file was still active. “We have so much DNA to sort through,” he said. “These are labs all across the country that are talking to one another about how best to look at what they have in front of them for DNA evidence. And, so I’m still positive we will resolve this case.” He added, “We’re working this as hard as we can. There’s no lead too small.”

Spokesperson Angelica Carrillo said in an email that a sheriff-FBI task force “remains committed to finding Nancy and providing answers to her family” and that DNA and digital work is “complex and time-intensive.” A department post said that when a significant development occurs, “it will be shared publicly.”

On Sept. 15, Savannah Guthrie thanked actress Allison Janney on air and said the family wanted to “give her a proper goodbye.” “We just want our mom home,” she said. Reward figures reported in coverage have ranged from an FBI offer of up to $50,000 to larger private totals; the department has not restated those figures in connection with the new video.

Seven months on, the official picture is unchanged: an 84-year-old missing from a dark foothills street, a masked figure on a doorbell camera, unfinished lab work, and no arrest. A YouTube drive-by of a porch light is not a status update. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department or the FBI.

The stock market is flashing a valuation warning that has appeared only rarely in its 155-year history. The S&P 500’s cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio, which measures prices against 10 years of inflation-adjusted earnings, has climbed to about 41. Its long-term average over 155 years is 17.8, while the only comparable extreme was the roughly 44 reading reached at the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000, according to a report by Yahoo Finance.

That backdrop comes as Warren Buffett, one of the most closely watched investors in the world, has issued a blunt message about the current market mood. Between 1965 and 2025, Berkshire Hathaway, the company he once led, delivered an annual compound return of about 19.7%, compared with 10.5% for the S&P 500 including dividends.

In a recent conversation with CNBC’s Becky Quick, Buffett said, “It’s tough to find values when everybody is preferring gambling.” The Oracle of Omaha has made a similar point in recent months, describing the market as a church with a casino attached and saying he had never seen people in more of a gambling mood.

Buffets approach

Buffett’s approach to investing has long centred on businesses that can earn more than they spend over an extended period. That is why he places so much emphasis on economic moats and competitive advantages. A moat can come from a strong brand, scale, switching costs or a network that becomes more valuable as more people use it. Such advantages can support durable cash flow, which companies can use to pay dividends, buy back shares or reinvest in their operations. Over long periods, that compounding can drive portfolio returns.
Buffett has also generally preferred buying when investors are less interested or more fearful, rather than when a particular story has taken over the market. Berkshire Hathaway remained relatively cautious on the artificial intelligence (AI) trade for a long time as the frenzy pushed valuations higher. It was only about a year ago that Berkshire initiated a position in Alphabet.

What does that mean for investors?

That does not necessarily mean the current AI boom will follow the same path as the dot-com era. The two periods also have important differences.
A high CAPE ratio remains significant because elevated readings have generally pointed towards more modest future returns. The current level can therefore be viewed as a warning about valuations rather than a signal that a market crash is about to happen. Markets can remain expensive for extended periods, just as inexpensive markets can become even cheaper. The CAPE ratio is therefore more useful for considering the next few years than trying to predict the next few weeks.Buffett’s investment approach has instead focused on owning businesses that can compound through different market cycles, with attention to economic moats, quality management teams and durable cash flows. Those cash flows can either be returned to shareholders or reinvested in the business. Holding such positions over long periods also means that a few difficult years do not necessarily determine the overall investment outcome.

Buffett steps down as chairman

Buffett, 96, is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after more than six decades at the helm of the company. He will become chairman emeritus with immediate effect and will remain a director.

His oldest son, Howard Buffett, will succeed him as chairman, marking another step in Berkshire’s long-planned succession. Howard has been a member of Berkshire’s board since 1993.

As he moves into the chairman emeritus role, Buffett said he remains confident about Berkshire’s future and will continue as a shareholder. “The company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you.”

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Amazon is accelerating and widening consumer refund payouts tied to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, expanding eligibility for millions of additional customers who could now receive payments of up to $200 each.

The refunds stem from a historic settlement reached in September 2025, in which Amazon agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion in redress to consumers the FTC said were harmed by the company’s deceptive Prime enrollment and cancellation practices, in addition to a separate $1 billion civil penalty. As of September 2026, Amazon has issued more than $845 million in redress payments to affected consumers under that settlement.

Under an expanded federal court order, the eligibility criteria for those refunds is now broadening considerably. Previously focused on low-use Prime subscribers, the program will now also include millions of customers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits over a one-year period, a significantly larger pool of subscribers than the settlement initially targeted. Alongside that expanded eligibility, the maximum individual payment amount is increasing sharply, jumping from a previous cap of $51 to as much as $200 total per eligible consumer.

Consumers who have already received and cashed earlier refund checks under the original settlement terms are not being left out of the expanded program. Those individuals could receive an additional, automatic supplemental payment of up to $149, with that second round of payments expected to begin rolling out by April 2027.

Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, framed the expanded order as a direct effort to ensure the settlement’s benefits reach a broader share of affected customers. “The revised order will ensure more consumers who were harmed by Amazon’s deceptive enrollment and cancellation practices benefit from the FTC’s historic settlement,” Mufarrige said.

The new round of payments is designed to require no action from eligible consumers. All new payments will be distributed automatically starting October 1, 2026, through PayPal, Venmo or a mailed paper check, depending on the payment information the FTC has on file or is able to obtain for each eligible consumer. Customers do not need to file any claims, complete any forms, or take any other proactive steps to receive their payment if they qualify under the expanded criteria.

That automatic, no-claim structure has also created an opening for potential fraud, prompting the FTC to issue a direct warning to consumers. The agency said anyone who contacts a consumer claiming to represent the FTC and asks for money, personal information or banking details in order to “claim” a refund is very likely running a scam. Because legitimate payments under the settlement are issued automatically without any request for personal or financial information, the FTC has emphasized that consumers should be highly skeptical of any unsolicited outreach asking them to take action, provide sensitive information, or pay a fee in order to receive a payment connected to the Amazon settlement.

The underlying case traces back to FTC allegations that Amazon made it deceptively easy for consumers to sign up for Prime subscriptions while making the cancellation process unreasonably difficult, a pattern regulators said resulted in many consumers being charged for a service they did not intend to continue using or, in some cases, did not realize they had signed up for in the first place. The $2.5 billion total settlement, combining the $1.5 billion consumer redress fund with the $1 billion civil penalty, ranked among the largest consumer protection settlements in FTC history when it was first announced in September 2025.

The expansion of eligibility criteria and the increase in maximum payment amounts reflect an acknowledgment by regulators that the original settlement terms may not have adequately captured the full scope of consumers affected by Amazon’s enrollment and cancellation practices. By extending eligibility to consumers who used a moderate number of Prime benefits, rather than limiting redress strictly to the lowest-use subscribers, the revised order is expected to bring a considerably larger share of Amazon’s Prime customer base within reach of some form of compensation under the settlement.

For consumers wondering whether they qualify for either the newly expanded initial payment or the supplemental payment tied to previously cashed checks, no application process exists, meaning eligible individuals should expect to be contacted or to simply receive payment directly through the channels described in the settlement, PayPal, Venmo, or a mailed check, without needing to search for or submit any documentation on their own behalf.

With payments set to begin rolling out automatically starting next month and the supplemental round for earlier claimants following by April 2027, the expanded settlement is expected to continue delivering compensation to Amazon Prime subscribers well into next year, as the FTC works through the process of identifying and distributing funds to the full population of consumers now covered under the revised order.

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It is time to start year-end tax planning, and this year I’m doing something different. For the first time, I’m planning to owe taxes next April 15 instead of getting a refund.    

This means I’ll be parting company with most tax filers. Last year, nearly two-thirds of the nation’s 166 million filers of individual income-tax returns were owed refunds by the Internal Revenue Service. The average amount was $3,167. 

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