Here are the AP's top business stories that have moved or are planned to move today. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit AP Newsroom's Coverage Plan.

Why Cyber Monday could break spending records despite economic uncertainty

SUMMARY: Deals promoted as some of the best of the holiday season are expected to keep people across the United States glued to their computers and smartphones on Cyber Monday. It's no secret that buying things online is a staple of many people's everyday routines. And year after year, those purchases mount during the gift-giving holiday rush. Experts expect consumers to drive record Cyber Monday spending this year, even amid wider economic uncertainty. The firm predicts that buy now, pay later loans will reach a new $1 billion milestone, the vast majority involving purchases made on mobile devices

WORDS: 827 - MOVED: 11/30/2025 9:41 p.m. EST

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When formal systems stop working, neighbors turn to each other in what many call 'mutual aid'

SUMMARY: Organizers say that interest in local, grassroots initiatives to meet community needs has been growing. Often called "mutual aid," these volunteer-run projects often distribute food or organize free exchanges of clothes or household items. Most of the time, they are not incorporated as formal nonprofits. Interest in mutual aid organizing often spikes in response to crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic and now, economic and political uncertainty under the second Trump administration. Aaron Fernando works as an organizer for Shareable, which publishes resources about mutual aid and cooperatives. He said they've seen a spike in enrollment in the Mutual Aid 101 webinars they launched earlier this year

WORDS: 1053 - MOVED: 12/01/2025 8:31 a.m. EST

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US stock futures dip as crypto takes another beating and oil prices surge

SUMMARY: Wall Street was poised to give back some of last week's gains when markets open, while oil prices surged and anything related to cryptocurrency sank. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.8% before the opening bell Monday, while futures for the Dow lost 0.5%. Nasdaq futures were down 1%. Investors continued to bail on bitcoin, sending it down another 6% to $85,723, adding to its recent slump. Anything related to bitcoin was dragged down with it, including the mobile trading platform Robin Hood, which tumbled 3.5%, and Coinbase, which fell 4.2%. European aerospace giant Airbus lost more than 2% after a weekend software glitch.

WORDS: 698 - MOVED: 12/01/2025 12:06 a.m. EST

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What is mutual aid? And why are more people turning to informal efforts to help each other?

SUMMARY: Organizers say that in response to government funding cuts, high prices and political uncertainty, interest in mutual aid efforts has picked up. Mutual aid is the practice of finding resources from within a community and exchanging them for free. Mutual aid efforts have a long history, especially among immigrant and Black communities in the U.S. Examples include sharing food, exchanging household goods and clothes or organizing shared items like tools. In recent years, mutual aid groups have helped people access reproductive healthcare, including abortions, and coordinated collective responses to immigration arrests.

WORDS: 941 - MOVED: 12/01/2025 8:22 a.m. EST

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What is GivingTuesday? How to donate on the annual day of charitable giving

SUMMARY: Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits in the U.S. This year, it falls on Dec. 2. Nonprofits face uncertainty about how donors may respond to a range of changing factors. High prices may keep small dollar donors from giving as much to charitable organizations. However, a strong stock market usually indicates that larger donors will give generously. Many nonprofits also face a range of new challenges this year, with human service organizations seeing higher demands while some also face cuts to government grants.

WORDS: 856 - MOVED: 12/01/2025 8:16 a.m. EST

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Here's why everyone's talking about a 'K-shaped' economy

SUMMARY: References to the "K-shaped economy" are rapidly proliferating. So what does the phrase mean? Simply put, the upper part of the K refers to higher-income Americans seeing their incomes and wealth rise while the bottom part points to lower-income households struggling with weaker income gains and steep prices. A big reason the term is popping up so often is that it helps explain an unusually muddy and convoluted period for the U.S. economy. Growth appears solid, yet hiring is sluggish and the unemployment rate has ticked up. Overall consumer spending is still rising, but Americans are less confident. And the stock market still hovers near record highs even as wage growth is slowing.

WORDS: 1241 - MOVED: 11/26/2025 12:57 p.m. EST

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Airbus says most A320 jets now have software fix, with less than 100 planes still needing update

SUMMARY: Airbus has updated most of its 6,000 A320 passenger jets to fix a software glitch that could affect flight controls. The European planemaker said Monday that the "vast majority" of jets have received necessary modifications. Fewer than 100 aircraft still need updates. Airbus apologized for disruptions over the weekend as airlines rushed to implement the changes. The issue, flagged Friday, involved "intense solar radiation" corrupting critical flight data. The problem is suspected in a JetBlue incident on October 30. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and European regulators required the update, affecting over 500 U.S.-registered aircraft.

WORDS: 287 - MOVED: 12/01/2025 6:40 a.m. EST

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AI-assisted shopping is the talk of the holiday shopping season

SUMMARY: Major retail chains and tech companies are offering new or updated artificial intelligence tools in time for the holiday shopping season. They hope to give consumers an easier gift-buying experience and themselves an augmented share of online spending. Although AI-powered purchases still are in early stages, the shopping assistants and agents rolled out by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and Google can do more than the chatbots of holidays past. The latest versions were designed to  provide personalized product recommendations, track prices and to place some orders through unscripted "conversations" with customers.

WORDS: 1255 - MOVED: 11/29/2025 10:02 p.m. EST

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