News
February 3, 2026

BUSINESS NOTEBOOK

NEW YORK (AP) — Wild swings that swept through financial markets overnight are calming as Wall Street opens for trading. U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady on Monday following gains in Europe and sharp drops in Asia, while gold and silver prices rallied back from severe earlier losses. The S&P 500 edged down 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Silver erased a 9% loss from the overnight hours to rise, while gold pulled nearly back to even after briefly dropping below $4,500 per ounce. Oil prices fell, while Treasury yields held relatively steady.

Do you need to control your cortisol? Probably not, doctors say
News
By By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer 
February 3, 2026
Cortisol, what is known as the stress hormone, is the talk of the internet. Wellness influencers warn about the various symptoms of chronically high cortisol: waking up at 3 a.m., swollen “cortisol fa...
News
By ALBERT STUMM Associated Press 
February 3, 2026
With a scarf dangling from your coat pocket and those gloves left behind at the coffee shop, there are simply more things to lose in winter. That’s not counting your misplaced keys at home or those ex...
Some companies tie AI to layoffs, but the reality is more complicated
News
By By MATT O?BRIEN AP Technology Writer 
February 3, 2026
The one thing N. Lee Plumb knows for sure about being laid off from Amazon last week is that it wasn’t a failure to get on board with the company’s artificial intelligence plans. Plumb, his team’s hea...
News
ALLEGHENY
February 3, 2026
Editor’s note: Westmoreland County transactions were not provided this week by Real Stats.