Read NPR’s annotated fact check of President Trump’s address to Congress

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President Trump delivered an address to a joint session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night, six weeks into his second term. Since his inauguration, he has worked briskly to try to radically reshape the government and has signed dozens of executive orders, many upending policies created by former President Joe Biden. Trump took stock of what he’s done so far and laid out his vision for the economy, immigration and foreign affairs.

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Reporters from across NPR’s newsroom fact-checked the address and offered context as the speech unfolded.

By topic: Immigration | Inflation | Energy | Culture | Spending and tax cuts | Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) | Trade and tariffs |Climate | Foreign policy

Immigration

Unlawful border crossings

TRUMP: “Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border, and I deployed the U.S. military and border patrol to repel the invasion of our country, and what a job they’ve done. As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded ever. They heard my words and they chose not to come.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents had about 30,000 encounters with migrants attempting to cross the U.S. borders illegally in January, the agency reported. The agency has not reported the numbers for February, however Reuters reported last week that the administration is on track to report about 8,500 arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border for February. This could be the lowest number of crossings since Homeland Security started reporting the data in 2000.

CBP has been recording apprehensions since 1925. In 1935, there were only 11,000 apprehensions nationwide for the full year. During President Biden’s administration, unlawful crossings nationwide hit an all-time high in 2022 — CBP reported more than 2.2 million encounters. However, Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, saw about 48,000 encounters.

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— Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Immigration Correspondent

Deportations

“I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our Homeland, and complete the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than current record holder Dwight D. Eisenhower—a moderate man but someone who believed very strongly in borders.

In his remarks, Trump referenced 1954’s “Operation Wetback” — a racist term used to refer to migrants who crossed the Rio Grande. Government estimates of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s effort showed more than a million Mexican immigrants and some U.S. citizens were rounded up.

Since then, other presidents have carried out large deportation actions throughout their terms. Former President Barack Obama’s administration, for example, deported over 3 million people. But Trump’s second administration’s own efforts face long-standing logistical and capacity challenges.

— Ximena Bustillo, DHS and Immigration Policy Reporter

Biden allowing migrants into the U.S.

TRUMP: “In comparison, under Joe Biden, the worst president in American history, there were hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month, and virtually all of them, including murderers, drug dealers, gang members and people from mental institutions and insane asylums were released into our country. Who would want to do that?”

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that from 2021 to 2024, the Biden administration allowed more than 5.8 million immigrants into the U.S. They were temporarily allowed into the country through multiple parole and sponsorship programs, many of which have been dramatically curbed or ended by the Trump administration. Migrants who participated in these programs were vetted before being allowed into the country.

— Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Immigration Correspondent

Immigrants and the workforce

TRUMP: “Entire towns like Aurora, Colorado and Springfield, Ohio buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption like nobody has ever seen before.”

Increased immigration — both legal and illegal — has helped to grow the labor force in recent years. It has allowed employers to keep adding jobs at a rapid clip without putting much upward pressure on prices, even as millions of baby boomers are retiring. From January 2024 to January 2025, for example, the foreign-born workforce grew by 2.1 million people while the larger native-born workforce added just 1.3 million.

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Immigration has slowed considerably in recent months, however. Foreign-born workers do not appear to be displacing the native-born workforce. The share of working-age men who were in the workforce in January was 89.4% — higher than all but one month during the first Trump administration. The share of working-age women who were in the workforce hit a record high of 78.4% last summer and has fallen only slightly since.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

“Gold card”

“We have developed in great detail what we are calling the gold card, which goes on sale very, very soon. For $5 million it will allow the most successful job creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizenship.”

Trump recently announced plans to create a “gold card,” which he said will allow “very high-level people” to apply to become a lawful permanent resident. His administration has pitched this as a replacement to the current EB-5 immigrant investor visa.

But the president can’t solely create a new visa. That power lies with Congress. And significantly changing the EB-5 visa program would also require congressional action.

So far, a formal proposal has not been issued by the Trump administration, so it is unclear how he might modify the existing visa or lobby Congress to create a new one.

— Ximena Bustillo, DHS and Immigration policy reporter

Trump highlights his first law

TRUMP: “That’s why the very first bill I signed into law as 47th president mandates the detention of all dangerous criminal aliens who threaten public Safety, very strong, powerful act.”

The Laken Riley Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in January, expands the scope of those who can be arrested, detained and deported by federal immigration officers.

The measure directs federal immigration enforcement to detain and deport those without legal status charged with minor theft or shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer or crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury of another person.

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Several criminal offenses could already be grounds for deportation and supporters of immigration point to research that shows immigrants commit fewer crimes than those born in the U.S.

The legislation passed with bipartisan support from Democrats. Still, questions remain over the ability for federal law enforcement to fully implement the measure due to limited detention resources.

— Ximena Bustillo, DHS and Immigration policy reporter

Inflation

Price of eggs

TRUMP: “Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control – the egg prices out of control — and we are working hard to get it back down.”

Overall, grocery prices have begun to level off, rising less than 2% between January 2024 and January 2025. But many people still experience supermarket sticker shock. Eggs have been a particular sore spot lately, with prices jumping 53% over the last year. That’s largely due to the ongoing challenge of avian flu, which has forced egg farmers to slaughter tens of millions of egg-laying chickens. The shortfall in egg supply has been compounded by panic buying — similar to what happened with toilet paper in 2020 — leading some stores to limit egg purchases. Last week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion effort to combat avian flu, including $500 million for new sanitary precautions at egg farms. The USDA is also exploring vaccination for laying hens and increasing the supply of imported eggs.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Inflation under Biden

TRUMP: “Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief working families, as you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up grocery costs, and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. They’ve never had anything like it. Suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even the history of our country. They’re not sure, as President, I’m fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again.”

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Inflation soared to 9.1% in 2022 — the highest rate in 40 years, not 48 — in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Robust government spending likely added to the price hikes in the U.S., putting more money in people’s pockets. Demand surged, outpacing tangled supply chains. But high inflation was a worldwide problem, even in countries where governments didn’t spend so heavily.

While inflation has since eased, settling at 3% in January, prices are still climbing faster than most people would like.

While high prices are a source of frustration for many Americans, the average worker has more buying power today than she did before the pandemic. Since February 2020, just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S., consumer prices have risen 22.8% while average wages have risen 25.8%. Wages have been climbing faster than prices for the better part of two years.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Energy

Energy production

TRUMP: “The previous administration cut the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed pipeline construction to a halt, and closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening up many of those power plants right now. And frankly we have never seen anything like it.”

President Trump has promised to boost fossil fuel production, but the U.S. is already producing record amounts of oil and natural gas. Even though lease auctions and pipeline construction slowed during the Biden administration, crude oil production in 2023 reached 12.9 million barrels a day, eclipsing the previous record set in 2019. 2023 was also a record year for domestic production of natural gas. Much of the domestic boom in oil and gas production is the result of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” techniques.

Recent years have also seen rapid growth in solar and wind power, while coal has continued to decline as a source of electricity.

Trump is hostile to wind energy production. On his first day back in the White House, he signed an executive order temporarily blocking federal leases for offshore wind farms and halting permits for wind projects on land and offshore.

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— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Culture

Defining two genders, male and female

TRUMP: “I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

While DNA does indeed encode for two sexes, the way genes express themselves can create individuals who have atypical sexual development, including, in some cases, features of both sexes, such as both ovarian and testicular tissue. These individuals have conditions known as differences in sex development (also called intersex).

Individuals may identify with a gender that differs from their biological sex assigned at birth — and actions taken by the administration have sought to curb the rights of transgender people in the U.S. People who identify as transgender and nonbinary see this executive order as a form of discrimination that erases their identity on official documents.

— Maria Godoy, Health Correspondent

Gender-affirming care for youth

TRUMP: “And now I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning, criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body. This is a big lie, and our message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.”

Research shows that legal efforts that aim to curb the rights of transgender youth are associated with serious negative mental health outcomes. A 2024 study in the journal Nature Human Behavior found that states that passed laws against gender-affirming care and other laws aimed at trans minors saw suicide attempts by transgender and gender nonconforming teenagers increase by as much as 72% in subsequent years.

— Maria Godoy, Health Correspondent

Ending school indoctrination

TRUMP: “I signed an executive order banning public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology.”

Earlier in his speech, Trump also mentioned getting critical race theory out of schools. While Trump signed an executive action in late January “ending radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling,” the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Education, has little control over what is taught in local schools. The Every Student Succeeds Act, passed by Congress in 2015, expressly forbids federal interference in things like curriculum and teaching materials.

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— Cory Turner, Education Correspondent

Poll numbers

TRUMP: “Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction. In fact, it’s an astonishing record 27-point swing since Election Day alone.”

More people have said the country has been headed in the wrong direction than the right one for a long time. In an average of the polls compiled by RealClearPolitics it’s been that way every month since June 2009 after former President Obama was sworn in.

And despite improvements in those views since Trump won the election, mostly due to Republican enthusiasm, more people continue to say the country is headed in the wrong direction.

The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds 54% think the country is headed in the wrong direction, while 45% said it’s headed in the right direction. That is a significant improvement from December when 64% thought the country was headed in the wrong direction, again, largely due to Republicans.

RCP has the average at 51% wrong direction, 43% right direction. It’s an improvement, but not net-positive.

— Domenico Montanaro, Senior Political Editor/Correspondent

Spending and tax cuts

Trump nods to Congress’ role in extending his tax cuts

TRUMP: “The next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts.”

The president is referring to plans to extend tax cuts that were enacted during his first administration. To achieve this, congressional Republicans plan to use a budget tool called reconciliation, which would allow them to pass major legislative items by a simple majority, relying entirely on GOP votes and avoiding the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House haven’t yet gotten on the same page in terms of how best to implement President Trump’s agenda.

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They have passed competing budget resolutions, which act as the first step in the reconciliation process. The Senate wants to split up some legislative priorities into two bills — tackling getting more resources to the southern border and boosting military spending first, and then dealing with the tax cut element later this year.

The House, concerned that getting its often-fractious conference — which has just a razor thin majority — on board with two bills is difficult, wants to address all the priorities in one large bill.

Reconciliation is only possible if both chambers ultimately get on board with the same plan.

— Barbara Sprunt, Congressional correspondent

Trump asks Congress to send him funding bill to sign

TRUMP: “I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our homeland and complete the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than current record holder, President Dwight D Eisenhower, a moderate man, but someone who believed very strongly in borders. Americans expect Congress to send me funding without delay so I can sign it into law.”

Trump has met on several occasions with congressional Republicans from both chambers to discuss the legislative path forward to implementing his agenda.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told GOP senators in advance of the chamber passing a budget roadmap that $175 billion to secure the southern border would be enough money to implement Trump’s border agenda for four years.

The House and Senate have not yet gotten on the same page as to how to move forward.

— Barbara Sprunt, Congressional Correspondent

No tax on tips

TRUMP: “We’re seeking permanent income tax cuts all across the board to get urgently needed relief to Americans hit especially hard by inflation calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors.”

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While popular with many workers in tip-heavy industries like casinos, a big constituency in the swing state of Nevada, the idea has some drawbacks. Unless the lost tax revenue were replaced somehow, it would create an even bigger budget deficit. It would treat one class of workers, tipped employees, differently from all other workers. And it would invite gamesmanship as other workers try to have part of their own income reclassified as tax-free tips. Depending on how the exemption was structured, it could also result in lower retirement benefits for tipped workers.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Balanced budget

TRUMP: “I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget. We’re going to balance.”

The federal debt has grown substantially in the last eight years, under both President Trump’s first term and former President Biden’s tenure. While the pandemic accounts for much of that red ink, both presidents oversaw large deficits, including periods before and after the pandemic when the economy was in good shape. Mounting debt, coupled with high interest rates, means that debt service has now become one of the government’s biggest annual expenses. In the most recent fiscal year, the government paid $881 billion in interest — more than it spent on Medicare or national defense .

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Social Security fraud

TRUMP: “We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program that our seniors and that our seniors, people that we love rely on, believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members, people aged 100 to 109 years old.”

Trump and his adviser Elon Musk have both claimed, without evidence, that there is rampant fraud in the Social Security system. In his remarks, Trump asserted that government databases list millions of people aged well over 100 years old, including 1.3 million people between 150 to 159 years old and over 130,000 people aged over 160.

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But a 2023 report from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General said that there were nearly 19 million Social Security number-holders aged 100-plus who didn’t have information about their deaths in the system and that “almost none of the 18.9 million number-holders currently receive SSA payments.”

The SSA’s acting commissioner, Leland Dudek, has also knocked down these claims.

— Shannon Bond, Power and Influence Correspondent

DOGE data

TRUMP: “We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud. And we’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things, taking back a lot of that money.”

The Department of Government Efficiency effort has made many claims about taxpayer money saved by cutting the federal workforce, terminating contracts and leases and other actions in the last month. Almost all of them are overstated and misleading, including those in Trump’s lengthy monologue.

DOGE’s latest top line savings claim is $105 billion, with a fraction of that amount displayed on a “wall of receipts.” NPR’s review of the “receipts” finds DOGE has deleted errors worth billions from its data, added new errors to its totals and frequently overstates savings. All of the line items Trump mentioned in his speech are real grants or contracts. But they likely offer little “savings” because of termination costs and the fact that many of them have already budgeted and spent to their limit. There’s no evidence that any of these terminations are the result of fraud being discovered.

As for Trump’s claim about debt reduction: As of Jan. 31 the federal government collected $1.6 trillion and spent $2.4 trillion this fiscal year, a deficit of about $840 billion.

— Stephen Fowler, NPR Political Reporter covering the restructuring of the federal government

Trump calls male circumcision foreign aid spending ‘waste’

TRUMP: “Just listen to some of the appalling waste…Millions [of] dollars for male circumcision in Mozambique.”

In 2023, Megan Peck — from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Global Health — wrote along with other experts that male circumcision programs are “a critical component to ending the AIDS epidemic.” It has been shown to dramatically reduce the chance of transmitting HIV from a female to a male.

“If a man is circumcised, it will reduce his chance of acquiring HIV by 60%,” says Mary Mahy, the director for Data for Impact at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. The U.S. supported more than 10 million voluntary male circumcisions in eastern and southern Africa between 2010 and 2021.

— Gabrielle Emanuel, Global Health Correspondent

Trade and tariffs

Cost of tariffs

TRUMP: “Tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again, and making America great again.”

President Trump has defended tariffs as a way to raise revenue for the government; a way to encourage more domestic manufacturing; and a bargaining chip to induce other countries to lower their own trade barriers. While Trump insists these tariffs are paid by foreign companies, most of the cost is borne by businesses and individuals in the United States.

If tariffs become a significant revenue source for the government, any shift from imports to domestic suppliers would jeopardize that funding stream. Likewise, if tariffs are a bargaining chip, the government revenue could be bargained away.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Reciprocation for trade deficits

TRUMP: “Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That’s reciprocal, back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. There’s a lot of that too. They don’t even allow us in their market. We will take in trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.”

Earlier Tuesday, President Trump imposed stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, two of the United States’ biggest trading partners. Most imported goods from those countries now face a 25% tax, although energy imports from Canada are being taxed at a lower rate of 10%. The president also added an additional 10% tariff today on all imports from China, on top of the 10% tax he imposed last month. While Trump insists these tariffs are paid by foreign companies, most of the cost is borne by businesses and individuals in the United States.

Canada and China have already retaliated with tariffs of their own on U.S. exports, and Mexico has vowed to do the same in the coming days. Many exporters suffered from the trade wars during Trump’s first term in the White House — especially farmers and manufacturers. Trump is also considering additional tariffs on steel, aluminum imports and other products.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Auto industry investments

TRUMP: “By the way, we’re gonna have growth in the auto industry like nobody’s ever seen. Plants are opening up all over the place. Deals are being made, never seen. That’s a combination of the election win and tariffs. It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it, that, along with our other policies, will allow our auto industry to absolutely boom. It’s going to boom. Spoke to the majors today, all three top people, and they’re so excited. In fact, already, numerous car companies have announced that they will be building massive automobile plants in America, with Honda just announcing a new plant in Indiana, one of the largest anywhere in the world.”

The last few years have seen a boom in new investments in auto manufacturing in the U.S., driven in large part by a shift toward electrification. Those investments were also boosted by tax credits that the Trump administration has signaled it would like to roll back, something that would require congressional action.

Tariffs certainly can incentivize companies to move production from overseas. However, auto executives have emphasized that they cannot make billion-dollar, multi-year decisions to open new factories based on tariffs that are subject to change in the near-term depending on what other countries do about border enforcement, fentanyl policies or other Trump administration priorities.

Reuters has reported that Honda is planning to produce its next-generation Civic in Indiana instead of Mexico in response to tariffs. Honda has not confirmed this, and because Honda already has a plant in Indiana that currently makes the Civic, such a move likely would not involve opening a new plant.

— Camila Domonoske, Cars and Energy Correspondent

Trump links tariffs and fentanyl

TRUMP: “So much has been said over the last three months about Mexico and Canada. We have very large deficits with both of them, but even more importantly, they’ve allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens and very young, beautiful people, destroying families. Nobody has ever seen anything like it.”

President Trump continues to falsely link tariffs against Canada to fentanyl smuggling and fatal drug overdoses. Experts agree that the U.S.-Canada border plays almost no role in America’s overdose crisis. Mexican drug cartels have contributed to tens of thousands of fentanyl deaths in the U.S., but fatal overdoses have fallen dramatically since 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data also shows fentanyl smuggling from Mexico has dropped over the last year.

— Brian Mann, NPR Addiction Correspondent

Climate

Climate change

TRUMP: “I terminated the ridiculous Green New Scam.”

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order “terminating the Green New Deal.” There is no Green New Deal that has been enacted by the U.S. government. The broad slogan encompasses an array of climate policy proposals advocated for by some Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists.

Under Trump’s executive order, the administration froze grant payments for a broad array of climate and environmental projects under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Those laws were signed by former President Joe Biden and authorize hundreds of billions of dollars aimed at protecting the environment and spurring investment in clean energy and new infrastructure. Republican-led states have been big beneficiaries of that spending. Federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze the funding.

— Michael Copley, Climate Correspondent

Foreign Policy

Paris climate accord

TRUMP: “I withdrew from the unfair Paris climate accord, which was costing us trillions of dollars that other countries were not paying.”

The Paris Agreement, which was agreed to in 2015, requires countries to periodically submit goals or plans to reduce heat-trapping pollution. There is no punishment for countries that fail to deliver on their objectives. The goal of the agreement is to cut emissions in order to limit global warming and avoid the worst impact from things like more extreme storms, heat waves and floods. The agreement also reaffirmed that industrialized countries like the U.S., which built their wealth producing and using fossil fuels, should provide funding to help poorer nations deal with global warming. However, wealthy countries have been slow to deliver on their financial commitments.

— Michael Copley, Climate Correspondent

Ukraine aid

TRUMP: “The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense.”

The most widely used tracker of Ukraine aid shows the U.S. has provided $114 billion since the full-scale Russian invasion three years ago — though Trump often talks about $350 billion. It is not clear where he gets that figure. Over half of the aid the U.S. has provided is military aid, while the rest is financial and humanitarian. Additionally, Europe collectively has provided $132 billion.

— Greg Myre, National Security Correspondent

Watch NPR’s full special coverage of the speech and the Democratic response from Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan:

Many people have a lot riding on their investments. It arguably provides the best chance to achieve long-term financial goals, whether generating enough money to retire, giving children or grandchildren a big helping hand as they begin their adult life, or something else entirely.

With so much money at stake, it’s crucial to have a plan. Selecting the right investments is important, but there’s more to it than that. You should also craft a set of guiding principles and learn about how financial markets work. Doing so can reduce the risk of making mistakes in the heat of the moment and maximize your returns.

This article looks at 10 key rules for making the most of your investments.

Key Takeaways Knowing how markets work and having a plan makes dealing with volatility and bear markets easier.

Impulse buying and selling often ends badly.

The more you plan ahead, the better prepared you’ll be to make the right calls under pressure.

Don’t just follow the crowd. Do your research and aim to buy low and sell high.

Buying for the long term and standing by your convictions is generally the best strategy.

Rule 1: Understand Market Cycles

Asset prices generally rise, fall, then rise again. And it’s not all random. These phases of expansion and contraction form part of a cycle that regularly repeats itself.

In good times, companies invest, consumers spend, banks lend money at reasonable rates, and most stocks rise in value. The good times don’t last forever (indeed, a sign that it’s coming to an end is seeing some claiming they never will.) Eventually, costs rise too much and investments fetch more than their historical norms. At this point, a “correction” begins as the economy weakens and investors retreat, paving the way for the cycle to repeat again.

The key takeaway from this is not to panic when prices start dropping. Over time, the stock market should continue its upward trajectory—historically, it always has, but that’s cold comfort in the moment.

Rule 2: Avoid Emotional Investing

One of the main reasons investors are advised to establish guidelines before investing is to reduce the chance of emotions getting the better of them. When investors log in to their accounts during bouts of volatility, they tend to be impulsive, buying more of the winners and dumping the losers. Often that turns out to be a mistake.

“The worst investment decisions are those driven by fear or greed,” said Alex Campbell, head of communications at U.K.-based financial technology company FreeTrade. “Take some time to consider the drop in light of your investment strategy and reflect on the move that you feel is right based on the available information.”

Rule 3: Sometimes It Pays To Be a Contrarian

“Buying low and selling high” means being a contrarian—buying or selling when others are not. It requires a lot more research on your part. It’s not just a case of buying everything out of favor. The market is generally right and most stocks are cheap for a reason.

To be successful, you’ll need to scrutinize the data, be a critical thinker, and not get distracted by what others say. A good starting point is learning to recognize overcorrections. For example, investors can sometimes excessively punish the entire market when the economy is stuttering or oversell specific stocks because of adverse temporary factors.

Asked what he tells newer investors, Yvan Byeajee, author of Trading Composure: Mastering Your Mind for Trading Success, was succinct: “Cultivate a deep embrace of uncertainty.” He added, “It’s not enough to acknowledge uncertainty or risk intellectually; you need to accept it emotionally and allow them to guide your decision-making without fear or resistance.”

Rule 4: Know When To Exit

Normally, a long-term buy-and-hold strategy is considered the best way to go. However, sometimes it’s necessary to walk away earlier than planned. Byeajee said too many investors approach some investments like the lottery.

“This mindset can be disastrous, leading to behaviors like chasing trends, panic selling, or overleveraging—all of which will likely wipe out gains and erode confidence,” he said. “Sustainable investing is about playing the long game, respecting the process, and allowing compounding to work its magic over time.”

To avoid making mistakes, it’s sensible to draw up an exit strategy at the onset before the investments are made. Common methods include setting price targets, loss limits, and time frames for your investment. You should also consider triggering events that could make you lose confidence and that your risk tolerance could change over time.

Rule 5: Diversify Your Portfolio

Investors are regularly advised to spread their money across numerous investments. “For most people in most situations, a long-term, buy-and-hold, diversified, low-cost investment approach is likely more suitable than active trading,” said David Tenerelli, a certified financial planner at Values Added Financial Planning in Plano, Texas. “This is because it helps the investor ignore the ‘noise’ and instead focus on a disciplined approach.”

The logic behind diversification is that different assets will react differently to the same events. In theory, that means if one investment does badly, its impact will be limited as the other assets in the portfolio should perform better.

Rule 6: Follow Broader Market Indicators

Stock market indexes track the performance of a selection of publicly traded companies and so function as a barometer of segments of the stock market. There are a variety of indexes to keep tabs on. Some focus on specific sectors or the country’s biggest companies by market cap. For a representation of the entire U.S. stock market, a good place to look is the Wilshire 5000 or Russell 3000.

Rule 7: Recognize Bear Market Patterns

Bear markets—when there’s a steep drop in asset prices—are less scary when you understand how they work.

These periods of prolonged price declines are usually broken down into four distinct phases, which SteelPeak Wealth, a Los Angeles-based wealth management firm, describes as follows:

Recognition. Prices start fluctuating yet most investors shrug it off as normal ups and downs. Eventually, they begin to realize a bear market is impending and stop buying on the dips. Panic. Prices plummet, the media reports doom and gloom, and investors panic sell. Stabilization. Stocks halt their decline but the outlook remains grim and any rally triggered by optimists is usually knocked back. Anticipation. The recovery begins.

Tip Timing the market is extremely difficult. For most investors, the best way to behave during bear markets is to not panic, focus on the long term, and take advantage of dollar cost averaging.

Rule 8: Be Skeptical of Forecasts

The internet is littered with predictions from so-called gurus. You’re best off ignoring them. A study from the CXO Advisory Group found that their accuracy was, on average, just under 47%. That’s worse than flipping a coin.

“Market forecasts should be ignored, regardless of whom they come from—professional economists or market gurus,” wrote Larry Swedroe, a consultant and outsourced chief investment officer, in response to that report. “Instead, investors are best served by having a well-thought-out plan, including rebalancing targets, and sticking to that plan.”

Rule 9: Prepare for Market Volatility

Market volatility is scary. Seeing your holdings are shedding value could make you want to dash for the exit and ignore your well-thought-out convictions. That’s the last thing you should do. Remember, markets go through ups and downs but generally rise in value over the long run.

Rule 10: Enjoy Bull Markets, Prepare for Bear Markets

Markets and prices move up and down. When they are rising, it can be tempting to be overconfident and throw more money at the winners. And when they plummet, you might want to do the opposite and dump everything, especially the laggards. Knowledge of how markets work will hopefully prevent you from panicking or being greedy.

If anything, you want to buy when assets you are convinced about are out of favor and sell when everyone is raving about them. Or better yet, do nothing and stick to your strategy. It’s time in the market rather than timing the market that often generates the best returns.

The Bottom Line

There are no guarantees of success in investing. However, if you understand market cycles and how indexes and bear markets work, avoid impulse buying or selling, adopt a contrarian mindset, draft an exit strategy, and maintain a diversified portfolio, you’ll have a much better chance of coming out on top.

“To succeed, traders and investors must trust the process even when the outcomes are temporarily unfavorable,” Byeajee said. “This mindset shift isn’t just important; it’s foundational. It’s the difference between reacting emotionally and acting strategically—not once or twice, but consistently.”

It’s often said that the glass ceiling in corporate boardrooms is still intact, but cracks are starting to appear. While women represent a significantly smaller percentage of chief executive officers (CEOs at the helm of Fortune 500 companies, their numbers are steadily increasing. These women are not only leading major corporations but also breaking barriers and changing history in industries once dominated by men.

Key Takeaways Women make up a small but growing percentage of CEOs in the largest corporations.

Women lead Fortune 500 companies across various industries, including technology, finance, and healthcare.

Many of these women are breaking new ground and reshaping industries once led by men.

Most of the CEOs featured here are ranked on Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women list.

Gail Boudreaux

CEO, Elevance Health (ELV), formerly Anthem

Gail Boudreaux was named CEO of Elevance Health, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., in 2017. The company’s stock increased by more than 70% in her first four years as CEO.

Boudreaux was previously CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest division within UnitedHealth Group. She ranked #11 on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2024.

Important In 2024, 52 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were women.

Mary Barra

CEO, General Motors (GM)

Mary Barra is the first female CEO of General Motors, one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. She slid into the driver’s seat at GM in January 2014, becoming the first woman to lead a major U.S. automaker. She took the wheel from Daniel Akerson who is credited for turning the company profitable after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009.

Barra is leading GM’s ambitious transition to electric vehicles, with plans to shift to an all-electric future by 2035. She ranked #5 on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2024 list.

Carol Tomé

CEO, United Parcel Service (UPS)

Tomé came out of retirement to take the helm of UPS in June 2020. She had previously retired from her role as the chief financial officer (CFO) of Home Depot in 2019. Tomé is the first female CEO at UPS and the first UPS CEO who wasn’t promoted from within.

She prioritized planning the logistics for the 2020 holiday season and COVID-19 vaccine deliveries during her first 100 days as CEO. She was #22 on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2024 list.

Jane Fraser

CEO, Citigroup (C)

Jane Fraser stepped into the role of Citigroup’s CEO in 2021 and became the company’s first female CEO and the first to run a Wall Street bank. She joined Citi in 2004 and held various executive roles, including CEO of Global Consumer Banking and Citi’s president.

Fraser has focused on simplifying Citigroup’s operations to make it easier to manage and improve. Fraser was listed as #10 on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2024 list.

Corie Barry

CEO, Best Buy (BBY)

At 44, Corie Barry became the CEO of Best Buy in 2019, making her the youngest CEO of a Fortune 100 company at the time. Barry’s journey at Best Buy began in 1999, and she has held various leadership roles, including CFO.

In terms of career advice, Barry says, “Have those uncomfortable moments. Because my strong personal belief is it is those moments that cause you to grow the most yourself, but that also differentiate you the most in your career.”

Tricia Griffith

CEO, Progressive (PGR)

Griffith was named CEO of Progressive in 2016 after prior roles as Personal Lines COO and chief human resources officer. Progressive, a property and casualty insurance firm, reported $75.4 billion in revenue in FY 2024.

Progressive is a top-rated company in diversity and inclusion under Griffith’s leadership. Griffith ranks #56 among Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in 2024.

Thasunda Brown Duckett

CEO, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA)

Retirement and investment manager TIAA named Thasunda Brown Duckett as its CEO in February 2021, making her the first woman to lead the company.

Duckett succeeded Roger W. Ferguson Jr., who was one of five Black CEOs in the Fortune 500 before retiring. She was CEO of Chase Consumer Banking before TIAA. Duckett holds the #34 spot on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women for 2024.

Safra Catz

CEO, Oracle (ORCL)

Safra Catz has been a driving force at Oracle, serving as the company’s CEO since 2019 after initially sharing the role with co-CEO Mark Hurd. Catz was previously Oracle’s CFO.

The tech giant has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy under her leadership, completing more than 130 acquisitions. Catz is listed in the #16 position on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in 2024 and the #20 position on Forbes’ America’s Richest Self-Made Women 2024 list.

How Many CEOs Are Women? As of the end of 2023, women held 52 CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies, making up 10.4% of the total. This marks a significant increase from the 41 women CEOs in 2021. The rise in the number of female CEOs is a positive trend, though women still represent a smaller percentage compared to men.

Which Other Companies Have Women CEOs? Some additional Fortune 500 companies that had women CEOs in 2023 include Reliance Steel & Aluminum, American Electric Power, Parker-Hannifin, Fidelity National Information Services, and Automatic Data Processing.

How Many Black Women CEOs Are There? Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), and Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boot Alliance, were the only Black woman CEOs of a Fortune 500 company as of 2023.

The Bottom Line

Women still face barriers in the workplace due to gender-based discrimination but they’re increasingly joining the ranks of the C-suite at some major companies. More women become CEOs every year even though the number of men serving as CEOs far outnumbers the number of women in this top position. Women held 52 CEO positions with Fortune 500 companies as of 2024 and one-quarter of those women became CEOs in the previous year.

Rogers recommends that before buying and using a new pack of synthetic braiding hair, shoppers should:

Check for recalls. MedWatch is a good starting point (while our recent search didn’t reveal any recalls, they would be posted here). Consumers should also consult the manufacturers’ websites to see if there is additional information on the product.

Read product labels carefully. There could be important information on ingredients that could cause allergic or other adverse reactions.

Report adverse effects. If there are any adverse reactions when using braiding hair, consumers should report the issue(s) to their healthcare provider, and to the FDA (via MedWatch).

James-Todd, the lab director of Harvard’s Environmental Reproductive Justice Lab, says her approach is to err on the side of caution. “People say, ‘Well, there’s chemicals everywhere; I don’t care.’ But there are some things that are safer than other things,” she says. “People need to be a little more cognizant about what they may be exposing themselves and their kids to.”

Social media mavens on TikTok and YouTube swear by the trick of prerinsing with apple cider vinegar before installing synthetic braiding hair in order to “wash away” ingredients that may cause itching. Although it’s a commonly shared remedy, Silent Spring Institute scientist Elissia Franklin, PhD, who is leading a study on synthetic and natural hair, says there is currently no scientific evidence that rinsing is effective at reducing exposure to harmful chemicals. Cheryl Burgess, MD, of the Center for Dermatology in Washington, D.C., clarifies that soaking the synthetic hair in apple cider vinegar may make it silkier and less hard and bristly. However, she says, “Rinsing is not a cure-all. You still can be irritated by the polyvinyl, the nylon, or whatever is being used.” If you do choose to go the prerinsing route, Burgess also advises using caution: “You could potentially release harmful chemicals,” she says. “That’s why you’re not supposed to do it at 100 percent concentration. It should be a dilution of 2:1 water.”

Franklin recommends choosing to buy hair products with claims of using only nontoxic ingredients, but, she warns, “because the products do not need to be tested for these claims before they are put on the market, companies can make those claims without regulation.”

“For the most part,” she says, “relative to other products, those might be the better option for folks interested in being more conscientious consumers.”

An internet search for “nontoxic synthetic braiding hair” generates a list of brands that claim to be anti-itch, antibacterial, organic, and even biodegradable. “Plant-based” is also a recurring buzzword, as with such brands as Lillian Augusta Beauty, Nourie, and Róun Beauty. Rebundle, a line of braiding hair that lists banana fiber as its main ingredient, states that its products contain no polyvinyl chloride or phthalates. (A group of chemical compounds often used as plasticizers, phthalates have been identified as endocrine disruptors.) EZbraid also states that its brand is free of phthalates. (CR did not test these brands but is considering future tests of products labeled as nontoxic.)

Even with companies that make “nontoxic” claims, many of the manufacturer sites omit ingredients lists. As the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a program of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), says: “There are no legal standards for personal care products that are labeled ‘clean,’ ‘pure,’ ‘natural,’ or ‘organic.’” So, braid lovers attempting to do their due diligence can still find themselves tied up in knots.

“It’s unfair for the consumer to have to be the one to have to figure out,” says Kindred, the dermatologist. “That onus should fall on us, the medical professionals and the stylists.”

But she has found a ray of positivity amid all of these seemingly bleak beauty prospects. She says the expansion of a cosmetic chemistry science program at Spelman College in Atlanta is a program that gives her hope for the future.

“We’ll have a whole cadre of Black women that will be equipped to take this on,” Kindred says. Likewise, James-Todd is optimistic about the rollout of a Department of Health and Human Services competition that awards innovators who are aiming to reduce EDC exposure risks for Black women. Phase 1 winners, according to a 2023 HHS press release, included Black Women for Wellness, which provides healthy hair information to Black communities in Los Angeles; Hackensack University Medical Center, which is creating an educational training program focused on racial/ethnic disparities related to salon products for hair professionals working in New Jersey’s salons; and Emily Hilz, a researcher in Austin, Texas, who is developing an app to help consumers reduce exposure to EDCs. Franklin also led a team that was a winner in phases 1 and 2; she is working on phase 3 now.

“Hopefully, as we become not only more aware, but the workforce becomes more diverse, we’ll be able to know more in order to advise better,” James-Todd says.

In the meantime, she recommends reducing the use of synthetic braiding hair to short-term rather than constant wear.

Thomas, the Albert Einstein student who turned her personal experience with these products into compelling professional research, echoes that sentiment: “While there has not yet been research to define the actual extent of risk of synthetic braids, one thing stylists and healthcare providers can do now is advise against immediately reinstalling a new set of braids after four to six weeks, to lessen overall exposure.”

Top billionaires in the world are celebrities in their own rights, famous for their wide range of endeavours across industries, including finance, fashion, e-commerce, and hair and skincare. One can’t help but find their stories fascinating, especially regarding the women billionaires who have made their mark in a man’s world. Forbes tracks the wealth of billionaires worldwide in real-time, which prompts our list of the richest women in the world.

Top 10 richest women in the world

Here are the women billionaires topping our list as of April 21, 2025:

Rank and Name Net Worth

Source of Wealth 1. Alice Walton $102.6 billion Walmart 2. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Family $81.5 billion L’Oréal 3. Julia Koch and Family $74.2 billion Koch Industries 4. Jacqueline Mars $40.2 billion Mars Inc 5. Savitri Jindal & family $36.6 billion JSW Group 6. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant $36.0 billion Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Group 7. Marilyn Simons & family $31.0 billion Hedge Funds 8. Abigail Johnson $30.3 billion Fidelity Investments 9. Melinda French Gates $30.1 billion Pivotal Ventures 10. Gina Rinehart $29.6 billion Hancock Prospecting

Also Read: The top 10 richest women in India

What earned the top women billionaires their wealth? Let’s find that and more about them:

1. Alice Walton

Age: 75

Country: United States

Yet another heiress, Alice Walton is one of the offsprings of the Walmart founder Sam Walton; she has three brothers, two of whom have joined the business, unlike her. Art has been her domain of choice. In 2011, she founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas—her hometown.