Author: josh

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” — Dr. Seuss In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes delivered his famous lecture, Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren, predicting that within a century, technological progress would meet humanity’s basic needs. Freed from want, he believed our challenge would be how to spend an abundance of leisure. “For the first time since his creation,” Keynes wrote, “man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem —…

In This Article This article is presented by Connect Invest. Many real estate investors obsess over IRR and cap rates, but overlook the strategic value of liquidity. It’s no secret that real estate is illiquid—in September 2025, the average home spent 62 days on the market. Add an extra month or so for all the paperwork to be completed, and you’re looking at waiting around three months before you’ll see your investment money once you decide to sell. Whether you’re waiting on a 1031 exchange, prepping for your next flip, or just want optionality in a shifting market, your capital…

In This Article A new study from the Rochester Institute of Technology, published in Fortune, analyzed 14 million home sales over 20 years across 30 states, and reached a resounding, but obvious conclusion: There are no winners in a bidding war (except for the seller, of course). Homebuyers who secured a property by coming out on top in a “highest offer wins” battle consistently overpaid by an average of 8.2%, and consequently experienced weaker returns over time. For flippers and landlords working on thin profit margins and refinancing, the loss of equity can have long-lasting ramifications. The Cost of “Winning”…

Eric Schmidt, whose net worth is hovering around $45 billion, knows what it takes to climb the corporate ladder in Silicon Valley, having spent a decade as CEO of Google. Yet the secret to his success is not racking up endless hours in the office. Instead, Schmidt credits a deceptively simple habit, one he calls a game-changer for anyone seeking meaningful productivity gains: Set aside a few undisturbed hours each weekend for reflection, and grab a pen and paper. No screens allowed. This approach, which Schmidt revealed during a recent interview on The Gstaad Guy Podcast hosted by Gustaf Lundberg…

The U.S. economy is still managing to avoid a recession, but just barely, with its fate likely resting on California and New York, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. In social media posts on Wednesday, he reiterated his warning that states representing nearly one-third of nationwide GDP are already in a recession or at high risk of one. Another third is “treading water,” while the rest are still growing but suffering from less momentum. While his latest assessment largely echoes what he said over the summer and earlier this month, Zandi moved the industrial bellwether state of Michigan…

Microsoft will not emulate the strategies of Elon Musk’s xAI or Sam Altman’s OpenAI in creating “simulated erotica” for its chatbot users, according to the company’s CEO of AI, who warned the bots’ capabilities can be “very dangerous.” “That’s just not a service we’re going to provide,” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, Calif., on Thursday. “Other companies will build that.” Earlier this year, Musk, CEO of xAI, said in an X post the startup’s AI bot, Grok, could take on the form of a companion, such as a young woman…

The trail of debts — and claims made trying to collect them — that dogged Jim Justice well before he became West Virginia’s two-term Republican governor has ballooned since the former billionaire became a U.S. senator earlier this year. Justice was elected last November to the Senate seat vacated by the retiring Joe Manchin, a Democrat who became an independent in 2024 near the end of his second full term. Justice, who owns dozens of businesses that include coal and agricultural operations, had a fortune estimated at $1.9 billion last decade by Forbes magazine. Forbes stripped his billionaire title in 2021, when Justice’s worth…

Chen ZhaoChen Zhao is the head of economics research, where she produces research on the housing market for public and internal audiences. Previously, she was an executive director leading housing finance and financial markets research at the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Prior to joining JPMCI, Chen was an economics consultant at Analysis Group, Inc., where she worked on financial litigation cases and led teams conducting health economics and outcomes research on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. While in graduate school, Chen was with the Center for Economic Studies and the Social Economic and Housing Statistics Division at the US Census Bureau, where…

Today, Sahil Bloom is a New York Times bestselling author helping everyone from office workers to billionaires redefine their perceptions of success. But being a wealth guru wasn’t what he first set out to do in life; while studying at Stanford University he played for the baseball team, with a promising athletic career ahead of him. After an injury derailed his MLB dreams, Bloom turned to investing, asking rich people in his circle for professional advice. Less than a decade later, his hustle had paid off.  “By the time I turned 30, I had achieved every marker of what I…

Inflation may be increasing at a slower pace than expected, the markets might be cheering, and the Fed will likely soon be cutting, but Diane Swonk isn’t popping champagne. The veteran economist says the  economy “looks better than it feels” because the very data used to measure it is eroding, and the illusion of resilience could shatter heading into the fourth quarter. “The only groups that feel good about the economy now are making over $200,000 in the surveys and have large stock portfolios,” Swonk said. September’s Consumer Price Index showed a 0.3% monthly rise and a 3% year-over-year rate,…