Financial Mindset

In March, the book publisher Hachette yanked the horror title “Shy Girl” from its scheduled U.S. release after hefty allegations that the novel’s author Mia Ballard used AI to write the book. While Ballard denied using AI for the novel, Hachette pulled the book from its website, Amazon , and U.K. shelves, but the incident became a moment of reckoning for the book industry: What should booksellers do about AI-generated books, particularly as they proliferate across marketplaces? Today, the urgency to answer that question is growing. Recent research shows the magnitude of AI-generated books in online marketplaces presents a problem for human authors, and has the potential to change the landscape of bookselling more broadly.  An Originality.AI report published last month found that of more than 2,000 books on religion published on Amazon over the last 12 months, 1,272 titles, or 63%, were flagged as being likely written by large language models. A Stony Brook University...

Sixty percent of Americans identify as “working class”—including millions of top earners who believe their economic struggles now match a term long reserved for low-income workers. A new Pew Research Center analysis , based on a survey conducted in January 2026, found that 60% of U.S. adults say the term describes them well, and half of college graduates agree. “Working class” has long been an ambiguous label for low-income earners, people without four-year degrees, and blue-collar workers. But according to the study, half of upper-income adults—those earning above $155,600 annually—now also see themselves as working class. That income would have placed them firmly in the upper middle class in the early 2000s. The numbers were up across the board from just two years ago, when the Pew Research Center’s 2024 study found that 54% of Americans identified with the term “working class.” Researchers found that the 6-point uptick held acros...

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will look into requests from families of Sept. 11 victims to release records that could shed light on Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks 25 years ago. Several families have long alleged that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia gained influence in the Saudi government and aided the hijackers. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, but the Saudi government has long denied any involvement in the attacks. The  families have asked Trump to declassify  and release the relevant records. Asked about it Sunday during his trip to Ireland, the president said he would consider it. “I’m going to look at it when I get back,” Trump said just before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington after a weekend in Ireland. “I know they asked me Friday.” The relatives of 9/11 victims have been engaged in a lengthy legal battle against the Saudis. One of them, Terry Strada, called on Trump during the rememb...

Investors should enjoy the final months of 2026 while they can as the AI-led stock market boom is due to go bust soon, according to analysts. For now, there are still gains to be had. James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics, reiterated an earlier forecast for the S&P 500 to end this year at 8,250, up 7.7% from Friday’s close, then plunge 21% to 6,500 by the end of 2027. “On balance, we think the data look consistent with a late-stage bubble,” he wrote in a note on Thursday. “Most of the factors we consider are at, or close to, levels that have preceded past stock market peaks.” Reilly flagged several bubble indicators that he’s been tracking: Stock valuations are consistent with a late-stage bubble. For example, the market’s cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio is close to its dotcom peak, while the S&P 500’s valuation compared to Treasury bonds is also near dotcom extremes. Expected earni...

The housing market has been frozen since the COVID-era boom ended, with higher borrowing costs, limited supply, and elevated home prices mostly taking the blame. But stricter lending rules put in place after the housing crash that sparked the Great Financial Crisis are also weighing on prospective homeowners, according to a study last month from the Pew Charitable Trusts . “These changes helped to reduce delinquencies and defaults but also made it more difficult for many Americans to qualify for a mortgage,” wrote Adam Staveski, a principal associate with Pew’s housing policy initiative, in the study. To be sure, the tighter standards reined in excesses during the housing boom, such as abuse of “liar loans” that required little proof of income. And today, default rates are at historic lows, due also in part to loss-mitigation tools like forbearance, loan modifications, and payment deferrals. Just 4%-5% of delinquent borrowers now default, down from 5...

Donald Trump’s childhood home has sold for nearly $2 million after a renovation transformed the New York City residence from a mold-ridden cat den to a modern abode. The president lived at the Tudor-style Queens estate until age 4. His father, developer Fred Trump, built the home in the affluent Jamaica Estates neighborhood in 1940. The family hasn’t owned it in years. The sale price, $1.93 million, appeared Friday on real estate websites after a buyer, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, entered into a contract in July. The seller, Tommy Lin, had purchased the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home last year for $835,000 after it sat vacant and neglected for years. Lin, a developer, spent another $500,000 on an eight-month interior overhaul that added amenities including a chef’s kitchen, herringbone wood floors and spa-like bathrooms,  the New York Post reported . The home has changed hands several times in recent years, including for $2.14 million month...

The U.S. national debt is more than $40 trillion , and it’s only growing from here. Wage growth keeps stalling ; job growth is staying stagnant ; and grocery prices are trending up. With the 10-year Treasury yield nearing 5% as heavy government borrowing puts pressure on the bond market, some investors are looking for safer places to store their hard-earned cash. Investing in alternative assets isn’t new: In recent years, there have been many different (let’s say creative) investment opportunities, from NFTs to tokenized gold , and from crypto to traditional market trading. But for one person, the draw of a childhood game brings back more than just memories: collecting Pokémon cards has become a long-term investment vehicle with the upside of having beautiful art to relish in. “I love the way they look” Peter Levin is not what you would call a casual collector. The 55-year-old venture capitalist, co-founder and managing director at Griffin Gaming Partners has collect...