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As Sir Isaac Newton discovered, the core scientific law of gravity is that what goes up must come down. The principle applies in many areas, which is why markets are jittery about the near-unchecked, three-year growth of stock prices fueled by the strength of the generative-AI revolution. The market is on a tear, with a large gap growing even wider between public market valuations and the significantly higher private-market valuations of AI-exposed companies. The top five tech companies in the U.S. are, collectively, valued at more than the combined size of the Euro Stoxx 50, the U.K., India, Japan, and Canada—and account for around 16% of the entire global public equ…

Two-thirds of people have imposter syndrome, according to a 2011 article published in the International Journal Of Behavioral Science. These are people who often feel like a fraud or believe their achievements were a fluke. Bearing those statistics in mind, there’s a high likelihood that mentors suffer from this as well. How is someone who doesn’t recognize the inherent value of their own achievements supposed to mentor others? Imposter syndrome amongst mentors Mentorship discussions typically focus on the mentee’s imposter syndrome but neglect the mentor’s own struggles. When someone, no matter how successful, feels like an imposter (assuming they can get…

It’s already been an exciting Major League Baseball season. And that excitement is clearly translating into the business and advertising side as well. Earlier this summer, Variety reported that ads for the MLB All-Star Game, which took place in July, sold out over a month in advance. On Monday night during Game 3 of the World Series, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won against the Toronto Blue Jays—which gave L.A. a 2-1 series lead and featured another significant performance from Shohei Ohtani—the game went to 18 innings and lasted six hours and 39 minutes. So what happens to ads when a game has extra innings? When a large tentpole tournament or games lik…

Tax filing season is underway, and the IRS expects 164 million people will file returns by April 15. The average refund last year was $3,167. This year, analysts have projected it could be $1,000 higher, thanks to changes in tax law. More than 165 million individual income tax returns were processed last year, with 94% submitted electronically. People with straightforward returns should not encounter delays, but because of an exodus of IRS workers since the start of the The President administration, the national taxpayer advocate has cautioned that the 2026 tax filing season is likely to present challenges for those who run into problems filing. While last yea…

Though I long resisted the label, I have been a solopreneur ever since I started working as a freelance writer in 2010. As the owner, manager, and only employee, all decisions about my solo freelancing business are up to me—which continues to feel simultaneously invigorating and terrifying. But not all daunting solopreneurship decisions are the same. While taking creative risks and pitching big names continue to cause some minor fingernail-chewing even after all these years, investing in my business is the leading cause of second-guessing (and third-guessing, fourth-guessing) my own abilities as an entrepreneur. Many other solopreneurs share my lack of confidence …

After filing for bankruptcy protection and being nearly obliterated in the process, discount retail chain Big Lots is getting closer to determining the timeline for its path forward, the brand’s new owner has confirmed with Fast Company. Variety Wholesalers, the North Carolina-based retail company that is seeking to take control of hundreds of Big Lots locations—mostly in the South and Midwest—now has a tentative plan in place for the “soft openings” of many of those stores, according to a spokesperson. Although a bankruptcy filing earlier this month identified 200 locations that are expected to be transferred to Variety, not all of the stores have been assigned y…

We’ve all heard it: For decades, it’s been a crux of career advice. Keep every door open. Stay on good terms. Never fully walk away. Don’t burn that bridge. But that advice was followed during a different time and for workplaces that were designed to keep you in line, not further your career. In today’s fast-moving workforce, clinging to outdated relationships, toxic workplaces, or unfair structures isn’t loyalty. It’s self-sabotaging. It’s time to rethink what was once considered the norm. Sometimes burning a bridge isn’t reckless. It’s strategic. It’s the first step toward building something better in your career. Why “Don’t Burn Bridges” No Longer Works …

Being asked to apply for a promotion is often framed as an unqualified win: validation that your work is seen and your potential recognized. Yet for many high-achieving professionals, that invitation can spark as much ambivalence as excitement. Because the question isn’t only “Can I do this?” It’s also “Do I want to live this way?” Promotions can be career accelerators, but they also reconfigure your days, your priorities, and your sense of balance. The challenge is learning to evaluate the opportunity without being swept away by it—to discern whether it’s truly aligned with this season of your life. The recognition feels good—until the logistics set in T…

Earlier this month, Nike dropped the “Flagstaff” colorway of its Book 1 sneaker, the signature model of Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker. Its dark green shade reflects Flagstaff, Arizona’s situation in the world’s largest ponderosa pine forest—it’s not all cactuses and sand in the Grand Canyon State—and the shoe plays off Booker’s status as one of the many second-home owners in the area. “When Book needs to escape the desert heat,” the Nike copy explains, “he heads to Flagstaff, where he can walk the mountain paths worry-free.” Nike’s use of local color seems to be part of a larger branding trend that emphasizes small-scale authenticity over brute-force bigness. As a lo…

Every month, around two billion people see AI Overviews, Google’s AI-powered search feature that generates summaries to users’ queries. Now, a new study is revealing a concerning pattern among some of these responses: When asked health-related questions, AI Overviews appears to turn to YouTube significantly more often than trusted medical sites. Since its inception, AI Overviews has faced its fair share of controversies, from early reports of the product spewing nonsensical answers to a series of lawsuits from businesses and publisher groups alleging that the feature is damaging to organic traffic patterns. The most recent concern with AI Overviews emerged via an inve…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Economic forecasting has never been easy, and it becomes even more challenging in the face of unprecedented events like COVID-19 lockdowns and extraordinary levels of fiscal and monetary intervention. This was followed by a rapid cycle of interest rate hikes, adding further complexity. Look no further than the fact that for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, and 2024) economic forecasts at large significantly underestimated mortgage rates. Recently, however, forecasters have fared better. Among the 17 mortgage rate forecasts rounded up by ResiClub …

Every week, millions of Americans toss their recyclables into a single bin, trusting that their plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard boxes will be given a new life. But what really happens after the truck picks them up? Single-stream recycling makes participating in recycling easy, but behind the scenes, complex sorting systems and contamination mean a large percentage of that material never gets a second life. Reports in recent years have found 15% to 25% of all the materials picked up from recycle bins ends up in landfills instead. Plastics are among the biggest challenges. Only about 9% of the plastic generated in the U.S. actually gets recycled, a…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. When assessing home price momentum, it’s important to monitor active listings and months of supply. If active listings start to rapidly increase as homes remain on the market for longer periods, it may indicate potential future pricing weakness. Conversely, a rapid decline in active listings could suggest a market that is heating up. National active listings are on the rise (up 24.6% between January 2024 and January 2025). This indicates that homebuyers have gained some leverage in many parts of the country over the past year, with some markets even …

Seven people have been arrested in the investigation of a stunning heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, but the lavish, stolen jewels that once adorned France’s royals are still missing. In the days after the theft, a handful of experts warned that the artifacts valued at more than $100 million (88 million euros) could be melted or broken into parts. If done successfully, some say those smaller pieces could later go up for sale as part of a new necklace, earrings, or other jewelry, without turning too many heads. “You don’t even have to put them on a black market, you just put them in a jewelry store,” said Erin Thompson, an art crime professor at the John Jay Col…

You don’t need a perfect jump shot or the exhaustive knowledge (or opinions) of Stephen A. Smith to land a career in sports. You can get far on passion and a desire to spread that love of the game throughout an increasingly fan-driven world. Sports marketing—which encompasses everything from managing multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals and crafting social media campaigns for local teams to coordinating fan activation at the Super Bowl—is one of the most robust components of the sports industry, which is worth at least $500 billion globally. To understand the state of play in this arena, Fast Company analyzed nearly 2,800 job listings on Google for Jobs between April…

Short staffing and the transition from paper checks to digital refunds are among the biggest challenges facing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this tax season. That’s according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s expansive Annual Report to Congress, the latest version of which was recently posted online. The annual report aims to “help Congress strengthen taxpayer rights, reduce taxpayer burden, and improve IRS performance.” The Taxpayer Advocate Service, or TAS, is an independent office within the IRS that’s meant to look after the interests of taxpayers. Erin M. Collins, who submitted and signed off on the latest report, has served as the National Taxpayer A…

The 2025 tax season is in full swing, and the number one question most people have on their minds after filing their return is, “Where’s my tax refund?” Thankfully, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers a quick and easy online tool to help you check the status of your tax refund. Here’s what you need to know about the tool as well as how long it may take to receive your refund. Check your tax refund status with the IRS’s ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool If you’re anxious about where your refund is, there’s good news: you can check its status in just a few seconds using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool from the IRS. Checking your refund status is pretty easy. Here’s h…

You’re stuck in traffic again, late for work, watching brake lights stretch to the horizon. According to the most recent data in the U.S. (2024), here are some of the ways traffic jams are lowering the quality of life: Americans lost an average of an entire work week sitting in traffic. Commuter costs have surged 16% over the past five years to reach $269 billion annually. Congestion time for commuters has gone up 10% since 2019 and it’s 19% for trucks delivering all the products we buy. Stress increases of 80%, and aggressiveness increases of 52%. Long stretches in traffic lead to back pain, leg pain, and headaches. There’s no one solution to dealin…

The discount retailer that plans to take over and operate hundreds of Big Lots stores is closer to deciding which locations it will save. Some 200 Big Lots leases have been designated to be transferred to Variety Wholesalers, the North Carolina-based owner of Roses and other discount chains, new court documents show. In a bankruptcy filing dated Monday, Big Lots said it will transfer the locations as part of its agreement with Gordon Brothers, the restructuring and investment firm that took control of the embattled retailer earlier this month. The list includes Big Lots locations across at least a dozen states, mostly in the South and Midwest regions. It’s un…

The discount retailer that plans to take over and operate hundreds of Big Lots stores is closer to deciding which locations it will save. Some 200 Big Lots leases have been designated to be transferred to Variety Wholesalers, the North Carolina-based owner of Roses and other discount chains, new court documents show. In a bankruptcy filing dated Monday, Big Lots said it will transfer the locations as part of its agreement with Gordon Brothers, the restructuring and investment firm that took control of the embattled retailer earlier this year. The list includes Big Lots locations across more than a dozen states, mostly in the South and Midwest regions. It’s un…

As a subject for delightful conversation, personal insurance ranks somewhere between polyp removal and credit default swaps. Which means most of us don’t know what we don’t know. No one likes to dwell on what might go wrong in the future—which is part of the reason why we all tend to regard insurance professionals with a healthy level of skepticism. But protecting yourself and your money from the unexpected has to be part of getting your financial house in order. Otherwise, a single bad event could erase all your hard work. To figure out what kinds of insurance you might need, start with the following basic rules of the insurance industry. Social benefit and …

Countless Rite Aid customers and employees are still waiting to learn the fate of their local pharmacies as the bankrupt drugstore chain sells off its assets and winds down operations. Now, at least three Rite Aid landlords are asking for more transparency into the process. Last week, Rite Aid announced that it has reached agreements to sell its prescription files for most of its 1,200 retail pharmacies, with successful bidders including CVS, Walgreens, and Albertsons, among others. Perhaps most notably, CVS agreed to buy prescription files for 625 of those pharmacies, even as it said it would only take over 64 physical Rite Aid locations in three states: Washington, …