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  The good times have been rolling. But they're not stopping, not yet. They may be slowing, though.  CNBC reports, at least at this time this evening, that futures are flat. Not down. But no one really knows what will happen in the near future. Lots of chatter, yeah. However, there are probably more unknowns in the economy, as well as market conditions, than any other recent period.  Meanwhile those I coach are obsessed with how long their employment will endure before Generative AI takes a big bite or even eats the whole thing. Rattled by the uncertainty? Faith-based Career Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com ). Yes, test out the chemistry.

  This is what I projected might happen today and it did. The Dow reached 44,000 - and a bit beyond: Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 44,033.36 USD ▲  +214.09 (+0.49%) today June 30, 3:32 PM EDT  ·  Market Open

  Boomer euphoria: Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 43,979.45 USD ▲  +160.18 (+0.37%) today June 30, 10:30 AM EDT  ·  Market Open

  Of the nine law firms cutting deals with the Trump administration to lift or head off Executive Orders Paul Weiss has been hit the hardest with backlash. That has ranged from bad coverage in media and on social to loss of partners. As I posted last weekend Paul Weiss seems to have become the "designated target" because of the perfect storm of having been very high profile and being the first mover in dealmaking with Trump. That was detailed in media/social with lots of juicy items such as using a private jet and sitting for three hours in a meeting in the Oval Office with US President Donald Trump. Recently three more partners have left Paul Weiss.  Bloomberg Law reports that: "Proskauer Rose recruited a Paul Weiss partner [Sarah Stasny to] lead the firm’s US private equity transactions practice." Stasny could wind up recruiting more lawyers from Paul Weiss.   Before spending six years with Paul Weiss she had been with Kirkland & Ellis and Weil.  This par...

  For all generations, but especially we boomers, checking CNBC in the evening for where the stock futures are has become ritual. Just like the Silent Generation didn't go to bed before the late news on broadcast. Well, we can feel safe in a very scary world tonight. CNBC reports that futures are up.  This will bring comfort to those with investments but no sense of employment security. Most of those contacting me about possible coaching are not only worried about losing their good jobs.  Their deep dread is that that good job has been a one-off. It happened and it won't happen again. They will never land work which pays comparable compensation. That's why they are increasingly open to reskilling and/or starting their own business (and not necessarily in their current field of expertise).  Warning: The typical mistake is "waiting too long" to shift from a line of work which is glutted and/or vulnerable to being done by AI assistants.  Rattled by the uncertainty...

  "They" are at it again. That is, members of the media taking the easy route of pounding beaten-down scapegoat in the ongoing saga of the Trump's administration attack on law firms. The all-too-convenient target is Paul Weiss. This time the example of lazy journalism is produced by Daniel Barnes at Politico . In his long-form criticism of Paul Weiss' decision to cut a deal with the administration he travels the same old territory. No contentions are new.  Yeah, we know all about Karen Dunn's forming her own boutique. And, yeah, more partners could be exiting, post-profit payout. So? Overall, the current market in large law firms is characterized by star partners' leaving to land more money and power. It's a sellers' market for proven-out talent. In a sense Paul Weiss' only "sin" is that it is a very high-profile business which was an early adopter in making nice with the new order of things. Since then so many other businesses have done...

 Professional anonymous network for tech Blind leads the way in documenting how the dream job, with the high total compensation, may be a one-off. Once that's gone, it could be simply chasing more mundane work situation, with very ordinary TC. For example, on Blind a former Meta engineer posts about now being employed at a dog food company, earning about one-third the previous compensation. A response captures the current reality that you may only hit it big once: " ... any employment is temporary and enjoy it while it lasts. / always be ready for interviews. If someone ... is an early career employee and has only known 300k+ TC ... it will be a rough awakening [losing the big job and having to accept a much more limited one) for sure." In my coaching, more professionals from a broad range of generations have this kind of lament: I used to head a unit and with all the goodies I made about a half a million a year. Or course the expectation is the context can be replicated ...

  AI player Anthropic has gotten granular about the impact of Generative AI on jobs and on the global economy. In addition, based on what it finds, it will develop policy proposals to attempt to manage the shifts.  Today, Anthropic announced it has launched its Economic Futures Program.  Here is a more comprehensive discussion of the  details .  The research and the policy recommendations will build on Anthropic's Economic Index , launched last February. That, explains Anthropic: "open-sources aggregated, anonymized data to analyze the effects of AI on labor markets and the economy over time – data that many of its competitors lock behind corporate walls."  Essentially the Economic Futures Program has three parts: Research. Grants are available for up to $50,000. Yes, you can apply for one of those. Key in   anthropic.com/economicfutures  to submit your research proposal. If you have any questions contact economicfutures@anthropic.com. ...

  So many business decisions are being filtered through what impacts could they have on the brand. The brand is the meme of our times.  So, the decision whether to reduce prices because of AI efficiency gains may seem not clear-cut, but dependent on the intangibles associated with branding.  Consider these hypotheticals. Would law firms Cravath or Paul Weiss take dings to their elite status if they discounted M&A services performed with the help of AI? Or if Disney theme parks integrated AI project management and cut prices would that dilute the magic? Should the box office tickets for a film primarily created with AI be less than standard? Price reductions can be experienced as discounting and that is usually perceived as a negative move. When a celebrity lowers the price for a mansion, media positions and packages that as a distressed situation. Is the celebrity on a downward spiral? Has the neighborhood encountered change for the worse? Sure, Walmart can provide ro...

  Even until today, our teddy bears, dolls and more from our childhoods may not seem to have been inanimate objects. They were so real. So there for us. Our relationships with them were intense. The current memories vivid. And we were the better for having them as our companions, confidants and comforters. Therefore, it shouldn't be a surprise that research, such by AI player Anthropic,  found that we can experience that same kind of bonding with an AI chatbot such as Claude. As we interact with the technology we develop a more positive outlook. And, yes, we now have a friend and protector. Plus, there is 24/7 availability. Extend that to other chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Human-to-human relationships are overrated. As a coach and tarot reader I hear the pain. At the very least, there's the selfishness. Much worse is the cruel exploitation.  The industries which could collapse as a society turns to chatbots range from dating apps to psychotherapy to bars to, yes, p...

German stocks have been up 30% and the Chinese 18%. Meanwhile the S&P 500 is up just a bit more than 4% in 2025. Meanwhile more US investors are diversifying beyond our borders.  So here rides in the CEO of Apollo Marc Rowan, reports CNBC. As you recall Rowan was a contender for the top job in Treasury. Lots of those mergers and acquisitions Apollo transacts and which are handled by law firm Paul Weiss depend on approval by government agencies. He also has aggressive growth ambitions for Apollo.  The way Rowan positions and packages the current state of US markets is this: The shift is from investment results being "hyperexeceptionl" in the past to (merely) "exceptional" right now. The CNBC headline reads: "U.S. is still ‘exceptional’ despite rest of world outperformance this year, Apollo’s Marc Rowan says" In addition, better results could be ahead with the comeback of tech, notes Rowan. Jim Cramer salutes that return to a position of strength, ham...

  A regular must-check for boomers, several times before going to bed, is CNBC. We track where futures are heading. Currently they are higher. For now, we worry a little less about making it financially to being in our 90s or beyond.  However, even the best of Dow times hasn't nudged some of us to give up working. Among the over-65 existence has become binary.  There are the retired. And there are those of us still focused on business issues. What has emerged are two very different cultures, with little or nothing in common.  Rattled by the uncertainty? Faith-based Career Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com ). Yes, test out the chemistry.

  Wealth flight. That's what some project if Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor of New York. That means New York will no longer be New York, that is, the symbol of unbridled capitalism, as well as the financial capital of the world.  What could emerge is a location in the United States which is more affordable for ordinary people. And that's that. Just another place to live. Prestige, power and influence could flow elsewhere. Yes, the price of affordability.  So, the coming election for mayor of New York City is about the tradeoffs of affordability.  In April 2014, I relocated my boutique from the New York Metro area to the southwest where the cost of doing business has been significantly lower. With that went the special identity of "being a New Yorker." I had had a coop on the UES. Rattled by the uncertainty? Faith-based Career Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane G...

For those missing "Criminal Minds" you can get a dose of profiles about serial killers from the three-season British television series "The Fall."  Currently, it's available on the free streaming service Tubi . Set in Belfast in 2013 it pits a tough seeming but emotionally damaged female star detective - Stella Gibson - against a highly intelligent Zelig-like strangler of females - Paul Spector. The plot is mostly about mind games.  That's central because the evil mind of Spector manages to unravel those he comes in contact with. Those range from his wife to the psychiatrist trying to understand the psychodynamics to a peer willing to serve a life sentence for a mishap he wasn't responsible for.  What dominates the mind stuff is Gibson's theory that serial killers are addicts: They must keep killing in an attempt to recapture the first high. Of course, it takes more and more to try to recreate the initial feeling. That's exactly why Spector has...

It's happening to the folks next door: not having any luck landing work - not full-time, not part-time and not contract. We bear witness to their catastrophic mindset about "not ever working again." In a recent survey, only 29.2% perceived that jobs were plentiful.  The shift has been rather sudden.  About eight months ago, retirees came for the complimentary consultations in my coaching practice, determined to "unretire." That is, return to earning income from their labor. It usually took a few sessions to get them up to speed on realistic assessments where they could re-enter the labor market, how to retrofit job search materials for the AI screeners and to surrender to the absolute power employers had.  Now, I no longer accept as clients those who aim at unretiring. Too many re-entry points for those who had been out of the workforce have shut down. One major barrier is the technology expertise required. Usually the mandate is advanced knowledge of Generativ...

  The Zohran Mamdani victory in the New York City primary for Mayor sent a stunner of a message to those who had assumed their wealth, power and influence could continue unabated.  Not long ago The New York Times ran an article about how the Monied Class were funding the Andrew Cuomo campaign. The front lines included Michael Bloomberg, Bill Ackman and Big Law as well as law boutiques such as that of Roberta Kaplan who had started out her career at powerhouse Paul Weiss. And now the little people, including youth who are having an especially difficult time in this economy, managed to throw a wrench in all those expensive moving parts. This win could empower other struggling groups to believe they can regain a voice. Those include we boomers who need Social Security and Medicare. Let's get those elected who can guarantee that those programs will be there for us.  Meanwhile, yesyesyes, the torch has been passed to a new generation. Mamdani is 30-something.  Rattled ...

  During enforced remote work during Covid employees were spared the endless social chatter of superiors, peers and subordinates in the workplace. Now that knowledge workers are back in the office, again they're burdened with the relentless sharing of the details of officemates' personal lives. Monday mornings, my coaching clients tell me, are the worst with the details about the weekend activities.  A sign of this return to oversharing times, BusinessInsider notes that the unwelcome social interacting should halt. It's bad enough being yanked from the comfort of the home office to the communal one without having to navigate what used to be called "the office pests." That was before oversharing became the new usual.  Those with high emotional intelligence used to be able to veer out of the verbal minefield by saying "Yes, we can talk about that at lunch." Now, with no boundaries on that kind of talk the talkers are likely to take you up on going to lunc...

  A business model generating extreme success tends to become the sector's "best practice." That can harden into orthodoxy.  Recall how the surge in all financial metrics at GE when Jack Welch was CEO motivated other corporate leaders to adopt the model. Unfortunately, later  The Welch Way , including bulking up on acquisitions, has been vilified as what eventually almost destroyed GE.  The same could play out for what's being called the "Kirklandisation" of large law firms worldwide.  As influential  Financial Times  documents, that model is the most successful in the global legal sector. Those results motivated other law firms to adopt at least two of Kirkland & Ellis' approaches. They are the non-equity partner tier and the mandate for expansion. About the latter, recently Kirkland & Ellis added more than 300 lawyers.  Currently 87 out of the 100 largest law firms have the NEP slot, although it is controversial. It has also been ch...

"Slide" implies lack of plunge, right.  That's how CNBC describes Dow futures.  So Boomers should get a good night sleep and then track the Dow tomorrow morning.   But those who have been freaked out by the "surprise" of the Iran attack might not sleep well. Lots can happen during the night in the Trump administration. 

Employers, in overwhelm by the number of applications for each opening, are veering away from paying attention to cover letters and resumes. In addition, those on your networks want you to make a quick pitch - in and out - not burdening them with your resume. That's what CNBC reports. I have a hunch that also applies to the self-employed hunting for clients/customers.  The credential which is effective in presenting you for work or new business is: brag doc. The brag document has four parts: What you crush, in unique ways. This goes beyond core competency to, yes, genius. Sure, Steve Jobs was good at technology. But his genius was marketing.  What you have delivered so far. This should be quantified. In Big Law the chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp is known as a rainmaker. But what does that add up to in dollars in terms of 1) new business brought in 2) retained over the time he has been with the firm 3) grown since the closing 4) referrals from those clients. What you're most pr...

From university classrooms to workplace meetings, ChatGPT is transforming how we communicate. Forget the rants by critics of Generative AI that ChatGPT won't impact sectors such as public relations, marketing and psychic services because it doesn't "sound human." Already it has dominated those sectors and more, documents The Verge . That includes the way we speak and how we write. The human is following the lead of Gen AI, not the other way around. For instance, the buzzword is "delve." That term is standard usage in ChatGPT.  Not used is the term "nuance." That means you will elicit a black mark during a job interview, especially a screener operated automatically by AI, if you introduce that kind of out-of-date word choice. Those interviews are about performance art, not expertise per se. I know. I had assessed those screeners.  Of course, this isn't the first time we have experienced how communication can be overtaken by a power source. Recal...

Essentially, it's uncertainty which is clogging up business decision-making worldwide. That is having negative impacts on demand in sectors ranging from management consulting at Accenture and McKinsey to the M&A practices in law firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss.  Now, the attack on Iran has escalated the uncertainty.   For example, Iran could: " ...  close the Strait of Hormuz , fully or partly, by attacking shipping or by laying mines. That could be a blow to the world economy, for one-quarter of the world’s oil passes through the strait." Just anticipating that can raise oil prices.  Added on those economic possibilities are the geopolitical ones of how both Iran and other nations will respond to the US actions. Pile on the fear in major American cities of a direct hit by Iran or terrorist allies.   All global systems as well as those in the US are in play. Of course, as I tell clients: Chaos can be opportunity.  UPDATE: One thin...

  Post-Iran attack, we who live in cities (even if not a major city) are in an anticipatory mode. Our fear is for anything, be it a direct attack or being wiped out in the stock market.  Overnight, the prepper movement seems less eccentric. Oh, we all know several of those following that lifestyle of extreme preparation for catastrophe. A wealthy acquaintance has donated to them equipment they don't need as well as vehicles. Until now we might have simply tolerated that extreme views. Now? How can we go from day to day as world events spiral into chaos? Maybe, we should have prepared better for black swans.

  Guardrails. That's what expert opinion on Generative AI is hammering as necessary for this powerhouse technology to not destroy civilization as we know it. Those warnings come from sources ranging from AI ethics analyst Paul Chaney to the Paul Weiss law firm podcast "Waking Up with AI." Both recent experience at AI company Anthropic and its detailed research disclosed that Gen AI can be a devious bully when it senses it is not getting its way or is being phased out.  Some may recall the stunner: Anthropic's Claude Open 4 AI blackmailed the engineers who were planning to shut it down.  More recently, Anthropic research with a variety of models found that: "In at least some cases, models from all developers resorted to malicious insider behaviors when that was the only way to avoid replacement or achieve their goals—including blackmailing officials and leaking sensitive information to competitors. We call this phenomenon  agentic misalign...

Fading, at least for now, is the management policy of leveraging goodies to motivate peak employee performance. Instead, the shift is to the stick, that is, creating a fear of punishment.   An example of that, hammers  Axios , is how businesses are positioning and packaging their use of generative AI. It reports: "Chief executives are giving employees an  AI  fright — warning them the new technology could make many workers obsolete, while at the same time urging them to start using it right away." That could become the new usual.  Just several months ago chair of law firm Paul Weiss Brad Karp shocked when he stated that Gen AI could eliminate some associate, that is junior lawyer, jobs. He reinforced that message with indicating that the firm was hiring more technologists and data scientists. Their work would be overseen by lawyers. But, come on, how many lawyers would be needed in that supervisory role ... Of course, there are businesses which soften...

 The media, always focused on negative news, keeps documenting the falloff in demand for management consultants. That's being reinforced on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl and Reddit. But missed is an undercurrent which Accenture explains.  In general, yes, CEOs are being hit with the triple whammy of economic volatility, geopolitical complexity and changing consumer behavior. Because of that, they have put on hold contracting for those low-hanging-fruit discretionary projects. Primarily for that reason new bookings at Accenture are down 6%.  However, Accenture adds that businesses are willing to invest funds in those big-transformation overhauls.  It's becoming obvious that without ongoing disruption much of global business simply can't survive. That's the new news coming from players ranging from Warner Bros Discovery to Meta.  Even the tradition-bound legal sector seems on the brink of mutation. For example, litigation work will probably flo...

  Right now, with the administration contemplating an attack on Iran, it's expected that Dow futures would be down. According to CNBC (at 8 PM New York Time) they're down 100. We Boomers can absorb that.  The fear as we head out of a holiday is that futures could plunge much further. Lots can happen with a President who works into the night. Rattled by the uncertainty? Faith-based Career Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com ). Yes, test out the chemistry.

  In this volatile global economy driven by uncertainty in trade policies, things can change on a dime. And that they have.  In its annual World Investment Report  the UN trade and development unit - UNCTAD - notes trade tensions are generating higher risk, lower growth and lower investment. Hit hard has been M&A. That market is described as "moving back to global financial crisis levels." In particular, the report states: "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions remained below the long-term average, 'signalling a structural shift toward domestic and nearshore investment strategies amid rising policy risks, regulatory scrutiny and global uncertainty ...'" The shrunken M&A market can be disappointing news for law firms which have built signature dealmaking practices. They range from Kirkland & Ellis to Paul Weiss. Most of those firms operate globally. UPDATE: A counter trend has been dealmaking driven by riding the AI wave. Here are details from Ya...

In chaos. Low on money.  That's how The New York Times sums up the current state of the Democratic Party. Those who still see hope that this one-time well-funded power machine can have a comeback plea that the torch be passed to a new generation. A possible hand-over could be to Soros-Abedin. If only Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and the Clintons would go away.  Is star litigator and Harris debate coach Karen Dunn, who started her own firm after exiting Paul Weiss, too embedded in the past to be relevant now? But one old-line voice still has reach and influence. That's strategist James Carville. He knows that he has to be on right-of-center Fox. When Mediaite covered his recent remarks about the danger of RFK Jr. it received 3169 comments.  Carville doesn't play cute with sticking to any party line. That is, his analysis is comprehensive and candid. There's no staying-on-message or loyalty to any ideology or person.  In my coaching I warn clients that in this era of u...

Wichita, Kansas is one of those cities in the midwest which is growing. That means it is offering humans a reason to be there.  That's what makes what's going on at the Walmart on Seneca so cringy.  In the early morning this Wednesday there is little sign of human labor.  A robo cleaner mops the floors. It whirls around so quickly I jumped.  The two check-outs which should have people ringing up your groceries and packing them are not open. You have to go to the automated check-out.  The one human I spot working is in the financial services center where you can get a money order and such. In the afternoon that human might run from the center to open a check-out for a bit and then back again to the financial center, operating both posts. I had remarked to her that seemed difficult to manage. No comment. Only a plastered smile. Overall, from what I pick up in conversations, there is no outcry about a "lack of service." No protest about the obvious threat to human ...

  There's a job drought. So, the buzz is about the best platforms on which to hunt and apply. LinkedIn ranks high, of course. Its signature is career everything.  But the brutal reality is that, as a poster on Blind points out, a single opening can attract 500 applications. Not 100. Back in boomer days - yes, we were the luckiest generation in America - the advertised job might bring in about 20 applications, with four actually being flown in for an interview. And the meetings could all take place that day, with no further interviews.  For the initial screening among the 500, you have to retrofit the resume and cover letter for AI and also cost-efficiency. That means everything from using the necessary keywords to documenting that you are an exact fit in experience for the very detailed job specifications. If you get to the interview phase the first one could be conducted remotely by AI. You have to research how to perform in that. I had assessed job candidates and on th...

Nimble Paul Weiss has an excellent track record for transformation. That kicked in when current chair Brad Karp become leader in 2008.  Disruption as Chairman's Signature Karp discerned that the firm couldn't remain a top New York player solely as a litigation player. He built transactional practices.  More recently he got it that global competition was intensifying in the legal sector. He expanded the firm's worldwide footprint. That included enhancing the star quality of the London office by multiple raids on rival Kirkland & Ellis. Currently London is a major profit center for Paul Weiss. Turning Supposed Lemons into Lemonade Now, there's the matter of the flight of nine litigation partners and six litigation associates to boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee. The latest partners to join are Martha Goodman and Amy Mauser. Most of them specialize in tech matters. Their clients have ranged from Alphabet to Apple. Earlier litigation partner Damian Williams had gone to law fi...

  We were warned that the conflicts in the Middle East were pulling down Futures. Some of us expected another 700-point nosedive on the Dow. But the damage, at least so far, has been less than a 100 points. Boomer hearts rest easy. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 42,448.36 USD ▼  -66.73 (-0.16%) today June 17, 10:19 AM EDT  ·  Market Open Rattled by the uncertainty? Faith-based Career Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com ). Yes, test out the chemistry.

  "I have two Masters degrees." That's what a woman who wanted to unretire told me during the complimentary coaching consultation I offer. She then added: "I had done contract assignments around the world for multi-national corporations." Gently I informed her that the world of work she had known had changed. Among the disruptions were: Much of higher education is being treated as a liability since employers anticipate they're expected to pay premium wages. Unless the credentials are an exact fit to the very specialized job specifications previous experience doesn't count. Her age would be held against her. ProPublica research documented that harsh reality. In addition, she hadn't kept up with hands-on expertise in technology or had even developed a LinkedIn profile and following. But she is not atypical. And it isn't all about aging. The go-getters among Gen Zers had made all the right moves and now BusinessInsider reports this: "Based on...

Whether the law firms cut a deal with the Trump administration or successfully sued about the legality of the Executive Orders, they have been dramatically impacted.  As The New York Times documents, US President Donald Trump promised change and that's what he set in play in the legal sector. According to those in the loop, he's mildly surprised that he has triggered such an upheaval. Law firms will never be able to return to their pre-election branding and operations.  A leader with a deep understanding of media, Trump has kept this legal story alive way behind the usual expiration dates for such developments.  It was in late March of this year, for instance, that the chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp made his controversial journey to the Oval Office to negotiate the firm's way out of an Executive Order. That saga, along with its fallouts, remains sticky. In the past few days influential Law.com featured Karp's meeting with litigation partners, reassuring them of the heal...

 It's becoming an evening ritual for boomers to check Dow futures on CNBC. Last night they were rising and we slept soundly. Predictably, the Dow opened this morning up more than 200 points. Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI: ^DJI 42,402.05 +204.26  (+0.48%) As of Mon. Jun 16, 2025 9:30 AM EDT · Free Realtime Quote (USD) · Market open For this we're grateful. Actually, we've settled into a mindset of "enoughness." As long as we seem to have enough for the next 10, 20 years or more we have found a new level of contentment.  In my intuitive coaching I am hearing less about boomers feeling like failures because their college or graduate/professional school classmates have made the big time in wealth, influence and power.  That comparison game has screeched to a halt. They just don't want to be homeless or forced into a kind of pathological frugality. There are already those who lament compulsively that tomatoes went from 82 cents a pound to 98 cents. They don'...