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  The legacy of former two-term US President Bill Clinton seemed finished. That is, after the latest dump of material from the Epstein files. The New York Times reports:  " ... the Justice Department’s  avalanche-like release on Friday  of more than 13,000 files related to Mr. Epstein served as a powerful reminder of Mr. Clinton’s long-scrutinized ties to the disgraced financier as well as some of the former president’s less statesmanlike traits — his womanizing, reckless judgment and impulsivity." Meanwhile, both political power brokers and the public demand more transparency in what's in those files associated with the current two-term US President Donald Trump. His legacy could be also irreversibly damaged. It's not unthinkable that the first line of his obituary in influential media such as The Economist could refer directly to Epstein links. This development generated by the Epstein Obsession  could change presidential politics. For 2028 both Dems and the G...

Jeffrey Epstein Everything has mutated into an obsession . For those eager to keep up-to-date on what has now been released, including today, The Wall Street Journal has done a profound service. Here are the two key links.  This one from the WSJ guides you categorically and comprehensively to what's currently out there.   In case much of what has been out there is old hat to you, the WSJ provides a link to what is new today. Since there was only a partial release of what we hadn't previously had access to, more will come. But already the document dump has probably deposited reputational coal in the stockings of some high-profile players. Photos can be especially damaging. As an intuitive coach/tarot reader I warn clients not only about what company they keep but also where they keep it. Thrown off your game, maybe the first time since you started working? You made all the right moves and then the world moved in another direction. Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with tran...

 The late Jeffrey Epstein was a collector of people. That represented a separate category in what he was up to. They didn't have to represent a means to increase Epstein's wealth. Instead, they were given access if they had unique expertise and reach. Then they could be placed as one of those marquee names in his files. Genius in linguistics and well-connected in politics Noam Chomsky  was selected for the collection. The relationship essentially was intellectual.   The reality of Chomsky's name popping up in the recent release of the Epstein files - yes, there  was a major dump today - enhances his reputation. Not hurt it as it had, for example, source of wealth for Epstein: Apollo co-founder Leon Black. That reputational blow had been so severe that his long-term law firm Paul, Weiss made it public in a 2022 BusinessInsider interview that it no longer represented Black. Unlike Black, it could have added to your brand equity if the world discovered in today's p...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,163.04 USD ▲  +211.19 (+0.44%) today

  Larry Summers Les Wexner Leon Black  Now the odds are that they and a number of others closely associated with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein will never fully escape reputational tainting. What has happened is this: The interest in Epstein has crossed the line from entertainment to total obsession. Otherwise, The New York Times, focused on attracting and keeping eyeballs, wouldn't have dared publish today a very long-form very detailed chronicle of Epstein's rise to enormous wealth, power and influence.  Here is that amazing NYT analysis. In it appear the names of the above three. And, going forward it's predictable every article about them and their obituary will note that Epstein linkage. Meanwhile any progress they had made in clawing their way back to positive brand equity probably will now go poof.  For a bit, Black, for example, was enjoying jaw-jawing with media such as Puck, giving snippets of what Epstein was like. They were eating it up. But it's li...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,599.54 USD ▲  +141.49 (+0.29%) today December 15, 9:45 AM EST  ·  Market Open

Rob Reiner's tragic death has returned some of us to reflecting on that breakthrough 1971 - 1979 sitcom "All in the Family."  Brilliantly it captured the struggle of an uneducated blue-collar guy Archie Bunker who couldn't get a handle on a rapidly changing world. The counterpoint to his plight had been his educated son-in-law Meathead, portrayed by Reiner. Of course, there was plenty of conflict between the two generations. The pathos was that Bunker was a decent man.  That same emotional dynamic has taken off as we encounter knowledge workers in the same sort of pickle that made Bunker a closed system. Although they are losing their jobs now and too many of those jobs probably won't come back they either cannot or refuse to understand that the world is changing. And they have to change with it. Usually that shift entails ditching the mindset that the investment in higher education will be rewarded and the need to start over training for a skill that's marke...

 J P Morgan recently poached Berkshire Hathway's Todd Combs for a major role. A factor that drove that decision, Yahoo Finance notes, is that Cobbs had as a mentor Warren Buffett. Mentors have been central in extreme professional success.  Classic is the rapid rise of Brad S. Karp at law firm Paul, Wiess. At age 48 he was voted in by the partners as chair in 2008. Despite the turmoil in the sector, Karp has held on to the job. Among his mentors had been Simon H. Rifkind, Arthur Liman and Ted Sorensen.  And iconic actor Marlon Brando wasn't self-made. Who helped shape that talent were Stela Adler and Elia Kazan.  But, falling under the influence of the wrong mentors can limit a career. I know. Probably I could have gone further in my first career path - academia - had I aligned myself with a leader with more juice. Not only did I receive unhelpful guidance on the choice of research subjects. In addition, that figure was losing power, which likely threw shade on my o...

Sure, it's an option in money management: Die With Zero.  Instead of saving/investing for retirement you spend all sources of income. Much of this, as Yahoo Finance explains, goes toward purchasing memorable experiences. You take that exotic journey into the jungles of Africa. And/or, I would add, you pay for the offsprings' education, weddings and purchase of the starter house.  However, as a tarot reader/coach I am bearing witness to those who had this mindset, spent and currently are financially frantic. They ignored the risk factors. At the top of the list the risks are: Unexpected long life. The family genes indicated a shorter one. Ha-ha, here you are in your early 80s and with no serious life-enders. Dick Van Dyke is nearing 100 years of age. Betty White almost made it to that milestone birthday.  Inflation. You anticipated you'd been okay with the proceeds from selling the family house and ending the burden of unexpected expenses from home ownership. But inflatio...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average INDEXDJX: .DJI 48,795.84 +91.83  (0.19%) today Dec 12, 9:38 AM EST  •  Disclaimer UPDATE: Later on, things did sour. Dow Jones Industrial Average INDEXDJX: .DJI 48,405.31 −298.70  (0.61%) today

  But, Can We Trust This?  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,584.46 USD ▲  +526.71 (+1.10%) today December 11, 11:38 AM EST  ·  Market Open It got even better. DOW (DJI) Watchlist Share Compare Join the discussion 48,696.00 market open  • as of Dec 11, 03:36 PM EST ‎+638.25 (‎+1.33%)

Going off to college for four years and then clinging to the friendships made as we adjusted to the real life of work post-graduation used to a be a core experience of youth. That was a very different time in the history of labor in America.   Likely, members of Gen Alpha will ask elders, "What was 'college?'" Unlikely to survive are the myriad non-Ivies and not-state universities. If you want to do a "hail hail the gang's all here," class reunion, especially if your alma mater is in Pennsylvania, you better plan one soon.  Bloomberg's BusinessWeek features PA-based Albright College as an example of what is perhaps a doomed effort to make it through the decline in the number of college-aged, the loss of faith in college as preparation for careers and the glut of higher education facilities in that particular state.  Yes, that BusinessWeek analysis salutes Albright's president Debra Townsley as a focused turnaround leader. Among her bold steps ar...

Transactions such as Paramount's aggressive attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery involve plenty of legalities. Those pile up the billable hours for law firms in the loop. For this Cravath and Latham got the work. M&A has been a lucrative practice for law firms. Of course, the sector is hoping that 2026 will generate a surge in the number and value of those consolidations. Thrown off your game, maybe the first time since you started working? You made all the right moves and then the world moved in another direction. Intuitive 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. Zero risk.  

  The succession competition is taking place at Disney. If this were happening just a few years down the road about who would follow Bob Iger as CEO one of the contenders might be AI. Some AI watchers don't frame that possibility as far-fetched. The Wall Street Journal has published an earnest article on AI running an entire company. After all, eventually that technology will exceed human intelligence. And it has been human intelligence - those smartest kids in the room - which produced such failures as New Coke, the AOL - Time Warner merger and putting on contract at Vanity Fair Olivia Nuzzi. It was also human intelligence, like that of Jeff Skilling, which destroyed corporations such as Enron, putting thousands out of work and wiping out investments. Actually, what could put sand in these technological gears is the issue of the rank and file workforce. There are decisions to be made about what percentage should be and can legally be robots. Good luck lobbying Congress and govern...

Yes, futures are up. At least now at 3:15 AM New York time. And there could be lots more positive in store for our Boomer nest eggs. Yahoo Finance reports:  "US stock futures rose Monday morning as Wall Street heads into a pivotal week dominated by the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of 2025." Among those best positioned in this strange economy are we Boomers who don't have to make a living. Sure, we still might be deriving income from our labor but it isn't a must to pay our bills and indulge in a few non-essentials. 

America, a young nation that worships youth, now struggles with the aging who can't find work. About 33% of those in America are 50 years of age or older. They're the fastest growing group among the homeless.  Part of that is because, as ProPublica documented, once you hit 50: The odds are you'll be forced out of your job, and Only one in 10 who lands another job in their field will earn the same money. In contrast, as the New York Post brings back the infamous 1975 Murder in Greenwich, Connecticut story, the victim Martha Moxley will always be 15 years of age.  So young, so open a future.  Given the she was from a privileged family in an old-money WASPY town she would not have to chase a career. But if she did the first few doors would likely have been easy to enter. No question, blonde and attractive, she would have met a suitable life mate and married in a high-profile wedding as did Ethel Skakel to the dashing Robert F. Kennedy. The photos of that moment at Gr...