Bubble. Tulip. Luck. Blockchain and cryptocurrency currently occupy the “roll the dice” slot in the popular mind, as evidenced by a recent Scientific American headline that used “bitcoin” (BTC) as a shorthand for “risk” for a story about what parts of the human brain assess chance. Last December, a CNN Money story used the crypto trend as the hook for a roundup of famous market crashes, predictably aligning crypto with the 17th century tulip mania, the stock market crash of 1929 and the 2001...

Amid the hailstorm of lies, denials, do-overs and comb-overs, it can be difficult to suss out any residual good that the Trump presidency is showering on beleaguered Americans. Like a late-night snacker foraging in the refrigerator for an overlooked carton of takeout fried rice, I have read between the headlines to excavate a few silver linings. In no particular order, here are four presidential gifts that are making all of us greater Americans. Civics! Were getting a crash course in how...

y Joanne Cleaver, Chicago Tribune (TNS) If you’re a woman who talks, you’ve been talked over. Run over in meetings, primarily by men, whose culture perpetuates mutual interruption as a form of nonverbal communication. Ignored, only to have your comment repeated moments later by someone else, to immediate response and recognition. Tuesday, the whole country was treated to this scenario in full glaring color, live from the White House on national television. Nancy Pelosi, minority leader of the...

Investing icon Ken Fisher made a swan dive into a pool of egg salad at a recent invitation-only financial summit. He compared the process of gaining a client’s trust with “trying to get into a girl’s pants” and talked about genitalia. He admits it. He has said the same at previous conferences. And now he’s finding out that major financial brands like Fidelity and taxpayer-accountable state pension funds don’t want him handling their money anymore. More than $2 billion has been pulled from...

Home sales and prices are skyrocketing in popular drive-to weekend destinations within a 300-mile radius of Chicago. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves from crisis to chronic, the appeal of a remote, off-the-grid vacation place for getting away from it all has been replaced by homebuyers’ determination to transplant work and school to an airier locale — complete with broadband access. Over the Labor Day holiday, traditionally the last opportunity for a summer vacation, 74% of vacationers will...