Home prices across the U.S. continue to ripple, and today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Index offers the latest snapshot. Released on February 25, 2025, the data (up to December 2024) shows the index ticking slightly downward from November’s 332.59 points. That’s a small dip month-over-month, but year-over-year, prices are up 4.3%, an increase from November’s 3.8% growth. Tracking 20 key metro areas—like New York, LA, and Chicago—this index uses repeat sales to gauge real shifts in single-family home values. The market's resilience shines through despite high borrowing costs and affordability hurdles.
Apple’s shareholders recently voted to uphold the company’s
DiversityEquityInclusion initiatives, rejecting a proposal to end them. It’s interesting to reflect that in my early presentations on effective DEI strategies, I cited Apple as an example of where DEI efforts were falling short. Including a quote from the board, that DEI efforts were "unduly burdensome." While the company has programs aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, their execution and outcomes left much to be desired. For front-line staff (stores, sales, etc.), their DEI initiatives were somewhat average, but at higher levels—especially within management—their efforts were inefficient and largely ineffective.Microsoft announced that its Copilot’s Think Deeper and Voice features are now available for free, with unlimited access for all users. Powered by OpenAI’s o1 model, you can talk with Copilot using Voice and use Think Deeper’s reasoning models to help with more complex tasks.
This announcement comes as OpenAI expands its Operator capabilities to more countries, and Google Gemini is squashing superbugs which would take researchers a decade to fix. In a press release, Microsoft says, “We are seeing a lot of excitement for Voice and Think Deeper, and we know many of you have been hitting limits. This should help.”
Microsoft suggests users take advantage of Copilot’s Voice mode to practice “a few simple phrases in a new language to help you navigate when visiting a new country or meeting new people.” With Think Deeper, users can take advantage of OpenAI’s latest o1 reasoning model when making a big purchase, planning a career move, or more.
“We are working hard to scale unlimited access to advanced features to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, starting today with Voice and Think Deeper. It’s worth noting you may experience delays or interruptions during periods of high demand or if we detect security concerns, misuse, or other violations,” the Microsoft Copilot team says.
Even though these features are being expanded to free users, Copilot Pro users will have priority for access to its latest models during peak usage, access to experimental AI features, and additional use of Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps. The Redmond company reveals more AI features for Pro users will be revealed soon.
Users can try Copilot’s Voice and Think Deeper features for free here.
🛑 Is the Trump crypto rally over?
📉 Bitcoin tumbled below $90,000 to hit the lowest since mid-November, as the rally that followed Donald Trump’s election to the White House reversed under the weight of his trade tariffs and a string of industry setbacks.
The largest token dropped as much as 6.1% to its lowest point since Nov. 15 before recovering slightly to trade at $89,700 at 8:50 a.m. London on Tuesday after hitting its lowest point since Nov. 18. Other cryptocurrencies also fell, with Ether, XRP, and Solana down sharply for the session.
❓ Why the drop?
🗨️ “The fall in Bitcoin prices is likely related to broader macro uncertainty that has hit most financial markets in the last couple of days and is linked to the various tariffs being announced by President Trump,” said Adrian Przelozny, chief executive of crypto exchange Independent Reserve.
Oh, and hacks:
💻 Sentiment has also soured following a series of recent industry-specific setbacks, including the biggest-ever crypto hack targeting exchange Bybit and a memecoin scandal involving Argentina’s President Javier Milei. That helps explain why digital coins have underperformed other risk assets like technology stocks in recent weeks.
Another word for lack of confidence is ‘uncertainty’, and there is no shortage of uncertainty surrounding the near future economy. The word is in the headlines and in the mouths of experts. The potential for economy-changing policies is pretty strong, but there is a lack of specifics when it comes to what will actually be implemented, and how and whether some of it will stand up in the courts. But even without the policy specifics, the uncertainty is impacting the economy.
If businesses and consumers feel like inflation is certain to rise, so they’ll act accordingly — charging higher prices and asking for higher wages, respectively. So even though the biggest tariff threats have yet to come to fruition, for example, they’re likely already having an impact on how people spend and save.
This proactive approach to potential inflation could be exacerbated because people are just getting used to the higher prices from our last inflationary period. Households and businesses are going to be more sensitive to the potential for another round of high inflation. Because they don’t want to be caught off guard, they may act preemptively, trying to beat policy to the punch.
This could be a problem at the household level if people overextend themselves in anticipation of what might happen. Consumers should practice restraint when tempted to take on debt or dip into emergency savings to beat out potentially higher prices that may or may not be down the road.
The way brands are built today is fundamentally different. Before people built a product, then they went and found an audience. Today, people are building an audience, and then building a product. If you want to start a business and don’t have an idea, start thinking about building an audience first.
Creators, influencers, and celebrity brands are bigger than ever and unlike in the past when they were often just the face of a brand, they are building large and enduring brands that are beloved by their community.
But why is that? The reason is they have spent an immense amount of time building a community they are deeply connected to. Through the vehicle of creating content, they understand what their audience likes, and what they want, and [this is key] how to take feedback and instantly implement it into their content. This makes a perfect ecosystem for building a product.
They are audience-first and can build a product that they know is designed for their audiences’ needs and wants. Their deep understanding and empathy for their audience uniquely set them up to build products that are a fit. The feedback loop they have created with their audience when they make content is the same feedback loop they use to create and evolve their product, which makes them able to iterate and build at a whole different speed.
Breaking this down further: if you have a social profile and just 1 follower, you have an audience too. I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs, “I want to start a business but I don’t have an idea - how do I find an idea?”. My advice is: to start by understanding your audience.
This can be as simple as posting on your social profile something you’re interested in and starting to build a community around your shared interest. Engaging with your community will reveal what they like and what they are looking for, which ultimately, will reveal an idea for a product. And there is the start of your business.
After fueling most of the S&P 500’s gains in the past two years, the cohort of major tech companies known as the “Magnificent 7” has had a weak start to 2025. An index compiled by Bloomberg that tracks these stocks — including Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla, and Alphabet — has declined 10% since December’s peak, wiping out $1.5 trillion in market value. The downtrend comes amid concerns over tariffs and lingering inflation.
An activist group is attempting to orchestrate a 24-hour boycott of major retailers on Friday, February 28. The protest, organized by The People's Union USA, is pushback against price hikes and rising living costs. Participants are encouraged to avoid major retailers, fast food, and credit cards during the "blackout" day, and to source essentials from local businesses. Though boycotts' financial impact is often limited, this one's arrival on the heels of the "No Buy 2025" movement may signal to shift in consumer attitudes.
Eli Lilly is expanding its direct-to-consumer offerings of a popular weight-loss drug. The maker of Zepbound is making 7.5-milligram and 10-milligram vials of the medication available on its patient website for $499 per month, or half its monthly list price. The move aims to reach people whose insurance will not cover the treatment and comes as compounding sites are stopping sales of copycat medications now that GLP-1 drugs are no longer in shortage.