BUSINESS

Leaders of major AI companies say they agree with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who just called for the tech industry to move more slowly with model development.

Many homebuyers have felt the strain of an expensive housing market so far in 2026. High housing prices, surging mortgage rates, and costs such as insurance and property taxes are making monthly payments unaffordable for numerous Americans.

Real estate technology company Zillow released its August 2026 Market Report on Sept. 8. The report showed that high costs have had several negative consequences for the housing market, including slower home sales and higher monthly mortgage payments.

But Zillow also discovered a bright spot for homebuyers: less competition.

In fact, if you can still afford a home in today’s real estate market, you may have some serious advantages.

“Affordability is putting the brakes on the for-sale market, but it is also changing the experience for buyers who remain active,” wrote Mischa Fisher, Zillow chief economist. “Less competition gives well-prepared buyers a better chance to compare options and negotiate with confidence.”

More homes for sale could give buyers more negotiating power

Zillow data showed 1.41 million homes for sale in the U.S. in August.

Active inventory, which refers to all homes for sale during the month, increased 3% year over year. It also rose monthly, up 0.2% from July.

New listings hit 356,934 in August, which is a 2.4% annual increase.

New listings are down 7.9% from July. However, this decline may partly reflect typical housing market trends. For example, Opendoor reports that sale price versus market value, days on the market, and buyer competition are typically a little weaker in August than in July. These types of factors could discourage sellers from listing their homes in August.

The national housing shortage is the main driver of the U.S. home affordability crisis. The country still has a long way to go — Zillow estimates that 4.7 million new homes need to be built — but a 3% annual increase is a good start.

More inventory means less competition among buyers. And less competition typically leads to lower home sale prices.

Zillow data shows that active inventory increased both monthly and annually in August.Bloomberg / Getty Images

More than 1 in 4 listings had a price cut

When a seller cuts the listing price on their home, buyers benefit in two ways.

The first (and most obvious) perk is that the price is now lower. Someone who was on the fence about being able to afford the house before might be able to make an offer now.

The second is that, depending on the circumstances, a price cut might indicate that a seller is more motivated to negotiate and make the sale work.

The Zillow August 2026 Market Report revealed that 26.3% of home listings had a price cut in August. That’s a year-over-year increase of 0.5%.

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“Buyers who can make a move today are encountering conditions that were scarce during the frenzied years: more homes to consider, more time to decide and sellers who are increasingly cutting prices to attract buyers,” wrote Zillow.

Mortgage rates may have been lower from 2020-2022, but “frenzied” is the perfect word to describe the national real estate market in those years. Now, borrowers can take their time, wait for possible price cuts, and find more opportunities for negotiations.

Key takeaways from the Zillow Market Report

Buyers in areas with more inventory have more power. Zillow found that a select few U.S. metro areas experienced more inventory growth in August than others: Salt Lake City (6.2%), Buffalo, New York (5.2%), and Detroit (5%) topped the list.

Buyers in cities with decelerating inventory have less power. Some metro areas actually lost inventory in August. The most significant drops were in Boston (-4.2%), New York City (-3.5%), and Austin, Texas (-3.2%). As a result, residents could face more competition and even higher prices.

Monthly pricing cuts are down. Although the year-over-year number of listings with price cuts has increased by 0.5%, they’ve decreased by 0.8% since July.

An expensive housing market also means less competition. High home prices and mortgage rates have priced some people out of the 2026 housing market. If you can afford to buy a home, this means even less competition for you, which could help you negotiate for a lower price or other concessions.

Be honest about what’s affordable. The truth is, the current national housing market is good for those who can afford a home they like and the monthly payment that comes with it. But it’s still an expensive market overall. Don’t take on a mortgage so large that the rest of your life becomes financially stressful.

Related: Zillow predicts big mortgage rate, housing market change

Comcast Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong is issuing a stern warning about broadband pricing and the company’s future performance as it continues to lose a significant number of customers.

In 2025, Comcast, which operates broadband service under the name Xfinity, lost over 700,000 internet customers after raising Xfinity prices and restricting its autopay discount. The trend continued, with the company losing a combined 232,000 internet customers across the first and second quarters of this year. 

On an earnings call in July, Armstrong said that the company is operating in an “intensely competitive” market. 

“Fiber continues to expand, fixed wireless remains aggressive, satellite is emerging as another alternative, and convergence-based promotional activity remains elevated across the industry,” he said. 

Comcast CFO warns about “irrational” fiber internet pricing

At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on Sept. 9, Armstrong has warned that the company is seeing “irrational” pricing from fiber internet rivals, a trend that began in the first half of this year. 

“We were starting to see irrational competition,” said Armstrong. “It popped up a little bit in the second quarter. I would tell you it’s continued into the third quarter.”

“So when we see fiber pricing, standalone fiber pricing, in the $30-$40 range for a gig, when we say irrational, that’s what we mean by irrational,” he continued. “That to us is not a rational price point.”

Related: Comcast adds new service to internet plans as customers leave

Armstrong said that the transition from copper to fiber costs Comcast “potentially thousands of dollars,” causing him to question the $30-$40 pricing. Currently, Comcast charges roughly $50 per month for its fiber-powered internet (a hybrid fiber-coaxial network) at 1 Gbps speed. 

He also flagged that rivals are rapidly increasing their fiber internet build in Comcast’s markets, further intensifying competition. 

“If you look at fiber making its way into our markets, historically, we would see overbuild of 2%-3% per year,” he said. “That’s accelerated in the last couple of years. It looks more like 4% or 5% at this point.”

As fiber internet operators accelerate their growth and offer lower-priced plans to consumers, Armstrong warned that Comcast doesn’t expect customer losses to improve in the third quarter of this year. 

“We do think a full year we’ll improve our broadband subscriber losses,” he said. “I think quarters are going to look different within that. This particular quarter, I don’t think we’ll improve year over year. So the pressure we’ve seen, in particular with irrational fiber pricing, is going to cause that.”

Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said “irrational” fiber internet pricing by rivals is intensifying broadband competition. Bloomberg / Getty Images

Comcast faces growing pressure from fixed wireless and satellite

Fiber isn’t the only growing threat to Comcast’s business. Fixed wireless internet, which is usually offered by mobile providers at lower prices than traditional wired internet, is becoming increasingly popular among U.S. consumers. 

“Fixed wireless continues to be a pressure on subscriber additions,” said Armstrong. “That’s no different from the past several years.” 

Satellite internet providers are also gaining steam in the broadband market. For instance, SpaceX’s Starlink surpassed 12 million global high-speed internet customers so far this year. Armstrong said that while satellite internet isn’t a major threat to Comcast at the moment, this could change over time. 

“Satellite looms out there as a potential threat,” he said. “Would reiterate what we said on the second-quarter call, not really seeing it yet, but there’s no complacency around it. I think we’ll see it over time and, in particular, in rural and maybe deep suburban markets, it may be a better option as a competitor than we’ve faced historically.”

Despite intensifying competitive headwinds, Armstrong said that wired internet still “wins.”

“If you think about the ability to increase speeds over time, if you think about lowest latency, if you think about lowest marginal cost to upgrade, all those sort of bring you back to you want a wire in the home,” he said.

Comcast navigates cautious consumers, bets on company split 

Armstrong’s bleak outlook on broadband competition and on Comcast’s near-term performance in the industry comes as more consumers nationwide are opting to switch internet providers amid rising prices.

A survey from Reviews.org in March found that 73% of Americans have seen their internet service bills inflate this year, with 30% facing monthly increases of $10 to $20.

Hidden fees and unexpected charges are influencing internet customers’ decisions, as roughly 

67% said this has caused them to either change providers or consider switching. Meanwhile, higher prices have led 30% of Americans to cancel their home internet service or move to a lower-tier plan over the past year. 

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Tim Tincher, a media relations specialist at Reviews.org, said in a press release that pricing significantly impacts customer retention in the broadband industry. 

“People want internet pricing to be simple and honest,” said Tincher. “Instead, many are dealing with rising bills, surprise fees, and confusing charges. When customers feel caught off guard, they’re much more likely to start looking for another provider.”

As Comcast faces a more price-conscious consumer, it announced in June that it plans to split into two companies in mid-2027. This includes separating its media and entertainment assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, from its cable business, which provides broadband, wireless and cable TV services under the name Xfinity.  

Former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis will rejoin the company as CEO of the retained cable business. Armstrong said this change will help fuel growth into its broadband, cable TV and wireless services. 

“For the remaining cable co., it’s also a forcing function,” said Armstrong. “How many things can we go reinvent? Where are the pockets for growth that we can just be more agile, more focused? There’s a lot of different things out there we’re looking at.” 

In a research note in July, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said that Angelakis’ main task will be to “find balance” to turn around Comcast’s struggling broadband segment, according to a report from Light Reading. 

“Yes, broadband sub trends clearly need to improve,” said Moffett. “But the improvement can’t come solely from cutting prices.”

He added that the goal “isn’t to ‘lose less.’ And it’s certainly not to ‘lose less’ if the cost of the price reductions is greater than the benefit to net additions.”

“But, as we noted last quarter, turnarounds must start somewhere,” he continued. “It’s not unreasonable to be at least a little optimistic.”

Related: Comcast hopes generous offers will slow internet customer losses

Trump broke a history of American leaders staying neutral on Ireland—putting him at odds with the UK’s Prime Minister.

There’s a new update on the ‘Pluribus’ season 2 release date, due to some news from Vince Gilligan. There’s good and bad news.

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Why we love this deal

I love browsing local antique stores and estate sales for hidden gems, focusing mostly on wooden furniture and vintage decor to fill my mid-century modern space with a bit of boho eclectic flair. At one time, these second-hand finds were a budget-friendly way to furnish the home, but these days, the superior quality and construction of the decades past can cost a pretty penny, at times being more expensive than buying something brand-new. Because of this, more manufacturers are producing vintage-inspired furniture that looks like a family heirloom but without the high-end price tag.

That’s the case with the bestselling Mehoom 3-Tier Side Table at Walmart. With charming scalloped legs and three rows of shelving, this versatile table looks like something you’d find at grandma’s house. It’d be a great addition to the living room, but it’d look equally good in the bedroom, home office, or den. It regularly retails for $69, but with a weekly Flash deal, you can score it for just $37 — that’s 46% off its original price. Since Walmart’s Flash deals change each Saturday, you won’t want to wait to snag this one.

Mehoom 3-Tier Side Table, $37 (was $69) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Shop at Walmart

Why do shoppers love it?

Ideal for even smaller spaces, this side table measures 11.8 inches long, 13.6 inches wide, and 22.5 inches tall. Elegant in its simplicity, this selection will elevate the space, but it also adds plenty of functionality to your setup with three incredibly convenient shelves. You can use the top shelf for a table lamp, an alarm clock, or to display artwork or plants. With the second row, you can create a spot to charge your devices at nighttime, with ample room for charging your tablet and smartphone. The bottom shelf could be used for bulky books, or you could add a fabric storage basket at the base to hide away messy clutter. 

Related: Walmart’s bestselling farmhouse pantry that can hold up to 320 pounds is now $120

The furniture is constructed with a mix of real wood and engineered wood, but the wood grain finish makes the entire thing look like solid wood. Assembly will be required upon arrival, but the table offers a tool-free assembly that takes under 10 minutes to complete, so it shouldn’t be a complex or tedious process. Once completed, the sturdy table can hold up to 40 pounds, so you can stack on heavy coffee table books or even smaller appliances if needed. “A sturdy product with a vintage appearance,” is how one shopper described the table, adding, “This side table is very nice and can be placed anywhere you want it.”

Details to know 

Dimensions: 11.8 inches long, 13.6 inches wide, and 22.5 inches tall.

Material: Wood and engineered wood.

Is assembly required?: Yes.

With an average shopper rating of 4.3 out of five stars, this side table or nightstand has been given its stamp of approval by reviewers. One shopper raved, “A very cute little table. It’s perfect for displaying a plant.”

Shop more deals

Gaderth Round 3-Tier Side Table, $36 at Walmart

Gijjgole Rustic 2-Tier End Table, $36 (was $60) at Walmart

Mehoom Narrow 3-Tier Side Table, $38 (was $69) at Walmart

The Mehoom 3-Tier Side Table is a great addition to any home, especially while it’s on sale for just $37 at Walmart. This deal will likely end by this weekend, so don’t wait to secure the savings by adding it to your shopping cart now.

Jazz Chisholm’s dive into second base earlier this week caused a sprained thumb, a trip to the injured list, and lost the Yankees about $1 million in player value.

When investors scan a mutual fund’s or ETF’s performance summary, two Morningstar badges immediately catch their eye: a Gold Analyst Rating and a  5-Star Rating. While both signal top-tier quality at first glance, using them interchangeably is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes in retail investing.

Understanding how these two systems differ is the key to separating temporary momentum from a sustainable, forward-looking edge.

ETFs and mutual funds are both viable investments; using Morningstar’s ranking tools can help you build your portfolio.

Backward-looking vs. forward-looking

The fundamentally distinct engine behind each rating determines what it actually tells you about a fund:

The 5-Star Rating (quantitative and historical): Morningstar’s star rating is entirely mathematical and strictly backward-looking. It evaluates an ETF’s or a mutual fund’s risk-adjusted returns relative to its category peers over past 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods. No human discretion is involved. A fund earns 5 stars simply because its historical trailing performance landed in the top 10% of its category, after accounting for downside risk and sales charges.

The Gold Rating (qualitative and forward-looking): The Medalist Rating (Gold, Silver, Bronze) reflects Morningstar’s conviction in a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group or benchmark in the future on a risk-adjusted basis over a full market cycle (at least five years). It is driven by qualitative analysis evaluated across three core pillars: People, Process, and Parent.

Key Comparison: Star vs. Medalist Ratings

FeatureMorningstar 5-Star RatingMorningstar Gold Medalist RatingPrimary FocusPast performance track recordFuture outperformance convictionEvaluation Type100% quantitative formulaQualitative analysis (Manager + Quantitative model)Core CriteriaTrailing risk-adjusted returnsPeople, Process, and Parent company qualityDistributionTop 10% of category historical performersHighest-conviction funds net of feesKey LimitationSuffers from “chasing yield/returns” lagForward-looking assessments can still miss market shifts

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Why a 5-star fund isn’t always a solid choice

Past performance doesn’t always predict future performance in fund management. A fund or ETF can easily earn a 5-Star rating due to a macroeconomic tailwind or a sector bubble that propelled its holdings over the last three years.

However, if the star-performing portfolio manager leaves, the strategy’s assets swell to an unmanageable size, or expense ratios creep up, that 5-star history won’t protect future returns. In fact, historical studies show that 5-star funds often revert to average or below-average performance over subsequent years.

Why a Gold Rating Demands Attention

A Gold Rating represents Morningstar’s highest level of analyst conviction. To earn Gold, a fund or ETF must excel across all three evaluation pillars:

People: Exceptional, stable portfolio management with significant personal coinvestment alongside shareholders.

Process: A disciplined, repeatable investment strategy that offers a distinct, sustainable edge over benchmark indexes.

Parent: A fund family dedicated to investor stewardship, low fees, and strong risk management rather than asset-gathering.

Critically, Medalist Ratings explicitly account for fees. A great strategy with excessive expense ratios will be downgraded because high costs directly erode net returns to investors.

How smart investors use both

Rather than picking one over the other, treat the two systems as complimentary screening tools:

Use Star Ratings as a Filter: Use 3-, 4-, or 5-star ratings to weed out funds and ETFs with consistently poor historical risk management or persistent underperformance.

Use Medalist Ratings for Selection: Once you have a shortlist, rely on Gold (or Silver) ratings to verify that the fund’s competitive edge, leadership structure, and cost structure support future performance.

When a fund holds both a 5-Star Rating and a Gold Analyst Rating, you have identified a fund where exceptional past execution aligns directly with long-term forward conviction. This is a good first step in the process.

Smart investors take it further, however. They look for mutual funds and ETFs that fit their strategy, including their overall asset allocation. These might be index funds and ETFs, active funds or a combination of both. Expense ratios are important as well, higher investment costs detract from returns.

The star ratings based on past performance and the medalist ratings that try to point out future potential are a great starting point for investors. But they are just that, a starting point. Research, analysis and portfolio parameters should be key parts of the investing process as well.

Related: Vanguard renames key funds to highlight Morningstar benchmarks

Big claims about machines and work always arrive with a number attached, because the number is what does the persuading.

Nobody remembers the argument. Everybody remembers the figure.

That is why automation forecasts land differently than interest rate forecasts. A rate call you can check in six weeks. A claim about the shape of the world economy in 2036 sits out there for years, doing quiet work on how you invest, what you tell your kids to study in college, and whether you assume your job survives the decade.

The baseline right now is deliberately boring. Global growth is running near 3% a year, and outside of shocks it has for most of the past decade. Your 401(k) projections, your employer’s hiring budget and your local housing market all rest on some version of that assumption.

Boring baselines are useful. They are also the first thing to get blown up when someone with capital and an audience publishes a different number.

That happened again on Sept. 9. “AI+robots will more than double the global economy in less than 10 years,” Elon Musk posted on X, the platform he owns.

I have read enough forecasts to know the claim itself is never the interesting part. The growth rate the claim quietly requires is. So I ran the timeline against the International Monetary Fund’s own projections, and the gap is wider than one sentence on social media lets on.

Elon Musk says AI and robots will double global GDP by 2036.Malorny / Getty Images

Why the robot economy math matters to your money

Global gross domestic product is projected at roughly $126 trillion in 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund. Doubling that means adding a second $126 trillion of annual output by the mid-2030s.

Run the compounding and the requirement gets specific. A clean double in ten years takes 7.2% growth every year. Doing it in less than ten pushes you to about 8% a year over nine years, or 9% over eight.

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Now the baseline. Global growth is projected at 3.0% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, according to the IMF. At 3%, the world economy doubles in roughly 23 years.

My analysis puts Musk’s requirement at about 2.5 times the planet’s current speed, sustained annually, with no recession in the window.

There is one reading that makes the claim far less wild, and almost nobody states it. Musk did not specify real or nominal.

In dollar terms, global output is projected to climb from about $118 trillion in 2025 to about $126 trillion in 2026, according to IMF projections. That is nearly 7% nominal growth, which is within striking distance of the 8% the timeline needs.

Nominal growth counts inflation and a weaker dollar as progress, so it is not the same as the world actually producing twice as much. Read the claim as real output and it is extraordinary. Read it as headline dollars and it is close to the current trend.

That gap is not academic. Wage growth, corporate earnings and the returns sitting inside your index funds all key off aggregate output.

Related: AI Could Blow a Hole in the Federal Budget

Put it in dollars. At 3%, global output reaches about $170 trillion by 2036, adding roughly $43 trillion in annual production. Musk’s version adds $126 trillion over the same stretch, close to three times as much new output for wages, profits and tax receipts to draw from.

That is the real stake in the argument. Musk has made versions of it before, including his case that mass automation would force governments to start handing out cash.

What Musk actually told the G20 about robots

The post was a compressed version of a much longer pitch. “AI will probably increase the global economy by 20% to 30%,” Musk said during a virtual appearance at the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sept. 1, according to CNBC.

He put that figure at $20 trillion to $30 trillion in added annual output.

The robot half is where he got specific. There will be at least one billion robots within a decade, and those machines will be “at least five times the output of a human,” he told technology ministers, according to the Daily Tar Heel. He described it as a call he would put serious money behind.

He also handed ministers the constraint. Industry consensus points to a power shortfall of roughly 15 gigawatts in 2027 because AI chip production is climbing far faster than electricity supply can follow, he said, per the Daily Tar Heel.

Here is what the shipment data actually shows:

China is expected to ship 50,000 humanoid robots in 2026, up from a January forecast of 14,000, according to CNBC’s report on Morgan Stanley (MS) research.

Chinese annual humanoid shipments are forecast to reach 446,000 units by 2030, according to CNBC.

China’s humanoid market is valued near $2 billion this year and is projected at $15 billion by 2030, according to CNBC.

Global output is projected at roughly $126 trillion for 2026, according to the IMF.

What struck me running those figures is how violently the curve has to bend. Reaching one billion units within a decade from a 2026 base near 50,000 requires annual shipment growth of roughly 185%, with something like 650 million robots coming off assembly lines in the final year alone.

Morgan Stanley’s most aggressive published number for 2030 is 446,000 units. That is roughly 1,500 times smaller than the final-year pace the timeline demands, and it comes from the bank that has already revised its own forecast upward twice this year.

What the robot economy means for your paycheck

The forecast is doing real work on the labor market long before any of it arrives. Artificial intelligence was cited in 116,175 announced U.S. job cuts through August, about 22% of all cuts this year, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

That is the leading stated reason for layoffs in 2026, and it is happening while global humanoid shipments are still counted in the tens of thousands. The robots are not taking those jobs yet but the expectation of the robots is.

For Tesla (TSLA) shareholders, the stakes run more directly. Optimus production sits among the milestones attached to Musk’s compensation package, which ties an enormous payout to targets the company has not yet hit.

So watch a different number than the one Musk handed you. Annual humanoid shipments and the electricity available to run them are the two figures that decide whether 8% growth is a forecast or a slogan.

If shipments triple again next year and utilities keep signing data center contracts, the fast scenario stops being rhetorical and current AI valuations start looking defensible. If they do not, the boring 3% baseline holds, and a lot of portfolios are priced for an arrival date that keeps sliding.

Musk’s forecasts are free to publish. The positioning they encourage is not.

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