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“I love the business of risk,” Jonathan Crystal tells me. He didn’t really have a choice. After a brief career as a consultant, he joined his family’s insurance brokerage firm, Crystal & Company, rising through the ranks to become CFO in 2014 before helping broker a sale to Alliant in 2018.
But despite spending his career in insurance, Crystal was always frustrated with how slow it moved, joking that the only thing his grandfather would be surprised by now about the industry would be email. So he decided to try out a different kind of risk, setting out to start a venture firm just as AI began to upend the staid sector. His new operation, the New York-based Crystal Venture Partners, just closed its first $33 million fund, backed by an array of family offices and global insurance companies.
Crystal’s decision to start an insurance-focused VC operation came at an opportune time, as he started making his first investments out of the fund in the months after ..

There is a 67% chance that the U.S. federal government shutdown will last longer than 10 days, according to bettors on Polymarket—and for stock traders, that will feel like an eternity. Most notes from Wall Street analysts this morning are bemoaning the lack of official macroeconomic data coming from the U.S.
The U.S. departments of Labor and Commerce will not publish any data until the shutdown ends. That means, through October 16, at least 12 data releases—including the producer price index (inflation), nonfarm payrolls (jobs), and unemployment—won’t happen.
Without official data to guide them, investors have adopted a split personality approach: risk-on and risk-off at the same time.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.33% this morning, premarket, after the index set a new record on Friday. That suggests traders are highly optimistic, even though they’re in the dark about the health of the underlying economy.
At the same time, gold futures are poised to break through..

With official labor data suspended by the government shutdown, analysts are leaning on private sources—and they show a weakening jobs market. Moody’s Mark Zandi said September saw “essentially no job growth,” with gains limited to healthcare, education, and a few large states, while ADP reported payroll losses and Glassdoor noted slowing wage growth. Economists warn that without Bureau of Labor Statistics releases, the Fed is left making policy decisions through a “keyhole view,” raising the risk that conditions are worse than markets currently assume.The usual health checks on the U.S. economy have been disabled during the government shutdown, leaving analysts to comb over private data for clues. What they’re seeing, at least according to Moody’s, isn’t great.
Markets are climbing confidently despite the fact that last week concluded without the usual jobs data. Releases by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are often key insights into the future trajectory of the..

After the mangosteen daiquiri misted tableside with lime oil, the cheesy garlic naan, the broccoli salad with pistachios and mint, the pink peppered pineapple soda, the tandoori half-chicken with tingling green chutney, the crock of thick, savory, buttery black dal—after all that, served in the celadon-green Permit Room in Notting Hill, no, I did not need dessert.
Enter the brownie to end all brownies. It came cloaked in malai, the Indian version of clotted cream, and pulverized jaggery. My spoon slipped through, revealing an interior so moist and black, it looked like you could grow tomatoes in it.
Dessert was not, however, the sweetest thing about this epic meal at the Permit Room, a branch of the London-based Dishoom empire. The sweetest part was the fact that the only thing separating me from postprandial relaxation in a waffle-knit robe was a viridian stairwell up to the Lodgings—a one-room hotel I had all to myself.
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat, splashed with e..

Key PointsSeveral federal subsidies were eliminated last month.
Demand and profitability may suffer for Lucid Group next year.
10 stocks we like better than Lucid Group ›Could EV stocks like Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) have a dreadful year in 2026? One expert thinks so. “Next year could be a pretty dreadful year for EVs in this country,” warns Adam Jonas, who covers the auto industry at Morgan Stanley.
The chief culprit is the elimination of federal tax credits, a change that effectively raises the price of many electric vehicles by up to $7,500. But as we’ll see, there’s an even bigger challenge EV makers will face in 2026 and beyond.
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These 2 changes will create problems for Lucid GroupWhy is Adam Jonas so bearish on EVs next year? There’s one culprit to blame: a lack of federal tax credits. For years, EV demand ..

Key PointsBlock operates two separate ecosystems that target different customers, and management is working on Bitcoin projects.
Mastercard’s global network is incredibly hard to disrupt, and it supports significant profits.
The best stock to buy depends on an investor’s individual risk tolerance.
10 stocks we like better than Mastercard ›Since its early days selling a white card reader that plugged into an iPhone, Block (NYSE: XYZ) has evolved into a comprehensive financial services provider for both merchants and consumers. Its shares were once a darling on Wall Street. But they now trade 74% below their peak (as of Oct. 1).
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has long been a dominant player in the payments landscape. Investors have been rewarded, as shares are up an incredible 12,320% since the company’s initial public offering in 2006.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advi..