Markets live for drama

COMMENTARY

Markets live for drama

I’m looking at buying a condo. A cute little spot, quieter, close to the beach.

The day after I submitted my offer was the day this tariffs mess kicked off. Markets corrected, and like many people, I watched investments go down and recession indicators go up.

“Uh… is now a good time to buy?” I’ve wondered.

That’s a loaded question no matter the situation. One side tells you the best time to buy is always now. The other side tells you to proceed with caution and that hidden costs are everywhere: high rates, ongoing maintenance costs, and so on.

I hesitate to contribute to all the discourse about markets this week. I even took the week off my finance column Out mag to finish copyediting my book (PRE-ORDER IT HERE!). But I’ve found it hard to avoid the recession noise as I consider first-time homeownership.

Also, as a headline-writing snob, I’m pissy that many media outlets said Wednesday was this incredible day for markets. Well, yeah, if you push a basketball to the bottom of the pool, it’s going to buoy back up! It was sensationalized, and we saw media’s propensity to sensationalize on full display this week.

Perhaps this is fresh on my mind because I just finished copyediting the investing chapter of my book. In essence, its message is that markets are emotional, and that, much like homeownership, business ownership, and other types of ships, it’s important to take your time and consider different framings and perspectives. Then, make a decision, put it on autopilot, and go into maintenance mode.

The S&P 500 was up 24.23% for 2023 and 23.31% for 2024, way above the historical annual average return of 10-ish percent. Markets weren’t going to just ascend forever. AI buzz inflated markets, tech buzz inflated markets, and when vibes are the value proposition, bubbles can form. Something was going to pop it sooner or later.

Whether it’s your money, your business, your marketing, or something else, resist the urge to overreact in the short term. But don’t tune out entirely. Gather information from different sources so you can stay informed and not feel overwhelmed.

Speaking of which: Have any buy/rent advice for me as I consider this decision? Reply and let me know.

OUT MAGAZINE COLUMN

What student loan borrowers should know

This column originally published on Friday, April 4th.

About 35 percent of queer Americans between the ages of 18 and 40 have student loans, according to The Williams Institute, an LGBTQ+ think tank. With some current relief programs on the chopping block – and queer people reporting an average of $16,000 more in education debt – borrowers should brush up on how their payments might change this year, as well as what they can do to prepare.

Student loans have had more lore than a Housewives franchise these last few years, so let’s do a quick recap.

When COVID-19 arrived, federal student loan payments went on pause and remained there for about three and a half years. Balances didn’t collect interest during this time, and when required payments resumed, borrowers were given an additional 12-month on-ramp period to get themselves together.

Here, “on-ramp” meant that, if you missed a payment, you wouldn’t be delinquent on the debt, which is good, because delinquency drags down your credit score. Yes, credit scores suck, but they also determine your eligibility for various loans and even apartment leases in some cases, so keeping an eye on yours can make your financial life a bit easier.

Now that the on-ramp is over, delinquencies have spiked past pre-pandemic levels; nearly one in six borrowers are currently past due on payments. Delinquency can drop your credit score by as much as 171 points, according to New York Fed estimates, and if a student loan stays delinquent for 270 days, it goes into default, in which more of or even the entire balance immediately comes due. Not cute.

Another wrench here is that the Biden administration’s Saving On A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which rolled out in 2023, was blocked by a U.S. appeals court back in February. SAVE capped a borrower’s minimum payment at 5 percent of their monthly income, down from 10 percent, so for the 8 million borrowers who had enrolled, their payments will likely go back up soon, which could make delinquency rates worse.

Additionally, President Trump signed an executive order last month saying that, for the purposes of public service loan forgiveness (PSLF), his administration would seek to revise the definition of “public service” to exclude organizations involved in immigration or gender-affirming care. The order is not only cruel, but also a shock to workers who are well into their ten years of public service necessary to be eligible. In a press release, the Williams Institute’s Brad Sears said nearly one-quarter of LGBTQ+ adults are employed in public or nonprofit sectors, industries that would qualify for PSLF.

Why do queer people often take out more in student loans? One reason is that they use college as a vehicle to move further away from an unwelcoming home environment or community.

Our higher education system needs systemic change if we want future generations of queer people to prosper. For the time being, though, there will probably be no RuPaul chocolate bar or Badonka Dunk Tank to bail us out this season, so if you have student loans, I recommended a couple actions to take now to avoid financial turmoil later.

🔗 How LGBTQ+ student loan borrowers can navigate a chaotic new era

NICK’S PICKS

What happened this week

Disclosure: I work at Ziff Davis, which owns CNET, Mashable, Lifehacker, ZDNET, and PCMag.

Economy, entrepreneurship, money

Tracking Every Trump Tariff and Its Economic Effect. (Bloomberg)

Apple airlifted 600 tons of iPhones from India 'to beat' Trump tariffs, sources said. That’s about 1.5 million units. (Reuters)

Should I rush to take my RMD while the S&P 500 is down, or wait until the end of the year like normal? Beth Pinsker at MarketWatch is one of my favorite money columnists right now. (Beth Pinsker / MarketWatch)

Levi’s hails Beyoncé effect as ‘Reiimagine’ ads drive 8% sales surge. This article is actually about the idea of brand strength as a defense against tariffs, albeit at the cost of the consumer. (The Drum)

The Social Security administration accused Paul Aguilar, 61, a gay rights activist in San Francisco, of being overpaid $200,000 in benefits. An AIDS diagnosis qualifies as a disability. SSA disability benefit eligibility requires an income at or below 250 percent of the poverty line. (Trudy Ring / The Advocate)

AI and future tech

ChatGPT now remembers your past chats and can recall them, sort of like a memory feature. (Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch)

Adobe outlines agentic AI features coming to Photoshop, Acrobat, Premiere Pro, and more, including one-click context-aware edits and agents to analyze documents. (Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNET)

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claiming harassment and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any further attacks in a case over OpenAI's future structure. (Anna Tong / Reuters)

Anthropic debuts Claude's Max plan, with 5x the usage limits of Pro for $100/month or 20x the usage for $200/month, plus early access to new models and features. (Hayden Field / CNBC)

How Google Used AI to Re-Create ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for the Las Vegas Sphere. Rare AI/gay culture crossover for the hot links section. Google used AI for remastering, and the movie will show at the Sphere in August 2025. (Isabelle Bousquette / The Wall Street Journal)

LGBTQ

FYI, security is gay now. Right-wing Christian Nationalist podcaster Andrew Isker revealed that he’s so afraid that body scanners at airports will turn him gay that he regularly requests full-body patdowns by male TSA agents. (Daniel Villarreal / LGBTQ Nation)

Colorado Democrats advanced two trans rights bills in the face of federal rollbacks. (Alex Bollinger / LGBTQ Nation)

Invisible Histories, a Southern LGBTQ+ history nonprofit, will establish a permanent archive. (Trudy Ring / The Advocate)

A private gay bear campground in Texas banned trans men. It has not gone over well. (Christopher Wiggins / Out)

Greece Reinstated a 1980s Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood. In the US, restrictions were only just lifted in 2023. (The National Herald)

LGBTQ+ Economics. A 2021 article from the Journal of Economic Perspectives if you want a foundational primer from the heaviest-hitting researchers in the space. (M.V. Lee Badgett, Christopher S. Carpenter, and Dario Sansone / Journal of Economic Perspectives)

Social media and pop culture

Ex-Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams tells US senators that Meta targeted teens with ads based on their emotional state identified via their online activity. (Sarah Perez / TechCrunch)

How to Turn Off Autocorrect on iPhone and Other Keyboard Settings to Tweak. (Lance Whitney / PCMag)

What Reality TV Gets Wrong About Criminal Investigations. (Taylor Kate Brown / ProPublica

How to Watch Coachella This Weekend on YouTube for Free. It’s the best time of the year here in Los Angeles because all the influencers are out of town for the weekend. (Jordan Minor / PCMag)

I’d like your feedback

What did you think of today’s newsletter? Let me know with a vote and optional comment -- your feedback helps us improve.

💰 Feelin' fired up!

👍 Business as usual, good job **golf clap**

👎 Eh, it wasn't my style today