A Rough Lesson-Concussed

9-28-25

Opening Comments

My last newsletter was about my incredibly frustrating experience trying to get a new credit card. I received dozens of calls, emails, and texts making fun of the fact that I had trouble getting approved for a credit card with no debt. I also heard from many affluent readers who had similar experiences while trying to obtain a credit card. In a funny twist of fate, Citi sent me TWO MORE credit cards. The most opened links were the story of Senator Wyden’s children pushing his assistant to suicide and the Japanese nutritionist’s food choices. As usual, the news quiz got many views.

I went 9 for 10 on this week’s news quiz. I missed #7.

• Video of the Day-Twin Day

• A Rough Lesson-Concussed

• Quick Bites

  • Markets

  • Electricity Price Insanity

  • Great Charts on Spending, Taxes & Deficits

  • Rising Cost of the American Dream

  • Tipping Taking Over

• Tariffs

• Politics

• Middle East

• Other Headlines

• Health

• Real Estate

  • $10bn Beverly Hills Mixed Use Development

  • Rent Growth Slowing

  • Florida Housing Market Slowing

  • More People Living in RVs Today

Video of the Day-Twin Day

An adorable story of five-year-old boys who wanted to be “twins” at school. One boy is White and one is Black, and they do not see color. In a world that sees so much division, I thought this short Steve Harvey interview was a breath of fresh air. The boys are friends and don’t care that they are of different races. The parents handled it amazingly well. The kids think they are siblings. Harvey said, “Kids don’t see differences; they are taught differences.” Hard to argue.

A Rough Lesson-Concussed

I have been around golf for decades. As many readers know, I travelled the country with my son, Jack, for his tournaments. He got pretty solid and was sponsored by Taylor Made at one point. Julia golfs as well, and although she is not serious about it, she can play with anyone. She won the club championship at the Boca Resort a couple of years ago and has won a handful of other tournaments, but does not play often. Her best tournament round is 76 for perspective. If she practiced, she could be a good golfer.

I have coached the Saint Andrew’s Middle School golf team as an assistant for eight years, even though my children are long gone from the school. I enjoy helping kids ignite a passion for golf and do my best to work with them on the basics. Julia’s current high school does not have sports, and as a result, she is allowed to play on the public school team. Last year, she was the only person to play in tournaments or regionals, as the other girls were inexperienced.

This year, the school has over a dozen girls on the team, but they are beginners. I mean, many have never played golf. Many use their dad’s or grandfather’s clubs, and some are literally 30 years old. Again, I do my best to impart wisdom and help with basics. I have made it clear that these girls, with a couple of exceptions, are not ready for a golf course. It is not their fault, but they lack the experience. Golf can be a dangerous game.

Here is an example: the driving range is pictured below. In many cases, the girls inadvertently hit it into the short game area, where people are practicing despite the fact that the girls are supposed to hit into the yellow box. If you cannot hit it onto a driving range, you should not be on a course. Staff from the course kept coming over to complain about the girls inadvertently hitting the range balls to the short game area. I stated this to the parties involved.

I was asked to host the girls at one of my courses, and I refused. Not because I don’t want to help, but because they are not experienced enough to play golf at this point. Another example, the official “coach” is a guidance counselor at the school and was HIT IN THE FACE with a club from one of the girls, requiring stitches and leaving a nasty scar. This type of thing does not happen with experienced players.

Sadly, we have had many practices and matches cancelled due to rain. On 9/16/25, four girls went onto the course. My daughter hit her drive on #1, 195 yards on the right side of the fairway. Two girls hit it 50 yards right and maybe 50 yards forward into the trees. One girl tried to tee up the ball in the trees. I told her you cannot do that, and she looked at me as though I was nuts. For those who do not golf, you can only tee up the ball on the tee when you first hit on each hole at the tee box. Again, this young lady should not be on a course if you think you can tee up a ball in the trees. Long story short, another girl who uses US Kids clubs that are inches too small and light for her is in the front right bunker, while Julia is to her left, on the green, but theoretically out of harm’s way. It is almost impossible for the girl to hit Julia with the ball, yet somehow it happened with the golf ball hitting Julia in the back of the head and making a loud thumping sound. Julia was dazed and scared. She quickly became dizzy.

I spoke with the person in charge of golf for the school, and he did not believe the girls should have their course time taken away. We can agree to disagree. I do not feel these girls should be playing on the course until they have more experience and know the rules and etiquette of golf.

We left the course and Julia was tired, had a bad headache, was dizzy, and nauseous. Her pupils were not reacting to light (another sign of concussion). She was trying to fall asleep in the car at 5 pm, and I was keeping her awake. I have a friend who is a pediatric neurologist and concussion specialist on the phone, and he confirmed Dr. Eric Rosen’s diagnosis. The good news is the ball hit the back of the head which is harder and less likely to result in serious injury.

Julia had to miss school and tests and was unable to play in the upcoming golf matches. Ten days later, her eyes remained sensitive to light. She was wearing sunglasses inside the house. The only positive is that her screen time went down and that idiotic TikTok was used less.

I fully support anyone who wants to learn how to play golf, and my commitment to coaching is evident by my years of giving up my time for free. I also had to take a multi-hour CPR course online and in-person to be an assistant coach.

However, I repeatedly suggested to the people involved that many kids should not be allowed on a golf course until they are further along on the basics of the game. Last year, I did not allow a middle schooler on the course, as he was hitting the ball 250 yards in any direction but straight and almost took a girl’s head off with the ball. I am protecting kids. I felt that was my job. Sadly, Julia paid the price for the inexperienced golfers being on the course when they should have been on the range.

Quick Bites

• Markets pulled back slightly with tech under pressure amid growing AI bubble fears. Jobless claims of 218k were lower than expected ($235k). despite fears of labor market weakness. August PCE data came in at 2.9% (seasonally adjusted), in-line with expectations and that drove stocks higher. Friday’s rally snapped a three-day losing streak for the major indexes, but still ended the week down. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 slid 0.7% and 0.3%, marking each index’s first losing week in four. Treasury yields continue to climb with the 10-year back up to 4.17% (was 3.99% on 9/17) and the 30-year at 4.75% (was 4.60% on 9/17).

• Years of reckless energy policies, such as shuttering reliable fossil fuel power plants in favor of unreliable solar and wind, are colliding head-on with unprecedented electricity demand from AI data centers. The result is a toxic affordability crisis for households, and it is fast becoming a major flashpoint in the upcoming election cycle. Bloomberg journos Brian Eckhouse and Naureen S Malik noted: Americans and their politicians have always been acutely sensitive to the price of gasoline. But there's another cost-of-living issue that's gaining prominence in the collective political consciousness: what consumers pay to keep the lights on. Electricity prices increased nationally at more than twice the rate of overall inflation during the past year. Demand is expanding at its fastest pace in decades, driven by the boom in artificial intelligence, building of factories and adoption of electric vehicles. In fact, the power crisis in the Mid-Atlantic area first surfaced on our radar after Goldman warned in an August 2024 report: "After a series of auction delays and relatively low clears (see chart below), PJM capacity prices appear to have finally caught up with the generative AI data center load growth story that has been central to parts of PJM." Antiquated power grids. Reliance on alternatives. Growing demand from data centers. We need a robust nuclear power plant plan. These take 8-10 years to develop! My electricity bill was +29.7% last month from the prior year, and I have one less person living in the house. Usage was +15%, no idea how.

  

• This book of charts is from the end of 2024 but has a ton of good information. Take 5 minutes and flip through it. I am including a few of them, but there are literally over 100.

  

  

  

  

• This USA Today article suggests the American Dream now costs $5mm. Given the 1st chart outlining the average and median net worth by age, we have a serious gap between reality and the American dream. The median net worth for 50-year-olds is $190k. Houston, we have a problem.

  

  

  

• Last summer, I wrote an article entitled “The Rosen Report Tipping Guide,” and outlined my frustrations with tipping requests. In the past few days, I read a bunch of articles about tipping, including the one on how hotel booking websites are now looking for tips. This article suggests that self-checkout machines at Newark ask for a tip. Are you kidding me? I bought some salmon the other day, and the fish market gave me the option of 20%, 25%, or 30% tip. To hand me a piece of fish? At the stadium, I grabbed the water myself and checked out alone and was prompted to leave a tip. Why? Recently, I had a frustrating incident at a restaurant that did not tell me the tip was included. If you will include the tip, tell me in advance. Las Vegas tourism is down sharply, and tipping is crashing according to this article. The story cites lower traffic, fewer international visits, and high costs, creating a lower tip environment. The article did cite the “no tax on tips” rule change as helpful. I grew up delivering pizza and valet-parking cars. I believe in tipping for services rendered. However, the tipping expectations have become offensive today.

Tariffs

• U.S. expands tariff dragnet to masks, syringes and robotics in sweeping import probe

• U.S. to impose 100% tariff on branded, patented drugs unless firms build plants locally, Trump says

• Trump slaps 25% tariffs on heavy truck imports, starting Oct. 1

• Ken Griffin says more tariff impact on inflation is still ahead, Fed should be independent

  • I agree with both points and have made them repeatedly in recent months.

Politics

• How the Comey indictment happened — and what comes next

• Here’s what to know about a federal government shutdown

• Trump’s approval dips as Americans worry about economy, Reuters/Ipsos poll

  

  

• Ken Griffin knocks Trump’s corporate deals, says ‘all of us lose’ when government starts picking winners

  • I am not a fan of government taking stakes in private companies.

• How Trump’s Deportation Effort Is Playing Out, in Charts

  

  

  

• This woman’s 6 year old son “expressed conservative values” in his classroom

  • The teacher created a certificate for him that said, “Most likely to become a Dictator” and presented it to him in front of his entire class while classmates called him a “Naziphile.” The indoctrination in American schools today is disgusting. If it went the other direction, I would say the same thing. The biased teachings in schools across America should concern EVERYONE.

• Trump says he’s sending troops to Portland to protect ICE facilities

• Trump rages at bombshell report alleging FBI had 274 plainclothes agents in crowd during Capitol riot

• FBI’s Patel clarifies role of hundreds of agents on Jan 6, says Wray lied to Congress

  • Current FBI Director Kash Patel said the agents were sent to the US Capitol for ‘crowd control’ after it had been declared a riot.

• Thirty million texts per minute: The New York ‘sim-farm’ plot reveals a troubling trend

  • The clandestine network of SIM servers and cards was positioned to knock out cell service and target protective missions near the United Nations.

    More than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards were seized to stop the imminent threat to protective operations. One network was said to be capable of sending 30,000,000 texts per minute.

• Apple, Google Refuse To Suspend ICE-Tracking Apps Used By Dallas Shooter

• White House threatens layoffs — not furloughs — if the government shuts down

• Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals

  • According to the article, there’s no record of a meeting involving 800 senior military leaders. The reason behind the request for next week’s meeting remains unclear.

• Nearly 8 In 10 Voters Say The United States Is In A Political Crisis, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds

  • Dozens of poll questions in the link.

• The Jimmy Kimmel blackout is completely over: Nexstar and Sinclair back down

• New York City mayor candidate Curtis Sliwa says he was offered money to quit race

  • I believe Mamdani wins. IF Sliwa and Adams drop out now, Cuomo has a chance. If there are a bunch of names on the ballot, Mamdani wins. Sliwa has zero chance of winning. Do what is best for NYC and drop out.

• Zohran Mamdani’s dominant lead in latest NYC mayoral poll shows even more bad news for rivals

  

• Unhappy with NYC’s direction, voters favor Mamdani for mayor by a wide margin

• U.S. preparing options for military strikes on drug targets inside Venezuela

• More mystery drones shut down ANOTHER airport in Denmark after ‘Russia was behind halting flights in Copenhagen’

• Former French President Sarkozy handed 5-year jail term in stunning downfall

  • Courts found Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy with Libya.

• Russian Official Issues Nuclear Threat to Trump’s America.

• Putin pounds Kyiv with 595 drones & 48 missiles in one of biggest attacks of war killing 4 as Nato scrambles jets

Middle East

• Israel deepens Gaza City offensive as Netanyahu heads to US

• Israel strikes 120 targets in Gaza Strip — including terror tunnels, surveillance post

• Trump tells Arab leaders he won’t let Israel annex the West Bank

• Israel Premier Tech excluded from cycling race over safety

  • Due to fears of Pro-Palestine protests, Israel is excluded. Hamas wins again.

Other Headlines

• ‘Frothy and Risky’ Rally in Profitless Tech Grows as Fed Eases

  • It is hard to fight the Fed, but valuations are pretty lofty. A basket of unprofitable tech companies tracked by UBS Group AG has jumped 22% since the end of July, compared with a 2.5% advance for its profitable counterpart and the Nasdaq 100 Index’s 5.9% advance.

    

  

  

  

• CNBC Exclusive: Excerpts: Citadel Founder & CEO Ken Griffin Speaks with CNBC’s Sara Eisen on “Money Movers” Today

• Despite weak jobs market and rising inflation, small-business confidence hits new high

• AI can now pass the hardest level of the CFA exam in a matter of minutes

  • It generally takes 1,000 hours of studying to pass the three-part exam. What are the implications if AI becomes so efficient, that it can do the job of humans at a fraction of the time for a limited cost with no benefits, vacation time, healthcare, and can work 24/7? The future as we know it is going to be very different. I would not want to be coming out of college now.

• HSBC Says Quantum Computing Trial Beat Wall Street Rivals

• OpenAI’s historic week has redefined the AI arms race for investors: ‘I don’t see this as crazy’

• The air is coming out of the Oracle AI rally. One analyst sees 40% drop ahead

  • The stock hit $346 on 9/10/25 and it is $292 today.

• CarMax stock plummets 20% following ‘challenging’ quarter

• Why Lower Fed Rates Won’t Instantly Lower Your Borrowing Costs

  • Interest rates on mortgages are expected to climb by the end of the year despite the cuts.

    

• 25 masked men steal $1 MILLION worth of merchandise from San Ramon, CA jewelry store

  • When there are no consequences for crime, you get chaos.

• Career criminal accused of shoving off-duty NYPD cop onto NYC subway tracks was recently cut loose after other assault

  • Aaron Walker, 28 – who has 18 prior arrests – had only been out of cuffs for two days when cops say he hurled the 24-year-old officer onto the downtown roadbed at the Third Avenue L station in the East Village shortly before 7:30 p.m., sending him to the hospital. How many times do I write about “career criminals” doing bad things? Why are there no consequences?

• Bodies in the Bayou: What’s behind the recent spike in deaths?

  • Does Houston have a serial killer problem—or just a social media one?

• Extremists used Discord to recruit American youth, officials warned this year

• Money manager Howard Rubin arrested on sex trafficking charges

  • Read his disturbing text messages.

• NYC woman who sucker-punched pro-life activist won’t be prosecuted as Manhattan DA Bragg’s office admits botching case

• Threats of violence against company executives on the rise, survey shows

• Billionaire Sara Blakely says she launched Spanx with just $5,000 from selling fax machines—and never took on a single investor: ‘I bet on myself’

• United Airlines grounds ALL flights for second time in a month amid growing safety concerns

• Circumcision In Decline: Why Fewer U.S. Parents Are Heeding Recommendation By Doctors

• The insane amount of money people are spending on McDonald’s, according to new study

  • By placing the same McDonald’s order in the 100 largest cities in the nation on all the major delivery apps — DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub — their search also revealed gaping price discrepancies across the US. Each order included a Big Mac Combo Meal, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe Large Meal, a 6-Piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal and a Hamburger Happy Meal. In 2025, the study showed that the average cost of that order at a restaurant was $36.95 — a 23.7% increase since 2023.

• Robert Kraft agrees to sell New England Patriots minority stake in deal that values team at $9B

  • These team valuations are insane. Good sale. Robert Kraft, who paid $172 million for the New England Patriots in 1994, agreed to sell 8% of the team.

• New fastest car on the planet beats Bugatti to record speeds of 308.4 mph

• CEO and Exec at Coldplay Concert Weren’t Having ‘Affair,’ Source Insists

  • I don’t hang out with friends and watch a concert in this manner.

Health

• Protein powers more than workouts, can also protect hair, according to experts

• Ivy league social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says parents should prioritize screen-free afternoons for their kids: Here’s how

  • I am a big fan of Haidt and his book, “The Anxious Generation.”

• Silent disease could be a ticking time bomb for your legs — beware these red flags

• Hidden causes of heart attacks often overlooked or misdiagnosed, study finds

• The great revolution against Alzheimer’s: ‘It’s the first time in human history that we’ve managed to slow the disease’

• Jannik Sinner’s diet revealed: what the world’s No. 1 tennis player eats to stay at the top

• CDC warns of surge in dangerous, highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Real Estate

• A long-awaited $10 billion real-estate development under way in Beverly Hills is testing the limits of the wealthy California city’s appetite for luxury retail and residences. The 17.5-acre project near Rodeo Drive is one of the most expensive private real-estate developments under construction in the U.S. Known as One Beverly Hills, it will include a high-end Aman hotel and condos with giant balconies and, in some cases, private pools. The site will also feature about 200,000 square feet of designer retail shops and restaurants. Rodeo Drive is 99% leased, and rent prices average about $1,000 a square foot, according to Ryan Hawley, a retail broker with real-estate-services firm JLL. That is the highest rent anywhere in the U.S. outside of New York’s Fifth Avenue and Times Square, according to JLL. Aman residents will also have access to the property’s private club, which includes a spa, restaurants and social venues. Goldstein said he expects the club’s prices to be on par with its New York City location, which charges a $200,000 initiation fee and yearly dues of $20,000. Construction at One Beverly Hills started early last year and is expected to finish ahead of the 2028 summer Olympics hosted by Los Angeles. Renderings in this link.

• Single-family rent prices in July increased 2.3% from the same month last year, which is slower than the 3.1% average increase a year ago, according to the latest data from Cotality. Rent growth has now fallen below the lower end of the 10-year average range of pre-pandemic growth. “Even markets like Los Angeles, which had been buoyed by post-wildfire demand, are now cooling off,” said Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality.

• Florida's red-hot COVID-19 pandemic housing boom is giving way to something not seen in years: a buyer’s market. Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa have all crossed into buyer-friendly territory, signaling a dramatic shift in bargaining power and a new chapter for the Sunshine State's housing market, new Realtor.com® data shows. Over the past three years, Florida epitomized the frenzy of a seller’s market. Out-of-state buyers poured in during the pandemic, lured by sunshine, space, and relative affordability compared with coastal hubs like New York and Los Angeles. Homes were snapped up within days, often above asking price, and inventory hit record lows. Now the pendulum has swung. The population growth into the Sunshine State has slowed, and housing inventory has started to climb. Homes are also sitting on the market for longer, and sellers are more willing to reduce prices, or even delist, when they can’t get the offers they want. There are definitely pockets of weakness and strength in Florida. Inventory tends to sit on the market longer today, but as I mentioned in my last note, a $10mm home in Miami sold within 24 hours of listing.

• About 486,000 people live full-time in an RV, which appears to be more than twice as many as in 2021, according to survey data from the RV Industry Association. About a third have children, and a vast majority earn less than $75,0000 a year. A separate survey by the Census Bureau found a similar trend: In 2023, the most recent data available, it estimated 342,000 people were living in an RV, boat or van, an increase of 41% from 2019. Housing costs that soared during the pandemic have shown little sign of coming down, with the gap between the median household income and how much income is necessary to afford payments on a median-priced home reaching a near 10-year high last year, according to an NBC News analysis of housing data.

© 2025 The Rosen Report LLC. All rights reserved. Does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult with your lawyers and professional financial advisers. Rosen Report™ #822 ©Copyright 2025 Written By Eric Rosen.