One of the biggest shocks to Wall Street this week was IBM’s AI profit warning, which triggered a 25% plunge in its shares—the worst in the company’s history. The news has sparked discussions about whether IBM should be broken apart or an activist investor will come hunting for the century‑old company. We have the inside story on the board’s gamble on transparency, how it backfired and what lies ahead for Big Blue.

Instead of grinding from associate to managing director, a new wave of dealmakers are finding ways to buy HVAC and plumbing outfits, specialized manufacturers and other small and midsize businesses. Financing such deals is a far cry from traditional private equity. These would‑be business owners scrape together financing on a deal‑by‑deal basis, using loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, specialized investors, and friends or family offices.

Developer Nathan Berman and his company, Metro Loft, have been at the leading edge of the conversion boom. Last week’s construction disaster at Berman’s most ambitious project—turning the former Pfizer headquarters into 1,600 apartments—raises questions about what can go wrong in complex conversions. With Manhattan’s apartment vacancy rate below 2%, city officials must decide whether to hit the brakes on the wave of projects now underway, report Nicholas G. Miller, Peter Grant and Kevin T. Dugan.