Here are some random things I’ve been thinking, reading and watching lately:The Big Long wouldn’t sell nearly as many copies as The Big Short but its readers would make far more money.
P.S. I’m writing a new book. Still workshopping the title.
*******
This was some good father-son financial advice on Landman:
You got two choices in life: Get really good at balancing a check book or make enough money that you don’t have to.
Most personal finance experts focus on the former while most people would be better off striving for the latter.
*******
Derek Thompson has an article about the impact of moderate drinking that shows every drink of alcohol takes 5 minutes off your life. But every one minute of exercise adds 5 minutes to your life.
This is why I diversify.
*******
I know personal finance people like to tell you how material possessions don’t make you happy. It’s probably directionally right.
But I got a new sweater recently that will bring me joy for years to come. Sometimes spending on stuff can make you happier.
*******
Being a billionaire on social media today is like being a child actor in the 1980s. You’re basically guaranteed to go off the rails.
*******
I’m a big believer in putting any sort of historical market/economic data into context. But I’m constantly shocked by the number of people on social media who think every data point is false and/or manipulated by the government or Fed.
What a terrible way to go through life not believing anything is real.
*******
In the 1990s no one wanted to be a sellout. In the 2020s everyone wants to be a sellout. One is not any better than the other, but it feels like wealth inequality has to get even worse under this new mindset.
*******
Every technological boom in history: The price can never go down. What’s the catalyst?
After the boom turns into a bust: That was an obvious bubble. Of course it crashed.
*******
Bitcoin really is proof that you don’t have to be right to make money. Everything bitcoin people have ever predicted it would do has been wrong…except the price going up.
And I say this without a hint of shade either. It’s impressive.
*******
I know people keep waiting for all of the speculative excesses in the markets to go away but what if we’re just a gambling society now that it’s so easy to do on your phones?
Parlays at DraftKings, options on Robinhood, memecoins on Coinbase — it’s all the same thing.
The pandemic turned us all into a bunch of degenerate gamblers.
*******
If you would have told me 2-3 years ago mortgage rates would be stuck at 7% in 2025 all the while:
Stocks keep hitting all-time highs
Housing prices keep hitting all-time highs
Real GDP growth keeps coming in at 2-3%
I wouldn’t have believed you.
*******
[Jerry Seinfeld voice] Did you ever notice that the guy who says “if you take away all the best performing stocks this year the stock market isn’t up all that much” is the same guy who always complains when economists show inf
