Why Do We Need Inflation?

A reader asks: Why do we need inflation? This is a good question because wouldn’t we all be better off if prices were to fall? It’s not always that easy.

Talk Your Book: Trading with MarketSmith

Michael & Ben sit down with Irusha Peiris of MarketSmith to discuss the psychology behind trading stocks & what’s required to pull it off.

What If Interest Rates Don’t Rise Again For a Long Time?

Josh Brown and Ben Carlson discuss a what-if about the potential ramifications if the cost of capital remains low for an extended period of time.

Some Good News For Retirement Savers For Once

A deep dive into Vanguard’s latest How America Saves report about how their defined contribution 401k savers are doing with their money.

David Swensen & a Target Date Fund Walk Into a Bar

Morningstar’s John Rekenthaler shared a wild statistic about Yale’s endowment fund in a piece published yesterday: The fund’s reputation, however, owes to its earlier accomplishments. In the 10 years from mid-2008 through mid-2018 (the latter being the date of the fund’s most recent report), Yale gained an annualized 7.4%. During that same time period, the…

Animal Spirits: Dad Cat Bounce

On this week’s Animal Spirits we discuss why housing is the most personal of finance topics, Peloton, electric scooters, Michael’s diet & much more.

When Does the Stock Market Go Up?

A reader asks: I read something this past week that, while I trust the source, it seems hard to comprehend, let alone believe… that virtually all of the nearly 30% gain in the S&P 500 since ‘17 has come outside of normal US market trading hours. More specifically, that since January ‘17 just 2% of…