Animal Spirits Podcast

The complexity of the trade war, tech IPOs, the surprisingly strong consumer balance sheet, the housing affordability index, a concerning economic data point, the burden of student loan debt, the staggering rise of esports and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Bud Light used Dilly, Dilly to get you to buy more beer, some drawbacks of index funds, why hedge fund fees are finally falling, the payday lending industry, getting rich vs. staying rich, why Liam Neeson is the index funds of Hollywood and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why household equity allocations are near all-time highs, why Robinhood could be the bank of choice for Millennials, financial planning for inconsistent incomes, 10,000 baby booms retiring every day, perspective on market valuations and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some suggestions Barron's has for Warren Buffett, the latest Howard Marks letter, the "mother of all credit bubbles", why computer programmers should consider moving to the midwest, the source of the investor behavior gap, unrealistic millennial retirement goals and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk about Big Mistakes in the Wall Street Journal, how retirement investors are wising up, the crazy Gen Z retirement plan, why markets haven't changed much since the late-1600s, parenting money tips and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael's new book (Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments), how he came up with the idea for the book, where the value & momentum premiums come from, why investing is all about expectations & overreactions, Mary Meeker's new tech deck and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The risks involved in concentrated stock positions, why factor investing is so hard, the limitations of historical market data, the myth of the marshmallow test, the downfall of ESPN, Michael's book of the summer and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The brilliance of John Bogle, how much money people in their 30s should have saved, how different age groups define wealth, thinking outside the box for CalPERS, David Einhorn's struggles, chart crimes, mortgage rates and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why market bubbles have nothing to do with ETFs, the multi-millionaire secretary's secret, the massive revenue airline credit cards bring in, the mistakes you want to make as a young investor and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show we discuss WeWork's community-adjusted EBITDA, Elon Musk vs. Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger, size is the enemy of outperformance, why index funds are too simple for institutional investors, why housing is a bad investment & much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most common ages in the US and what it means for the markets, micro bubbles in tech stocks, Amazon's Field of Dreams moment, Peter Lynch's stock picks, how our families impacted our thinking about finances and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morgan Housel joins this week as guest host to discuss venture capital, annoying finance phrases, Disney vs. Netflix, Tesla, Jeff Bezos and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why the next recession won't be like the last one, what could possibly cause market returns to be higher in the future, why states & cities are short on cash, the 200-day moving average and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to solve the financial literacy issue, the downfall of Bill Ackman & David Einhorn, how much money people think they need to retire, Drew Brees diversifying into diamonds & Much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show we discuss if we would you rather collect $1 million now or $1,000 for the rest of our lives, how the world has changed since 2008, the single best investment trait to compound capital and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why investing is getting harder over time, why share buybacks get a bad rap, why life insurance is on the decline, two centuries of momentum and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A possible foray into business TV for Amazon, the most well-connected man in hedge funds, how to lie with surveys, your magic retirement number & much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The flash correction in stocks, why most people need financial advice more than investment advice, our children's book recommendations & more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How your job should fit into your investing decisions, our thoughts on Jim Cramer, misconceptions about share buybacks and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Takeaways from the latest Warren Buffett shareholder letter, the potential baby boomer retirement crisis, how millennials should think about retirement and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why our memories play tricks on us in the markets, the pros & cons of private equity, the permanent portfolio, scary market predictions and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, we discuss our thoughts on the market correction, why there's been nowhere to hide from the losses, the narratives surrounding the sell-off and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show we discuss the current market sell-off, the hidden risks in alternative investments, why women make better financial decisions than men and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show we debate whether the Fed has really been punishing savers, take a step back and admire the current bull market, talk about the best black swan hedges and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, we offer career advice to a young person starting out in finance, discuss our rules for writing effectively, talk about the craziest story we've read on the crypto craze and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, we discuss the prospects for a melt-up in the stock market, look back at the long history of bubbles in stocks, try to figure out the best investment you can make in 2018 and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, we discuss what to do if you've been sitting in cash during the bull market, go through Ben's latest portfolio changes, do some myth-busting about hedge funds and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show we talk about how the new tax reform will impact your paycheck next year, why happiness declines for most people until they hit their 50s, our favorite books, movies & TV shows of 2017, and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss some passages from Michael's old trading diary, the reason Millennials should be praying for poor market returns, why you should read more fiction and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, we discuss Jack Bogle's dire warnings for pension funds, why women make better investors than men, how financial advisors can give good advice when their clients ask about Bitcoin and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, we talk about how life changes in 2017 have impacted our perspective on our finances, discuss the role technology will play in the future of the labor market, the holy grail of an investment process and more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, we speak about the meteoric rise in Bitcoin through the lens of human psychology, discuss how difficult it is to break through as an up-and-coming fund manager, and some of the challenges to early retirement. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, we speak about how career risk creates inefficiencies in the market, signs of froth, the Vanguard of alternatives, and ETF price wars. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We reflect on a fun day at the Evidence-Based Investing Conference in New York City with some of our favorite talks, anecdotes, statistics, and quotes. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss what do in an environment of lower expected future returns, how can investors protect themselves from complacency, what would cause us to sell all of our stocks, and whether reading investing books make you a better investor. We also get Ben’s reaction to Jack Bogle quoting him in his new book, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss the difference between portfolio managers and portfolio management, Michael’s favorite investment book ever written, how to think about financial television, the amazing run in tech stocks, the future of the asset management business, the psychology behind dividend payments and much more. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick joke that we probably talk to each other more than we talk to our own wives. Michael lives and works in New York while Ben lives and works in Michigan so the two are probably on the phone with each other a minimum of 5-6 times a day. We also hold simultaneous conversations with one another through direct messages Twitter, quick hits on Slack, text messages, email, and occasionally Skype. The majority of the time we talk about different research we're looking at, what we've been reading, crazy things going on in the markets, irrational things being said or done by investors, ideas for writing material, dad talk, what's going on with our own investments or personal finances, TV shows/movies/comedy specials we like or dislike and much more. So, like everyone else on the planet, we've decided to start our own podcast called Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Like us on Facebook And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices