
My favorite books from a year in which my reading went into a bear market for 2-3 months during the onset of the pandemic.
Non-Fiction
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
This was hands down my favorite book of the year and also the biggest upset based on my expectations going into it. I&#8217;ve always considered McConaughey to be a &#8220;that guy&#8221; but he is an unbelievable storyteller. I read this book in 2-3 sit...

The Best Books I Read in 2020

I know it&#8217;s fashionable to complain about Zoom meetings because we&#8217;re all so sick of the pandemic.
But I&#8217;m beginning to appreciate Zoom for certain aspects of my job.
Michael and I always assumed doing podcasts over Zoom would take away from interviews but now that people are used to it, have the right equipment and it&#8217;s accepted, it saves so much time and effort.
The same is true of speaking engag...

The Hardest Market Environment Ever

There are a number of reasons it can be difficult to get your financial life in order as a young person.

No one teaches you how to manage your finances.
Many people have awful financial role models in their life.
Young people often don&#8217;t make very much money.
It could be the first time in your life where you have a number of financial responsibilities.
The entire process of getting your financial ecosystem set up c...

How to Start Your Financial Life


Ben Carlson · Penis Thieves And Asset Bubbles
&#8220;Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.&#8221; &#8211; Raymond Williams
In 2005, a man was sitting on a bus in Nigeria minding his own business when all of the sudden he let out an ear-piercing scream.
Wasiu Karimu began shouting that his genitalia had magically disappeared into his own body.
He immediately grabbed the woman ...

Penis Thieves & Asset Bubbles

Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by Interactive Brokers.

Check out the Impact Dashboard to create a positive impact on your investments.
We discuss:

The Airbnb &amp; DoorDash IPOs
Similarities and differences between now and the 1990s dot-com boom
Why IPOs rise so much on the first day of trading
Do these prices make sense for tech stocks?
How big can Airbnb get?
What puts an end to all the speculation?
Will...

Animal Spirits: IPO Mania

The evolution of investing over the past 70 years or so looks something like this:
In the 1950s, the majority of individual investors purchased individual securities. In fact, retail investors executed 90% of all trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Today that number is more like 5%, with the remaining 95% being executed by professional investors.
In the 1960s, the star mutual fund manager was born and investors dive...

The 2020s Will be the Decade of Customization For Financial Advisors

In his book Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Charles Kindleberger outlines the five phases of a bubble. This is my summation of these phases:
Phase One: Displacement. An event or innovation occurs that sharply changes expectations. This phase is typically grounded in reality and good intentions.
Phase Two: Expansion. This is the stage where the narrative takes hold and people begin bidding up as...

The 5 Phases of a Bubble


Ben Carlson · My 2020 Investing Lessons
Some lessons from a crazy year in the markets:
Investing when things look bleak remains a profitable strategy. I had a number of conversations in March, April and May where people asked, &#8220;How could the stock market possibly not get worse? Just look at what&#8217;s going on all around us.&#8221;
We all spent a lot of time debating how in the world stocks could continue risin...

My 2020 Investing Lessons

Valuation in the stock market is an inexact science.
Robert Shiller recently added a new wrinkle to his treasure trove of long-term stock and bond market data by including this chart:

It might be a little confusing so allow me to explain.
The excess CAPE yield (blue line) is simply the CAPE ratio (stock market valuations) less the 10 year treasury yield. So it shows how much higher stock market earnings yields are than g...

Could We See Record Stock Market Valuations This Cycle?

Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by State Street.
We spoke with State Street’s Brie Williams about the ESG investing universe.
We discuss:

Why ESG is such a polarizing topic in finance
Is ESG a new factor for investing?
How much customization is coming in ESG?
The best use case for ESG investing
The paradox of choice in ESG
Where is the demand coming for ESG funds?
Does ESG help manage investor behavior?
Are...