What happened in November and December? The Turkish lira crashed: And so did Bitcoin: This was not supposed to happen. The narrative for the past year was that Bitcoin is supposed to be a hedge against uncertainty, hyperinflation, or that foreigners would buy bitcoin to preserve value against their crumbling currencies. Indeed, the currencies are… Continue reading The only hedge against inflation is quality

Saw this Tooleb tweet in which Tooleb reveals he is a fan of ex-mobster Sammy “The Bull” Gravano’s podcast: This is a Greek Tragedy.Salvatore "The Bull" Gravano had to uccidere a man who knew how to die with dignity. [0-10m]Note: Consigliere pron. "gonzyer", Cosa Nostra "Gozinaustr'" [Old S. Italian w/a "c" similar to semitic Q,… Continue reading Taleb, The Mob, and Covid

This is interesting. The NYTs unwittingly shows that abortion is eugenic: With the future of Roe v. Wade in the hands of the Supreme Court, we took a look at the current state of abortion in America. The abortion rate has fallen in recent decades, but the procedure is still common. Here’s what the typical… Continue reading Is abortion eugenic?

I think way too much money is spent on programs of dubious efficacy or are just useless. But this does not mean we have to tolerate wrong/bad arguments against such spending either. A recent poll showed that 65% of Americans, presumably including many conservatives, support unconditional government remittances of $2,000/month. A common response is that… Continue reading Debunking the ‘Inflation Tax’ Argument

A month ago as Bitcoin was crossing $65,000, I saw a major uptick of discussion on FIRE/investing communities about crypto. I think some people were hoping to actually retire off Bitcoin or Ethereum. I was saying to myself, “ain’t gonna happen.” Sure enough, Bitcoin has since fallen 35% in a month, and has done nothing… Continue reading Leveraged ETFs vs. Bitcoin/Ethereum for FIRE, the winner is ETFs

I want to expound on my earlier article about not having opinions. You either have to have ‘hot takes’, like Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, or Joe Rogan; or write huge, detailed, comprehensive essays, as Scott and Lyn Alden do; or be ’eminently qualified’, which I did not cover in the above post. Someone like Freddie… Continue reading The Importance of Controlling the Platform

Related to an earlier post, I have seen many articles over the past few months or so about how Biden’s presidency is failing, or how Biden’s approval ratings are falling, or how no one is listening to him–‘the shrinking presidency’. As I observed earlier, Biden’s presidency is much more of the Western-European tradition than American,… Continue reading The Shrinking Presidency

Declining fertility rates among developed countries has been a subject of intense debate online for years. The debate generally falls into one of two camps: that the decline, particularly in the U.S., is due to political/economic factors, or due to individual social factors. My money is strongly on the latter, that Americans are choosing to… Continue reading Declining Fertility Rates: What is to Blame

Another Reformed Broker article The Volatility is the Point The quickest way to out yourself as an amateur investor is to post comments online mocking others for being in a stock, sector or asset class that’s undergoing turbulence. Not only does this reveal to others that you’re not actually an investor yourself, it also tells… Continue reading The downfall of financial experts

It looks like Mr. Butthead has devised a new way for his clients to lose money: This morning we launched the first ever crypto index separately managed account (SMA) strategy. It’s currently only available for Ritholtz Wealth Management clients but that will change in Q1. You can add yourself to the wait list here and… Continue reading The Daily View 12/5/2021