The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 28, 2019
On today's show we discuss Don't say no to YES Streaming and bundles Google search results Why is Joe Rogan so popular Student loan survey (believe this one) Noobwhale.com (funding secured) Listen here: Recommendations Bitcoin Billionaires Koppelman with Mezrich Land of the Giants (podcast) Tweets [link] [link] [link] The post Animal Spirits: Best Case Recession appeared first on The Irrelevant Investor.
Brown Advisory
AUGUST 6, 2019
Investment Perspectives | Cool Change ajackson Tue, 08/06/2019 - 08:46 "Time for a cool change; I know that it's time for a cool change." —Little River Band, 1979 Changes occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a major event makes it clear that an immediate course correction is needed. Other times, a series of occurrences allows a decision to evolve gradually.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 28, 2019
"The losses were a lot bigger than expected." Mary meeker said this on a podcast called Land of the Giants , an excellent six-part series on the rise of Amazon. What she was referring to were the losses Amazon experienced in its first *21 quarters as a public company*. Over that time, cumulative net income was -$2.86 billion. As bottom line losses piled up, top line growth averaged a blistering 229%.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 25, 2019
Articles In frothy markets, it's easy to enter into a consensual hallucination, with investors and markets, that you’re creating value By Scott Galloway There are precedents for taking a commodity product and turning it into a brand By Byrne Hobart A gift to exist By Ramp Capital The problem with simplicity is that the reps don’t hurt, so you don’t feel like you’re getting a mental workout.
Advertisement
Where are top advisors focusing in 2025? AcquireUp’s 2025 Industry Index reveals it all. Based on insights from 200+ financial professionals nationwide, discover why 74% say seminars and referrals deliver the best ROI, how automation is helping advisors scale faster, and why only 8% are tapping into niche marketing (a major growth opportunity!). Whether you're refining your client acquisition strategy or scaling your practice, this report gives you the real-world data, benchmarks, and action ste
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 25, 2019
You can learn a lot about yourself as an investor on a single day. For many, Friday was one of those days. With trade war rhetoric heating up and the stock market melting down, you likely experienced some internal turbulence. If the drop on Friday made you nervous about your portfolio to the point where you felt like pushing a button, you're probably taking too much risk.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 20, 2019
Financial advisors receive multiple emails every week about the newest piece of financial technology. From portfolio management to financial planning software and everything in-between, it's impossible to keep up with everything. And this is why we're so excited to bring the next generation of companies under one roof. In a few weeks at Wealth/Stack , attendees will hear from ten of these companies.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 19, 2019
Today’s Animal Spirits, Talk Your Book is presented by Titan Invest. Visit their website for more information Listen here: On today's show, Ben and I sit down with Titan co-founder Clay Gardner. Titan is a robo advisor that uses active investment strategies. We discuss What is a 13F filing and how Titan uses it. How they leverage hedge funds to build client portfolios Titan's investment research and client communication The automated investing landscape The state of active management Meb Faber's
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 19, 2019
Every time the stock market falls, no really, every single time, a friend of mine texts me the same thing: "Make it stop." And every time I tell him the same thing- "You should hope stocks go a lot lower." For people still contributing to their retirement accounts, they shouldn't fear lower prices, they should pray for them. Let's look at a real world hypothetical example.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 18, 2019
Articles ETFs only own approximately 6% of the stock market By Nate Geraci What we want and what we need change over time By Tadas Viskanta Many products in teacher’s 403(b)’s are illegal in 401(k)’s. By Tony Isola Imagine trying to convince one of these people that they couldn’t be in the top 20% when they are used to being in the top 1% By Nick Maggiulli The more important the technology is today, the more skepticism it faced when it arrived.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 16, 2019
A few weeks ago Ben and I got the following email: I think the show would benefit from a logo (or a mascot), and there is no better fit than the noob whale. I'm thinking something to the effect of when you google "whale cartoon", but maybe just like a silhouette. One of the things that makes you guys so great is humility, so it fits personality-wise.
Speaker: Claire Grosjean, Global Finance & Operations Executive
Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 15, 2019
My wife sent me the following text message this morning: "There is a whole thread about this in a NYC DOE teacher Facebook group I'm in." The text was followed by the image below. A TDA, or tax-deferred annuity, is a 403(b), which is the equivalent of a 401(k) for teachers, hospital workers, and other not-for-profit organizations. Emotion was running high in this thread.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 13, 2019
2019 has not been kind to a certain segment of the brick and mortar retailer. Neither was 2018, 2017, or 2016. Not even five years ago, Bed Bath & Beyond was at $80 a share. Today it sits just above $8. A similar story has come to pass in JC Penney and Macy's, with a few others not far behind. In a recent Barron's article , The Retail Reckoning Has Just Begun, they identified one of the main drivers of their demise.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 13, 2019
On today's show, we discussed: Business in a box The influencer marketing business Do moviegoers have franchise fatigue? What I wish I knew at age 34 The narrative of negative rates Negative mortgage rates. Sort of. Apple's new credit card The food delivery business is booming The business of Planet Fitness Millennials have no friends (according to this survey) The single best investment for the next decade (also, survey) Cutting out the sports agent Klay Thompson of FIRE fame SPY is one funky
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 12, 2019
Howard Marks recently said "The process of lowering rates causes assets to inflate. There will be more wealth piled up by the people who have assets and it'll be harder for people who just have a little bit of savings to make a return." Marks is hardly alone in this line of thinking. "The Fed is punishing savers" is one of the most commonly used financial quotes of the last decade.
Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 11, 2019
Articles Very few of us are sabotaging our finances on purpose. By Ben Carlson What you and every other investor cares about is purchasing power , not price By Nick Maggiulli U.S. Franchises directly employed almost 8 million people, represented 10% of non-farm U.S. businesses, and generated $757 billion in output By Justine and Olivia Moore The two most important secular drivers are demographics and technology.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 7, 2019
Today's Animal Spirits is brought to you by YCharts. Mention Animal Spirits to receive 20% off (*New YCharts users only) On today’s show we discuss Ben was right about Japan's private market. The case for cash now We're making noobwhale t-shirts and donating the proceeds to this charity Beyond diapers I still don't know how they find these people If that was the top, this is the post Ben is a great saver.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 6, 2019
This is a perfect analogy for investor psychology. This is how our brain works when stocks are falling and we're trying to figure out if it's the bottom. [link] The post Is This the Bottom? appeared first on The Irrelevant Investor.
Brown Advisory
AUGUST 6, 2019
Investment Perspectives | Cool Change. ajackson. Tue, 08/06/2019 - 08:46. "Time for a cool change; I know that it's time for a cool change.". —Little River Band, 1979. Changes occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a major event makes it clear that an immediate course correction is needed. Other times, a series of occurrences allows a decision to evolve gradually.
Speaker: Erroll Amacker
Automation is transforming finance but without strong financial oversight it can introduce more risk than reward. From missed discrepancies to strained vendor relationships, accounts payable automation needs a human touch to deliver lasting value. This session is your playbook to get automation right. We’ll explore how to balance speed with control, boost decision-making through human-machine collaboration, and unlock ROI with fewer errors, stronger fraud prevention, and smoother operations.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 5, 2019
For the second time in five years, China devalued its currency. The last time this happened was on August 24, 2015. This is a day that market participants will remember well. The Dow opened down more than one thousand points. I remember running into Josh's office saying, "health-care is gone. XLV is down 20%." In the first 15 minutes there were 1,278 trading halts for 471 different ETFs and stocks. 765 stocks in the Russell 3000 fell more than 10%.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 5, 2019
On today's Animal Spirits, Re-Kindled, Ben and I dive into one of the best books ever on decision making, Superforecasting. Listen here Items discussed An open letter to Ben Bernanke Quotes "Every day, the news media deliver forecasts without reporting, or even asking, how good the forecasters who made the forecasts really are." "Old forecasts are like old news- soon forgotten- and pundits are almost never asked to reconcile what they said with what actually happened.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 4, 2019
Articles The popularity of theater-going has been in decline for close to 20 years. By Matthew Ball Whatever price multiple of which you are a fan, whichever sectors you exclude, however you neutralize your exposures, whether you equal-weight or cap-weight, one thing remains true: cheap stocks have had an unhappy decade By John Pease The best performing 811 companies (1.33% of the total) accounted for all net global wealth creation.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 1, 2019
The current environment has been a challenging one for value investors. The bottom decile of value stocks, whether you're looking at EV/EBITDA, P/FCF, P/E or whatever, have produced returns that badly lagged the overall market. The chart below shows that value, defined here by book-to-market, is in its longest drawdown ever, by far. I know you're probably tired of reading the same things over and over, but I think this piece from GMO, Risk and Premium: A Tale of Value is worth taking the time.
Advertisement
Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.
Brown Advisory
AUGUST 1, 2019
The Long Game: Roth Conversions & Legacy Planning ajackson Thu, 08/01/2019 - 14:51 Legacy planning is all about transferring wealth to descendants as efficiently as possible. So it may be surprising to hear that a Roth IRA—a vehicle ostensibly intended for retirement income—can be a powerful mechanism for next-generation wealth transfer. Indeed, a Roth conversion has the potential to generate greater wealth than a traditional IRA during an individual’s or couple’s lifetime, and it can play a mea
Brown Advisory
AUGUST 1, 2019
The Long Game: Roth Conversions & Legacy Planning. ajackson. Thu, 08/01/2019 - 14:51. Legacy planning is all about transferring wealth to descendants as efficiently as possible. So it may be surprising to hear that a Roth IRA—a vehicle ostensibly intended for retirement income—can be a powerful mechanism for next-generation wealth transfer. Indeed, a Roth conversion has the potential to generate greater wealth than a traditional IRA during an individual’s or couple’s lifetime, and it can play a
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 18, 2019
When Stephen Colbert was ten years old, he lost his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash. He spoke about it recently with Anderson Cooper. Cooper said "You told an interviewer that you have learned to, in your words, 'Love the thing that I most wish had not happened.'" [link] My mother was 57 years old when she passed away. I was 26. And what Colbert told Cooper hits very close to home.
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 3, 2019
Disagreements are healthy. Arguments are not. Compromises start out as disagreements. Broken relationships start out as arguments. Arguments are dead ends because people don't change their minds when they're using emotions instead of data. Thankfully, would-be arguers often tip their hand. Here are a few red flags to look out for: In Life "I've been saying this and nobody would listen" You've said a lot of things that weren't worth listening to "I told you so" What are you seven years old?
Advertisement
Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 14, 2019
In the first of seven Lincoln Douglas debates, Stephen Douglas was slated to take the stage first. The deal was that he would get one hour, Lincoln would follow with a ninety minute rebuttal, and Douglas would then be given a final thirty minutes to follow back. This format, believe it or not, was much shorter than the two men were accustomed to. Neil Postman wrote about the audience's ability to withstand hours and hours of dialogue in his fabulous and prescient book, Amusing Ourselves to Death
The Irrelevant Investor
AUGUST 26, 2019
On today's show, Ben and I talk about Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. This book was written in 1985 about what the history of communication until the modern age. He was more than a little critical of what TV was doing to our society. Oh if he could only see Bravo today. I could only imagine what Postman would have to say about social media.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
52 
Let's personalize your content