Tag Archives: My View On…

The recent craziness in Gamestop has resulted in a lot of hot takes on short selling. I have the hottest takes, of course, so let’s dive into this a bit deeper and put this debate to rest.  Here’s a piping hot take from the richest man in the world: Wow. That kinda makes sense. But wait, does it really? No, Cullen, stop. Back up. Let’s explain how this works first. Just so we’re all on the same page. Short Selling Basics. This whole convo kinda reminds me of the buyback debates or the...

I turn 40 years old today. Since I hate birthday presents I figured I’d pass along some of the presents people have taught me over the last 40 years.  1) Always try to be a good person. This is the most obvious one and also often the hardest one. Life is hard and everyone is fighting their own personal battles. Help them through it by being kind enough to try to understand their battle. 2) Never mistake money for wealth. The person who mistakes money for wealth will live a life...

I am going to spend some time trying to put the debate about Capitalism and Socialism into perspective here. But before we can do that I need to properly define the terms because they’re used in a rather lazy manner in the mainstream media. So, let’s establish some understandings: Capitalism – a system in which the means of production are privately owned and the economic benefits of that production are distributed by the owners and regulated by the government. Socialism – a system in which...

I write this post with some hesitancy because I suspect that it is going to annoy lots of people. This annoys me because the goal of this post is to emphasize the importance of being objective and emotionally agnostic when we’re investing. I’ll put on my flame retardant suit and see how well I can communicate this view without enraging people. Wish me luck.  ESG investing (environmental, social and corporate governance) is a hot new space in the investment product landscape. The basic goal...

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed forgiving all student debt. Naturally, this is somewhat popular and garnering a lot of attention because free stuff is fun and having the government give out free stuff is also very controversial. Where do I sit on this issue? Well, it’s a complex one, but I’ll try to condense my thoughts here. The Student Loan Market – An Overview The student loan market is $1.6T spread out over 44MM people. That’s an average balance of ~$36K and a median...

Hyman Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH) has been an influential component of how I think of the financial markets and the economy. The FIH, in a nutshell, says that capitalist economies will, at times, deviate from an equilibrium into substantial inflations and deflations. In other words, booms can beget booms which can beget busts which beget busts. This view, that booms lead to busts, has garnered renewed interest in the wake of the GFC where a housing boom clearly led to a...

The idea of a “Green New Deal” is all the rage on the left these days. This is a huge, bold plan to transform the US economy. Here are some highlights from the proposal: Net zero greenhouse gas emissions within 10 years by replacing “all existing buildings in the USA” to achieve maximal energy efficiency. “High quality health care”. “High quality education, including higher education”. “Affordable housing”. “Guaranteeing a job with a family sustaining wage” and full benefits. Save the...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)…wow, like a whirlwind, she went from virtual nobody to Congressional sensation. These days it’s almost impossible to avoid hearing about her. Rightfully so, her story is a pretty amazing one. I won’t rehash that story, but she does have some bold economic views so I am going to force my unwanted opinions on you regarding that topic. AOC is a Democratic Socialist like Bernie Sanders. I’ll be honest – I don’t tend to like extremists on either end. I spend a lot...

There was an interesting article in the NY Times this weekend titled “How to Retire in Your 30s With $1 Million in the Bank”. The Times tells the story of a growing movement called FIRE –  Financial Independence Retire Early. The basic gist of the movement is this: Don’t let money control your life. Value happiness over materialism. Don’t get caught up in the rat race. I think these are all wonderful ideas and worth striving for. But I also think reality is much more complex than that and...