The Arguments Against Bitcoin as an Investment

My guests this week don't need to be introduced. In celebration of the one year anniversary of invest like the best, I asked Josh Brown, Mike Batnick, and Barry Ritholtz to join me for a hour, during which I spent more time laughing than asking questions.

I chose this team because they are the pioneers of mold breaking honesty and personality in our industry. They all figured out that just being themselves yields incredible results. This is a strategy that everyone should try, but very few do. Honesty and transparency require vulnerability, which is hard for most of us. I still struggle with it. But the evidence is in. The Ritholtz team has grown as fast as almost any RIA. Listen to this and tell me you wouldn't want to spend your career working with people this friendly, funny and open. Hell, I want to give them some money just so I have an excuse to drop by more often. 

Thanks to everyone who has listened in the past year. We are past 1.25mm listens, and growing fast. You own this thing as much as I do, because the size helps me penetrate deeper and get the best people, which begets more listeners. This podcast is one hell of a discovery machine, and the first year was our warm up. We have a ton of new angles, formats, and events coming in year two. Stay tuned. But first, time to laugh in celebration of year one. Please enjoy my conversation with team Ritholtz

For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/ritholtz

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Links Referenced

Barry @ritholtz on twitter

a16z Podcast

Scott Galloway and Aswath Damodaran on Bitcoin vs Gold

Latest 'These Are the Goods' post

Show Notes

2:35 – (First question) – What stock best represents you 

5:09 – How was this team assembled at Ritholtz 

8:50 – Why larger asset management firms are slow to pivot on new technology 

10:00 – The humor of Barry @ritholtz on twitter 

11:48 – What technology channels are working best

13:08 – What would happen in a Ritholtz stock picking contest

15:19 – How do you keep investors from wanting to move money into or out of buzzworthy trades

20:23 – Pricing out the news and the value premium

23:41 – Why people want complexity and activity in their portfolios

29:51 – People always want to be a part of the next frontier, example bitcoin

            31:08 – a16z Podcast

33:13 – Exploring research in action and living the investments

39:35 – Biggest argument against bitcoin could be the underlying utility and what will make it successful

45:13 – The Hindenburg Omen

            46:34 - Scott Galloway and Aswath Damodaran on Bitcoin vs Gold

47:38 – How the relationship with clients has evolved

49:50 – Mike’s new book project that he is working on

51:41 – Why the Mark Twain chapter is the most interesting in his book thus far

53:32 – How a business should balance sales and marketing

58:09 – Who would they draft to the Ritholtz team

            58:22 – Latest These Are the Goods post

1:05:18 – Kindest thing anyone has done

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag