Making Markets

Barry Ritholtz: Cutting Through Financial Noise - [Making Markets, EP.58]

Apr 11, 2025

Barry Ritholtz, the founder and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, shares insights as a renowned commentator, known as the 'Prickly Prophet of Wall Street.' He discusses his new book, aiming to debunk financial myths and the importance of a critical information diet. Ritholtz emphasizes the fallacy of assuming expertise in financial advice, critiques billionaire investment models for average investors, and explores the evolving nature of market predictions. With a blend of humor and humility, he navigates the complexities of investing in today's world.

01:10:15

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Barry Ritholtz

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Quick takeaways

Barry Ritholtz emphasizes the necessity of recognizing and avoiding harmful investment concepts to enhance financial decision-making.

The discussion sheds light on the inaccuracies of market predictions and the importance of critically evaluating expert advice before investing.

Ritholtz stresses the significance of understanding cognitive biases in order to approach investing with a rational mindset and careful information curation.

Deep dives

The Motivation Behind Writing 'How Not to Invest'

The author discusses the inspiration for writing his latest book, which serves as a guide to avoiding common pitfalls in investing. After years of chronicling poor financial advice, he found himself compelled to compile a work specifically focused on debunking harmful investment concepts. The evolutionary process of writing the book involved him reflecting on his past writings and recognizing the frequency with which he challenged 'financial bullshit.' This realization led to organizing his thoughts into three main categories: bad ideas, bad numbers, and bad behaviors, each contributing to unsuccessful investment strategies.

Intro

6min

Navigating Financial Predictions

16min

The Fallacy of Expertise

11min

Understanding the Wealth Divide: Billionaires vs. Average Investors

3min

Navigating Market Complexity

26min

Rethinking Financial Advice: Coffee Costs and Car Safety

4min

Understanding Financial Behaviors: Spending, Saving, and Retirement Insights

5min

My guest today is Barry Ritholtz. As the founder & CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management Barry manages assets of over $5B. He is also a famous author and commentator, fondly known as the 'Prickly Prophet of Wall Street' for his contrarian views. In this conversation, Barry shares the origin story and the ideas behind his latest book, "How Not to Invest." We also talk about how he’s remained a force in the industry while calling out powerful people, advice for curating the right information diet, and some of his biggest misses. Please enjoy this conversation with Barry Ritholtz.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes

(00:00:00) Introduction: Why Write a Book on How Not to Invest?

(00:00:46) The Genesis of the Book: From Old Notes to New Ideas

(00:01:23) Debunking Financial Myths: The Core Concept

(00:02:01) The Writing Process: From Mind Maps to Manuscripts

(00:03:20) The Influence of Morgan Housel and the Final Push

(00:04:42) The Importance of Keeping Track: A Modern Phenomenon

(00:05:15) Early Career Lessons and Organizational Skills

(00:06:15) The Evolution of Financial Commentary

(00:07:24) The Impact of Bailout Nation and Market Predictions

(00:12:12) Debating Financial Titans: Respectful Disagreements

(00:16:25) Changing Perspectives: High-Frequency Trading and Hedge Funds

(00:23:17) The Halo Effect and Epistemic Trespass

(00:30:44) Billionaire Advice: Why It Doesn't Apply to You

(00:33:34) The Intersection of Media and Investing

(00:34:09) Handling Media Questions on Market Predictions

(00:35:06) Unpredictable Events and Market Reactions

(00:36:47) The Influence of Information and Propaganda

(00:38:19) Decision Making and Epistemology in Investing

(00:39:25) Curating a News Diet for Investors

(00:47:36) Behavioral Insights and Market Patterns

(00:49:43) Personal Investment Regrets and Lessons

(00:54:07) Technological Advancements in Investing

(00:59:07) Balancing Risk and Reward in Investments

(01:02:57) Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans

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Making Markets

Barry Ritholtz: Cutting Through Financial Noise - [Making Markets, EP.58]

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Motivation Behind Writing 'How Not to Invest'

Tracking Market Predictions and Investor Behavior

The Consequences of Wrong Investment Advice

The Psychology of Decision-Making in Investing

Enhancing Your Information Diet for Better Investment Decisions

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts