E38: Beyond the Balance Sheet - US Debt and the Dark Side of Short Selling

Krzysztof returns from a Hobbit house getaway while Luke gets ready to head to Paris for the Olympics; tales of travel spark some short-term trauma about lost luggage and Crowdstrike’s $CRWD hand in making lots of people maddeningly upset. If that’s not spicy enough, we briefly discuss historical revolutions and national identities sparked by the Olympics’ opening ceremony’s raw political themes - or is it just a ton of fun that's really only supposed to make sense to the locals? We discuss whether the US is facing a debt crisis worse than 2008, highlighting alarming insights from Balaji Srinivasan about the staggering $175 trillion debt level. Lots of scary charts and difficult decisions to make based on the data, which you can see in full at: https://balajis.com/p/americas-175-trillion-problem We also consider the ethical fine line in short selling, focusing on the case against Andrew Left of Citron Capital for alleged securities fraud and the ethics of market manipulation and finance journalism. We also address a viewer’s question on selling investments with outsized growth, discussing different approaches to this "nice-to-have" problem. Badger has been hard at work in his burrow yet again, this time composing a Deep Dive on Axon Enterprise $AXON, one of his favorite companies; in this episode, he shares a short highlight about the company’s margins and financial strengths. We conclude with an update on the King of the Jungle portfolio competition, emphasizing the importance of compound interest and consistent long-term investing, and how quickly adding $100 a month can add up — Badger even breaks out a trusty compound calculator quizzing Monkey on just how much money it’s possible to make if you get started early and just follow a consistent approach.

Segments:

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:01:45] The Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

[00:08:06] The Singularity Is Nearer, When We Merge with AI - Ray Kurzweil

[00:14:00] Should You Sell A Position If You Get Outsized Growth?

[00:19:34] Is The US On The Verge Of A Debt Crisis Bigger Than 2008?

[00:39:29] When is Short Selling Actually Market Manipulation?

[00:49:13] King Of The Jungle Portfolio Challenge Update

[00:57:23] The Magical Power of Compound Interest

[01:00:23] Why is Axon Becoming a Software Company ---
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