Stansberry Investor Hour

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome Chris Irons to the show. Chris started writing about finance back in 2013 under the moniker Quoth the Raven and was a speaker at the 2019 Stansberry Conference. Chris kicks things off by addressing tariffs and shares how nominal prices will continue to rise regardless of what we do. He says the cycle of crashes and money-printing has continued to accelerate and create bigger distortions and drops. And he discusses passive bids that pile into the S&P 500 Index and cause valuations to become stretched. He warns against overexposure to the fund due to potential drawdowns in any of the "Magnificent Seven" that could take the index down with them. (0:00) Next, Chris states that the market has gone "all in" on options instead of equities, creating a state of leveraged gambling. And he predicts that things have changed so much that despite the beliefs that there will continue to be government bailouts or other solutions, this cannot continue. Something will break eventually. However, it's not all doom and gloom. Chris says you just have to find where there's good value. (24:06) Finally, Chris shares advice on how to hedge any large market crashes based on his own strategies. He also cautions against buying into assets in blind hope of reaching a bottom. If a company is burning money without generating any cash, there won't be a bottom to bounce off of. (42:19)

Join Joe Boskovich, founder of Old West Investment Management, as he dives into the importance of management quality in investing. With a rich background in company management, Joe emphasizes how leadership can make or break an investment. He contrasts deep value companies with distressed ones, revealing hidden gems in unexpected sectors like metals and mining. Discussing the significance of capital allocation and management ownership, he also warns against premature stock selling while highlighting opportunities in the homebuilding market.

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan welcomes value investor Tobias Carlisle back to the show. Tobias is the founder and portfolio manager of Acquirers Funds, a deep-value investment firm. He's also an author and host of the Acquirers Podcast. Tobias kicks things off by discussing the "happy hunting ground" in small-cap stocks, the market narrowing in the S&P 500 Index, and the massive amounts of capital flowing into AI. He also compares the AI mania today with the dot-com boom of the late '90s, questions how AI is making money, and notes that the bottom 490 stocks in the S&P 500 have been in a "little recession" since 2022. He says this gives value investors an opportunity right now to get great names for cheap before the inevitable rebound. After that, Tobias comments on passive investing, what could be in store for the top 10 large caps, and why fears of AI destroying the jobs market are overblown. (0:00) Next, Tobias talks about his company's two funds: the Acquirers Fund (ZIG) and Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value Fund (DEEP). He explains what he looks for when picking stocks and how he determines valuations. He also name-drops many stocks and industries that he thinks have fantastic potential over the next decade. (21:01) Finally, Tobias discusses the significance of hedge-fund shorts of the small-cap Russell 2000 Index peaking recently, plus the extreme concentration of the top 10 stocks. He notes that Nvidia now accounts for 8% of the S&P 500's market cap – the highest in history. Tobias says that valuations will eventually come back down to Earth and that not all of the Mag Seven will be top performers in the future. Citing Tesla as the weakest in the group, he points out that Chinese electric vehicles beat Tesla cars in terms of price, design, and charging times. Tobias then closes things out with a conversation about an "echo boom" of 2021, cryptocurrencies being back in favor, and the unprecedented outperformance of large caps. (37:31)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome J.C. Parets to the show. J.C. is a Chartered Market Technician and editor of the Everybody's Wrong newsletter. He's also the founder of All Star Charts – a research platform for both professional and retail investors which tracks U.S. and international stocks, interest rates, commodities, and foreign exchange markets.  J.C. kicks things off by discussing the difference between market technicians and "chartists," the fact that valuations and fundamentals no longer drive stock prices, and the "big bullies" that trickle down to the individual stock level and move markets. He delves into the topic of positioning and finding parts of the market where folks are too bullish or too bearish. For example, J.C. points out that small caps are currently vulnerable for a squeeze. After that, he gives listeners the "cheat code" for analyzing the market, including what to look for, how to cut through the "noise machine" of financial media, how to spot changes in trends, and how to distinguish reality from narrative. (0:35) Next, J.C. walks through a hypothetical trade in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index to demonstrate his thought process and how exactly he finds opportunities. He highlights relative strength, waiting for a change in trend, weighing risk versus reward, not taking profits too early, and his unique position-sizing strategy. J.C. also emphasizes the importance of continually asking yourself how you could be wrong once you've formulated a thesis. As he says, if you can't answer the question and don't know how the market could prove your thesis wrong, "It's not an investment. It's a religion [based on belief alone]." This leads J.C. to talk about overcoming human emotion, having a plan before entering a trade, and taking advantage of all the emotional investors who don't have a plan. (19:48) Finally, J.C. throws out a few areas of the market he likes today and is following closely for opportunities, explains how he decides the right time to enter and add to a trade, and gives listeners solid advice for risk management. "If you're in a trade that's losing, you're going to be distracted, and you're going to miss the giant elephant that's walking right past you," J.C. quips. And he closes the show out with a conversation about investing discipline, including not entering risky trades even if you know they'll go up. (37:21)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome Eugene Fama to the show. Eugene is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and widely recognized as the "father of modern finance." Eugene kicks things off by talking a bit about his efficient-market hypothesis, whether he believes it's still relevant in today's economy, and how passive investing plays a role in all this. He also discusses what it's like winning a Nobel Prize, the impact of his five-factor model on investing and the rise of factor-based funds, rationality versus irrationality, and the importance of luck in markets. (0:34) Next, Eugene argues against a New York Times article claiming that a PhD in economics won't bring affluence or prestige anymore, laments the lack of new breakthroughs in financial theory/modeling, and comments on the modern competitive environment in economics that didn't exist 60 years ago. Things then take a more personal turn, and Eugene talks about his how he discovered his love of economics and what he wanted to focus his research on. (16:28) Finally, Eugene shares what it was like in Chicago back when the city was the epicenter of financial research, including his experience working with some other notable economists. After that, he gives his opinion on market bubbles. Speaking about the dot-com era, he says that the total value created from the industry is a big part of international wealth today, so it can't be considered a mistake. And he closes things out with a conversation about uncertainty in making predictions. (30:34)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig back to the show. Doc is the new permanent CEO of Stansberry Research's parent company MarketWise, as well as the editor of five newsletters at Stansberry and a member of the Investment Committee for Stansberry Portfolio Solutions.  Doc kicks off the show by asking Dan about his recent river cruise vacation on the Mississippi River and sharing stories about his own trip to Lisbon, Portugal a few weeks ago. This leads to a conversation about Doc and Dan's first meeting in 2007 and how Dan was a "diligence check" for Doc joining Stansberry in the first place. Doc also talks about his permanent appointment as MarketWise CEO after almost a year holding the interim role. (0:46) Next, Doc discusses the financial-newsletter industry and what sets Stansberry apart in this era where anyone can self-publish content – including free content and AI-generated content. "I want us to be known as a trusted source," he notes. As Doc emphasizes, Stansberry is good at finding talented analysts who work hard, know their stuff, and can meet deadlines. He also looks back on the company since its "disaster" going public, previous leadership that didn't respect the company's history, and what has mattered most to him since becoming CEO. (23:57) Finally, Doc explains that caring about what you're doing and the experience you want to give is the most important thing in business. He gives shout-outs to several folks at MarketWise who are doing just this, from Stansberry's Executive Editor Carli Flippen overseeing everything that gets published, to the marketing team and copywriters who care about the customers more than making a sale. (45:32)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome Joe Milam to the show. Joe is the founder and CEO of AngelSpan, which provides investor relations for early-stage startups. He's also the founder of The Legacy Funds and managing member of the Texas Legacy Fund. Joe kicks things off by recounting his background in finance and the "Forrest Gump-like experiences" that got him to where he is today. He critiques the venture-capital ("VC") world, as it requires no training or certification to enter. Joe explains that his mission is to bring professional standards and practices to early-stage VC. And he shares a few anecdotes of unprofessionalism in the VC world that you'll never hear reported by the media, including investing for access to a private jet. (0:47) Next, Joe discusses the massive opportunity in bringing professional processes to VC, especially because entrepreneurship is growing, yet the financial infrastructure has not been modernized to accommodate for this growth. He also talks about lack of diversification being a problem, the history of angel investing since the Revolutionary War, the role hype plays in VC, why he believes we're at the top of the "hype cycle" for AI, and the unintended consequences of technological innovation. (19:19) Finally, Joe points out that an understanding of financial history is directly linked to proper risk assessment and management. He notes that many folks will ignore risk even if they're warned about it, due to a lack of discipline and their fear of missing out on the next hottest thing. As Joe explains, there's an expanding pool of innovation and places to put money, so both VC and individual investors need to manage risk. (45:48)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Corey welcomes his colleague Brett Eversole back to the show. Brett is the editor of the True Wealth, True Wealth Systems, and DailyWealth newsletters. He also serves on the Investment Committee for Stansberry Portfolio Solutions. Brett kicks things off by sharing what he learned from his mentor Steve Sjuggerud, including the investment philosophy of buying assets that are "cheap, hated, and in an uptrend." He examines the recent tariff drama and why he believes we're about to return to a boring market fueled by fundamentals after several months of turbulence. As Brett explains, a lot of it has to do with increased capital spending from hyperscalers. (0:46) Next, Brett reviews the difference between secular bull markets and cyclical bull markets. He compares today's bull market (driven by AI) with the bull market of the late '90s (driven by the Internet), noting that a massive infrastructure buildout caused both. Brett predicts a normal market for the next few years, followed by a dot-com-style AI boom and then a "lost decade." He also discusses the S&P 500 Index decoupling from the U.S. economy, tariffs hurting smaller companies, and why he's bullish on gold and silver. (14:59) Finally, Brett talks about indicators that investors can use to gauge the market's underlying health, as well as what divergence between the indicators can mean in both the short and long term. He then dives into his work on Stansberry Portfolio Solutions, including the strategy the team uses to find the best companies and how to manage risk. And he closes things out with an in-depth analysis of today's real estate market. (33:29)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey are joined by Nick Maggiulli. Nick is the chief operating officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management and founder of the financial blog Of Dollars and Data. His new book, The Wealth Ladder, comes out next week.  Nick kicks off the show by discussing The Wealth Ladder, including the six different levels of wealth and why income is a more crucial factor to building wealth than behavior. He also talks about jobs that will be a safe haven once artificial intelligence ("AI") becomes more prevalent, the mistakes people make when buying income-producing assets, the importance of diversification, and why he prefers to invest in index funds. (0:40) Next, Nick goes in depth on the spending mistakes people make that prevent them from moving up to a higher wealth level. He touches on diversification again, using Elon Musk versus Bill Gates as an example. Plus, he covers the different strategies for different wealth levels, why it's important to still focus on the nonfinancial things in life, statistical data for whether money can buy happiness, and the significance of money being a quantifiable thing. (17:27) Finally, Nick discusses the things that financially successful people may be overlooking, why the strategy for success may vary on a case-by-case basis, and the different levels of spending freedom. He says that level two allows freedom in the grocery store, level three allows freedom at restaurants, and level four allows freedom for traveling. And he shares a handy formula for people to use when it comes to nonessential spending. (35:15)

On this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan and Corey welcome their colleague Alan Gula back to the show. Alan is an editor and member of the Investment Committee for The Total Portfolio and Stansberry's Forever Portfolio, as well as a senior analyst for flagship newsletter Stansberry's Investment Advisory. Alan kicks off the show by analyzing a chart of the S&P 500 Index since 1957. He notes that the index is running 35% above its long-term trend, which is high but not a historic extreme. Focusing on just the past 15 years, Alan discusses the current secular bull market and whether artificial intelligence ("AI") could usher in a dot-com-style boom. He also goes in depth on The Total Portfolio's investment philosophy, what kinds of assets are in the portfolio, how the portfolio has outperformed this year, and the difficulty with being truly diversified. (0:40) Next, Alan talks about managed futures and why their negative correlation with the S&P 500 makes them "the ultimate portfolio diversifier." As he explains, almost all investment advisers simply follow trends nowadays, so The Total Portfolio is one of the only places you can find truly diversified recommendations that'll protect you in any outcome. He then shares why he believes the traditional 40% allocation to bonds is dead, recommends two better ways to invest in this space, and explores where we are in the current bull market. (18:44) Finally, Alan advises bearish listeners to keep looking for opportunities. He says you can't predict the future, but you can set up win-win scenarios. This leads to a conversation about real estate investment trusts, sector correlations, strategies for picking stocks, and both the pros and cons of AI replacing human jobs. (34:26)