In the world of personal finance, some topics are serious—and others less so. Since it’s the holiday season, it seems appropriate to look back at some of the lighter stories of the year. Comedian. Back in 2019, artist Maurizio Cattelan unveiled a collection he called “Comedian.” The item that [...]
Master of disguise
A universal truth about market bubbles is that they’re masters of disguise. Each new bubble appears different enough, on the surface, to lure new investors. While market bubbles are almost as old as the market itself, the latest example—centered around the cryptocurrency exchange FTX—is particularly [...]
Five tips to build a sensible portfolio
Last week, I talked about bitcoin and argued that it wasn’t a great investment. The reality, though, is that only a minority of investors hold cryptocurrency. That’s a good thing, in my opinion. But still, there are many other ways to go off track in building a portfolio. In fact, if I ever wrote [...]
Crypto lessons
Since the beginning of the year, the stock market has dropped nearly 25%. That’s significant, but it doesn’t compare to the losses experienced by cryptocurrency investors. Dogecoin is down more than 90%, and smaller currencies like terra have lost essentially all their value. Even bitcoin and [...]
The storyteller’s toolbox
In the past, I’ve talked about Robert Shiller’s book Narrative Economics. Shiller argues that stories can be a powerful force in moving markets—more so even than facts or data. Recently, I gained a better understanding of why that’s the case. I was speaking with a fellow who, it seemed, I [...]
