Ben CarlsonModify

Talk Your Book: Cash Was Easy…Now What?

2026-08-31 19:15:25

Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by Federated Hermes: To learn more about Federated Hermes click here: https://www.federatedhermes.com/ On today’s show, we discuss: The 30 year Treasury breaking out to highs not seen since 2007 The case for moving out the curve to capture higher yield potential Using option call spreads and return of capital for tax-efficient income potential How PAYR uses optio...

Jerry Seinfeld’s Evergreen Career Advice

2026-08-31 10:27:35

A lot of people are worried about the impact of artificial intelligence For good reason. Here’s something Bill Gates said this week: “In private, people who understand how good this stuff is, and how much better it’s getting, they’re very worried,” he said. But few tech executives, Mr. Gates said, are willing to publicly admit that. “They’re now saying to each other: ‘Hey, m...

My Most Contrarian Opinion Right Now

2026-08-29 04:30:28

I’m not much of a contrarian. By definition, contrarians are wrong most of the time. Fighting the herd only tends to work at the extremes. Here’s one of my most contrarian opinions right now: I’m not worried about a U.S. government debt crisis. We have the world’s largest, most dynamic economy. We have the biggest, most innovative companies. We have the most liquid financial markets. We have the gl...

10 Things You Need to Know About Investing in Stocks

2026-08-28 00:52:42

Bill Sweet helped us answer other questions about the best way to transfer old retirement accounts, managing a variable income, how to create a checklist for financial planning purposes, when to sell stocks in your child’s college fund and hardware vs. software. Further Reading: Risk & Reward The post 10 Things You Need to Know About Investing in Stocks appeared first on A Wealth of Common Sense. ...

Animal Spirits: Are Free Markets Dead?

2026-08-26 19:15:02

Sponsored Meet YCharts Live at Future Proof Festival See how YCharts helps enhance every stage of a client relationship. Join our session on building client confidence through effective visuals, get a demo and 20% off YCharts Professional. *New customers through 10/17/2026. Learn More Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by YCharts: This episode is sponsored by YCharts. To learn more an...

How Will This Cycle End?

2026-08-26 03:10:53

One of the hard parts about using history as a playbook in the markets is we don’t have a huge sample size. In the past 100 years or so, there have really only been three secular bear markets and three secular bull markets. Since WWII, there have been just six drawdowns of 30% or worse for the U.S. stock market. You had the bull market of the 1950s, the 1980s and 1990s run and now the 2010s into the 2020s. Market hi...