Sosnoff / Ratigan - Truth or Skepticism from tastylive

Tom Sosnoff and Dylan Ratigan dissect Elon Musk's recent legal tussle, in which he sought a hefty share compensation from the Tesla board, a request promptly dismissed by a discerning judge. Despite their typical pro-innovator stance, Tom and Dylan agree with the judicial decision. Delve into this episode of Truth or Skepticism to unravel their compelling rationale.

There's a perception out there that individual self-directed investors need to be protected from themselves. Take the recent bitcoin ETFs. Mainstream media is saying individual investors got left holding the bag. But did they? The truth is investors have been long bitcoin for year and used the ETF launches to take profits. Also this week, are regulations simply a derivative of bull and bear market...

If you invest in a company because you believe in the founder, are you investing in a company or are you investing in the person? Take it a step further. Imagine that founder comes back and says they have another business idea and want more money or else they'll develop the new business on the side. Is that blackmail or is it a fair ask? That's the current situation with Tesla and Elon Musk. Elon...

Is social media really a threat or is it just a scapegoat? Each generation thinks the next generation is being dumbed down by media consumption. Social media is the most recent battlefield. There is evidence that social media is addictive and has the ability to affect decision making as a result of curated feeds. On this week's episode Tom argues social media is no more a threat than television. D...

We all like a good story. There's nothing wrong with that. However, when we trust the story at the expense of the facts, we have a problem. Markets are the ultimate deciders. The information available in a liquid marketplace ultimately gets parsed down, resulting in prices reflective of true value. Outside of the market; however, facts have become disputable. When that happens, it becomes hard to...

We're in the midst of a transformative era of personal finance. Whether it's sports betting, crypto, or equity and futures markets, self-directed retail investors are more engaged than ever. Members of the old guard, like Charlie Munger, are passing away after decades long careers that allowed them to achieve guru-like status. The question becomes, who steps into the spotlight once occupied by the...

In a recent Bloomberg column, a startling revelation emerged: Financial institutions now generate a staggering 90% of their new revenue from asset price increases, rather than from attracting fresh clients. The truth is becoming clear – most financial institutions are heavily reliant on the significant 10% of their clients for a whopping 90% of their revenue. Join us this week on "Truth or Skeptic...

Why are bonds down so much this year when stocks are up? If they're both looking at the same world, you would think they would trade similarly. On this week's episode, Dylan asks Tom to explain the discrepancy. Tune in to hear Tom's explanation and why he thinks Dylan is a victim of the types of questions old men ask.

The most common reason we hear about people being passive investors is fear of risk. Risk of the unknown. However, we've dedicated our professional careers demonstrating outlier risk rarely happens and even when it does hit, markets absorb and recover almost immediately. War. Pandemic. Markets have a resiliency that's a function of their efficiency. The only real threat anymore is size. Sizing ina...

Scan a handful of newspaper headlines and you might thing the world is worse off than it's ever been. Now look at a chart of the stock market over the last 9 months and you'll have a different takeaway. On this week's episode Tom admits to being "public" and wrong about what the market truly reflects. Also, in light of the strikes in the auto industry, is the private sector actually more efficient...

If you have a set of unique talents, there's no better time to look for a job or ask for better compensation than at a time when the labor pool is nearly empty. Unemployment is well below 4% and the number of people seeking jobs is small. Should we really be surprised labor unions are threatening to strike or already striking? Also, what's driving the DOJ's pursuit of Google? Is it because they re...

We're seeing governments intervening in markets on multiple continents. In China, state employees have been banned from using foreign mobile phones. In Europe, the EU enacted new regulations with hopes of spurring competition. Are these moves out of desperation or just low hanging fruit for regulators looking to say they're fighting for the little guy? Tom and Dylan discuss this and more on this w...

 If financial institutions had a three strike rule, Wells Fargo would have been out a long time ago. The bank is back in the news this week after being fined yet again. Financial reprimands haven't worked thus far. The question becomes, when do regulators threaten to shut down the bank? On this week's podcast, Tom and Dylan take a look at the situation with Wells Fargo, the impact of just a handfu...

The housing crises of 2008 was in large part caused by mortgage lenders approving loans to people they knew couldn't afford them. The lenders then turned around and sold those mortgages to investors in the form of securities. Lenders made money underwriting and money selling securities. But when borrowers defaulted, lenders faced no risk. They had no skin in the game. On this week's episode, Tom a...

There's a financial graveyard of fund managers who made a right call on the market which paid off huge. Maybe it was the housing crisis. Maybe it was the dot com bubble. When it comes to finance, rock star status can be attained with just one right call. It doesn't matter if the last right call you made was the 1987 crash. Do it once and suddenly, you're assumed "to know." In truth, no one knows a...

A basic tasty tenant is to put time on your side. Trade small, give yourself time to be right, and recognize that markets are random. Dylan Ratigan wants to understand an irony in that sentiment. Tom has taken big and seemingly risky shots. Is there a flaw in tasty's core tenants? Tom gives some nuance on this week's episode of Truth or Skepticism.