“Welcome to our monthly newsletter on finance and investing! In this edition, we will provide you with updates on the latest market trends, expert insights on investing strategies, and valuable tips on managing your personal finances. Stay tuned for engaging articles and informative resources to help you make informed decisions and achieve your financial goals.”
WHAT’S NEW
Yes, the above intro was written by “artificial intelligence,” specifically (you guessed it) ChatGPT, the hot new tool developed by OpenAI. After a few false starts, this is what it came up with when I prompted, “write an introduction for a newsletter about finance and investing.”
ChatGPT has dominated my Twitter feed for the last week or so (relegating the FTX debacle to second place for now). I’ve seen everything from shrugs to prophetic announcements that this is the beginning of the end for humanity.1
So will this be the next iPhone or the next Alexa? For now, I’m definitely more on the “shrug” side of the spectrum. The tech looks cool and will certainly be useful in specific applications, but will it revolutionize education or put a million writers out of work? Doubtful.
Pardon my skepticism, but I’ve been waiting a decade for autonomous cars and a virtual assistant that doesn’t suck. As we proceed through the Roaring Twenties 2.0 and watch Big Tech scale the flat part of the S-curve, I’ll be taking the wait-and-see approach. Or maybe I’ll just have ChatGPT write this newsletter from now on. Who knows.
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MONEY READS
👉🏼 Why Hasn’t Sam Bankman-Fried Been Arrested Yet? by Ankush Khardori
“Prosecutors at the Justice Department cannot — and do not — simply indict people based on what they read in the press, no matter how damning it may seem. Even if they desperately want to charge someone, prosecutors have to conduct their own investigation.”
👉🏼 Owning Individual Bonds vs. Owning a Bond Fund by Ben Carlson
“Lots of people have very strong feelings about their bond strategy. Allow me to lay out the cases for and against holding a portfolio of individual bond securities.”
👉🏼 Investment Library: The Money Game by Frederik Gieschen
“Goodman was on a mission to rediscover the human side of the market among the emphasis on data and charts. He was fascinated by the players who seemed so passionate, compulsive even, in their pursuit of success. Even the professionals oscillated between rational analysis, intuition, and emotion.”
RECOMMENDATIONS
📺 VIDEO: This Top Gun Scene Is Like A Perfect Pop Song
The Nerdwriter, AKA Evan Puschak, has been making A+ videos for years. This one is just his latest. He also released a book of essays recently, which I can’t wait to read. Check out some of his other classic videos here, here, and here.
🎧 PODCAST: Brad DeLong on the FTX Collapse and the South Sea Bubble
Odd Lots is becoming one of my favorite podcasts. In this interview, an economic historian contrasts SBF and his cronies against history’s greatest charlatans, giving crypto a wedgie in the process. Packed with info, this was the rare episode that I listened to twice (and got a great book recommendation, too).
💻 ARTICLE: Underrated reasons to be thankful
A list of 30 hilarious, science-y reasons to be thankful, including maybe my favorite: “That electric leaf blowers now exist and perhaps we can develop a new understanding that it’s chill to not spew intermittent pitch-shifting mechanical shrieking sounds at deafening volumes all the time everywhere?”
THE JUKEBOX
Shoutout to
for sharing this one on Twitter. Dudes can dance. And it's mesmerizing.MY LIFE
It’s been almost three months since I quit my cushy banking job and leapt into entrepreneurship. The freedom is wonderful, but I’d be lying if I said it was all rainbows and unicorns; this sh*t is hard. Exhilarating, but still hard. Here are some of the biggest pros and cons of leaving the corporate world.
Pro: Total autonomy. I can do what I want, when I want, from where I want. I’m no longer chained to my desk.
Con: Sometimes I miss having a list of tasks that need to get done that day or that week. When there’s external accountability, you don’t have to rely so much on internal motivation.
Pro: That feeling when someone recognizes your value and trusts you enough to sign on as a client - and part with some of their hard-earned money.
Con: No more steady paychecks. No more yearly bonus. No more stock options.
Pro: The first half of my career was in the Big 4 where very little time is wasted. Then I “went corporate” and suddenly understood all the gripes about useless meetings. For years I suffered through mind-numbing conference calls. That is now over.
Con: I feel like I need to operate at 100% efficiency 100% of the time. There are no breaks. I can’t fold my laundry during a meeting. I can’t listen to music while doing mindless work. I have to always be “on”.
Pro: I don’t have a boss.
Con: I don’t have anyone to pass off busywork to.
Pro: I am approximately 10,000% more creative now. I make every single decision on within my firm, from the website’s color scheme to mutual fund selection. I get to write and design and ideate and make nerdy Instagram videos.
Con: I have so many ideas there’s no chance I’ll get to even half of them. And I’m always thinking of new ones, plus a million to-do’s, reminders, updates, edits, etc. My mind is racing 24/7 and I’ve noticed I keep forgetting little things, like my keys or what I meant to grab in the garage. It’s weird.
Pro: I’m no longer working for the weekend. Every day (even Saturday and Sunday) is a day to build, to get better.
Con: My internal clock is out of whack. It’s tough to remember what day of the week it is. The main thing keeping me on schedule is my family. #humblebrag
If you are an aspiring business owner sick of the 9-to-5 grind, the decision to leave or not is what Russ Roberts calls a “wild problem.” Like getting married and having kids, there’s no way to know if it’s right for you until you try it out. So if you have the urge, I say do it! Just make sure you have a backup plan.
🤙🏼 Pura vida,
Sent with 💛 from Pittsburgh
Disclaimer: Nothing in this newsletter should ever be considered investment advice.
Thanks for reading! Please share or subscribe to this newsletter. And as always, let me know what you think.
Side question (channeling exurb1a): Why do we always assume that AI or robots or [insert futuristic computer thing] has malicious intent? If they are so much smarter than humans, won’t they be able to rise above our most base emotions (like greed, envy, lust for power)? Won’t they be able to perform a million rational, utilitarian calculations per second to determine that destroying mankind isn’t as ideal as cooperating and collaborating? I dunno.