Lagniappe

The guys take a look back at a crazy 1st quarter that has shown the market’s resilience. They discuss where the banking industry goes from here, how commercial real estate could factor into that, and how this first quarter was a classic example of why you stay invested in an equity portfolio through thick and thin.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

“So this is that classic wall of worry. Essentially the saying goes that a bull market is built on a wall of worry, meaning that generally the people that are optimistic about markets turn a blind eye to the headline risk and continue to invest and buy and average into markets during times of turmoil are generally rewarded. This first quarter is a classic example of that.” - Doug Stokes

“Over the short term, markets are a voting machine, and over the long term, they're a weighing machine.”  - Ben Graham

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate, qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

The guys once again turn their attention to Jerome Powell, Janet Yellen, and what the Fed will do in the wake of the recent bank failures. They dive into the global effects of those collapses including what happened with Credit Suisse and then look at what we can learn from the cyclical nature of human behavior.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

“Banks are not going to want to loan in this environment with the fear that people may have a run on their bank too. They may be the next dominant fall. Lending is just going to be a little bit more stringent in this environment, which curbs economic growth because we're a credit-based society; businesses [and individuals] borrow money to invest and grow.” - Doug Stokes

“Just from a macro standpoint, even though it was absolutely a bailout in terms of those two bank failures, the system on the whole would have really experienced a lot of stress. So even though it was a bailout, I think it probably was necessary to avert a bigger crisis.”  - Greg Stokes

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate, qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

No doubt, you’ve heard about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. But do you know how it happened? Or why? Greg and Doug Stokes give these answers and more about how the government stepped in and what the biggest bank crash since 2008 means for the economy moving forward.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

“This all just leads me to believe that a prudent strategic asset allocation approach and not trying to jump in and out is even more important nowadays because It seems like information, as quickly as it gets across the wires, prices move so quickly that somebody attempting to jump in and out of the market and saying, ‘look, I'm going to take a break until things settle down.’ It's almost impossible to do that nowadays because everything just bounces around so quickly.” - Doug Stokes

“It seems as of now, that things have chilled out, and the markets are positive now that CPI numbers have come out. But the interesting thing is what the Fed does. In terms of raising rates, they raise until something breaks, is the saying. And obviously, something broke.”  - Greg Stokes

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

This week’s guest is Jim Cobb, a New Orleans defense attorney and the author of the award-winning book, Flood of Lies: The St. Rita's Nursing Home Tragedy. Jim won two high-profile cases defending the owners of nursing homes in St. Bernard, LA and Hollywood Hills, FL. The trio discusses these trials, the state of today’s judicial system, and even Jim’s under-the-radar New Orleans restaurant recommendation. 

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[05:39] - “The only thing written on the front of the Supreme Court is ‘equal justice under law’. That's their motto. That's our motto. Let me suggest to you folks that there's nothing equal about the justice that is dispensed in this country. The only thing that gets you close to equal justice is if you’ve got a lot of money.” - Jim Cobb  

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

Back in the studio, the Stokes Brothers catch up after the Mardi Gras break. They examine why bad economic news is good news for the market and vice versa, and why the real estate market across the country has come to an abrupt halt.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[01:25] - “Interest rates are moving around like crazy at this point, and that's just the market trying to figure out where this is ultimately going to land with the Federal Reserve. I'm still in the camp that we're going to see continued declines in inflation.” - Doug Stokes  

[12:40] - “My sort of base case is that there's just not going to be a whole lot of activity in housing, and either we're going to have sort of a sideways market in housing until rents sort of catch up, or maybe we have a decline in interest rates, which decreases that affordability gap. But as it currently stands, there's just a massive gap between what you can afford in rent versus the comparable house to buy. So no houses are affordable at this point.” - Doug Stokes  

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

In this week’s episode, the guys welcome on Rob Koyfman, CEO and co-founder of Koyfin. His company offers live market data and powerful analytical tools in a modern, intuitive format.

Rob, an expert at taking the macro perspective, discusses emerging markets, inflation, efficiency in the tech sector, and making industry-leading data available for everyone, no matter the size of the portfolio.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[28:06] - “Maybe this whole [tech] layoff spurs the next wave of growth and technology by having all of these people that are intelligent coming together and saying, we've got to create a new product instead of being employed by one of these mega-firms.” - Doug Stokes  

[35:50] - “I'd say the real power of our tool is the customization and the fact that you have hedge fund managers and students using the tool in different ways. So we want to offer that customization to all of our users and basically offer all that data in one place so that they can customize the workflow to what they're trying to achieve.” - Rob Koyfman

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

As the Stokes Brothers prepare for Mardi Gras in New Orleans, they reluctantly continue their ongoing conversation about the Fed and inflation. They’ll also look at rolling 30-year returns and delve into the legacy of Charlie Munger and the uneasy future of crypto.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[06:14] - “I think what's happened is the market, on the whole, was surprised, positively, about the strength of the American consumer and the economy in spite of the fact that the Fed raised rates on the most rapid pace in history from basically nothing to where we're at right now. And the economy on the whole really hadn't slowed down.” - Greg Stokes

[13:08] - “Discussion on markets is an exercise in futility and keeping people invested and towards an objective of long-term planning and discipline is really what this all this is all about.” - Doug Stokes  

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

The Stokes’ consistently lean toward the optimistic side of thinking, but this week, they’ll take a look at data/opinions on both sides of the coin. 

The guys examine the national focus shifting away from the Fed and toward corporate profit margins, why companies becoming more efficient is a bullish sign for the economy, and how diversification is the right strategy no matter the economic outlook.

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[09:44] - “Diversification is basically always saying that you're sorry because one part of the portfolio is not going to be working. So whether you're in stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, gold, whatever, a diversified portfolio should be set up for various outcomes with the emphasis on, we tend to lean more towards optimism than pessimism in our allocation approach.” - Doug Stokes  

[18:15] - “It's always good to look at alternate viewpoints and there are a lot of smart people on all sides of the equation. Usually, the ones that try to try to scare you positively or negatively are the ones to ignore.” - Greg Stokes

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

In this week’s episode, Greg and Doug Stokes focus on the long-term success of the stock market and not getting caught up in the next big thing. 

They’ll also take a look at tech companies shedding excess employee luxuries, the cyclical nature of trendy investment sectors, and the dichotomy of how inflation/employment news is viewed. 

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[010:44] - “It could be a cryptocurrency or a tech stock, or some software, etc. And now all of a sudden people are saying, wait, when are these businesses going to earn money? When are they going to pay dividends? As soon as that particular mindset shifts, then the Warren Buffet strategy, or others like him, starts to take hold. So we're big proponents of saying we don't know what the market's going to do over the next months or years really, but if we buy a collection of businesses that are growing their revenues and earnings and have pricing power and customers like them, then we feel pretty good about long-term prospects.” - Doug Stokes  

[15:40] - “The issue with the [concept of]  investing versus gambling is that dichotomy of returns or the percentage difference in returns of periods of time. In the stock market, you have to be willing to grind through some horrible times.” - Greg Stokes

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The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.

While the negative narratives swirl, Doug and Greg Stokes look at the actual data to find encouraging signs in the markets. 

The guys also examine the latest tech layoffs and what they mean for the macro economy and they question why people listen to “investor gurus" and why pessimism is seen as a sign of intelligence today. 

Key Takeaways

Quotes

[03:55] - “Bull markets climb a wall of worry, and every negative headline can be exacerbated into something that's doomsday worthy.” - Doug Stokes  

[20:46] - “Having an optimistic mindset with the understanding that things happen over time and having diversification built into the portfolio for that low probability event makes a lot more sense to me than shifting entirely to a bias or mindset for whatever reason.” - Doug Stokes

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Disclosure

The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.