GameStop shops mainly sold physical video games. They would also stock many resale items. The physical locations capitalized on the same type of business that comic book shops often had by selling collectibles as well. Many projected that Game Stop had a very limited future and had been cut out of the supply chain as many electronic games are simply sold online in recent years. Hedge funds had high interest in shorting GameStop at the end of 2020. In January 2021 a long position idea existed with the idea that a pivot to in-person gaming meetings could be a way forward. Michael Burry was featu ..read more

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Bubble is rising and appears to be starting to burst. Issuances continue to pick up. The entire basket of EV stocks that we discussed in Episode #68 of Mental Models Podcast is now DOWN 42 % (at the time of this recording). The market will fluctuate and we will likely experience a surge with the approval of the US government stimulus. At this point it’s fair to declare the EV bubble BURST! Observing the current market is analogous to being a sea captain in the 1700’s. One has to wonder whether there is really land up ahead, or is it an illusion? What type of winds are ..read more

Financial insecurity impacts our brain and body throughout human development. Stress is increased with more authority & responsibility. Lessons from of Robert Sapolsky’s book “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst” For more on best investing strategies, avoiding bias and learning about your brain BUY 5 star reviewed book “Understanding Behavioral Bia$” on Amazon - link here: http://amzn.to/2XHtsOE Continue to listen to Mental Models Podcast to avoid the biases that are keeping you from making a profit in the market. Stay safe and healthy out there! Sapolsky's book provides a ..read more

Brain and Investing lessons that we took from the book Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (2017). An excellent read covering many surprising insights about human behavior from individuals to global institutions. From a scientific standpoint this book highlights the unique cognitive capacity of Homo sapiens. We can imagine theoretical constructs that cannot actually exist. This tendency gave rise to our ability to create other fictions that we live by. These include monetary systems, corporations, and law structures. Group behavior and trust underlie many phenomena that we take for granted in our liv ..read more

Mental Models Podcasts predicts that this historic and unprecedented bubble will crash by the second quarter of 2021. Bubbles are driven by narratives. Bubbles have an end but timing the end of the bubble is unknown, which is the risky part, and very different than sports betting. Predictors are, volatility, age tilt, issuance, market cave, and acceleration. How do you understand bubbles...visiting with historical features of bubbles, academic literature, lessons learned from Saberpoint Capital’s review, biases, and looking forward into 2021. Robin Greenwood, Andrei Shleifer, and Yang You (201 ..read more

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented impact on the stock market. There have been clear wining and losing stocks in 2020, where will these stock go in 2021? We review the uncharted stock market ahead, stocks to consider travel, #RV, #technologies, & #paper products. So much more to think about with the change that the vaccines for COVID_19 will bring - #hope for a healthier economy. For more on best investing strategies, avoiding bias and learning about your brain BUY 5 star reviewed book “Understanding Behavioral Bia$” on Amazon - link here: http://amzn.to/2XHtsOE Continue to listen to Me ..read more

Analogies help when we are faced with new challenges. Current events matter for the stock market, let’s frame these current events in relationship to historical perspective of the 2016 election and the impact of the market. ‘Political theater’ impacts the stock market, with the unknowns of the last 4 years and the uncertainty of the control of the senate for 2021. The. Market is a forward looking mechanism and what is the market thinking about the future, in terms of the most positive and most negative outcomes. In reality even if you know the outcome, you don’t know the response that the mark ..read more

Analogies help our brains understand a current event often using a past event, but with our brain filling in unknown gaps and creating possible dangerous inferences. Comparisons between the flue, N1H1, SARS, 1918 flu or even 9/11 are likely dangerous for understanding how society and investments will be impacted. Current events are different than past events. Analogies start forming from a ‘target analogy’, such as a believed equivalent past event, then our brains begin a mapping process from ‘source analogy’. Interested in learning more about investing, analogies, YOUR #Brain, and how we thin ..read more

Biases investors need to be aware of include ILLUSIONS OF INVULNERABILITY and ILLUSIONS OF CONTROL. Due to years of investing success investors feel invulnerable and are making decisions from their mental model which needs recalibration, along with the bias Illusion of Control. For more on this topic explore FIVE STAR reviewed book “Understanding Behavioral Bia$” http://amzn.to/2XHtsOE There will continue to be an evolution to biases that impact us as the pandemic unfolds. Consider the REFLECTIVE EFFECT - the actions and beliefs investors have and are self reinforcing, we need to recalibrate t ..read more

Do you have the will power to keep from buying that stock too early? Humans need the will power to delay gratification - how do we get it? Discipline is important to success. Walter Mischel’s, research which is commonly called the “Marshmallow Test” with preschoolers and self-control provides great insight. Video of Marshmallow Experiment https://youtu.be/Rwxf1BTyKz4. Although, discipline is the key, such as waiting to buy or sell that stock at the perfect moment. Some of the toddlers in the Marshmallow experiment who ate the Marshmallow right away, went on to have metoric careers. What is mos ..read more