Ben Carlson
Director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. Writes the A Wealth of Common Sense blog and co-hosts the Animal Spirits podcast with Michael Batnick.
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What they believe
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The Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates as long as inflation stays above target and economic growth remains strong.
The Fed is probably going to keep hiking interest rates because inflation is higher than they'd like and economic growth remains strong.
awealthofcommonsense.comSaid 27 Sept 2026This on korrents
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This period has been one of the best times for individual investors to outperform the market.
Ironically, this has likely been one of the best times to outperform as an individual investor.
awealthofcommonsense.comSaid 25 Sept 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
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Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 20 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates as long as inflation stays above target and economic growth remains strong.
The Fed is probably going to keep hiking interest rates because inflation is higher than they'd like and economic growth remains strong.
Strange Times Said 27 Sept 2026
Raising interest rates cannot bring down energy prices driven by a war.
But raising short-term interest rates isn't going to stop the war in Iran to bring energy prices back down.
Strange Times Said 27 Sept 2026
Inflation could stay elevated for a while even as the Fed keeps raising rates, because of war-driven costs and AI capital spending.
It's possible inflation will remain high for some time even if the Fed keeps raising rates because of the war and AI capex binge.
Strange Times Said 27 Sept 2026
Show 17 more
This period has been one of the best times for individual investors to outperform the market.
Ironically, this has likely been one of the best times to outperform as an individual investor.
Most Stocks Are Losers Said 25 Sept 2026
Mega-cap stocks are unlikely to dominate the stock market forever.
I suppose it's possible mega caps will rule the stock market for all of eternity but I wouldn't bet on it.
Most Stocks Are Losers Said 25 Sept 2026
This is one of the hardest environments ever for active fund managers to outperform.
You could make the case that this is the hardest environment of all-time for active managers.
Most Stocks Are Losers Said 25 Sept 2026
Venture capital investing is a power-law strategy where a small number of big winners are expected to make up for many losses.
Venture capital is a power law strategy by design. The hope is 1-2 big winners make up for all of the other losers.
Can You Be a Boglehead Tech Investor? Said 24 Sept 2026
Companies are staying private longer partly because private-market investors have overvalued them.
One of the reasons so many companies are staying private longer is because private market investors overvalued them.
Can You Be a Boglehead Tech Investor? Said 24 Sept 2026
Venture investments are essentially lottery tickets for individual investors.
Just know those investments are essentially lottery tickets.
Can You Be a Boglehead Tech Investor? Said 24 Sept 2026
Rising concentration in the stock market is a feature of bull markets rather than a warning sign.
Stock market concentration is a bull market phenomenon.
It’s a Concentrated World Said 6 Sept 2026
The weight of the largest US companies in the index matches their share of the earnings, so the concentration is justified.
The market cap weights make sense relative to the fundamentals.
It’s a Concentrated World Said 6 Sept 2026
Whatever AI does to the size of the pie, it will most likely increase concentration in the market and the economy.
Even if AI makes the pie grow bigger, it feels like a better bet that it will only increase the level of concentration in the stock market and economy if the past is a good predictor of the future.
It’s a Concentrated World Said 6 Sept 2026
Portfolios get changed because of life events far more often than because of market events.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned working in wealth management all these years is that portfolio changes in client accounts happen more frequently from life events rather than market events.
How to Invest When Your Portfolio Gets Bigger Said 3 Sept 2026
Saving dominates returns early in a career and returns dominate saving later, because compounding is back-loaded.
How much you save has a far greater impact than your investments early on in your career. But as your portfolio grows, investment returns swamp your savings because of the wonders of compounding.
How to Invest When Your Portfolio Gets Bigger Said 3 Sept 2026
The United States is not at risk of a financial crisis caused by the size of its government debt.
So my baseline assumption is that people will continue complaining about the trillions of dollars we have in debt but it won’t lead to a financial crisis.
My Most Contrarian Opinion Right Now Said 28 Aug 2026
The real danger of high government debt is the policy errors it provokes, not a debt crisis.
But I am worried about high government debt levels causing policy errors.
My Most Contrarian Opinion Right Now Said 28 Aug 2026
Government borrowing through the financial crisis and the pandemic was a good trade, because it repaired household balance sheets.
I think the fact that the government took on debt during two crises to help households was a good trade-off.
My Most Contrarian Opinion Right Now Said 28 Aug 2026
Losing money periodically is a normal part of owning stocks, not a sign that something has gone wrong.
Occasional downturns in the stock market are perfectly normal. You have to get used to losing money if you want to survive the stock market.
10 Things You Need to Know About Investing in Stocks Said 27 Aug 2026
There is no average year in the stock market; the long-run average only shows up over a very long horizon.
There is no such thing as an average experience in the stock market until you’ve been investing for a very long time.
10 Things You Need to Know About Investing in Stocks Said 27 Aug 2026
Stock market history is too short to settle much: it holds only three non-overlapping thirty-year periods.
But if you think about this another way, there have only been three non-overlapping 30 year periods in modern stock market history.
10 Things You Need to Know About Investing in Stocks Said 27 Aug 2026
Beliefs others hold too
The United States is not at risk of a financial crisis caused by the size of its government debt. 2 hold this
So my baseline assumption is that people will continue complaining about the trillions of dollars we have in debt but it won’t lead to a financial crisis.
My Most Contrarian Opinion Right Now Said 28 Aug 2026
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 12 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Liked Good Material
Good Material by Dolly Alderton A simple story about a struggling stand-up comedian going through a difficult break-up. A funny, sweet book. I enjoyed it.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Liked High Fidelity
However, the book gave the main character far more depth than the movie.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Liked The Handmaid’s Tale
I liked the book a lot more than the show but watching the show helped me appreciate the book more.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Show 9 more
Loved 11/22/63
11/22/63 by Stephen King Somehow this was my first Stephen King novel.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Liked The Four Things That Matter Most
Someone recommended this book after my brother passed away. I didn’t want to read a bunch of books about grief, but this one struck a chord. I wish I had read it before he died.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Liked Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
Come for the stories about one of the msot storied franshises in entertainment history. Stay for the business and leadership lessons from Lorne Michaels.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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What others say about Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live →
Loved Best Movie Year Ever
Raftery makes a compelling case that 1999 was the best movie year ever.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Loved The Breaks of the Game
I’ve heard numerous sportswriters call Halberstam’s chronicle of the Portland Trailblazers’ 1979-80 season the best sports books ever written.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Loved The Inner Game of Tennis
The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey I love books like this with a simple message using sports as an analogy for other aspects of life.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Liked A Night to Remember
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord This one was perfect for an audiobook.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Loved 1929
1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin The reverberations from the Great Depression are still being felt 100 years later so I loved learning more about the characters involved in that fateful time.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Loved Breakneck
Breakneck by Dan Wang Wong does an excellent job at objectively looking at the pros and cons of the Chinese and American societies. The engineering state versus lawyerly society as a way to explain each nation is brilliant.
awealthofcommonsense.com 21 Dec 2025
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Where they publish
Blog awealthofcommonsense.com His daily blog on markets, personal finance and investor behaviour.
Recent
- Talk Your Book: The Case for Value and Momentum 19 Oct 2026 Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by Victory Capital: To learn more about Victory Capital click here: www.vcm.com On today’s show, we discuss: Why value and momentum can be complimentary factors How buffering reb…
- 15 Year Stock Market Returns 19 Oct 2026 When to expect lower stock market returns.
- What’s the Right Level of Interest Rates For the Economy? 16 Oct 2026 A historical look at the importance of interest rates.
Show 7 more
- Hedging the AI Trade 15 Oct 2026 Diversifying stock market concentration.
- Animal Spirits: Are Higher Rates Worse Than ZIRP? 14 Oct 2026 On today's show we discuss stock market concentration worries, how to hedge AI market risk, maxing out your 401k, who got richer this decade, AI is crowding out the economy, tariffs didn't work, higher rates are crushin…
- Is It Time to Rebalance Your Portfolio? 13 Oct 2026 It's time to rebalance your portfolio.
- Talk Your Book: Will AI Debt Cause a Recession? 12 Oct 2026 Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by JP Morgan: To learn more about the JPMorgan Strategic Income Opportunities Fund click here: https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/products/jpmorgan-strategic-inco…
- Betting on Hope 11 Oct 2026 Why people make longshot bets.
- The Winners & Losers of Higher Interest Rates 9 Oct 2026 Why higher interest rates are a problem.
- Better Investment Right Now: Stocks or Bonds? 8 Oct 2026 Should you have 100% of your portfolio in stocks? Should you have 100% of your portfolio in bonds?
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
x.com @awealthofcs Posts links to his blog and charts.
Recent
- I've been investing for 20+ years Never bought bonds in my personal acct before Yields have been too low and I was never at a stage in life where it mattered For the past few weeks I've been buying bonds for the first time Equal parts exhilarating and boring 15 Oct 2026
- Finance Twitter is the best Ppl are sending out panic tweets while the S&P 500 is 1% off all-time highs I don't know how ppl properly gauged sentiment before social media existed 15 Oct 2026
- Last week someone asked me if they should put 100% of their portfolio in bonds now that rates are higher Someone else asked why they shouldn't just always have 100% in stocks What's a better investment right now: Stocks or bonds? 15 Oct 2026
Show 17 more
- Last week: Hyperscalers are impervious to the Fed raising rates. Higher rates can't touch the AI boom This week: The Fed is killing the AI trade! How could they do this?! 15 Oct 2026
- Did Kelly Clarkson say something negative about semiconductor stocks too? 14 Oct 2026
- Top 10 S&P 500 holdings as a % of market cap by year: 1980 - 26% 1985 - 20% 1990 - 20% 1995 - 18% 2000 - 24% 2005 - 20% 2010 - 19% 2015 -19% 2020 - 25% Today - 40% Pretty wild 14 Oct 2026
- Americans spend more $$$ on the lottery than sporting events, books, video games, movie tickets & music combined Most bets on prediction markets have a low chance of winning Most NFL bets are parlays Why do so many people like making longshot bets? 14 Oct 2026
- Animal Spirits: Are Higher Rates Worse than ZIRP? Stock market concentration is here to stay How to hedge AI market risk The degens are still here Rich ppl don't answer surveys anymore Why ppl love betting on longshots Tariffs were a terrible idea & more 14 Oct 2026 awealthofcommonsense.com
- Annualized S&P 500 returns over: 3 years +23.0% 5 years +13.9% 10 years +15.6% 15 years +15.2% 17 years +14.3% This is a generational bull market 13 Oct 2026
- 137k households now control 15% of all US household wealth 5 million households are worth $5 million or more But young ppl are also richer than older generations at the same age More ppl than ever are in the upper middle class The poor and middle class have also experienced significant wage gains since the 1990s The rich are getting richer but so is everyone else 13 Oct 2026 awealthofcommonsense.com
- We had a call w/one of our hedge fund managers in Sept 2008 on a Friday He told us to get as much cash as we could from an ATM b/c he was worried some banks wouldn’t open on Monday 12 Oct 2026
- I am worried about stock market concentration! I am worried about government debt levels! I am worried about higher interest rates! I am worried about an AI bubble! -Literally every pundit right now what if they're all wrong (again)? 12 Oct 2026
- My kids watched Angels in the Outfield today and this movie has a sneaky amazing cast in hindsight: Joesph Gordon Levitt Danny Glover Christopher Lloyd Matthew Mcconaughey Adrien Brody Dermot Mulroney Tony Danza Plus the pigeon lady from Home Alone 2 12 Oct 2026
- AI is the biggest risk everyone already knows about It checks all the boxes: Capex cycle, debt binge, concentration, speculation These are also the biggest companies in history collectively making this happen If anyone tells you they know how this will play out they are delusional 9 Oct 2026 awealthofcommonsense.com
- Sorry young ppl we didn’t build any new houses but have you considered living in a data center? 8 Oct 2026
- My AI agent is saving me so much time and making my life more efficient So you’re spending more time w/family? Not really Exercising more? Well no Relaxing? Nope So you’re actually just spending more time working Yes but it’s more efficient work! 7 Oct 2026
- Why is consumer sentiment at all-time lows with the stock market at all-time highs? Inflation? Housing? Wealth inequality? Politics? Social media? Surveys? All of the above? 7 Oct 2026
- Animal Spirits: Sudden Wealth Syndrome Speedball capitalism What stops the hyperscalers The top 0.1% is really rich The stock mkt doesn't care about higher rates It's a high beta decade Everyone hates inflation but keeps spending $$$ & more 7 Oct 2026
- The 10 year Treasury yield has gone from just under 4% to 5.3% this year Yet the S&P 500 is up more than 14% in 2026 Why aren't rising bond yields hurting the stock market? 5 Oct 2026
- We’re not reading Digger reviews He gave us Top Gun is what he did. He gave us Rain Man and Jerry Maguire In this house Tom Cruise is a hero! 4 Oct 2026
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
Podcast Animal Spirits Weekly markets podcast he co-hosts with Michael Batnick.
Link verified 4 Sept 2026.
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