The best conference of the year did not disappoint.
Everybody was here for Future Proof. And the fact that it’s a less formal festival makes it that much better. It was great.
Josh Brown, Michael Batnick, Barry Ritholtz, and the whole crew are some of my favorite people in the business. So I’m rooting for them. Always have been.
But I come to this event every year for the same reason as everyone else, because of all the folks they bring together. It truly is an amazing community.
Monday night I found myself talking to Barry, congratulating him on his new book – “How Not to Invest” – as the sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean.
One of the new friends I met at the conference, Caren, was pointing out how important it is to appreciate the beautiful sunset.
With so much going on, it can be easy to forget. Thanks Caren!
One of my favorite passages in Barry’s new book is when he talks about Charlie Munger’s famous line that it’s not about being smarter than everyone else.
You just have to be slightly less stupid.
The very next day, Robinhood Markets (HOOD) announced it start enabling short-selling for its customers.
In case you didn’t know, Robinhood has more than $200 billion in assets.
These folks now have the ability to bet on falling stock prices.
Traditionally, shorts need to sell those shares in the open market and pay margin interest along the way.
And they get to do this at night now, too, while the market isn’t even open.
For us, this is a win. The Robinhood announcement means humans now have more opportunities to be wrong.
Amazing!
Stay sharp,
JC Parets, CMT
Founder, TrendLabs