August 21, 2025 • 8 mins
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
From overpriced house wine to luxury condos and collapsing art markets, Chris Markowski exposes how arrogance, hype, and fear of missing out keep creating suckers of all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s real estate developers fueled by gullible pension funds or investors chasing the latest “must-have” status symbol, the lesson is timeless: don’t fall for the show.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
From overpriced house wine to luxury condos and collapsing art markets, Chris Markowski exposes how arrogance, hype, and fear of missing out keep creating suckers of all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s real estate developers fueled by gullible pension funds or investors chasing the latest “must-have” status symbol, the lesson is timeless: don’t fall for the show.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Suckers everywhere, all shapes, sizes, and pocketbooks, wallets as well.
I want to tell you a quick story, and this
is back way back when, way way way back machine
when I was first starting on Wall Street waiting tables
and bartending, and I worked at this phenomenal restaurant still there.
(00:39):
It's been there since the early nineteen eighties and the
Upper East Side, and I was a bartender there and
we had I mean, I've got some really great people
working there. I know, poor Leon Hess from hess Oil.
Every weekend the Jets would lose, He'd come in on
Sunday after a loss when they were home. Italian national
(01:02):
team soccer team came there. Tom Selleck, I just go
on and on and on all the people that came.
There's an absolutely unbelievable restaurant and I highly recommend it.
And we had our very difficult customers as well. You know,
people that were regulars allowed that we had to deal
with that, were rude to the staff and whatnot. But
(01:23):
again we took it on the chin. This one, this
one guy is to come in all the time, you know,
like being real showy, mouthy, real jerk, arrogant, whatever it
may be. Mader D pulls me aside. He goes watch this, Chris,
watch this. He goes tell him and this was the
(01:45):
house wine. It was a horrible wine. But again, this
is a long time ago. Maybe it costs the restaurant
maybe eight dollars a bottle, pino grease show. Why don't
you you present him this bottle? And then it's special spectacle.
We just got it in. It's unbelievable. And you know,
(02:07):
tell them it's one hundred and twenty dollars a bottle.
And I like it really and he's like, yeah, yeah,
watch watch watch watch, and yeah, I talk up the wine.
It is great. We just got it in. The fuck
I want it. I want to take it. You know,
it's one hundred and twenty dollars. Do you think I
can remember what? You know? The usual? I'm an arrogant,
jerk type customer. And he loved it. It's fantastic, super
(02:31):
Oh my god, it was great talking about Oh my god,
I'm gonna tell everybody about this is one of the
greatest wines ever. Boy, thank god. You know you couldn't
get at the liquor stores because they had the stuff
shipped in and they didn't have the apps back in
the day. But anyway, that was a that was a lesson.
It was a lesson to miss in regards to what
(02:51):
people value. Okay, I remember. I remember also as well,
seeing a play. It was the title of play with Art,
And I'm not big with going to musicals, but I
do like a play from time to time. Remember Alan
Alda was in this play and the whole thing was
about a piece of artwork that was nothing but a
blank canvas. And they're kind of making fun of the
(03:15):
art world in the play. Now, I remember during the play,
you'd have artists out there you can well, well, no,
it's all up interpretation, stepping up trying to interrupt the
damn play. I'm like, would you shut them anyway? What
am I getting to here? Suckers everywhere? It's a story
story here in the Wall Street Journal, a luxury real
(03:35):
estate builder's improbable comeback is starting to crumble. This guy
by the name of Michael Schwoe s h vo he's
going to lose his prized hotel and condo development in
Miami Beach because he couldn't sell them. Couldn't sell them again,
(03:59):
understand how real estate works. Okay, it is a schmo. Okay,
they're trying to hype stuff up. If you're here, Oh
my god, you're gonna be one of the few and
privilege that can get in there. Trust me, Okay, I
get the uh. The email invites to various different uh,
(04:21):
various different developments all the time. Oh, you can be
a part of this and one of the very few,
the privilege this, that and the next thing. Yeah, right, sure,
if that's the crowd that you're attracting, most certainly, I
don't want to be there. Some people do. Some people do, however,
(04:43):
not all the time, not all the time. And these
guys are they're getting burnt now. People are pulling back
from this and some of the prices that they're putting
on these properties. And it's happening all over the country.
It's funny. It's funny as well. Which I saw in
this is that uh is actually heat this guy and
(05:06):
you take a look at his resume, you take a
look at his resume and the trail of crap that
he has left behind. When it comes to real estate development,
you say to yourself, how in the world did he
get the money to do this? And before I even looked,
I said, let me guess. Let me guess a German
pension fund? Whata I? Honestly, the Germans must be some
(05:33):
of the worst investors I've ever seen in my entireland.
They're great rule followers. Oh, they're phenomenal rule followers. Okay,
you go to you go to Greece in Italy, or
there's a traffic jam somewhere to something going up to time,
they're you know, they're trying to out maneuver it. Go
on the side of the road, all that stuff. Germany
up up, They're gonna sit and they're gonna wait. They're
(05:53):
not gonna break any rules. You're not gonna see them
jaywalk ever do anything like that. But for whatever reason
it maybe they are always attracted to I don't know,
odd and off center and kind of weird things. Michael
Lewis wrote about this and his book Boomerang and their mentality.
(06:15):
To some degree, they always end up buying some of
the worst investment crap out there. Again, I'm trying to
get the psychology of it. But again, for investment connors,
you might as well just go to German German funds,
for crying out loud, pension funds, you name it. They'll
buy whatever crap you're selling. But again, the same thing
(06:38):
holds true with everything. Okay, you're taking a look at
the art market right now. That wasn't it wasn't that
long ago. It wasn't that long ago. You had all
these you know, oh, art market is so hot, and
again you private equity's going to buy into this and
we're going to collateralize these pieces of art. The whole
thing is collapsed. The whole thing is clap watches. Oh Man,
(07:04):
a Rolex is going for fifty grand out long ago
or now back down to ten. Why well again, suckers, suckers,
fear of missing out. I've got to be in. I
got to be in with the cool crowd. Yeah yeah, listen, okay,
if that's important to you and you can afford it,
(07:28):
I don't care. I don't care. Those people can afford
to blow, you know, ridiculous sums of money on some
painting that you know, looks like something I did in kindergarten.
God bless them. Okay, whatever works, don't be a sucker,
(07:48):
don't be a sorry. You got that, you know they
call it blank You money, you do whatever you want. Okay,
have at it, but don't don't follow this nonsense in
order to look cool. Watchdog on Wall Street dot com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Suckers everywhere, all shapes, sizes, and pocketbooks, wallets as well.
I want to tell you a quick story, and this
is back way back when, way way way back machine
when I was first starting on Wall Street waiting tables
and bartending, and I worked at this phenomenal restaurant still there.
(00:39):
It's been there since the early nineteen eighties and the
Upper East Side, and I was a bartender there and
we had I mean, I've got some really great people
working there. I know, poor Leon Hess from hess Oil.
Every weekend the Jets would lose, He'd come in on
Sunday after a loss when they were home. Italian national
(01:02):
team soccer team came there. Tom Selleck, I just go
on and on and on all the people that came.
There's an absolutely unbelievable restaurant and I highly recommend it.
And we had our very difficult customers as well. You know,
people that were regulars allowed that we had to deal
with that, were rude to the staff and whatnot. But
(01:23):
again we took it on the chin. This one, this
one guy is to come in all the time, you know,
like being real showy, mouthy, real jerk, arrogant, whatever it
may be. Mader D pulls me aside. He goes watch this, Chris,
watch this. He goes tell him and this was the
(01:45):
house wine. It was a horrible wine. But again, this
is a long time ago. Maybe it costs the restaurant
maybe eight dollars a bottle, pino grease show. Why don't
you you present him this bottle? And then it's special spectacle.
We just got it in. It's unbelievable. And you know,
(02:07):
tell them it's one hundred and twenty dollars a bottle.
And I like it really and he's like, yeah, yeah,
watch watch watch watch, and yeah, I talk up the wine.
It is great. We just got it in. The fuck
I want it. I want to take it. You know,
it's one hundred and twenty dollars. Do you think I
can remember what? You know? The usual? I'm an arrogant,
jerk type customer. And he loved it. It's fantastic, super
(02:31):
Oh my god, it was great talking about Oh my god,
I'm gonna tell everybody about this is one of the
greatest wines ever. Boy, thank god. You know you couldn't
get at the liquor stores because they had the stuff
shipped in and they didn't have the apps back in
the day. But anyway, that was a that was a lesson.
It was a lesson to miss in regards to what
(02:51):
people value. Okay, I remember. I remember also as well,
seeing a play. It was the title of play with Art,
And I'm not big with going to musicals, but I
do like a play from time to time. Remember Alan
Alda was in this play and the whole thing was
about a piece of artwork that was nothing but a
blank canvas. And they're kind of making fun of the
(03:15):
art world in the play. Now, I remember during the play,
you'd have artists out there you can well, well, no,
it's all up interpretation, stepping up trying to interrupt the
damn play. I'm like, would you shut them anyway? What
am I getting to here? Suckers everywhere? It's a story
story here in the Wall Street Journal, a luxury real
(03:35):
estate builder's improbable comeback is starting to crumble. This guy
by the name of Michael Schwoe s h vo he's
going to lose his prized hotel and condo development in
Miami Beach because he couldn't sell them. Couldn't sell them again,
(03:59):
understand how real estate works. Okay, it is a schmo. Okay,
they're trying to hype stuff up. If you're here, Oh
my god, you're gonna be one of the few and
privilege that can get in there. Trust me, Okay, I
get the uh. The email invites to various different uh,
(04:21):
various different developments all the time. Oh, you can be
a part of this and one of the very few,
the privilege this, that and the next thing. Yeah, right, sure,
if that's the crowd that you're attracting, most certainly, I
don't want to be there. Some people do. Some people do, however,
(04:43):
not all the time, not all the time. And these
guys are they're getting burnt now. People are pulling back
from this and some of the prices that they're putting
on these properties. And it's happening all over the country.
It's funny. It's funny as well. Which I saw in
this is that uh is actually heat this guy and
(05:06):
you take a look at his resume, you take a
look at his resume and the trail of crap that
he has left behind. When it comes to real estate development,
you say to yourself, how in the world did he
get the money to do this? And before I even looked,
I said, let me guess. Let me guess a German
pension fund? Whata I? Honestly, the Germans must be some
(05:33):
of the worst investors I've ever seen in my entireland.
They're great rule followers. Oh, they're phenomenal rule followers. Okay,
you go to you go to Greece in Italy, or
there's a traffic jam somewhere to something going up to time,
they're you know, they're trying to out maneuver it. Go
on the side of the road, all that stuff. Germany
up up, They're gonna sit and they're gonna wait. They're
(05:53):
not gonna break any rules. You're not gonna see them
jaywalk ever do anything like that. But for whatever reason
it maybe they are always attracted to I don't know,
odd and off center and kind of weird things. Michael
Lewis wrote about this and his book Boomerang and their mentality.
(06:15):
To some degree, they always end up buying some of
the worst investment crap out there. Again, I'm trying to
get the psychology of it. But again, for investment connors,
you might as well just go to German German funds,
for crying out loud, pension funds, you name it. They'll
buy whatever crap you're selling. But again, the same thing
(06:38):
holds true with everything. Okay, you're taking a look at
the art market right now. That wasn't it wasn't that
long ago. It wasn't that long ago. You had all
these you know, oh, art market is so hot, and
again you private equity's going to buy into this and
we're going to collateralize these pieces of art. The whole
thing is collapsed. The whole thing is clap watches. Oh Man,
(07:04):
a Rolex is going for fifty grand out long ago
or now back down to ten. Why well again, suckers, suckers,
fear of missing out. I've got to be in. I
got to be in with the cool crowd. Yeah yeah, listen, okay,
if that's important to you and you can afford it,
(07:28):
I don't care. I don't care. Those people can afford
to blow, you know, ridiculous sums of money on some
painting that you know, looks like something I did in kindergarten.
God bless them. Okay, whatever works, don't be a sucker,
(07:48):
don't be a sorry. You got that, you know they
call it blank You money, you do whatever you want. Okay,
have at it, but don't don't follow this nonsense in
order to look cool. Watchdog on Wall Street dot com
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!