November 22, 2025 • 39 mins
Chris Markowski, the Watchdog on Wall Street, discusses the pervasive issues in the financial landscape, including government involvement in the economy, the failures of educational systems, and the challenges in the job market. He critiques the role of subsidies and government programs, emphasizing their negative impact on various sectors. Markowski also proposes solutions for improving education and employment opportunities, while warning against the pitfalls of debt and poor investment strategies. The discussion extends to the volatile nature of Bitcoin and the risks associated with financial scams.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Well, no one altered. Investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, trader.
Chris Markowski is the watchdog the Wall Street. Do you
want to answer exposing the lines and myths that the
big brokerage firms, the mainstream press, and the government are
pushing to keep Americans away from financial freedom.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You can't handle the truth.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Bringing America the truth about what really happens in the
financial world.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We're out here to indulge in fantasy, but in political
and economic reality.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
This is the watchdog Wall Streets.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
All right, Welcome back everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, yeah, we've been consistent. We've been consistent here on
the program for two and a half decades, well two
and a half decades here on air. And uh, you know,
I remember writing about this this George W. Bush was
on his way out the door, and at the time
(01:09):
I was really upset.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We was upset because he was he was basically Pelosi.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Was running the country at that point in time before
Obama came in, and Pelosi and the Democrats got together
Republicans and thought it'd be a great idea that we're
going to send checks to people. Remember that there's checks.
There was there was two rounds of bush checks. He
had won early in his term, and he had checks
on his way out the door. And I called it
the Incumbent Protection Act of two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It was a joke.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Here you go to Telly Way at the door by
yourself a new flat screen or plasma It was plasma
TV back at that point in time, I think.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, by plasma TV. Here you go, thank your local politician. Dumb.
And I've made fun of it for some time.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I I don't believe and that they talk about this
all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh there. We Republicans are a better steward words of
the economy.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
We can manage the economy better than the Democrats can.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You can. Okay, this is part of the problem.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Okay, neither party should be managing the economy. Okay again,
do the umpires of a baseball game manage the baseball game.
They don't manage the baseball game, They officiate the game.
You understand, Republicans should be about getting out of the way,
(02:34):
getting out of the way and letting the private sector
do its thing.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We don't need you, you understand, We don't need you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
What we need you to do is make sure that
the rules are in black and white, and they applied
fairly amongst all of the participants in the free economy.
We do not need you to go ahead and pick
and shot use winners and losers.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You know what, the probably one of the more evil words.
It really is.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's an evil word. It's not portrayed us that everybody
loves it. Subsidies. We gotta subsidize as well. It's too expensive,
so let's gotta subsidize. We gotta gotta subsidized Obamacare. Let's
go all the way back to The most consequential president
(03:30):
that I can think of is uh Lyndon Johnson and
his Great Society programs. And why I've called him the
most consequential president is you can take a look at
the Great Society programs and you can take a look
at what a disaster. What they fundamentally change the direction
(03:51):
of this country for the worst in every way, shape, matter,
or form, education, housing, welfare, you name it.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, what have they done? They made everything more.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Expensive, destroyed destroyed the family unit in many ways. Again,
I've gone over this, the amount of money that's been
spared war on poverty. It's been a failure and absolute failure.
Everything everything. And that's that's what we talk about here. Okay,
(04:29):
lets let's look at why don't we to what.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Three you think it? Look at three?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Three markets? And mcgerrn talked about this in the journal
as well this week. Three markets that again American families, uh,
you know, effective American families?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Education, right, housing? Healthcare? What is what? What is about
those three markets?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Let's let's think about what what about those three markets
are the same? Well, uh, the government's got heavily involved
in each and every one of them. Again, try to
try to find another market out there where the government
is not more involved.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Education, what a disaster you take?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Oh my god, whether it be whether it be government education,
whether it be college education, subsidize in college education, making
the price go up, the destruction of education on the
local level, test scores in the toilet. Housing, Oh yeah,
Fanny Freddy, let's uh, let's subsidize housing. Well, you gotta
(05:38):
go do that. You gotta have the government buy all
these thirty year mortgages. What do you think that does?
That just makes the price go up? Healthcare disaster, it's
right in front of our very eyes. What all these
things have in common? Government involvement and government subsidies. We
need to get away from all of that. There's things
(06:02):
we can do, there's things we can do getting rid
of they're now talking about I got this car. Oh
you know, but Democrats want to have a three year extension,
three year extension of the They're gonna cut a deal
three year extension of the Obama US Obamacare. Excuse me,
the Biden era COVID enhanced subsidies for Obamacare. So you're
(06:29):
just gonna throw money at a problem and think it's
gonna go away?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Is that what you think?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
What's gonna happen after three years when the prices go
up again, you can throw money.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
At it again, and you vote for these people.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
You vote for these people, it's gonna take tax dollars
and they're gonna flush them down the toilet. Anyway, moving on,
moving on here to watch this again talk about education
here in this country. And again it's been something that
I've been railing about for a very long period of time.
I don't know if you saw this story this past week.
I found fascinating. You had Jim Farley from Ford, Jim
(07:10):
Farley from Ford Motor came out and said that, and
again I'm shocked a little bit of candor here says
we are in trouble in our country. We're not talking
about this enough. We have over a million openings in
critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen.
(07:33):
He said, Ford is struggling right now to hire mechanics
at salaries that Ivy League grads might envy. And I
quote abey with a lift in tools and no one
to work in it. Are you kidding me? Nope, mister
Farley lamented, we do not have trade schools in this country.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Again.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Oh, he's not wrong. A few high schools teach trades
these days. What are community colleges? For the most part,
community college is just basically uh remedial high school education,
government worker training programs. What a joke. What do we
subsidize here in this country? Well, government, okay, created the
education industrial complex, the university industrial complex.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I called it, I've called it, I've written about it.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Hedge fund universities, all these colleges in the university hedge
funds with nonprofit status. Let's subsidize four year degrees. Let's
even subsidize more graduate education. Yeah, not everybody should go
to college. It's just the reality of the choice. Many
of these colleges knew if they were smart, they'd start
(08:42):
switching over to maybe having entrepreneurship programs coupled with trade schools.
There's a complete mismatch in.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Our labor market.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Why, well, people were making money, people in power were
making money. Everybody's got to go to college. Everybody's got
to get this type of a degree. And guess what
all the government's going to be more than happy to
lend you money.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Before that, banks are more than happy to lend you money.
Why because hey, you couldn't even.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Default on those loans and bankruptcy risk free transaction for
crime al out.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Think about that.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Why wouldn't as a bank, Hey, I can lend this
money out and you know what, will we have bankruptcy
laws in this country, but hey, they can't even declare
bankruptcy on this no matter what.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Wow, what a great gig that was, And in what
did that allow.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That that allowed for the price of colleges and universities
to go out because money was just hey, basically money
for nothing. A complete disconnect. Only one hundred and fourteen
thousand Americans in their twenties completed vocational programs during the
first ten months of last year, compared to one point
two to four million who graduated from four year colleges
(09:51):
and four hundred and five thousand who received advanced degrees.
Recent bachelor recipients in their twenties were five point six
percentage points. It's less likely to be employed than those
who finished vocational programs. Again, these are statistics I've talked
about before. Mike Rowe has talked about this at length
(10:12):
on a regular basis. I've I have over the years
talked about various different things that we can do to
get the cost of colleges and universities down. And again,
many many industries out there have various different barriers put
up again cann to call it regulatory capture, licensing requirements
(10:33):
to keep competition out. We talked about it here on
the program. Certain states requiring you know, degree programs and
licensing programs and our programs to be interior decorators. Really
yeah again, why well, again, the existing people don't want
anybody in Okay, That's why they set the bar that high.
(10:56):
You can talk about it in terms of law school, right,
if you can pass the bar, why do you have
to go to law school?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know, the material right anyway, neither here nor there.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I want to talk about something that I've been pushing
for some time. You want to say, I will. I'm
gonna give you the solution to our problems. I'm going
to tell Jim Farley the solution to his problems.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But like most things in America, this is the problem
with America today. Okay, things are simple but not easy.
It's kind of like proper money management, the things that
I talk about when it comes to managing money. Here
on the program, how we do think simple but not easy.
Get dieting simple but not easy. Getting and shape simple
(11:41):
but not easy.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Why is it not easy? Why are things not easy
in this country? Well, we have entrench powers. We have
entrench powers that write big checks, big checks to people
in Washington, DC. But anyway, okay, I want to talk
to you about Switzerland here for a second. Switzerland's education,
their educational program. They have an apprenticeship model over there. Now,
(12:05):
tell me tell me this wouldn't be great? Okay, why
can't we do this? They have a dual system approach
in Switzerland that combines on the job training at a
company at a company with classroom instruction at a vocational school.
Apprentices typically that are you know, you start fifteen sixteen
(12:28):
years old. You work three to four days a week
while attending school one to two days a week, spending
around eighty percent of their time gaining practical, real world skills. Now,
this is a partnership between companies, industry associations and what
(12:49):
the government does. All the government does is that the
curriculum aligns with labor market needs. So what do you
get in Switzerland pretty wealthycausey okay, highly skilled workforce and
low youth unemployment. Apprentices are paid a stipend and in
(13:10):
fact they're considered an investment by the company and they
can actually go on higher education. They cansue further education
or higher education after completing their program.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
This is even coo for people in my industry.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
They do this for banking, they do it for white
collar jobs as well, and it works.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Jim Farley needs one.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
He's a thousand some odd various different mechanics to do
these things. Why not have a program set up set
up where they're doing this working with the schools, where
you're training kids in school, they're getting paid.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'll tell you why. Teachers unions. That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Oh my god, they can't have this. They can't no, no, no, no,
you see people, you know, it's much more important in
American society today, according to the powers that be and
the teachers that we teach kids that put condoms on bananas?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Am I wrong? We gotta make sure, we gotta make
sure diversity is our strength.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
We gotta be got to teach her all that diversity
bull excrement rather than.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Teaching kids to make a living.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I mean, you think about it. We don't even teach
kids in schools about money, compounding interest, how to manage money,
a true life skill, something that everybody needs to do.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
No, no, no, no, no no no. We won't want
to do something like that. We have more important things.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
We want to teach something right sure, Oh yeah, and
America is a bad place and all that.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Enough again, simple simple solution to the problem.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Will we do it? I wish, I wish. And you've
heard me here on the program. You've heard me on
the program warning parents about allowing their kids to go
into debt to get a four year degree, to find
an inexpensive option. Again, you can afford to pay for
your kids, and you're not gonna send them off into
(15:17):
the world at twenty one years old.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Six figures in debt. That's great. Do that?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Do you want to do your kid a solid? Don't
allow them. Don't allow them to borrow a ton of
money to go to some school that they just can't afford.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
It doesn't make any sense anyway. Got to take another break.
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com is our site. Can become
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Speaker 1 (16:11):
Taking Wall Streets liars, crooks and sheets out behind the woodshed.
You're listening to the Watchdog on Wall Streets.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I have yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Going back, going back to our the infancy of Markowski Investments, when.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
We were sort of building this company.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
We went out and we were basically throwing life preservers
and life rafts, going out and helping people that were
victimized by the Jordan Belfort's of the world, the various
different penny stock outfits out there and helping those people
to get out and rebuild their portfolios. Some listened, some
(16:54):
didn Some again they believe that all of these garbage
companies that they put in their poor were magically going
to come back again. They were sold that well, you know,
moving on from that, going into the dot coms. When
we were right there and I'm watching it all transpire
before my very eyes, I can see, you know, these
(17:14):
various different companies that were going public left right, and
all over the place. Had no business model whatsoever. It
didn't matter. Everything was going up. Everybody was selling high
quality companies thinking they could be a day trader, E Trade, ameritrade,
all sorts of stuff, and they got crushed. They got
crushed again. We were made fun of a lot back then.
It was getting invited on programs before I had this
(17:37):
radio show in TV radio. You know, I was basically
a lot of you don't understand, it's a new economy.
Earnings don't matter anymore. And I'm like, uh, yeah they do,
Yeah they do again. You know, eventually they're they're going
to matter, and these companies are going to fall apart
because these companies are going to run out of money,
not an infinite spigot. That line by Clint Eastwood, AND's
(18:01):
gotta know his limitations. For years here we've been trying
very very hard to help investors to stay on the
right path.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
People. Eventually I can do this, I can do this,
I can go trade this way.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
They got my app, I got my software, and all
sorts of overcomfy and overconfidence comes when they start getting
things right right away and everything is going up, and
then then then it's it's double downtime.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Then it's double town time.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Because they got all these options that are now available
to them and all these these funky things. It's kind
of like, uh, it's almost like think about gambling. It's
like those parlay bets for crying out loud, and eventually
they lose.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Eventually they lose again.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I I think I might have mentioned this last week
on the program. I saw a commercial for e Trade
and E Trade's going way back when uh E Trade,
I remember it was his name is called Sakos, was
the guy Christsakos. He had a book he was handing
him out on the streets of Manhattan. E Trade had
an e Trade center in Midtown Manhattan. I used to
(19:06):
walk by and I said, this is a casino, and
literally a casino at Midtown Manhattan. People going in there,
and I said, oh, this is gonna go under. Yeah,
and went under when guess what the dot com you know,
bubble burst and everybody lost everything again. But again people,
people won't learn latest E Trade commercial Again. He gots
(19:27):
this uh slick, high octane spot. You got a guy
sitting at like a top of a skyscraper.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Windows is all AI generated.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
He's got like ten screens in front of him and
charts and all this stuff and all the tools and
E Trade's gonna give him to make him a great
trader out there.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Oh, we got pattern.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Recognition, instant analytics, marked it, radar buddy. Circus people, that's
what it is. It's a circus. The outcome will always
be the same. I tell my kids this. I tell them,
you gotta buy me a shirt.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Kids. This is directed at them, and in.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
The front of the shirt, it's gonna say, don't doubt me.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Okay, don't doubt me. You will lose more on this.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
When we get back Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com, we're
gonna talk a little bit about our old friend Nassam
Nicholas talib It little Fooled by Randomness.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com become part of the watchdog
on Wall Street, family, personal, CFO program, podcast, newsletter, watchdog.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
On Wall Street dot com. We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Chris Markowski is the watchdog on Wall Street. This is
(21:00):
the watchdog on Wall Street.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Quarterback.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
People of the Times say they find it fascinating. They
find it fascinating that I've never I've never been to
last Vegas, never been a lost. I'm actually the only
reason why I want to go to Vegas now is
that I do want to see a show at that sphere, thing,
I really do. But other than that, yeah, I don't
(21:38):
have any interest in casinos. I do not like to gamble.
It's the way, it's the way that I'm wired. And again,
maybe it's a little bit you've understanding, you again understanding odds.
I guess I'm understanding just simple sun zus the art
of war. Now, I know I know what was the
(22:03):
that that lady and I was hunger games. Maybe all
to be in your favor, the other your favor. They're
not in your favor when you go to a casino.
The odds are not in your favor. When you try
to datrade, when you try to out smart the market,
(22:24):
when you try to beat the big firms. So why
would I do something like that, Why would I participate
in something like that That's not you know, it sound
like spock. It's just not logical to me. It doesn't
compute in my mind. Okay, it's a waste of my time.
It's not something that I'm going to engage in. And
(22:46):
you know, I'm gonna say after year, I'm gonna say
decade after decade. I've come on this show and I
have proven this to you. I've explained this to you.
Prior to this program, I followed a economist and professor
by the name of Terrence Odan. You may have heard
(23:07):
me talk about him over the years here on the program.
He was studying at the end towards the end of
nineteen nineties, and this.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Is when the markets were going up.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Still took a look at discount brokerages, discount brought the
E trades, the America trades, the DLJ directs back of
the day, and all of the trading behavior. Okay, and
again losers losers, And it's the same. Now he did
(23:39):
it again. And now you've got all you got algorithms,
dark pools, all sorts of stuff, all these things out
there that are happening high frequency trail. You're not going
to win. Your odds are even worse. The house always
wins and you're never going to be the house. So
do not treat the market as gamble. Don't treat it
(24:01):
as a casino. If you do that, you're going to lose.
If you don't, then you treat it as a business,
as an investment building wealth, you will succeed. And again
you take a look at again. I talk a little
(24:21):
about Fooled by randomness. This is Nasim Nicholas Talib's first book,
and some of the things that human beings are not
hardwired to do this properly. People overestimate, overestimate what they knew,
what they thought they knew at the time of an event,
(24:43):
due to information that came out after the fact. It's
called hindsight bias. Human beings brains not made to analyze
why things happen exactly. That takes time and it's less
relevant than what will happen next. Again, often this as well, Okay,
(25:07):
luck mistaken as skill. Yeah, yeah, something, I see that
all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You get guys new traders out there. Oh just looking
at me. I'm doing great.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Oh you're fantastic, right right, sure, until it doesn't work anymore.
The other thing is people get married to ideas ges.
This happens often because again we get a lot of
people contacts on a regular basis and they've got a portfolio,
(25:37):
a porfoli it's a disaster. They've got zombie companies in
are not doing anything, but they were sold those companies.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Well, and they're married to them. And not only are
they down right now, but they're also.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Its opportunity costs that they're leading out that the money
could be actually doing something for them elsewhere. These are
just a few things that you need to understand. Okay,
So man's got to know his or her limitations.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We all do.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
We all do as long as you know them, and
then you work within certain parameters. Okay again, financial preparation,
financial prepar building wealth. Over time, you're gonna get where
you need to be and it's a much much smoother ride.
(26:31):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com. Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com
is our site again, personal CFO program, podcast, newsletter, all
sorts of great stuff. Take advantage of everything we got Watchdog.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
On Wallstreet dot com or give us a call eight
hundred four seven one fifty nine eighty four. We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
The only man who is taking on the Wall Street establishment.
You're listening to The Watchdog on Wall Street with Chris Markowski.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
I had to share with you this story. I gotta
kick out of this one because it brought back memories.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
It did. Who wants the who wants to managed ten
billion dollars?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Ten billion dollars, So it's made the story did make
national news.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
It did.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
There's the treasurer of the City of Chicago. Her name
is Melissa Khan years Irvin, and she came out again.
She's she's obviously looking to get attention because they're influencers now, and.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
She got it. She got it. She came out and
she said that she's.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Not gonna buy She's not gonna buy any more US
treasuries anymore. Chicagoan's do not want us to bankroll the regime,
the authoritarian regime of Donald Trump where he's waged war
on our city.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Again, she is the manager of the city's ten billion
dollar investment portfolio and she's not going to buy any
more US treasuries.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
HM.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Well, first and foremost, and you're managing, you're managing the
city's investment portfolio, meaning you've gotta have a large swath
of that portfolio in cash and cash equivalents. And if
you want to have cash and cash equivalents, one of
the most liquid cash and cash equivalents risk free part
(28:43):
is US treasuries. That's just reality, Okay, it is what
it is. Okay, why would you take away deny the
people of Chicago a safe and liquid investment choice. Anyway, Anyway,
you take a look at the City of Chicago and
the deficits and all that stuff. But anyway, you take
(29:04):
a look at her management of this. Because I did,
I did. I said, who is this lady, this Mollissaican years?
How in the world did she get this job? Well,
the portfolio, the portfolio, the City of Chicago's portfolio had
a three point six percent return, a three point six
(29:26):
percent return mediumc took the entire porfolio, the entire ten
billion dollars, and she bought the ten year treasury. They
would have gotten a better return than what she did.
It's pathetic, quite frankly. And as it turns out, yep, yep.
I found out she's running for Congress in the seventh
(29:48):
congressional district, and I said, well she's you know, how
did she become treasurer. Let's take a look at her resume. Yeah,
she worked for All State and Insurance. She worked for
All State Insurance. She did some claims management. I guess
she was one of those people that came out and said,
(30:10):
you know, your bumper only got dented this much, and
we're only going to pay this monch. She did human
resources and community engagement, meaning she was a community organizer,
and she's managing ten billion dollars for the city of Chicago.
Now I brought this up. Okay, this is part of
the problem. This is well, this is a problem. And
(30:32):
again I'm telling you right now, this is the problem.
Both parties and the Trump administration gives this lip service
as well. Talks about merit based, merit based back in
the day. I gotta go back. This is maybe fifty
eighteen years ago. Eighteen years ago, we decided to throw
our hat in the ring to manage some pension funds,
(30:55):
some government money, and we put together our proposal what
we were going to do. Our track record, Now, not
only we were less expensive than everybody else was going
to charge, and not only was our track record better
based upon what we could do.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
It didn't matter. Didn't matter. You See, it wasn't about.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
It wasn't about a better better performance, It wasn't about
better rates. It was about who hired a better lobbyist.
And that was the suggestion that we got. So you
guys need to hire a lobbyist and then then you
start paying off the right people. Uh, And I said,
you know, I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
No thanks.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Watch Dog on Wall Street dot com. Watch Dog on
Wall Street dot com will be.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
That you're listening to the watch Dog on Wall Street.
(32:01):
You should believe in math, not magic. You're listening to
the Watchdog in Wall Street with Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Oh Uie Lewis and the news. What a back, everybody?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It is the Watchdog on Wall Street show. All right,
this one I have to address as well, Bitcoin and
the bitcoin bouncing around, buying, buying, buying. You're gonna send
me and I do. I get messages, and I get
emails and I answer them. I do again, first and foremost. Okay,
(32:42):
when people get in contact with us various different ways.
The best way to do it is to just sign
up for our personal CFO program. Sign up there or
call US eight hundred and four to seven one fifty
nine eighty four operators there take information down. Just email
me whatever. We're gonna get to you as soon as
(33:02):
we possibly can. But people go to the top or
ones that are questions that you know, they may have
been losing money, they're in some sort of dire situation,
feel like that they're getting ripped off.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Okay, obviously have to get to them first.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I have gotten a lot of questions when it comes
to bitcoin and the valuate. What is the valuations? Where
do you see the value? Chris, where's the value? It's
been been very violent, so where's the value?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
I can't the amount of emails that I get in regards,
I can't answer them. Also, I'm going to answer them here.
I'll answer them on our podcast. How does one put
a value on.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Nothing? Okay, essentially it's nothing. I get it. You got
a mind for bitcoin and algorithm. There's only a certain
amount of top. I get it.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
But it's a certain amount of what.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (33:59):
A certain amount of it's a certain amount of nothing.
I've talked about this and your breakdown words. The word credit.
The word credit comes at the Latin there credira, which
means to believe.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Okay, bitcoin.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
I can't put a value on bitcoin because it's entirely
based on sentiment.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
That's all. Hey, listen here, people, if.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
The world believes that bitcoin is worth a million dollars
for a period of time, that bitcoin is going to
be worth a million dollars?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Do I think it's gonna be worth that? Again?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
I I'm gonna go go back in time here.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
I've talked about the Warren Buffett's teacher, highly recommend the book.
It's called The Intelligent Investor. It's been written by Benjamin Graham,
and he talks about the intrinsic value of something. And
any asset has an intrinsic value. Sometimes it's below intrinsic value,
(35:16):
and sometimes it's above its intrinsic value. What is the
intrinsic value of bitcoin? Explain it to me again, I'll
do the old Jeremy Irons in the movie Margin call.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Explain it to me. I'm a young small child or
a golden retriever.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Okay, explain to me the intrinsic I'll get people talking
about well to basement of the US currency, all this stuff,
and I get that I rant about that, all the
money printing that has taken place. I get that, But
at least the United States, the full truth and creditor
(35:59):
of the United States, we still got still got Yosemite
and Yellowstone, and you've got an economy that's yeah, the
envy of the entire world. Okay, I can't put a
value on something that is totally based on sentiment.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Again, with that being said, okay, could it go to
a million? Sure? Sure could. People were buying.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Those uh well, those NFTs and all that other stuff
a long time ago for a million that what was
a bored ape, those those eight pictures of monkeys or
whatever it was. I was a what in the world?
Speaker 2 (36:40):
For millions upon millions upon millions of dollars people bought
those things. Oh not so much.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Something is worth what somebody else is willing to pay
for it. And those times I can't get my arms
around that. Yeah, give me a business. Oh let me
take Let me take a look at a business. Let
me take a look at it. It's cash ful. Let
me take a look at its prospects. To me, let
me take a look at its management. And I can
take a look at that, and I could take a
look at see. Jeez, what is the multiple there? Does
(37:12):
this make sense? I can't do that with bitcoin. I
can't do that with crypto, Okay, just can't anyway. Anyway, moving,
I gotta mention this. It's gonna do some ripoffs, some
scams here as well. We've haven't really done much of these.
Over the past several weeks, I'm noticing more and more
(37:35):
lawsuits out there, more and more issues and customer complaints
when it comes to these various different structured notes that
were sold by many of the big investment houses out there.
They were sold as some sort of sort of bloody
cure ale for portfolios, and that they were going to
(37:55):
protect your downside and show you an upside and all
sorts of stuff, and they weren't so properly. Stifle Financial
has been getting whacked upside the head with one lawsuit
after another. Listen, if you think that again you might
have been sold these things improperly, just pick up the
(38:16):
phone eight hundred four seven eighty four call that number, okay,
or send me an email. Sign up for our personal
CFO program. We will help you out in the same
way that we've helped people out with every other financial scam.
Over the past three decades. They're out there. They're out there.
(38:36):
This one I saw as well, This is an advisor advisor,
and I see more and more of this as well,
and they get caught. Another advisor arrested for stealing, you know, millions,
millions from the client. And the funny thing is they
write these articles, they talk about the advisor, but they
never tell you what firm they work for. I'm seeing
more and more and more of these shenanigans from the
(38:57):
America Prizes and they are these other ones out there.
And I'm saying to myself, because I run a firm,
how do these firms not know that this is going on?
How do you not catch this? Can't get my arms
around that. I really can't anyway get the help you need.
Get to our website. Watchdog on wallstreet dot com. That's
(39:18):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Commerce, Personal CFO program, podcast, newsletter.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Chris Markowski is the Watchdog on wallstorgs
Well, no one altered. Investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, trader.
Chris Markowski is the watchdog the Wall Street. Do you
want to answer exposing the lines and myths that the
big brokerage firms, the mainstream press, and the government are
pushing to keep Americans away from financial freedom.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You can't handle the truth.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Bringing America the truth about what really happens in the
financial world.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We're out here to indulge in fantasy, but in political
and economic reality.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
This is the watchdog Wall Streets.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
All right, Welcome back everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, yeah, we've been consistent. We've been consistent here on
the program for two and a half decades, well two
and a half decades here on air. And uh, you know,
I remember writing about this this George W. Bush was
on his way out the door, and at the time
(01:09):
I was really upset.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We was upset because he was he was basically Pelosi.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Was running the country at that point in time before
Obama came in, and Pelosi and the Democrats got together
Republicans and thought it'd be a great idea that we're
going to send checks to people. Remember that there's checks.
There was there was two rounds of bush checks. He
had won early in his term, and he had checks
on his way out the door. And I called it
the Incumbent Protection Act of two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It was a joke.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Here you go to Telly Way at the door by
yourself a new flat screen or plasma It was plasma
TV back at that point in time, I think.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, by plasma TV. Here you go, thank your local politician. Dumb.
And I've made fun of it for some time.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I I don't believe and that they talk about this
all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh there. We Republicans are a better steward words of
the economy.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
We can manage the economy better than the Democrats can.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You can. Okay, this is part of the problem.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Okay, neither party should be managing the economy. Okay again,
do the umpires of a baseball game manage the baseball game.
They don't manage the baseball game, They officiate the game.
You understand, Republicans should be about getting out of the way,
(02:34):
getting out of the way and letting the private sector
do its thing.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We don't need you, you understand, We don't need you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
What we need you to do is make sure that
the rules are in black and white, and they applied
fairly amongst all of the participants in the free economy.
We do not need you to go ahead and pick
and shot use winners and losers.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You know what, the probably one of the more evil words.
It really is.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's an evil word. It's not portrayed us that everybody
loves it. Subsidies. We gotta subsidize as well. It's too expensive,
so let's gotta subsidize. We gotta gotta subsidized Obamacare. Let's
go all the way back to The most consequential president
(03:30):
that I can think of is uh Lyndon Johnson and
his Great Society programs. And why I've called him the
most consequential president is you can take a look at
the Great Society programs and you can take a look
at what a disaster. What they fundamentally change the direction
(03:51):
of this country for the worst in every way, shape, matter,
or form, education, housing, welfare, you name it.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, what have they done? They made everything more.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Expensive, destroyed destroyed the family unit in many ways. Again,
I've gone over this, the amount of money that's been
spared war on poverty. It's been a failure and absolute failure.
Everything everything. And that's that's what we talk about here. Okay,
(04:29):
lets let's look at why don't we to what.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Three you think it? Look at three?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Three markets? And mcgerrn talked about this in the journal
as well this week. Three markets that again American families, uh,
you know, effective American families?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Education, right, housing? Healthcare? What is what? What is about
those three markets?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Let's let's think about what what about those three markets
are the same? Well, uh, the government's got heavily involved
in each and every one of them. Again, try to
try to find another market out there where the government
is not more involved.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Education, what a disaster you take?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Oh my god, whether it be whether it be government education,
whether it be college education, subsidize in college education, making
the price go up, the destruction of education on the
local level, test scores in the toilet. Housing, Oh yeah,
Fanny Freddy, let's uh, let's subsidize housing. Well, you gotta
(05:38):
go do that. You gotta have the government buy all
these thirty year mortgages. What do you think that does?
That just makes the price go up? Healthcare disaster, it's
right in front of our very eyes. What all these
things have in common? Government involvement and government subsidies. We
need to get away from all of that. There's things
(06:02):
we can do, there's things we can do getting rid
of they're now talking about I got this car. Oh
you know, but Democrats want to have a three year extension,
three year extension of the They're gonna cut a deal
three year extension of the Obama US Obamacare. Excuse me,
the Biden era COVID enhanced subsidies for Obamacare. So you're
(06:29):
just gonna throw money at a problem and think it's
gonna go away?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Is that what you think?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
What's gonna happen after three years when the prices go
up again, you can throw money.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
At it again, and you vote for these people.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
You vote for these people, it's gonna take tax dollars
and they're gonna flush them down the toilet. Anyway, moving on,
moving on here to watch this again talk about education
here in this country. And again it's been something that
I've been railing about for a very long period of time.
I don't know if you saw this story this past week.
I found fascinating. You had Jim Farley from Ford, Jim
(07:10):
Farley from Ford Motor came out and said that, and
again I'm shocked a little bit of candor here says
we are in trouble in our country. We're not talking
about this enough. We have over a million openings in
critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen.
(07:33):
He said, Ford is struggling right now to hire mechanics
at salaries that Ivy League grads might envy. And I
quote abey with a lift in tools and no one
to work in it. Are you kidding me? Nope, mister
Farley lamented, we do not have trade schools in this country.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Again.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Oh, he's not wrong. A few high schools teach trades
these days. What are community colleges? For the most part,
community college is just basically uh remedial high school education,
government worker training programs. What a joke. What do we
subsidize here in this country? Well, government, okay, created the
education industrial complex, the university industrial complex.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I called it, I've called it, I've written about it.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Hedge fund universities, all these colleges in the university hedge
funds with nonprofit status. Let's subsidize four year degrees. Let's
even subsidize more graduate education. Yeah, not everybody should go
to college. It's just the reality of the choice. Many
of these colleges knew if they were smart, they'd start
(08:42):
switching over to maybe having entrepreneurship programs coupled with trade schools.
There's a complete mismatch in.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Our labor market.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Why, well, people were making money, people in power were
making money. Everybody's got to go to college. Everybody's got
to get this type of a degree. And guess what
all the government's going to be more than happy to
lend you money.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Before that, banks are more than happy to lend you money.
Why because hey, you couldn't even.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Default on those loans and bankruptcy risk free transaction for
crime al out.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Think about that.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Why wouldn't as a bank, Hey, I can lend this
money out and you know what, will we have bankruptcy
laws in this country, but hey, they can't even declare
bankruptcy on this no matter what.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Wow, what a great gig that was, And in what
did that allow.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That that allowed for the price of colleges and universities
to go out because money was just hey, basically money
for nothing. A complete disconnect. Only one hundred and fourteen
thousand Americans in their twenties completed vocational programs during the
first ten months of last year, compared to one point
two to four million who graduated from four year colleges
(09:51):
and four hundred and five thousand who received advanced degrees.
Recent bachelor recipients in their twenties were five point six
percentage points. It's less likely to be employed than those
who finished vocational programs. Again, these are statistics I've talked
about before. Mike Rowe has talked about this at length
(10:12):
on a regular basis. I've I have over the years
talked about various different things that we can do to
get the cost of colleges and universities down. And again,
many many industries out there have various different barriers put
up again cann to call it regulatory capture, licensing requirements
(10:33):
to keep competition out. We talked about it here on
the program. Certain states requiring you know, degree programs and
licensing programs and our programs to be interior decorators. Really
yeah again, why well, again, the existing people don't want
anybody in Okay, That's why they set the bar that high.
(10:56):
You can talk about it in terms of law school, right,
if you can pass the bar, why do you have
to go to law school?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know, the material right anyway, neither here nor there.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I want to talk about something that I've been pushing
for some time. You want to say, I will. I'm
gonna give you the solution to our problems. I'm going
to tell Jim Farley the solution to his problems.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But like most things in America, this is the problem
with America today. Okay, things are simple but not easy.
It's kind of like proper money management, the things that
I talk about when it comes to managing money. Here
on the program, how we do think simple but not easy.
Get dieting simple but not easy. Getting and shape simple
(11:41):
but not easy.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Why is it not easy? Why are things not easy
in this country? Well, we have entrench powers. We have
entrench powers that write big checks, big checks to people
in Washington, DC. But anyway, okay, I want to talk
to you about Switzerland here for a second. Switzerland's education,
their educational program. They have an apprenticeship model over there. Now,
(12:05):
tell me tell me this wouldn't be great? Okay, why
can't we do this? They have a dual system approach
in Switzerland that combines on the job training at a
company at a company with classroom instruction at a vocational school.
Apprentices typically that are you know, you start fifteen sixteen
(12:28):
years old. You work three to four days a week
while attending school one to two days a week, spending
around eighty percent of their time gaining practical, real world skills. Now,
this is a partnership between companies, industry associations and what
(12:49):
the government does. All the government does is that the
curriculum aligns with labor market needs. So what do you
get in Switzerland pretty wealthycausey okay, highly skilled workforce and
low youth unemployment. Apprentices are paid a stipend and in
(13:10):
fact they're considered an investment by the company and they
can actually go on higher education. They cansue further education
or higher education after completing their program.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
This is even coo for people in my industry.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
They do this for banking, they do it for white
collar jobs as well, and it works.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Jim Farley needs one.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
He's a thousand some odd various different mechanics to do
these things. Why not have a program set up set
up where they're doing this working with the schools, where
you're training kids in school, they're getting paid.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'll tell you why. Teachers unions. That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Oh my god, they can't have this. They can't no, no, no, no,
you see people, you know, it's much more important in
American society today, according to the powers that be and
the teachers that we teach kids that put condoms on bananas?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Am I wrong? We gotta make sure, we gotta make
sure diversity is our strength.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
We gotta be got to teach her all that diversity
bull excrement rather than.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Teaching kids to make a living.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I mean, you think about it. We don't even teach
kids in schools about money, compounding interest, how to manage money,
a true life skill, something that everybody needs to do.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
No, no, no, no, no no no. We won't want
to do something like that. We have more important things.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
We want to teach something right sure, Oh yeah, and
America is a bad place and all that.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Enough again, simple simple solution to the problem.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Will we do it? I wish, I wish. And you've
heard me here on the program. You've heard me on
the program warning parents about allowing their kids to go
into debt to get a four year degree, to find
an inexpensive option. Again, you can afford to pay for
your kids, and you're not gonna send them off into
(15:17):
the world at twenty one years old.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Six figures in debt. That's great. Do that?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Do you want to do your kid a solid? Don't
allow them. Don't allow them to borrow a ton of
money to go to some school that they just can't afford.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
It doesn't make any sense anyway. Got to take another break.
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com is our site. Can become
a part of the Watchdog on Wall Street family, our
personal CFO program, podcast, newsletter, all sorts of great stuff.
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com. We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Taking Wall Streets liars, crooks and sheets out behind the woodshed.
You're listening to the Watchdog on Wall Streets.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I have yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Going back, going back to our the infancy of Markowski Investments, when.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
We were sort of building this company.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
We went out and we were basically throwing life preservers
and life rafts, going out and helping people that were
victimized by the Jordan Belfort's of the world, the various
different penny stock outfits out there and helping those people
to get out and rebuild their portfolios. Some listened, some
(16:54):
didn Some again they believe that all of these garbage
companies that they put in their poor were magically going
to come back again. They were sold that well, you know,
moving on from that, going into the dot coms. When
we were right there and I'm watching it all transpire
before my very eyes, I can see, you know, these
(17:14):
various different companies that were going public left right, and
all over the place. Had no business model whatsoever. It
didn't matter. Everything was going up. Everybody was selling high
quality companies thinking they could be a day trader, E Trade, ameritrade,
all sorts of stuff, and they got crushed. They got
crushed again. We were made fun of a lot back then.
It was getting invited on programs before I had this
(17:37):
radio show in TV radio. You know, I was basically
a lot of you don't understand, it's a new economy.
Earnings don't matter anymore. And I'm like, uh, yeah they do,
Yeah they do again. You know, eventually they're they're going
to matter, and these companies are going to fall apart
because these companies are going to run out of money,
not an infinite spigot. That line by Clint Eastwood, AND's
(18:01):
gotta know his limitations. For years here we've been trying
very very hard to help investors to stay on the
right path.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
People. Eventually I can do this, I can do this,
I can go trade this way.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
They got my app, I got my software, and all
sorts of overcomfy and overconfidence comes when they start getting
things right right away and everything is going up, and
then then then it's it's double downtime.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Then it's double town time.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Because they got all these options that are now available
to them and all these these funky things. It's kind
of like, uh, it's almost like think about gambling. It's
like those parlay bets for crying out loud, and eventually
they lose.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Eventually they lose again.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I I think I might have mentioned this last week
on the program. I saw a commercial for e Trade
and E Trade's going way back when uh E Trade,
I remember it was his name is called Sakos, was
the guy Christsakos. He had a book he was handing
him out on the streets of Manhattan. E Trade had
an e Trade center in Midtown Manhattan. I used to
(19:06):
walk by and I said, this is a casino, and
literally a casino at Midtown Manhattan. People going in there,
and I said, oh, this is gonna go under. Yeah,
and went under when guess what the dot com you know,
bubble burst and everybody lost everything again. But again people,
people won't learn latest E Trade commercial Again. He gots
(19:27):
this uh slick, high octane spot. You got a guy
sitting at like a top of a skyscraper.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Windows is all AI generated.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
He's got like ten screens in front of him and
charts and all this stuff and all the tools and
E Trade's gonna give him to make him a great
trader out there.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Oh, we got pattern.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Recognition, instant analytics, marked it, radar buddy. Circus people, that's
what it is. It's a circus. The outcome will always
be the same. I tell my kids this. I tell them,
you gotta buy me a shirt.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Kids. This is directed at them, and in.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
The front of the shirt, it's gonna say, don't doubt me.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Okay, don't doubt me. You will lose more on this.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
When we get back Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com, we're
gonna talk a little bit about our old friend Nassam
Nicholas talib It little Fooled by Randomness.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com become part of the watchdog
on Wall Street, family, personal, CFO program, podcast, newsletter, watchdog.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
On Wall Street dot com. We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Chris Markowski is the watchdog on Wall Street. This is
(21:00):
the watchdog on Wall Street.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Quarterback.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
People of the Times say they find it fascinating. They
find it fascinating that I've never I've never been to
last Vegas, never been a lost. I'm actually the only
reason why I want to go to Vegas now is
that I do want to see a show at that sphere, thing,
I really do. But other than that, yeah, I don't
(21:38):
have any interest in casinos. I do not like to gamble.
It's the way, it's the way that I'm wired. And again,
maybe it's a little bit you've understanding, you again understanding odds.
I guess I'm understanding just simple sun zus the art
of war. Now, I know I know what was the
(22:03):
that that lady and I was hunger games. Maybe all
to be in your favor, the other your favor. They're
not in your favor when you go to a casino.
The odds are not in your favor. When you try
to datrade, when you try to out smart the market,
(22:24):
when you try to beat the big firms. So why
would I do something like that, Why would I participate
in something like that That's not you know, it sound
like spock. It's just not logical to me. It doesn't
compute in my mind. Okay, it's a waste of my time.
It's not something that I'm going to engage in. And
(22:46):
you know, I'm gonna say after year, I'm gonna say
decade after decade. I've come on this show and I
have proven this to you. I've explained this to you.
Prior to this program, I followed a economist and professor
by the name of Terrence Odan. You may have heard
(23:07):
me talk about him over the years here on the program.
He was studying at the end towards the end of
nineteen nineties, and this.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Is when the markets were going up.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Still took a look at discount brokerages, discount brought the
E trades, the America trades, the DLJ directs back of
the day, and all of the trading behavior. Okay, and
again losers losers, And it's the same. Now he did
(23:39):
it again. And now you've got all you got algorithms,
dark pools, all sorts of stuff, all these things out
there that are happening high frequency trail. You're not going
to win. Your odds are even worse. The house always
wins and you're never going to be the house. So
do not treat the market as gamble. Don't treat it
(24:01):
as a casino. If you do that, you're going to lose.
If you don't, then you treat it as a business,
as an investment building wealth, you will succeed. And again
you take a look at again. I talk a little
(24:21):
about Fooled by randomness. This is Nasim Nicholas Talib's first book,
and some of the things that human beings are not
hardwired to do this properly. People overestimate, overestimate what they knew,
what they thought they knew at the time of an event,
(24:43):
due to information that came out after the fact. It's
called hindsight bias. Human beings brains not made to analyze
why things happen exactly. That takes time and it's less
relevant than what will happen next. Again, often this as well, Okay,
(25:07):
luck mistaken as skill. Yeah, yeah, something, I see that
all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You get guys new traders out there. Oh just looking
at me. I'm doing great.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Oh you're fantastic, right right, sure, until it doesn't work anymore.
The other thing is people get married to ideas ges.
This happens often because again we get a lot of
people contacts on a regular basis and they've got a portfolio,
(25:37):
a porfoli it's a disaster. They've got zombie companies in
are not doing anything, but they were sold those companies.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Well, and they're married to them. And not only are
they down right now, but they're also.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Its opportunity costs that they're leading out that the money
could be actually doing something for them elsewhere. These are
just a few things that you need to understand. Okay,
So man's got to know his or her limitations.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We all do.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
We all do as long as you know them, and
then you work within certain parameters. Okay again, financial preparation,
financial prepar building wealth. Over time, you're gonna get where
you need to be and it's a much much smoother ride.
(26:31):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com. Watchdog on Wallstreet dot com
is our site again, personal CFO program, podcast, newsletter, all
sorts of great stuff. Take advantage of everything we got Watchdog.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
On Wallstreet dot com or give us a call eight
hundred four seven one fifty nine eighty four. We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
The only man who is taking on the Wall Street establishment.
You're listening to The Watchdog on Wall Street with Chris Markowski.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
I had to share with you this story. I gotta
kick out of this one because it brought back memories.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
It did. Who wants the who wants to managed ten
billion dollars?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Ten billion dollars, So it's made the story did make
national news.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
It did.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
There's the treasurer of the City of Chicago. Her name
is Melissa Khan years Irvin, and she came out again.
She's she's obviously looking to get attention because they're influencers now, and.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
She got it. She got it. She came out and
she said that she's.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Not gonna buy She's not gonna buy any more US
treasuries anymore. Chicagoan's do not want us to bankroll the regime,
the authoritarian regime of Donald Trump where he's waged war
on our city.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Again, she is the manager of the city's ten billion
dollar investment portfolio and she's not going to buy any
more US treasuries.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
HM.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Well, first and foremost, and you're managing, you're managing the
city's investment portfolio, meaning you've gotta have a large swath
of that portfolio in cash and cash equivalents. And if
you want to have cash and cash equivalents, one of
the most liquid cash and cash equivalents risk free part
(28:43):
is US treasuries. That's just reality, Okay, it is what
it is. Okay, why would you take away deny the
people of Chicago a safe and liquid investment choice. Anyway, Anyway,
you take a look at the City of Chicago and
the deficits and all that stuff. But anyway, you take
(29:04):
a look at her management of this. Because I did,
I did. I said, who is this lady, this Mollissaican years?
How in the world did she get this job? Well,
the portfolio, the portfolio, the City of Chicago's portfolio had
a three point six percent return, a three point six
(29:26):
percent return mediumc took the entire porfolio, the entire ten
billion dollars, and she bought the ten year treasury. They
would have gotten a better return than what she did.
It's pathetic, quite frankly. And as it turns out, yep, yep.
I found out she's running for Congress in the seventh
(29:48):
congressional district, and I said, well she's you know, how
did she become treasurer. Let's take a look at her resume. Yeah,
she worked for All State and Insurance. She worked for
All State Insurance. She did some claims management. I guess
she was one of those people that came out and said,
(30:10):
you know, your bumper only got dented this much, and
we're only going to pay this monch. She did human
resources and community engagement, meaning she was a community organizer,
and she's managing ten billion dollars for the city of Chicago.
Now I brought this up. Okay, this is part of
the problem. This is well, this is a problem. And
(30:32):
again I'm telling you right now, this is the problem.
Both parties and the Trump administration gives this lip service
as well. Talks about merit based, merit based back in
the day. I gotta go back. This is maybe fifty
eighteen years ago. Eighteen years ago, we decided to throw
our hat in the ring to manage some pension funds,
(30:55):
some government money, and we put together our proposal what
we were going to do. Our track record, Now, not
only we were less expensive than everybody else was going
to charge, and not only was our track record better
based upon what we could do.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
It didn't matter. Didn't matter. You See, it wasn't about.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
It wasn't about a better better performance, It wasn't about
better rates. It was about who hired a better lobbyist.
And that was the suggestion that we got. So you
guys need to hire a lobbyist and then then you
start paying off the right people. Uh, And I said,
you know, I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
No thanks.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Watch Dog on Wall Street dot com. Watch Dog on
Wall Street dot com will be.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
That you're listening to the watch Dog on Wall Street.
(32:01):
You should believe in math, not magic. You're listening to
the Watchdog in Wall Street with Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Oh Uie Lewis and the news. What a back, everybody?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It is the Watchdog on Wall Street show. All right,
this one I have to address as well, Bitcoin and
the bitcoin bouncing around, buying, buying, buying. You're gonna send
me and I do. I get messages, and I get
emails and I answer them. I do again, first and foremost. Okay,
(32:42):
when people get in contact with us various different ways.
The best way to do it is to just sign
up for our personal CFO program. Sign up there or
call US eight hundred and four to seven one fifty
nine eighty four operators there take information down. Just email
me whatever. We're gonna get to you as soon as
(33:02):
we possibly can. But people go to the top or
ones that are questions that you know, they may have
been losing money, they're in some sort of dire situation,
feel like that they're getting ripped off.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Okay, obviously have to get to them first.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I have gotten a lot of questions when it comes
to bitcoin and the valuate. What is the valuations? Where
do you see the value? Chris, where's the value? It's
been been very violent, so where's the value?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
I can't the amount of emails that I get in regards,
I can't answer them. Also, I'm going to answer them here.
I'll answer them on our podcast. How does one put
a value on.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Nothing? Okay, essentially it's nothing. I get it. You got
a mind for bitcoin and algorithm. There's only a certain
amount of top. I get it.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
But it's a certain amount of what.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (33:59):
A certain amount of it's a certain amount of nothing.
I've talked about this and your breakdown words. The word credit.
The word credit comes at the Latin there credira, which
means to believe.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Okay, bitcoin.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
I can't put a value on bitcoin because it's entirely
based on sentiment.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
That's all. Hey, listen here, people, if.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
The world believes that bitcoin is worth a million dollars
for a period of time, that bitcoin is going to
be worth a million dollars?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Do I think it's gonna be worth that? Again?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
I I'm gonna go go back in time here.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
I've talked about the Warren Buffett's teacher, highly recommend the book.
It's called The Intelligent Investor. It's been written by Benjamin Graham,
and he talks about the intrinsic value of something. And
any asset has an intrinsic value. Sometimes it's below intrinsic value,
(35:16):
and sometimes it's above its intrinsic value. What is the
intrinsic value of bitcoin? Explain it to me again, I'll
do the old Jeremy Irons in the movie Margin call.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Explain it to me. I'm a young small child or
a golden retriever.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Okay, explain to me the intrinsic I'll get people talking
about well to basement of the US currency, all this stuff,
and I get that I rant about that, all the
money printing that has taken place. I get that, But
at least the United States, the full truth and creditor
(35:59):
of the United States, we still got still got Yosemite
and Yellowstone, and you've got an economy that's yeah, the
envy of the entire world. Okay, I can't put a
value on something that is totally based on sentiment.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Again, with that being said, okay, could it go to
a million? Sure? Sure could. People were buying.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Those uh well, those NFTs and all that other stuff
a long time ago for a million that what was
a bored ape, those those eight pictures of monkeys or
whatever it was. I was a what in the world?
Speaker 2 (36:40):
For millions upon millions upon millions of dollars people bought
those things. Oh not so much.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Something is worth what somebody else is willing to pay
for it. And those times I can't get my arms
around that. Yeah, give me a business. Oh let me
take Let me take a look at a business. Let
me take a look at it. It's cash ful. Let
me take a look at its prospects. To me, let
me take a look at its management. And I can
take a look at that, and I could take a
look at see. Jeez, what is the multiple there? Does
(37:12):
this make sense? I can't do that with bitcoin. I
can't do that with crypto, Okay, just can't anyway. Anyway, moving,
I gotta mention this. It's gonna do some ripoffs, some
scams here as well. We've haven't really done much of these.
Over the past several weeks, I'm noticing more and more
(37:35):
lawsuits out there, more and more issues and customer complaints
when it comes to these various different structured notes that
were sold by many of the big investment houses out there.
They were sold as some sort of sort of bloody
cure ale for portfolios, and that they were going to
(37:55):
protect your downside and show you an upside and all
sorts of stuff, and they weren't so properly. Stifle Financial
has been getting whacked upside the head with one lawsuit
after another. Listen, if you think that again you might
have been sold these things improperly, just pick up the
(38:16):
phone eight hundred four seven eighty four call that number, okay,
or send me an email. Sign up for our personal
CFO program. We will help you out in the same
way that we've helped people out with every other financial scam.
Over the past three decades. They're out there. They're out there.
(38:36):
This one I saw as well, This is an advisor advisor,
and I see more and more of this as well,
and they get caught. Another advisor arrested for stealing, you know, millions,
millions from the client. And the funny thing is they
write these articles, they talk about the advisor, but they
never tell you what firm they work for. I'm seeing
more and more and more of these shenanigans from the
(38:57):
America Prizes and they are these other ones out there.
And I'm saying to myself, because I run a firm,
how do these firms not know that this is going on?
How do you not catch this? Can't get my arms
around that. I really can't anyway get the help you need.
Get to our website. Watchdog on wallstreet dot com. That's
(39:18):
Watchdog on Wallstreet dot Commerce, Personal CFO program, podcast, newsletter.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
We'll be back.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Chris Markowski is the Watchdog on wallstorgs
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