INTERVIEW | Make Money by Finding Opportunity in Bonds, Building a Newsletter, and Thinking for Yourself with Jared Dillian
Jared Dillian is a former Lehman Brothers trader, author of seven books, and the founder of Jared Dillian Money. He spent seven years at Lehman, where he was head of ETF trading, before building a successful market commentary and newsletter business. In this episode, Jared shares lessons from launching a newsletter during the 2008 financial crisis, explains why he believes bonds may offer one of the biggest investment opportunities today, and discusses the importance of having a strong voice and maintaining intellectual honesty when building an audience.
On this episode we talk about:
Why Jared believes bonds may be a better opportunity than stocks in today's market
How bonds work and why interest rates can create significant opportunities for investors
Jared's experience trading at Lehman Brothers and starting a newsletter during the 2008 financial crisis
What makes a successful newsletter, including the importance of having a compelling voice
The dangers of confirmation bias and why creators should remain intellectually honest
Why Jared avoids consuming other financial newsletters so he can maintain his own independent thinking
The challenges and benefits of building an infinitely scalable newsletter business
Jared's concerns about lofty valuations and expectations surrounding major IPOs like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI
His new book, The Awesome Portfolio, and his approach to creating a lower-volatility investment portfolio
Top 3 Takeaways
Your voice can matter more than your accuracy. Jared believes that having a compelling perspective and making convincing arguments can be more important for a content business than simply being right all the time.
Think independently and be willing to change your mind. Jared emphasizes intellectual honesty and warns against becoming so attached to a particular viewpoint that you ignore evidence that contradicts it.
Look beyond what everyone else is doing. Jared's contrarian approach has led him to see bonds as a potentially attractive opportunity while much of the market focuses on stocks, inflation, and government deficits.
Notable Quotes
"You have to have something to say. You have to have a voice."
"You have to be intellectually honest."
"I don't want to bet against him. I want to bet on him. It's just the wrong price."
Connect with Jared Dillian:
Website: https://www.jareddillian.com/
Newsletters: The Daily Dirtnap and more
Other: The Awesome Portfolio is available wherever books are sold
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