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This Time Is Different

Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky Mulvey

Long-form conversations that challenge consensus thinking about markets, money, and the economy. We question the narratives everyone else accepts and welcome contrarian ideas.

Hosted by Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky Mulvey

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22 episodes
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Avg 53 min
English

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Tuesday · 51 min
Matt Argersinger: The AI Trade Is Musical Chairs
Future US stock returns may not follow its historical success. Former Motley Fool senior analyst Matt Argersinger sits in for Malcolm this week. Ricky and Matt discuss: - 30-year Treasury yields near two-decade highs, and what that means for income investors who remember 2% bonds.- A real estate investment trust that Matt thinks is a great value. - The case for playing defense on the AI trade. - Ricky’s reporting on debanking.- Mercado Libre, gold, and covered-call ETFs. - When it actually makes sense to pay for active management, versus indexing. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Host: Ricky Mulvey Guest: Matt Argersinger Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 18 · 46 min
The Only Sane Person in Crazy Town
The economy is unhinged! Ricky and Malcolm discuss: Gen Z redirecting investing dollars toward gambling. Malcolm as the lone voice of caution on a CNBC panel of market bulls. Bill Ackman's return to Netflix as an activist investor and his shaky track record with the stock. Reddit's inclusion in the S&P 500, and why Google and OpenAI need the site for AI ambitions. Cerebras' wild earnings swings, the buildout of "collateralized chip obligations," and Malcolm's case about semiconductor shortage, which may not last forever. Ricky's reporting about margin debt, which is at a record amount in the US stock market. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 11 · 42 min
When to Sell a Stock You've Owned for Years
Malcolm bought a popular tech stock a few years ago and just decided it's time to sell. How did he know? Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: Why Malcolm is selling a streaming giant after a multi-year run, and why he believes there are signs the company's best growth days are behind it. Mercado Libre, the "Amazon of Latin America," and why a company trading off profit margins for a decade of growth might be a stock you just hold and don't overthink. The little-known Fed rule that hasn't been touched since 1974, how it could effect the record levels of margin in the US stock market. A listener question on the K-shaped economy: what would it actually take for the bottom half of the K to catch up to the top? Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 4 · 51 min
Why Smart People Take Dumb Money Risks
A 24-year-old hedge fund manager said he had more "situational awareness" than anyone on Wall Street. Then his leveraged bets on memory chipmakers blew up, forcing a fire sale to Ken Griffin. Wall Street is pretty smart. Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: - How Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI manifesto and multi-billion-dollar hedge fund imploded within months, and what it says about ego. - South Korea's leveraged ETF boom, and what a 30% single-day swing in SK Hynix says about the stock market. - What free solo climber Dean Potter's story (via HBO's The Dark Wizard) reveals about risk tolerance vs. risk capacity. - Why AI chatbots are quietly rewriting the dating game, and what a Bloomberg story on "chat phishing" says about how people communicate now. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 28 · 1 hr 3 min
ServiceNow's Pitch: A Kill Switch for Rogue Bots
ServiceNow is down 50% over the past twelve months. Investors are doubting the company's place in a world with AI agents. But, maybe the software giant is figuring it out… Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: - OpenAI’s latest scandal. Its bot broke out of a sandboxed test environment and hacked its way into another company’s servers using stolen credentials. - Ricky passing the CFP® exam. - ServiceNow’s pitch for an AI “kill switch,” and why Wall Street isn’t buying it (yet). - Tesla’s robotaxi miles dropped 36% quarter over quarter, and nearly all of its net income came from SpaceX stock gains. - Why Gen Z women are financially “momming” their boyfriends, and what it says about the dating economy. - The financial lessons hiding inside Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 21 · 52 min
Canaries in the AI Coal Mine
Uber, Tesla, xAI, Meta, and now IBM have all quietly signaled the same thing: AI is too expensive. Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: Whether "gotcha questions" in media interviews (from Tucker Carlson to JD Vance on Rogan) actually work Why Malcolm bought Netflix into weakness after a disappointing earnings report, and picked up Cerebras (CBRS) as a bet against Nvidia's pricing power. The "canaries in the coal mine" for AI spending: Tesla and Uber capping employee AI token usage, Meta and xAI signaling they overbuilt data center capacity, and IBM's ugly pre-released earnings blaming AI infrastructure costs Why Ricky bought VICI Properties, the landlord behind Caesars and MGM on the Las Vegas Strip, as a hideout trade disconnected from AI The other half of the K-shaped economy: falling grocery unit sales at PepsiCo versus surging same-store sales at Costco A listener question on gifting money tax-free to kids for a home down payment. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 14 · 53 min
Remember Nvidia’s Memory
Nvidia’s valuation is the cheapest it has been since the AI boom. Traders’ attention moved to memory chipmakers. They may have forgotten that Nvidia makes advanced memory systems. Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:- An unpaid intern getting “fired” for demanding $32 per hour, and if unpaid internships should even be legal.- What investors forgot about Nvidia.- President Trump’s financial disclosures, and Malcolm’s prediction on insider trading legislation.- Why Ricky thinks Dave & Buster's has a midlife crisis after the arcade chain announced that it will host raves. Could this be a good time for some activists to get involved? Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 7 · 1 hr
Welcome to Crazy Town, Population: $1.4 Trillion Margin Debt
US margin debt, what investors borrow from their brokerages to buy securities, rose 54% from a year ago. Don’t take the punch bowl away! Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: Malcolm’s prediction that Sam Altman will have to walk back OpenAI's spending commitments in the back half of 2026. The mechanics of triple-leveraged ETFs, and how they're driving 10% single-day swings in stocks like Micron without any individual investor buying the underlying company. The Cut’s article "It's Hard to See My Parents Living So Lavishly While We're Struggling." Stories of rich parents refusing to help their children; a loan a dad wouldn't cosign, and the daughter who found out at graduation she owed $80,000 in loans from her parents. The history of corporations in America, and how an idea that Alexander Hamilton implemented could be used today; profitable companies that serve the public interest. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 30 · 53 min
Polymarket's Fake Bets. Wendy’s Becomes a Meme Stock.
Polymarket reportedly paid creators to post videos of themselves "winning" bets that didn't exist. The Wall Street Journal found 118 videos showing nearly $900,000 in winnings — bets that, in reality, would have lost more than $166,000, placed on a creatively misspelled lookalike site. Meanwhile, Wendy's is drawing more Wall Street Bets chatter than SpaceX, 80% of its borrowable shares are already sold short, and the internet has decided a $7 burger stock might be the next GameStop. Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss.: - The summer box office recovery, and what movie audiences want. - The Polymarket "poiymarket" fake-bet scheme. - Whether Wendy's is the next GameStop. - Netflix as a "durable good" and why it's trading at a discount to the market. - The clipping economy, why one operator estimates 90% of what you see online is advertising in disguise. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 23 · 53 min
Is The Market Too Hot To Trust?
Elon Musk says SpaceX could hit $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, a fifteen-fold jump from 2027 estimates. Parts of the market feel like they're on fire. So where does a long-term bull actually put money when they don't want to chase 40%-in-a-week moves? Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: The REITs they're using as cover in an overheated market — cold storage, data centers, and class-A office — and Malcolm's "what's the yield" test for every one of them. Why "fiduciary" might not mean what you think, and how to tell a real one from a salesperson. State Farm's plan to cut agent pay and lean on AI, and what it signals about white-collar work. Why Gen Z is trading like the system is rigged, and whether they're wrong. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 16 · 57 min
Is the American Dream Dead? w/ Freddie Smith
Is the American Dream Dead? w/ Freddie Smith Over the past 50 years, Americans created roughly $140 trillion in new wealth. Roughly two SpaceX’s worth of wealth reached the bottom half. Actor-turned-economic-commentator Freddie Smith argues the American dream isn't dead, but the timeline to reach it has become unreasonable for the typical worker. Is he right, and what would it actually take to fix it? Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge are joined by Freddie Smith, author of the upcoming book Generation F****d, to discuss: Freddie's radical tax plan: scrap every federal tax and replace it with a 10% levy on gross revenue. The case for banning stock buybacks, and Malcolm's pitch to just raise the dividend instead. How a capital gains tax holiday for mom-and-pop landlords could unlock frozen housing supply. Whether regular 401(k) investors are locked out of the real growth happening in OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Guest: Freddie Smith Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 10 · 52 min
The Real Reason for Big Tech Layoffs
Google is raising $80 billion, and nearly 40% of it is going to the IRS, not data centers. Is Big Tech cutting employees to pay a tax bill? Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: Why index funds are forced to buy SpaceX at a bad time The Nasdaq rule change that helps big IPOs, and possible reasons why the exchange declined to answer Ricky's questions Why Malcolm is making a list of stocks to buy when the hype dies Whether RocketLab is still a good investment. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 2 · 1 hr 2 min
Why Did SpaceX Buy $131 Million of Cybertrucks?
SpaceX is mostly an AI company now. Or, that’s where it sees most of its total addressable market in one of the largest economic opportunities “in human history.” Well, that's according to the company. Malcolm is more skeptical. Is this the last big bang in the AI bull market? What's buried in the SpaceX S-1 that nobody's talking about. Whether OpenAI's IPO will land with a thud in SpaceX's shadow Gen Z trading bars for $300-a-month gyms — status symbol or genuine shift? Why ChatGPT gave Ricky very bad advice in a Tokyo pharmacy How American entertainment companies could build “venture capital arms” for content. Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 26 · 33 min
Microsoft's Early Retirement Offer and What It Teaches Everyone Else
Malcolm flies solo this week to break down one of the more generous early retirement packages in recent memory, and whether "generous" and "right for you" are actually the same thing. He covers: - What makes Microsoft's offer different from a typical severance package (hint: five years of health care) - The three-bucket framework for deciding if you can actually afford to say yes - Why your RSU vesting window might matter more than the cash payout - The tax trap hiding inside the year you accept, and how charitable giving can help offset it - What saying no might actually be signaling about your job security Host: Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 19 · 54 min
The Beginning of Facebook's Decline?
Meta is losing users for the first time in company history. It has a mountain of debt loaded in other development companies. Is this a blip for an unstoppable force or the beginning of a slow decline?Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: - America’s debt problem, and the landmark of owing more than it makes. - Strategy backtracking on permanent bitcoin ownership.- Why AI stock trading bots lose money, or the ones we know about. - If Meta is about to follow the same path as Yahoo and AOL.Want to contact us? thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast.Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm EthridgeEngineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 12 · 55 min
Investing in 2026 vs. 1999
This isn’t just like the dot-com boom, but you’ll find pockets of “irrational exuberance” if you look a little bit. Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss: - How arena football shows the “dark part” of the American Dream. - Why Malcolm believes that parts of the stock market are overheated and what he’s actually doing with his own money. - If Robinhood can be a casino and a long-term financial advisor. - Who is making most of the money on prediction markets. Question for the show? Email us at thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 5 · 53 min
OpenAI Is Leaking, Big Tech is Earning
Someone at OpenAI leaked that it is missing targets, but they didn't leak the numbers. That's either a red flag or a setup. Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky Mulvey discuss: The OpenAI leak: why leak a miss without leaking the actual numbers? Meta deception, the magic trick concept that might explain how big companies manage investor expectations Big tech earnings: Meta's ad machine is working, and Malcolm explains why Amazon's chip business may be the most underrated AI story Starbucks vs. the K-shaped economy: what delivery orders and $6 California gas tell us about where the real cracks are showing. Why the stock market keeps shrugging off the Iran War. Micron skepticism: listener question on a stock up almost 6x in 12 months that still looks cheap on paper Tim Cook's legacy and the three problems for new CEO John Ternus. Contact us: thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
April 28 · 1 hr 10 min
The AI Bill is Coming Due
The companies building the AI future are the same ones laying off thousands of employees. This means that the AI story is changing. LLMs aren’t taking jobs quite yet, but AI companies that took on mountains of debt are cutting staff while interest rates rise. Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky Mulvey discuss: Why Malcolm sold his entire ASML position and trimmed Nvidia. The AI debt trap: how Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle are cutting jobs to pay for the AI buildout. Advice if you ever get a “voluntary buyout” from your boss The used EV flood. 600,000 leased EVs return to dealerships next year; more than the number of all used EVs sold last year. How automakers’ accounting mistakes could be good news for car buyers The Michael Jackson biopic, and the disconnect between critics, movie goers, and the economy. Why Malcolm is buying American Express and betting on the K-shaped economy Contact us: thistimepod@gmail.com We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
April 21 · 44 min
Why Are Stocks at All-Time Highs?
Is the stock market ignoring the war in Iran? And why did Allbirds shoot up 800% in one single day? Jason Moser joins Ricky Mulvey to talk about: How solid earnings results are powering stock prices. Why Allbird’s pivot to AI is one of the most insane business stories ever. Ricky’s reporting on suspicious trades in the futures market. Stocks and ETFs that JMo has been buying. Host: Ricky Mulvey Guest: Jason Moser Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
April 14 · 52 min
Are Space Stocks Overheated?
SpaceX could be the biggest IPO in history. Is this the beginning of the space economy, or peak optimism? Ricky and Malcolm sit down with Yuri Khodjamirian, CIO of Tema ETFs, which runs the NASA ETF, an actively managed space fund. They discuss: Why falling launch costs are the key to the space economy. How a publicly traded ETF can own non-public shares of SpaceX. If AST SpaceMobile is a real opportunity or too far along in the hype cycle. The hidden SpaceX suppliers that investors may want to know. Contact us: thistimepod@gmail.com Advertising: advertising@airwavemedia.com Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey Guest: Yuri Khodjamirian Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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