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Fine-tune your portfolio

A message from Josh

Hi guys, a quick programming note from me about what to expect from downtownjoshbrown.com going forward…

You’re going to be seeing some design and formatting changes to the site and the email blast within the coming weeks. I’m making an investment to upgrade what we’re doing here because we have some momentum now and I want to keep it going. So there will be some aesthetic and functionality improvements. Communicating with you here is one of my biggest areas of focus for next year.

I began writing on a regular basis again this fall and it feels good to be getting back to my roots. Like reconnecting with an old friend. Your response has been awesome - the site has just broken above 28,000 subscribers with an average email open rate of 66.6%. For context on that last stat, the open rate across all email senders on the Beehiiv platform last year was 39% so you’re a part of an audience here that’s already 50% or so more engaged than the field.

This coming year, I am determined to take this site to the next level and make it an indispensable resource for you. I’ll be writing primarily about stocks, trading and investing ideas, wealth and asset management industry issues, the economy, the financial media and entrepreneurship. The best posts I’ve ever done have combined elements of many (or all) of these topics to produce something that becomes more profound than just the sum of its components. They call this “interdisciplinary.” Okay, fine. Whatever. Yes, I think being a private investor, a financial advisor, an industry speaker and a founder and entrepreneur helps me better understand the big picture than if I were just one of those things.

I think that right here, right now, I have a better vantage point than ever before. Talking to everyone, being pitched everything, getting into the rooms and the dinners and the meetings where it’s all happening, planning massive industry events, running a highly regarded wealth business, producing a big podcast, being on camera and behind the scenes of the hottest TV show on CNBC, helping gigantic financial companies with their messaging, I sort of have my hand in everything these days. I’m in the mix, sitting at some extremely important metaphorical tables. The stories, ideas and conversations I am privy to give me a lot of insight and I want to share that insight here on the site. I’m going to mine my access, experiences, contacts, relationships, instincts and expertise to give you as much as I possibly can in 2026. I’m still your friend on the inside. I’m still your backstage pass to Wall Street, just as I have been since my first blog post in 2008.

So we’re going to do all the serious stuff that really matters and we’re still going to try to have some fun in the process. My goal for the coming year is for us to keep making money together while laughing and learning as we go. If that sounds good to you, stick with me. The best is yet to come.

And if you think your friends and family members would be better off reading me than some of the other people they’ve been listening to, by all means send ‘em this link. We’re going to have a breakout year together, now’s the time. Cheers and thank you.

Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev on The Compound and Friends

Vlad co-founded Robinhood and, within a few years, he was well on his way to changing the brokerage industry forever. Many aspects of today’s investing landscape have been brought about by the popularity of the platform, from commission-free transactions to crypto convergence, fractional share lots to meme trading.

Today, Robinhood has 27 million funded client accounts, over $340 billion in assets under management and a market cap of over $100 billion, making it one of the largest companies in the capital markets industry group. This past September the company’s stock was added to the S&P 500 and, through the end of this week, it has been the second best performing S&P 500 name of 2025.

Robinhood has been making substantial inroads into retirement accounts, consumer banking and credit cards, wealth management custody and prediction markets, taking its millions of customers with them as they sprawl across the landscape. No company is immune to the Robinhood Effect and the influence they are having on an entire generation of investors.

Michael and I were thrilled to have Vlad in studio this Friday for an epic conversation about all of these topics and more. You can watch or listen to it at the link below!

Thank you so much for watching and listening. Talk soon - JB