My interview with James Early; My friend's bull case for stocks; Big companies have less debt maturing in the next few years; Debate with a friend about students' responses to Hamas' terrorist attack
1) I did a fun 26-minute interview with my old friend James Early a few days ago, which you can watch here. Here's a summary:
Whitney Tilson, CEO of Empire Financial Research, sat down with James Early to share why he's bullish on Ozempic, Mounjaro, and other GLP-1 agonists, stocks, and the U.S. economy, his different-yet-similar views as friend Bill Ackman on inflation, the Israel-Hamas conflict, his humanitarian work in Ukraine, how many e-mails he sends a day, and more.
2) In my October 4 e-mail, I shared the bull case for stocks outlined by an old friend who posts on X anonymously under the name BeenThereDoneThatCapital. He just posted this update:
3) This is an interesting chart that helps explain why the large-cap-oriented S&P 500 Index is vastly outperforming the small-cap Russell 2000 Index – bigger companies have much less debt maturing in the next few years, meaning that, like the majority of U.S. homeowners, they'll continue to benefit from low interest rates they locked in a few years ago:
4) Following up on last Thursday's e-mail about the idiotic students and university administrators who failed to condemn Hamas' heinous terrorist attack on Israel, an old friend and longtime reader of my school reform e-mail list sent me the following:
Peace Whitney – I've been reading your newsletters for years now, and while I appreciate that there have been many times when I have both strongly agreed and strongly disagreed with the perspectives you've shared (a sure sign of a thoughtful person in my book), I must say that I have been thoroughly disappointed and disquieted by some of the tone and tenor of your comments during this current Israel-Hamas conflict. To be sure I respect that everyone is entitled to their perspectives but as someone who is a leader in several domains, including and especially education reform, I am expect that you would hold yourself to a different standard in this discourse. Amplifying comments that young people should be punished for their activism (many of whom have undoubtedly been educated at the many charter schools you've supported), seems to me inconsistent with the work you've done and the investments you've made in public education. As an example, I call your attention to the following line you penned in the below newsletter:
As for Muslims feeling unsafe, please... Are they worried that a Jewish student is going to argue them to death? Only one side in this fight has embraced violence against innocent people...
I immediately thought of two things: 1) the heated temperature in the current social political environment makes this statement at best naive and at worse dangerous; and 2) what would he want the many Muslim students who attend and have attended the charter schools he's funded to distill from this remark?
With the ubiquity of social media today, our children and youth are watching us more closely than ever... I wonder to what extent this has informed your perspective and leadership in this moment.
And one last point, this happened today: Boy, mother stabbed in Plainfield Twp. were targeted because of their Islamic faith: Police
I suspect Muslims do indeed have much to fear, as do we all when good people choose to amplify hate no matter how deeply justified it might feel to do so.
I replied:
Thanks for the feedback. A few thoughts...
1) To your question of what I would say to Muslim students (and all Muslims): "I know that almost all Jews are deeply upset and hang their heads in shame when extremist Jews attack and even murder Palestinians and/or Muslims (something that's extremely rare). Similarly, all Muslims should be deeply upset and hang their heads in shame when extremist Muslims attack and murder Jews (something that's, sadly, all too common)."
Did you see the hundreds of thousands of Jews protesting regularly in the streets of Israel against and the right-wing extremists' attempts to hijack Israel's democracy, pander to the right-wing settlers, etc.? The vast majority of Jews stand up and fight against extremists in their midst. In contrast, I'm having trouble thinking of anything comparable in the Muslim world.
Imagine, for instance, that extremist Jewish settlers had carefully planned an attack, snuck into Gaza, and terrorized, kidnapped, and murdered even TEN (much less over 1,000!) Palestinians. Just about every Jew on earth would, rightly, be horrified. It's inconceivable that any Jews or Jewish organizations would try to rationalize and excuse this barbaric act of terrorism, much less view it as a reason to celebrate, organize pro-settler rallies in cities and university campuses, etc. (Ditto for the horrific attack on the mother and her son in Chicago in the article you link to.)
I don't think it's an opinion, but rather a statement of fact that "only one side in this fight has embraced violence against innocent people..." (See: Hamas Fighters' Orders: 'Kill as Many People as Possible' and Understanding Hamas's Genocidal Ideology)
2) Regarding young people being "punished for their activism," I wonder how your views (and those of Harvard President Gay's) might be different if the (hypothetical) Harvard White Students Association organized a pro-KKK rally in Harvard Yard, featuring a cross burning? Would you hire any students belonging to that organization? Then why would you expect Bill Ackman (or any sensible person/organization) to hire students who, by their words and actions, defended (if not celebrated) one of the worst terrorist attacks of all time? This is simple common sense, not "amplifying hate" (to be clear, while I celebrate employers refusing to hire these students, I don't support anyone threatening/harassing/doxing them).
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.