Don't Let Wall Street's Next Big Move Surprise You
On September 15, 2008, everything changed...
But before that day, most investors thought their money was safe. My friend's father was one of them.
This guy was a successful banker in his professional life. He earned a great salary for many years. And he accumulated large amounts of stock in the two major U.S. banks where he worked for years.
These two stocks constituted more than 80% of his retirement savings. He expected it to appreciate in value and provide him with a growing nest egg.
One of the banks was Lehman Brothers. This firm went bankrupt – the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history – from bad mortgage bets. Shares went to zero in just months.
Then this "too big to fail" company's bankruptcy triggered shock waves throughout an already troubled stock market. By the end of the financial crisis, the overall stock market had fallen 53%. And the second bank's shares fell even more.
Within weeks, more than half of what this investor had expected to live on for the rest of his life... had vanished.
Few people expected the Great Recession. And even fewer were prepared for it. But some smart folks had seen the cracks forming. One was my friend Joel Litman...
I first met Joel nearly 20 years ago. We were both in New York at a meeting for the New York Society of Security Analysts – a group founded by the famous teacher and mentor of Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham. Joel stood up in front of this well-respected group and made a shocking prediction...
He claimed the collateralized debt market would collapse – and soon.
A sense of disbelief filled the room. Everyone wondered who this young guy was who was making such an unbelievable call.
After all, it's easy now to recognize that slicing and dicing risky subprime mortgages and then adding leverage doesn't make them safer. But at the time, collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs") were massive fee-generators for Wall Street. Sales rose nearly 10-fold between 2003 to 2006.
CDOs were "safe as houses," if you believed Wall Street.
Joel didn't.
And in early 2008 when the financial crisis began... Wall Street learned what Joel already knew.
Turns out, home prices don't always go up. Mortgage defaults started to rise. And practically every major investor on Wall Street – including hedge funds, investment banks, and pension funds – was exposed.
Within a year, the problems in the collateralized debt market were spreading... and by late 2008, it was clear that no one was safe. Except someone who'd heeded Joel's warnings.
To this day, Joel has a clearer sense of what's going on in the market than most analysts I know...
And right now, Joel believes we're fast approaching a very important moment in the market – one that most retail investors rarely pay attention to, even as Wall Street is monitoring it around the clock.
In just a few weeks, a domino effect will be set in motion that could trigger what the Journal of Financial Economics calls "warp-speed price moves" in dozens of America's favorite public companies.
On Wednesday, September 17, Joel – alongside former hedge-fund manager Whitney Tilson – will host a livestream where you can learn the full details on how to leverage the extraordinary moneymaking anomaly to potentially double your money or more on multiple stocks... before the dominoes begin to fall.
And just for tuning in, you'll get four stock recommendations – for free.
Now, let's get to this week's Q&A... And as always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. My team and I read every e-mail.
Medicare and Back Pain
Q: Hello. Which issue, in the past 2-3 years I believe, contained the in-depth look at Medicare, Parts A, B, C etc.? I haven't been able to locate it and it would be very pertinent at this point. Thank you. – A.S.
A: You can read our issues covering the parts of Medicare here and here.
Q: Doc, liked your issue on back pain. I have a timer set on my phone so I get up once an hour or so, walk, and stretch. – M.B.
A: You hit on an important point, M.B. About 54% of back-pain sufferers spend their workdays at a computer. All this sedentary activity not only hurts your back but also takes a toll on your circulatory system and overall health. An Annals of Internal Medicine study found that people who remained inactive for 10 hours a day had a 34% higher risk of premature death.
Just like you're doing, M.B., folks should start adding in breaks to their day where they simply get up and walk. According to that same study, folks who got up and moved around every 30 minutes had the lowest risk of dying early.
Take walks on your work breaks or after dinner. If you watch television, get up and move around during commercials. You can clean the house, do jumping jacks, or even march in place. The important thing is to get up and be active.
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? Betting on the trend has been making investors rich.
- Something different: Science is adjusting its opinion on dairy.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
September 12, 2025