Together with Public

Before we dive in — we’d like to wish each of you a Happy Memorial Day Weekend. While this weekend is known for fun in the sun, we encourage you to remember the core meaning behind the holiday. Thank you to all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives serving in the US Armed Forces.

To the thousands of readers who have lost family members or friends — we are also honoring you this weekend. 🇺🇸

And just like that… volatility is back!

Moody’s Ratings downgraded the U.S. government's ratings to Aa1 from Aaa (the highest possible rating), due to a combination of skyrocketing debt and high interest payment ratios.

"Over the next decade, we expect larger deficits as entitlement spending rises while government revenue remains broadly flat. In turn, persistent, large fiscal deficits will drive the government's debt and interest burden higher. The US' fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate relative to its own past and compared to other highly-rated sovereigns,” Moody’s stated.

A quick breakdown — in case you don’t have the time.

Hedge funds are betting on a stock market crash.

Short interest on the median S&P 500 stock has climbed to 2.3%, the highest in seven years. Short interest as a percent of shares outstanding has risen +35% year-to-date. This is a comparable move to the one seen at the beginning of the 2008 Financial Crisis, but starting from a lower base.

According to Goldman Sachs, short interest in the median S&P 500 stock has now surpassed its long-term historical average for the first time since the 2021 short squeeze. At the same time, hedge fund shorts on Nasdaq stocks as a share of total open interest reached 41%, the most since February 2021.

The “smart money” is positioned for a dramatic crash in the markets, all while the retail investors “bought the dip” on Monday — investing over over $4 billion — with Palantir and Tesla being the two-most purchased stocks.

The Goldman Sachs Sentiment Indicator (institutional portfolio positioning) still remains in the “light” territory after the jaw-dropping unwinding we experienced during April.

With Public’s new “Generated Assets” website — anyone can turn an idea into an investable index.

Literally tell Public's generated assets what you want to invest into and it'll build a portfolio for you as well as back test the performance over the last several years so you have some clarity as to what it might perform like going forward.

For example, maybe you want to invest into companies whose CEOs are active on social media. Or maybe you want to invest into companies with a crazy high "revenue per employee" ratio. Or maybe you want to invest into companies who are powering the rise of AI agents.

Check out their "Top List" section! This is a robust list of the top-performing strategies created by others. I published my strategy, revenue per employee ratio, and we'll see how it goes!

Here’s a video I made further explaining how it works!

👉 Episode 118: Turning a College Side Hustle into $75M w/ Alex Lieberman

In this week’s Monday-morning episode of the Rich Habits Podcast (linked here) — Austin and Robert interviewed Alex Lieberman, the Co-Founder of Morning Brew.

Here’s what they talked about:

👉 Q&A: Patenting an Invention, Agency Bonds, & Raising Children as a Millionaire

Here’s a link to the Q&A episode that was posted this morning.

We answered questions from: David, Jason, Monica, Nick, Matt, Dan, & Luis.

You can submit questions for these episodes by asking them inside of the Rich Habits Network, replying to this email, or sending us a DM on Instagram.

The Rich Habits Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, YouTube, and wherever else you get your content!

Bitcoin just hit another all-time high.

Congrats to all of you that are celebrating the big time gains!

Just remember… it’s easy to be bullish when you see all-time highs — but what are you doing when Bitcoin retraces -20%? Crypto investing requires a certain level of patience, ignorance, and peace of mind. If you’re the type of person that’s going to stare at your portfolio every single day and feel genuine pain during volatility — then maybe crypto isn’t for you.

As for me — I love to DCA and chill. We all know where Bitcoin is going over the long-term… HIGHER.

It’s also incredible to see that ~13 million more Americans own Bitcoin over gold. I hold both and love both, but this is a big step in the right direction in my opinion. Blockchain adoption and the growth of crypto is inevitable — and Bitcoin will continue leading the charge!

After five years, the stock market is higher 89% of the time.

We’ve been getting so many emails, DMs, and messages inside the Rich Habits Network about how people should be approaching the market. Over the last seven months, we’ve seen a +7% rally after Trump was elected, a near -20% sell-off due to Trump’s tariff tantrum, and now a +19% rebound across major indices.

It’s an emotional rollercoaster! But if you consistently dollar cost averaged into index funds and ETFs we talk about, you would be in the green right now.

Over a five year time horizon, there’s an 89% chance of a positive return for the S&P 500. Over ten years, it’s nearly certain. There’s nothing wrong with staying up-to-date on the market and I of course do it everyday, but leave your emotions out of investing and have a plan built with automation in mind.

So where are the risks to the market today?

That would be the bond market. The US 30-Year Bond Yield just hit 5.15% for the first time since July 2007. The Fed is still refusing to cut rates, so we need to see if President Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent will find ways for positive intervention.

And what am I doing as a result? The same thing I’ve been saying for months — DCA’ing into stocks that I’m thrilled to hold for the long-term. I share them each and every week inside the Rich Habits Network.

Share this newsletter with 1 person and you’ll be sent our Financial Planning Workbook. Share it with 2 people and you’ll also be sent our video module explaining how Austin and Robert Analyze New Stocks.

It just takes a few moments — enjoy the resources!

Below is a list of our featured partners that we’ve vetted — with whom we have a personal relationship. Browse these exclusive offers curated just for you:

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or a recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.