This Time Is Different

Hosted by Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky Mulvey

Business Investing

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Episodes

142

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

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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60 recent

September 8, 202650 min

Real Money Secrets Aren't on TikTok

Tax tricks used by billionaires are now showing up in the algorithm, but the real money secrets aren’t going out on social media. Ricky and Malcolm discuss: Winmark, a royalty-collecting franchisor (Play It Again Sports, Once Upon a Child) trading at a 52-week low, and why Ricky is interested as a long-term investor.  The 351 exchange strategy the ultra-wealthy use to defer capital gains taxes, and why the version being pitched to retail investors on TikTok rarely pencils out. Gary Vaynerchuk's VeeFriends, how their being sold to collectors, and if cards can provide “alpha”.  K Money, a suspended securities broker turned Facebook "investing luminary," and how his $800,000 fund actually got spent. Why "if they were really that good at it, they wouldn't be telling you about it" is a solid rule of thumb for filtering financial advice on social media. A few real-life "avoidable risk" lessons from Red Rocks, and Ricky's Tesla-vs-Civic dilemma as his EV lease runs out. 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 Co-host: Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 1, 202650 min

Cybersecurity Stocks' Comeback

AI didn’t kill all software. In fact, some of the big dogs in cybersecurity may be stronger than before. Ricky and Malcolm discuss: Bitcoin's return to favor, and whether it's a trade or a decade-long hold. Why CrowdStrike and Okta are rallying, and the CISO survey stat behind the next leg of cybersecurity spending. The "SaaS-pocalypse" that may still be coming, and how private equity gets hurt. Ricky's Medicare for All reporting, and the cost assumption nobody's talking about. TRICARE's opaque drug pricing, and why other developed nations pay less for U.S.-made drugs. A mailbag question on investing real money for a college asset management timeline. 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 Co-host: Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 25, 202651 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, 202646 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, 202642 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, 202651 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, 20261 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, 202652 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, 202653 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, 20261 hr 0 min

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