Joe Muscari

Fixed income, former diplomat, soccer coach

[American Footballin' @AmFootballin]

Bout' to run through a wall! 💪🇺🇸

[Zlatan Ibrahimović @Ibra_official]

The studio will never forget

[USMNT Only @usmntonly]

ABSOLUTE GOOSEBUMPS AS THE ENTIRE STADIUM SINGS 'TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS' WITH THE USMNT PLAYERS AFTER THE WIN AGAINST AUSTRALIA

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
❤️❤️❤️

[Travis Wall @tjwall17]

If you read anything today, make it this.

[Paul Carr @PaulCarr]

#USMNT had 71% possession in the first half, its most in the first half of a World Cup game in the modern era.

[ESPN @espn]

Take it all in, West Virginia 💛

For the first time ever, those country roads lead straight to Omaha‼️

[Just Another Pod Guy @TMTLongShort]

If you are on the buyside and your PM or CIO insists AI is a bubble you should do everything in your power to find a new seat.

How deeply you understand bottlenecks and tokenomics will be the primary driver of alpha over the next five years and you should put yourself in a position where you have the leash to be involved and learning instead of watching from the sidelines.

We are at the starting line. The people pointing to memory stocks instead of model IQ tipping points simply lack the IQ or imagination to understand that.

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

Today I turn 55.

I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been.

If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous:

It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades.

Here are 55 of them:

1. Walk 15+ miles a week, even if you do other exercise. Humans are uniquely made to move slowly over long distances—it’s critical to longevity.

2. Develop a writing practice. It’s the single best way to sharpen your mind. And remember, you don’t have to be a good writer to write. Start with 10 minutes a day.

3. Swap out your toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, soap, shampoo, and other personal care products for natural versions. Here’s a rule of thumb: Don’t put anything on your skin that you couldn’t safely eat.

4. If you have a positive thought about someone, don’t keep it to yourself—share it immediately. Encouragement defies the laws of physics: When you give energy, you also receive it.

5. Wear shoes with a wide forefoot (I like Topo Athletic) and wear toe spreaders around the house (search “yoga toes” on Amazon). Spine health begins with the feet.

6. Get sunlight regularly. Moderate sun exposure (without sunscreen) is hugely important for overall health.

7. Do a 3-minute deep (“ass to grass”) squat every morning. Deep squats are often called the anti-aging exercise. It’s been said that, “It’s not that you can’t do deep squats because you’re old, it’s that you’re old because you can’t do deep squats.”

8. Explore minimalism (it’s not what you think it is).

9. Set boundaries on toxic relationships. We tend to cling to relationships past their expiration date, and it takes a bigger toll on our health than we recognize.

10. Eat real food. Not too much. Don’t eat garbage. Binge occasionally. Fast occasionally. That’s the diet.

11. Learn about FIRE. It’s a great framework for financial success.

12. Don’t take antibiotics except in emergency situations. They’re massively over-prescribed and aren’t needed in most cases. Antibiotics have done untold damage to our guts, which is where health begins. Great natural alternatives are out there.

13. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. To optimize sleep:
—Don’t eat after 6pm
—Get blackout shades and cover LEDs with black tape
—No screens 2 hours before bed
—Try ashwagandha (an herb) to calm the nervous system

14. Stop drinking, even in moderation. People find all sorts of ways to justify drinking, but there’s no escaping the simple fact that alcohol is a toxin and it limits your potential.

15. Travel as much as possible. Nothing expands the mind like seeing the world. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive—the best experiences happen outside of fancy resorts, when you live like a local.

16. Let go of resentment. When you forgive someone, you release the prisoner, and the prisoner isn’t them… it’s you.

17. Show up on time, every time. Poor time management limits success more than most people realize. If you struggle with punctuality, stop everything else and fix that first.

18. Spend lots of time in nature and touch the earth. Humans evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors. If you don’t spend time outside, you’re fighting biology (hint: You won’t win.)

19. Stop doing dumb things. As Leo Tolstoy said, “People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.”

20. Find your happy place and (eventually) move there. Most people live where they live because... that's where they live. We are products of our environment—choose yours carefully.

21. Find a hobby and pursue mastery. You can’t have a happy life without a passionate pursuit that isn’t your vocation. Your work—even if you enjoy it—isn’t enough.

22. Avoid mainstream medicine except as a last resort. The results are in—our healthcare (or more appropriately, sick care) system is badly broken and only makes people sicker.

23. Have a mindset of abundance. There is no advantage to being a pessimist—even if you’re right, it’s a miserable way to live. In a very real way… whatever you believe, you’re right!

24. Do hard things. Choose courage over comfort. Everything you want is on the other side of fear and hard work. As Jerzy Gregorik said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

25. Ignore haters. Hurt people hurt people. Negative/toxic people live in a prison of their own design. Don’t join them!

26. Say no. Protect your time and energy like it’s your most precious asset… because it is.

27. Become a water snob. As an alien said on Star Trek, humans are “ugly bags of mostly water.” You are what you drink—literally! We have Mountain Valley Spring water delivered in glass 5-gallon jugs and also have whole-house water filter (Aquasana Rhino).

28. Stop drinking sodas and sugary energy drinks. After a few weeks you won’t miss them, and a few months later they’ll seem disgusting. Refined sugar causes inflammation, which is the root of most disease.

29. If you’re over 35, find a good functional/longevity medicine doctor and start tracking your hormones. Modern life is hell on the endocrine system and restoring healthy hormone levels can change your life. As we get older, we either accept a slow decline in performance or we do something about it—choose the latter!

30. Develop a morning routine and follow it faithfully. Win the morning, win the day!

31. Invest in experiences, not things. People frequently regret buying things, but rarely regret investing in great experiences (especially when shared with loved ones). Remember, there’s nothing you can buy in a mall that you’ll remember in ten years.

32. Explore spirituality. It’s arrogant and small-minded to believe there’s nothing going on in our universe that is beyond our comprehension. We know less about our universe than an ant meandering on a sidewalk understands about this planet.

33. Have a strong bias toward action—doing rather than talking. If you ask a bunch of old people about their regrets, they’ll talk about the things they *didn't* do—the shots they didn’t take—more than the things they did do (even if it went wrong). As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Most people don’t take enough shots.

34. Stay lean. Men in particular are obsessed with muscle mass these days, but bulk doesn’t age well. The goal is to be strong but lean. The fittest guys in their 50s and beyond aren’t meatheads, they’re lean guys who are serious about a sport.

35. Curate your inner circle carefully. Surround yourself with people you admire and who challenge you to grow. Remember, we’re the average of our 5 closest relationships.

36. Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your only vessel for experiencing life—so treat it as such. Fitness isn’t working out a few times a week, it’s a lifestyle. The older you get, the more time you need to devote to your health.

37. Take the time to appreciate art and beauty in all its forms.

38. Think globally, but act locally. Too many people put their energy into far-away problems they don’t understand and can’t impact, while ignoring problems right under their nose. Want to change the world? Start at home.

39. Try psychedelics. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once, and it might be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.

40. Limit bad habits, including unhealthy thought patterns. We all have them—practice avoidance and find substitutes. Get professional help if needed.

41. Be a lifelong learner. Your brain is just like a muscle—if you don’t feed and flex it regularly, it will atrophy.

42. Find your purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose are happier and live longer. Lack of purpose sucks energy and magnifies depression.

43. Only take advice from people who embody the traits you want to have. Talk is cheap—emulate those who have DONE it.

44. The goal is not to retire and do nothing, it’s to build a great day-to-day life that you don’t need to escape. A life of leisure is a slow death. Happiness isn’t possible without a little struggle, uncertainty, and skin in the game.

45. Have fun! Do frivolous and silly things that make you smile. As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

46. Whatever you want to do or achieve in life, start NOW. Don’t fall victim to “someday thinking” because someday never comes.

47. Accumulate assets—things that grow in value over time. It’s the #1 habit of rich people, and it can be done in tiny chunks. Instead of spending $100 on an impulse purchase that has no lasting value, put that money into an index fund or Bitcoin. It becomes addictive (in a good way).

48. Don’t ignore the big 3 canaries in the coal mine for health:
—Low libido (and ED)
—Frequent sinus & respiratory issues
—Depression
These usually aren’t medical conditions in themselves, they’re symptoms of an underlying problem. Find a good doc (outside of the mainstream) and figure out the root cause.

49. Have a clear vision for your future. How can you decide which direction to go if you haven’t clearly defined the destination? It sounds obvious, but 95% of people haven’t defined their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. (Check out my thread on this topic.)

50. Make your own decisions. We live in an era where most of what society tells us is wrong. Don’t be afraid to break from societal norms—if people say you’re crazy, it’s a sign that you’re doing something right.

51. Get hardcore about mobility exercise. As you age, it’s usually the knees, hips, and lower back that limit physical performance. 30 min a couple times a week can spare you a lifetime of pain. YouTube is a great resource.

52. Go all in on family. Get married, stay married, have kids. Burn the boats. In the end, family is all that matters.

53. Be ruthless with your time. Money comes and goes. Time only goes. Audit your calendar ruthlessly—cut the trivial, double down on the meaningful, and spend your hours like your life depends on it. (Because it does.)

54. Have a strong bias toward action. Be curious, try things, meet people—it’s how you increase your surface area for serendipity, the most powerful unseen force in our lives.

55. Reinvent yourself every decade. Over time, we slowly drift off course from our priorities, values, and true identity. Take stock and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button. Bold, calculated moves made for the right reasons almost always pay off—usually even more than you can imagine.

🎁 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, would you give me a birthday gift? Repost or comment with the item number(s) you liked best?

[Just Another Pod Guy @TMTLongShort]

Since people continue to use the 4D chess retort disparagingly I would suggest for your own mental sanity you should just make believe Bessent is president and Trump is his advisor whenever you try to analyze the admin going forward.

The “Middle East experts” are the same 120 IQ class of people as the economists who predicted tariff impacts… midwits who think specialization bestows predictive capability.

There are plenty of high IQ people in Washington….hell once upon a time the CIA optimized recruiting based on IQ….and they have been perpetually handicapped by retards at the top.

Trump might be a retard but he’s a retard who defers to people he trusts on topics he’s unsure of.

Bessent is president 🫡

[Joe Muscari @JoeMuscari]

Plenty of PE portco execs gonna be available to outsource the roles to…. Plus boomers never really retire ;)

[junkbondinvestor @junkbondinvest]

Goldman on European private credit: lenders are swapping debt for equity more than they're forcing bankruptcy.

The question nobody's asking: are these lenders equipped to run the companies they're inheriting?

Being a good underwriter doesn't make you a good operator.

[Kirk_Loco @Polito_loco]

Michael Jackson's, Billie Jean, but as Irish Folk.

OK, this is insanely good 🔥 🔥

AI blows my mind sometimes!

[Just Another Pod Guy @TMTLongShort]

This whole debate feels like when that marlene account on crypto twitter was debating if mercury in retrograde meant bullish for altcoin prices.

Guys end of the day Bessent locked candidates in a room and made them swear to do what he tells them.

His background/resume is just misdirection.

[BowTiedKong | Criminal Defense & Family Law Atty @BowTiedKong]

The two takeaways from Scott that changed my life:

1. Skill stacking. Heard him talk about this, maybe on Tim Ferriss. I joined Toastmasters, started stand up, did Second City’s A-E program, followed by joining the military. It works, and the rest is history

2. Affirmations. I have an evolving list of affirmations I say 6-10 times a day, usually while walking early AM. Even though the ups and downs, I remain optimistic and, I swear, everything somehow turns out well for me

Cannot thank Scott enough

[ZIM @zimwhodey]

The NFL should be ashamed this guy isn’t on someone’s staff at the very least right now. Ed Reed’s passion mixed with intelligence are the type of people that can change culture in a building instantly.

[Cernovich @Cernovich]

We had our chance to save our country. People would rather do vanity fair interviews, podcasts, and meme coins. The suffering heading our way is immense and often leaves me with a deep sense of sadness. But God can now say. I saved Trump. I gave MAGA the office. And what of it?

[Joe Muscari @JoeMuscari]

https://t.co/UP2IL1SFfx

What’s the Russian or Chinese equivalent of this?

[Dave DiCello @DaveDiCello]

I have tried and failed for a decade to capture this view in #Pittsburgh, and this morning I was finally able to. In this scene, the Duquesne Incline passes above the train tracks right as a Norfolk Southern train was going underneath it. Can't believe my luck that it worked out.

[3four3 @3four3]

The entire thing is fundamentally crony capitalism.

They have been allowed to create a monopoly with regulatory capture.

All the other stuff, like salary caps, are secondary and a consequence of being granted a monopoly. The salary cap's purpose is to suppress wages, not to create "fairness".

The whole narrative of "fairness" and "parity" is a veil to mask the underlying cronyism.

It fools a lot of people into thinking the leagues are "socialist". They are not. They are the furthest thing from socialist.

https://t.co/WJO2tOrb2d

[PEoperator⚡️ @PEoperator]

Hokey, but required reading, especially for those in manufacturing.

In my opinion, Theory of Constraints is an underutilized methodology (largely because finance guys don’t love it).

It is a simpler approach to manufacturing for the non-financial.

The two concepts that stuck with me the most were:
1) identify and chase the bottleneck
2) maximize throughput

On the former, pretty straightforward- there is one true constraint in a manufacturing setting. Find that one, remedy, and then find the next one. Repeat.

Throughput has broader implications on customers and pricing. The idea is more about maximizing sales, given your capacity (which is impacted by your bottleneck).

These are obviously intertwined and there is a whole TOC framework but just nailing these two concepts is worth reading the book.

[Jesse Marshall @jmarshfof]

Happy birthday to the big man @MarioLemieuxFdn. I post this video for the young Penguin fans. You missed out on Mellon Arena. Listen to this place. The siren, the noise reverb, people right on top of the ice surface. I miss it so much.