Ben Landry

Aspiring Investor/Conqueror

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

What I read in 2025:

-Financial Statement Analysis by Marin Fridson
-When I stop Talking You'll Know I'm Dead by Jerry Weintraub
-When Money Is King by Richard Hack
-When the Heavens Went On Sale by @ashleevance
-What It Takes by Steven Schwarzman
-Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
-Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
-How to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs
-The Bond King by Mary Childs
-Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
-Make No Small Plans by the @Summit Founders
-The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
-How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by @ScottAdamsSays
-The Prince by Machiavelli
-The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
-Private Equity Deals by Ted Seides
-The Uncertainty Solution by John Jennings
-The Machiavellians by James Burnham (@pmarca recommendation)
-Titan by Ron Chernow
-The Age of AI by Kissinger and @ericschmidt
-Enzo Ferrari by Brock Yates
-Build by Tony Fadell
-The Iconist by Jamie Mustard
-Zero to One by Peter Theil
-Angel by @JasonChatbox
-Ploductivity by @douglaswils
-The Hapsburgs by Martyn Rady
-The Technological Republic by Alex Karp
-The Contrarian by Max Chafkin
-The Clash of Civilizations and Remaking of the World Order by Samuel Huntington
-Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
-A Time of Gifts by Patrick Fermor
-The Place of the Lion by Charles Williams
-Return of the King by Tolkien
-Meditations by Marcus Aurelios
-On Nationalism by George Orwell (Not Pictured)
-"Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters" by Warren Buffet (Not Pictured)

Onto 2026

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

Can't wait to purchase my copy of The Camp of the Saints here!

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

With much recent discussion around capitalism vs rise of socialism, I've been trying to understand why.
One thought is that young people are angry at the current system (which they're told is capitalism). They don't like it, so they're looking for something else (socialism).
But is this really capitalism?
In his book, Road to Serfdom, Hayek explains the rise of something before socialism comes along:

"Yet, though all the changes we are observing tend in the direction of a comprehensive central direction of activity, the universal struggle against competition promises to produce in the first instance something in many respects even worse, a state of affairs which can satisfy neither planners nor liberals: a sort of syndicalist or "corporative" organization of industry, in which competition is more or less suppressed but planning is left in the hands of the independent monopolies of the separate industries...By destroying competition in industry after industry, this policy puts the consumer at the mercy of the joint monopolist action of capitalists and workers in the best organized industries."

@pmarca has previously talked about covid-era policies where certain industries (especially financial) were regulated by the government in a way that the incumbent, major companies could retain their monopoly-like powers.

Maybe this monopolistic style mix of socialism and capitalism is more of an issue.

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@zerohedge But if the French beat Morocco (likely) why on earth would there be rioting in France?

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@zarathustra5150 Remarkable

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

As much as woke is the worst, to be fair to Nolan: In the Odyssey, Odysseus finds Achilles in the underworld as a ghost. Maybe she's not the worst actress choice.

"But now there came the ghost… of Peleus’s son Achilles…
and hailed me with a flight of mournful questions:
‘…What daring brought you down to the House of Death?—
where the senseless, burnt-out wraiths of mortals make their home."

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@bobbyfijan Many childhood evenings spent working through our most recent Asterix and Obelix/Tintin library haul (while eating pancakes, curtesy of Mom)

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@UrbanCourtyard @El_Xico99 This is a really interesting idea. Many such potential places

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@JTLonsdale Very very good book. Written by a man whose father was a socialist, and who was himself involved in socialists leagues as a youth.
Then he realized it just never works.
Muravchik writes about many systems, both small and large (countries) in which socialism has been tried

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

Congress seems to have lost power to both the Executive and Judicial Branch.

Every four years, we make an enormously big deal about who wins the presidency, acting as if our very lives depend on it. Partially, because the Presidential office has accumulated so much power over time.

The presidential race should be important, but would become far less so if Congress wielded the power and addressed the issues it constitutionally can/should.

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@zillowgonewild I'm not even sure that cottage could even hold all my books

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@TsarinaBomba Isn' the natural progression an Ironman 4 movie?

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@NateAFischer @AndrewTWalker But isn't that like saying a conservative Christian pastor who holds to a literal interpretations of the Bible (take Genesis creation, for example) is slave to the text? Thus, indistinguishable from an LLM.

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator by Edwin Lefévre
Finished June 28, 2026

Here Lefévre tells the fictionalized autobiography of Jesse Livermore, one of the great day traders of the early 20th century. Really interesting stories told about big wins and big losses: learning how to read (and listen to) the tape, tales of creating and manipulating markets, and learning why stock and commodities change prices. Some lessons:
1) Beware stock tips. We haven't changed much in 125 years. We're still searching for advice on ways to get rich-quick
2) Avoid stocks that aren't acting correctly
3) The tape is the best form of advertising
4) Trading must be done in peak bodily condition: "I couldn't afford anything that kept me from feeling physically and mentally fit."
5) "I never want to buy stock too cheap or too easily."

Livermore had $100M at one point, which is comparable to $1.5B today. But, he was married three times, one of his wives shot their son, he committed suicide, his son committed suicide. Much sadness surrounding this wealth.

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@amandaorson This issue is: In order to learn how to become a billionaire like Daniel Ludwig, you already have to be a billionaire to buy his book.

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@miaferrariii You'll want to start using phrases like "You know, Marx was so cool" and "Engels is my bff"

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@AdamSinger Frankly, I'm more surprised that the polling was so close as far back as 2010

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

@StephenM If only we could take control of all three branches of government to do something about it

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

The power of GLP-1 and discarding some covid-era policies?
307% in the last year

[Ben Landry @talkinglandry]

Scrolling through open roles in Detroit, MI. Lots of Stellantis openings.