Lee Munson

The third episode of Read the Bull is a no-holds-barred conversation with Lee Munson, author of "Rigged Money: Beating Wall Street at Its Own Game."  The book came out in 2011, but Stefan and Lee talk about how it's as relevant today as when it was published. Lee and Stefan talk about the evolution as well as the gimmick-ifcation of vehicles like ETFs, and how  many strategies that Wall Street sells distract investors from their goals.  Lee explains how Wall Street is really like one big craps table and why that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Today Lee is one of the top independent RIAs in the country and is a regular guest on CNBC and Fox Business among others. He tells Stefan how his 25-year career got started in the mid-1990s at the colorful brokerage firm, Prime Charter, which was a legitimate version of Stratton Oakmont.  Lee goes on and details a darker time at Bear Stearns and explains why he he left NYC after 9/11 for the serene Albuquerque scene.  After Lee's journey takes him out west, he decides to launch his independent firm, Portfolio LLC in 2008.  He then addresses the infamous 2001 New York Observer article that painted him as a swaggering stock broker of a bygone era.  The Observer article and a Business Insider piece that was published 10 years later led him to reflect and realize he had a good deal of perspective to offer readers. He uses the backdrop  of the Global Financial Crisis and leverages the ensuing anti-Wall Street sentiment to land a book deal, but is left high and dry by a writing partner and is stunned to learn that most investment advice books are ghostwritten.  He then flees to Earthships in Taos to write it and after a couple of months delivers a book that sets the record straight on Wall Street  This is Lee Munson uncensored and listeners will hear his no-nonsense approach on to how to avoid the pitfalls of Wall Street.  Lee is a voracious reader and he ends the interview talking about his recommended reading list, and why he modeled his book after "The Money Game" by George Goodman, aka Adam Smith.Go to ReadTheBull.com for more information.