Still Buying the Haystack and Sleeping Well Because I’ll Own The Needles (Winners)

Posted on June 1, 2026 // Leave a Comment

In 2019, I wrote the post Buying The Haystack: Sleeping Well Because I’ll Own The Winners (Needles). Recently, Hendrik Bessembinder updated his previous research with the paper One Hundred Years in the U.S. Stock Markets (SSRN/PDF), which tracked the “investment outcomes for 29,754 common stocks listed on the public U.S. stock markets over the 100-year period from 1926 to 2025”. Some highlights:

  • Total Net Wealth created over that period: ~$91 Trillion.
  • The 0.2% Needles: Just 46 stocks (roughly 0.2% of the ~30,000 total stocks) were responsible for generating 50% of that $91 trillion.
  • The 4% Needles: Only 4% of all stocks accounted for 100% of the net value creation. The other 96% collectively just matched risk-free US Treasury bills – many were complete or nearly complete losses, the rest had smaller gains that only just offset those losses. This means that the top 4% created all of the net wealth creation.

Here is a chart that summarizes this info from a Vanguard Australia article Equity market skewness: The few mega-winners and the case for diversification:

I will simply quote Bogle and myself now, because I am lazy and honestly that’s how investment writing works. You just end up repeating and/or repackaging the same 10-25 rules over and over again.

As the late Jack Bogle told us: “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack.”

I don’t know which will be the most successful US companies in the future, but I know that I will own them via the total US index fund in my portfolio. I will own the next Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, or Visa. I’ll also own whoever disrupts them after that. Since I own a big chunk of global stocks inside the Vanguard Total International Stock Index fund, I’ll be covered if they come from the other side of the world.

In 2026, this means I own NVIDIA/Alphabet/Google/Microsoft, but in 10 years, I know that the picture will be at least somewhat different.

BofA Rewards Subscription Credits: Eligible Select Streaming and News Services (As of May 2026)

Posted on May 28, 2026 // 2 Comments

Bank of America’s “Preferred Rewards” program officially switched over to the “BofA Rewards” program as of May 27, 2026, although most existing members will be grandfathered into their current tier for up to 11 more months or so. One of the list of program changes was the promised addition of “Subscription credits – Get up to $180 annually in credits for streaming services you use most”. Here’s what the fine print said:

BofA Rewards™ Subscription Credits. In order to be eligible for the subscription credit benefit, you must:
(1) Be enrolled in the BofA Rewards program’s Preferred Honors or Premier tiers.

(2) Agree to the full terms of the subscription credit benefit from the subscription credit benefit page within BofA Rewards.

(3) Make payments directly to eligible merchants using your Bank of America debit card linked to a checking account that you designate via the subscription credit benefit page.

Preferred Honors tier members may receive statement credits up to $8 per month, and Premier tier members may receive up to $15 per month. Eligible merchants are subject to change without notice. Currently eligible merchants can be found on the subscription credit benefit page.

I could not find a public “subscription credit benefit page”, and it looks like it’s only visible for actual members. I am still on the new “Premier” tier, which is their highest current tier. I logged into my BofA account and navigated to the “Rewards & Deals” tab and then “BofA Rewards”.

After that, I scrolled down to “Feature Benefits” to the subscription benefit details. I can only assume that they are same for everyone, but this is what I have:

Here are the current merchants along with their regular monthly prices, as the credits can only be earned in monthly increments:

  • Paramount+: $8.99/month for the ad-supported Essential tier and $13.99/month for the ad-free Premium tier (which includes Showtime).
  • SiriusXM: $11.99/month for the App-Only All Access plan, while an Car+App All Access plan normally lists for $25.99/month.
  • Wall Street Journal: Digital access is $11.25/week, but the first year is $8 every 4 weeks right now.
  • The Economist: Digital access is $29 every 4 weeks.

I’m rather disappointed with the limited selection. Personally, I don’t pay for Paramount+ right now so I might get it for “free” with this offer, but I doubt I’ll use it very much. WSJ is probably the service I use the most but I already have access via alternative means, and it doesn’t even cover the entire cost anyway. I hope BofA changes up the options regularly. Netflix would have been nice.

Commencement Speech x Outdoor Boys: Survival Advice for the Real World

Posted on May 25, 2026 // 1 Comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttQd5bEdfL0 Graduation season is here, and here is the 2026 Commencement Speech for George Mason Law School by Luke Nichols, who is a practicing attorney but probably best known as the owner of the popular YouTube … [Read the rest]

Hilton Honors American Express Cards: New Limited-Time Offers

Posted on May 21, 2026 // 11 Comments

Updated with new limited-time offers. Hilton Hotels and American Express have co-branded credit cards with special perks for Hilton customers. Each person can typically only get one welcome offer, per card in your entire lifetime, so it's best to … [Read the rest]

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program 2026 (Free Book, Kids Grades 1-6)

Posted on May 19, 2026 // Leave a Comment

Back for 2026. Barnes & Noble has brought back their Summer Reading Free Book Giveaway for kids in Grades 1-6. You child will need to read any eight books this summer and record them in this Summer Reading Journal [printable PDF]. This year has … [Read the rest]

Advantages of Owning Vanguard Total US and Total International Stocks ETFs Separately

Posted on May 18, 2026 // 4 Comments

One of the most popular ways to build out the stock portion of a simple index fund portfolio is to own the following two Vanguard ETFs: Vanguard Total US Stock Market ETF (VTI), which tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index representing ~100% of … [Read the rest]

CIT Bank Platinum Savings APY Boost Promo: 6-Months at 4.10% APY (New and Existing Customers)

Posted on May 18, 2026 // 19 Comments

(Update: The end date for this offer has been extended to 6/30/26.) CIT Bank has a new limited-time Platinum Savings APY Boost Promotion, offering a boosted interest rate of 4.10% APY for 6 months on their Platinum Saving account that is 0.35% APY … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates on “Cash”: Bank Accounts, Treasury Bills, Money Markets, ETFs – May 2026

Posted on May 14, 2026 // 1 Comment

Here's my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of May 2026, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks and brokerages love taking advantage of idle cash, and you can often earn more interest while keeping the same … [Read the rest]

SoFi Promos: 2% ACAT Transfer Bonus, $425 New Checking Bonus, $300-$1000 Loan Bonuses

Posted on May 12, 2026 // 80 Comments

(Updated: 2% ACAT transfer bonus is back, valid on both IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts. For example, $2,000 on a $100,000 account value. 5-year minimum hold. Only a 1% bonus on 401k rollovers. ) SoFi ("Social Finance") is an all-in-one … [Read the rest]

Atmos Rewards Visa Signature Business Card – Improved 85k Offer

Posted on May 12, 2026 // Leave a Comment

The Atmos Rewards Visa Signature Business Card is the business card version of the Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa. Right now, there is also a limited-time increased 85k + $99 Companion Fare offer for this card, which you may find promoted by flight … [Read the rest]

Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Review: 85,000 Bonus Points + $99 Companion Fare

Posted on May 11, 2026 // 6 Comments

Limited-time offer. The Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature Card is the one of the new refreshed Alaska Airlines cards in the new combined Alaska–Hawaiian ecosystem. Formerly the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card, and still issued by Bank of … [Read the rest]

A Cautionary Tale about Maintaining Paper/Offline Records of your Accounts

Posted on May 10, 2026 // 9 Comments

The NY Times recently published the article "Her Life Savings Mysteriously Disappeared After a Systems Glitch" (gift link), where a woman logs into her Fidelity account one day and finds that her accounts are missing online and Fidelity dismisses her … [Read the rest]

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