AWM Insights Financial and Investment News

This week on AWM Insights, Chief Investment Officer Justin Dyer and Portfolio Manager Mena Hanna break down the turbulence across markets, from precious metals and Bitcoin to tech stocks under pressure. As they unpack the sharp drawdowns and shifting narratives shaping the start of 2026, Justin and Mena draw on real stories, sports analogies, and candid opinions to highlight why fundamentals, discipline, and diversification remain the bedrock of lasting wealth. If you want to hear what separates speculation from true investing—and how the habits that build champions apply to generational wealth—this episode offers timely wisdom you won't want to miss.

Chapters
(00:00) Market Volatility and Mixed Signals
(01:20) Precious Metals and Bitcoin Struggles
(02:21) Diversification Versus Speculation
(04:24) Foundational Principles of Investing
(06:24) Discipline and Avoiding Behavioral Pitfalls
(11:16) Long-Term Mindset and Staying the Course

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Creators and Guests

Host
Justin Dyer
Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer at AWM Capital
Host
Mena Hanna
Senior Investment Analyst at AWM Capital

What is AWM Insights Financial and Investment News?

A bite sized discussion on timely financial news and investment topics, to help you maximize your net worth and wealth for the next generation with Justin Dyer and Mena Hanna of AWM Capital.

Justin Dyer: Hey everyone, welcome back
to another episode of A WM Insights.

Justin Dyer here, your host Chief
Investment Officer at a WM joined, as

always by Mina Hana, portfolio manager.

My right hand man on the podcast, and
we're just gonna jump right into it.

Lots going on.

So not too much, uh, um,
filler here, Mina, right?

Like I said, lots going on.

Um, not all that positive at the moment,
at least over the last couple days, right?

So, uh.

We like to say don't focus
too much on the short term.

However, there's plenty of of
narratives, I'm sure, um, or storylines

that are capturing attention, right?

Precious metals, gold, silver
has have really cratered.

Bitcoin's not looking hot.

Tech stocks are having a
little bit of a rocky period.

Um, yeah, it's just been a very
interesting start to the year.

Not one single momentous narrative,
just a lot of, in a way, both competing

forces going on in the market, but
certainly over the last, let's call it

week or so, um, there's been plenty of,
of forces driving down asset prices.

So

Mena Hanna: Yeah.

Yeah.

2026 so far has been like a great teacher.

Um, a lot of the things that we've
talked about are coming to fruition,

whether it be precious metals,
gold and silver have been tanking.

Uh, that happened last week.

I get made fun of in the office because
I was gonna short, gold and silver last

Thursday, and I didn't end up doing it.

So, uh.

I am, I am out

Justin Dyer: not a recommended

Mena Hanna: a recommended, yeah.

Not a recommendation.

Just, you know, something that I was gonna
do because I really don't believe in gold

and silver, especially at these prices.

Um, and then same situation with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin's really sold off in the last
couple of days, and I, yeah, I was

texting with one of my buddies who
is very bullish on Bitcoin at 75,000.

I haven't even been able
to rub it in today at.

At 63,000, but Bitcoin is now down
more than 50% since the all time high

in October, which is a substantial
draw down in any asset class.

Justin Dyer: And there's a number of
different themes or, or, or topics

like you said, 2026 has been a great
teacher, uh, with respect to Bitcoin

Gold, um, even the tech stocks, right?

We could talk about.

Well, okay.

Concentration, right?

This is why you don't put all
your eggs in one basket, or rather

diversification why you stay diversified.

So you're limiting the impact
of a, an asset going down

50% in your, your portfolio.

Um, number two, which we talked about
over the last couple episodes is.

Generally why we stay away from
assets like commodities and Bitcoin

is kind of in that same bucket from
a, from a strategic asset allocation

standpoint, they don't have cash flows.

They're very difficult to to value.

Right.

Your buddy said he likes it at 75.

Okay.

Why?

Right?

Like you're kind of.

Sticking your finger up in the air
and, and, and trying to judge where the

wind's going and, and then applying a
strategy based on that, not the most

foundational, uh, way of, of going
about it, at least in our opinion.

Um, and really, I guess kind of
the, the through line, at least

in that last comment I make is,
is speculation versus investing.

And, you know, speculation in a
way is a, a version of gambling.

Some people could say that's bad.

Some people could say, eh, that's fine.

And we're not necessarily here to,
to give a, a moral opinion on it.

But from a, the way in which we look
at, at investing, I'd love to get your

take on this as well, Mina, right?

This idea of like.

How do we build a portfolio that
has staying power, that has high

predictability to meet someone's
goals, to meet their priorities?

Money is a tool.

We say it all the time.

Money is a tool to meet your priorities.

Let's build a portfolio that gives us
the highest confidence of doing that.

If you were to ask me that and say, oh,
does a speculative asset belong in that?

Generally speaking, no.

Right?

Like there's just no firm
grasp on how you can actually.

Formulate a valuation opinion
on an asset like that.

And um, and that's why we
generally stay away from that.

Mena Hanna: Yeah, you do what
works, what's been proven over

time to work, which is investing
in companies with cash flows.

And I know we're gonna sound
like broken records right now.

Investing internationally and
globally, and also betting on companies

that have fair valuation betting
on smaller companies, like over

time that has been proven to work.

That is your player in the lineup
that you can throw in there.

That's batting 300.

That's the guy that you want to play.

There's another guy that bats 200 and
maybe from time to time gets super

hot and hits four bombs in a game
and might win you that one game, but.

If you're batting 200, it's an easy
equation, uh, to kind of compare the

two players know who want, who you want
in your lineup, day in and day out.

So it really is that simple.

Do what is foundational, do the
right fundamental things, and over

time you're going to be rewarded.

One of the things that you
actually brought up, which is.

Also something that I'm not hearing
in the news a lot recently is just the

individual tech stock side, Amazon's
down 15% today, uh, blended between

the market day and the after hours.

Microsoft, like at the start of
the year and, and kind of in the

back end of of the year, people
were super bullish on Microsoft.

It's, it's got hardware, it's got
AI exposure, it's got software.

It's really this do it all company,
and Microsoft now is down close to 25%.

Since it's all time high.

So you could also invest in individual
companies that have cash flows, but if

you do it in the wrong way, you can still
get burned like the speculative investor.

And that's why you really have to think
about diversification and all of these

just core principles that we talk about
to really make sure that you're fielding

the guy that is batting 300 and you
expect to bat 300 for an entire season.

Justin Dyer: Yeah, that's right.

We're, we're playing not only for
an entire season, we're playing

to build the dynasty, right?

We wanna win championships over a
lifetime, not, you know, individual

games over a week or what, you
know, pick your sport and apply,

apply a timeframe on that one thing.

I think it's worth at least
highlighting, uh, I don't wanna

get too far off topic here.

We're not saying don't
invest in innovation, right?

Because there's a lot of folks, especially
within the world of venture capital,

which we allocate to that believe
Bitcoin is a version of, of innovation.

Could be right, could be wrong.

Maybe it's digital gold.

I think there's some plausible
arguments to all that.

But, you know, go back to
our, our comments around gold.

There's no cash flow, et cetera.

So from a, from a, from a, a core
asset kind of, uh, well-defined

portfolio strategy standpoint.

Just don't subscribe to that.

However, kind of Web3, crypto overall,
there's interesting companies being,

innovative companies being built
in that space, and we certainly

want to, to participate in that.

We don't know exactly what those winners
are gonna look like longer term, but

that's, uh, that's the innovation bucket
that we actually like to, uh, make

sure we have, have some exposure to.

What, what, shifting gears a little
bit, although kind of sticking

with the sports analogy, w.

You know, it, it just reminds me
times like this, just remind me,

Hey, assets get super, super frothy.

People chase these trades and time and
time again, people get wiped out, right?

I'm sure some people have,
Hey, made some money.

'cause they, they, they did short
it or, you know, more unfortunately,

a lot of people not understanding
what's going on, got into these

trades at the last moment, right?

And, um.

W what we're talking about requires
discipline, but it's not easy, right?

The behavioral side of us humans get
into the way we, you and I were talking

about this, uh, earlier where, right,
it, we know what to do, we know what

discipline is, but actually executing
on that is very, very difficult.

Whether it's like staying consistent
at the gym and whatnot, but there.

Is a through line here that I think
every, certainly professional athlete

and very successful call it business
owner, founder, entrepreneur,

uh, can relate to you, are never
going to change your strategy.

Overnight, you're never gonna
change your windup overnight.

You're never gonna change your,
um, your, your, you know, just

pick, pick something, right?

How you throw the ball,
how you feel, the ball.

You're not gonna just say
like, oh, you're putt, you're

putter, you're putting stroke.

Uh, you're not gonna just
change these things overnight.

You're going to think through that
with discipline and a very real

reason why you should be doing that.

And when it comes to investing,
it's the exact same thing.

You don't just go.

Oh, I'm gonna change my overall
strategy because gold is skyrocketing.

That's a silly way to go about investing
and, and usually a recipe for disaster.

Mena Hanna: Yeah, it's, it's interesting.

If you did that in your own professional
career, you'd probably be out of

the league very, very quickly.

That's right.

Yeah.

And if you do it in your investment
portfolio, I think it happens less

quickly, but it'll end up happening.

It's this weird kind of.

Different way of thinking about it as, as
an athlete, and most of our, all of our

clients kind of are rewarded when they do
the right thing, when they go to the gym,

they eat the right foods, when they seek
the right medical help, get the right care

and do all the right things for recovery.

In financial markets, you're
actually rewarded when you don't

do the bad things, which is avoid.

You know, speculation a lot of times
and, and there's a ton of charts out

there, uh, that show kind of retail
investors and money movement into spaces

and how that's actually the worst time.

Typically, when you see these massive
moves and people are dumping money

into gold, into silver, is actually
the worst time to invest, and it leads

to almost always negative returns.

You don't want to get yourself caught
up in that, and you want to avoid making

those mistakes because that's actually how
you add the most value to your portfolio.

It's not about necessarily doing
the right thing because the

right thing's a little boring.

The right thing is buying good companies
at good valuations and calling it a

day and really just leaving it be, um.

That is, that is boring.

And yeah, it, it's not, it's not
intuitive is what I'm trying to get at.

It is not intuitive at all.

The small little things that you
don't do that you avoid, that's

where you actually realize value.

And if it was easy, everyone
would be a millionaire.

Everyone would have the
discipline to do this.

But it's not easy.

And it counter dicks human psychology
and, and logic in a lot of ways.

Justin Dyer: 100%.

I mean, I, I think it is why we talk so
much about the mental side and, and relate

to friend of the firm Brian Kane, right.

Where, uh.

You know, he always likes to,
to tie back to the Tom Brady

quote, do more good and less bad.

And that's how you, you,
you get a successful career.

You know, what you're saying is spot on.

It really is the less bad side of things.

We know what generally are the bad
decisions when it comes to investing,

and, and we do our best to, to
stay away from those as much as

we, uh, as much as we humanly can.

Mena Hanna: Yeah.

And it's not the, the crazy thing is
like our clients do such difficult things

like throw a ball a hundred miles an
hour or do something that literally no

one in the world can do, or very few
people in the world can do that side

and, and being a world class investor.

It's the opposite.

It's not pulling the trigger
at the, at the wrong time.

It's being disciplined.

It's kind of being boring and yeah,
it's, it's odd, but it is so easy,

yet so hard to actually do for that
a hundred years stretch of time

that, that you need to be right for

Justin Dyer: Yeah, 100% and I mean
to, to repeat a hundred again, that

is, I think that's one of the elements
that really does make it challenging.

Right?

We are, especially today, we are
in such a short term feedback loop

society where our minds are challenged
even more than they ever were.

Um, on a regular basis to,
to question our decisions.

And so staying disciplined and the,
the boring, like there, actually,

there is a lot of interesting
things that happen in a portfolio.

It just happens over
a long period of time.

And, um, but I, I think
your point is, is well made.

So, uh, yeah, lots going on.

Like you said, 2026 has been an
amazing teaching, uh, year so far

in what we're, you know, not even
a month and a half in into it.

So, uh, I.

I, I enjoy this.

Hopefully it doesn't necessarily
continue on a, on a down note.

We don't know that, right?

Uh, it very well could, and
that that could be a good thing

for markets, quite honestly.

But, um, uh, we'll continue to address,
address any questions, topics that come

up as, as we see fit on this podcast.

Mina

Mena Hanna: give you,
yeah, shoot me a text.

6 2 6 8 6 2 0 3 5 5.

Justin Dyer: Awesome.

And until next time, own your wealth,
make an impact and always be a pro.