Humans think in stories.

In narratives. With characters. Through plotlines.

It's an evolutionary survival hack – and a backdoor to exploitation by marketers.

I'd add investor relations departments, increasingly, but it's not as simple as making IR a scapegoat. Rather, since GameStop, an increased level of tribalism-meets-gambling-meets-sports-betting has descended on markets, and savvy companies are simply exploiting this.

Rene Brentrup of Fallacy Alarm says this phenomenon is measured by momentum: As a factor, momentum has dominated in recent years, which signals more a "me, too" herd mentality market than a one looking to exploit reversions to fundamental factors.

Investing has always been a social science. It just seems more social, at least within certain stocks, these days.

Rene is one of the smartest people writing about investing these days, and I think you'll enjoy our chat below.