The Russell 1000, a subset of the Russell 3000, is a large-cap stock index consisting of the largest 1,000 publicly listed U.S. companies, ranked by market value. Despite the index having only a third of the stocks in the Russell 3000, which covers 96% of the U.S. investable stock market universe, it still offers a broad representation — 93% of the stock market. FTSE Russell, a wholly owned London Stock Exchange Group subsidiary, established the Russell 1000 on January 1, 1984.

We’re covering the business cycle — and how understanding the ebbs and flows of economic activity can help you analyze markets and build a sustainable portfolio.

The Russell 3000 is an equity index that tracks the largest 3,000 U.S. companies. It is market-capitalization weighted, meaning that each holding in the index receives a percentage size proportional to its total market cap. Overall, the index properly represents the broad market because it tracks 96% of the publicly listed U.S. equity market universe. It also has a diverse composition, holding a mix of large-caps, mid-caps, and small-caps.

This is a special guest post from Raoul Pal, our co-founder and CEO at Real Vision, and founder at Global Macro Investor. It might actually be the first blog post he’s written for us, and the reason for the special occasion is that we have just launched How to Unf*ck Your Future, a 2-week limited series that aims to do exactly what the name says.

Take it away, Raoul…

We’re going deep into the way-back machine of Real Vision — our chosen interview [paywalled] was filmed in 2015, but given that human nature takes millennia to change rather than years, it’s as valuable today as it was back then.

In it, Raoul Pal sits down with legendary fund manager Mark Hart and Tim Ferriss, the impressively multi-hyphenate entrepreneur-investor-author-lifestyle advisor.

At its core, the key lesson in this interview is how we all should be re-examining our habits and priorities in order to optimize the most valuable currency on earth: time.

Think of this episode as an evergreen lesson on ways to invest in yourself no matter what’s happening between the bells. Enjoy.

We’re back in the options game. Last week we covered:

The Basics — from the various use cases for options to a contract’s relationship with the underlying asset.
Premium pricing and how profiting from options comes down to understanding things like probabilities and time decay.
How to read an options chain to better understand demand and how premiums move.

This week, let’s dig into exactly how Imran Lakha, founder of Options Insight, uses options in his own investing process.

We’re looking back at the moment that retail investors, social media, options trading, and frauds collided to create pandemonium in markets.

Why? Because the meme stock craze is back. So far this year, message board darlings such as $BBBY, $AFRM, and $CVNA are surging higher as growth stocks lead a rally that’s beginning to show signs of sputtering out. But what are those signs? And how do we know when momentum is built to last?

“We’re talking options — and how they can help your portfolio when used correctly.

Imran Lakha, a former market-maker turned educator and the founder of Options Insight, will serve as adjunct professor in this issue. Here’s Imran on why understanding options is so important…”

Real Vision has launched a major new series — Looking for the Upside.

It’s fair to say that most economic predictions are… gloomy.

Looking for the Upside is going to do exactly what it promises. We’re going to focus on the opportunities that are arising from the state of the markets right now.

Think of it as an investigation. A journey of discovery.