The Daily Dirtnap: “A Slap in the Face”
The Daily Dirtnap, Jared Dillian’s underground market newsletter, has been published continuously since 2008.
It’s unlike anything else out there, which is why we let Dirtnap subscribers do a lot of the talking here. To quote long time subscriber Terry F., The Dirtnap is “a slap in the face, but realizing you needed waking up.”
Jared Dillian's Investing Services
“A Quick Read… Unless You're Actually Paying Attention.”
— Ernie S.
“Three pages, five-ish minutes to read, 225 days-ish a year. That’s what the Daily Dirtnap is on the surface, and yet it is an institution on Wall Street—some of the biggest names in finance have been subscribing for years to get my take on sentiment in the markets.
So, why do they subscribe and why should you?
There are some stock picks and a portfolio in the newsletter, but that is not really the focus. The focus is sentiment, how investors feel about the markets, because that is where I have my edge. Sentiment is what drives the markets—investors behave in irrational, but often very predictable ways. At sentiment extremes is where there is the biggest opportunity for profit.
The goal of The Daily Dirtnap is to identify those extremes, and trade off of them. If that sounds simple, I promise you it’s not easy. But it works. That’s why something like 80-90% of Dirtnap readers subscribe year after year. The renewal rate for 5-year subscribers is approaching 100%. People get addicted to it, and they can’t give it up. Come join ‘em.” – Jared Dillian
“The Calls You Make… The Timing… The Instinct. On Another Level.”
– Joshua B.
Most investors spend their time asking, "What's this stock worth?"
Jared is usually asking a different question:
"Who believes what... what happens if they're wrong… and what might be a catalyst?"
That's why The Daily Dirtnap jumps from bonds to commodities to currencies to politics to investor psychology. The opportunities aren’t confined to one asset class, and neither is Jared.
He has made some ginormous calls over the years: nailing the top in energy in 2022, getting bullish on Javier Milei before most people outside Argentina had heard of him, home-running precious metals, getting bullish bonds when they were the most hated trade on the board.
He's also been wrong. Loudly! He once shorted Amazon. That didn't work. Another time, he famously shorted Canadian housing, which actually made a lot of money in the end… but for reasons that were entirely different from the thesis.
That's investing for you.
The point of The Daily Dirtnap isn't to be right every time (and it’s certainly not to cherry-pick winners and slide losers under the carpet). By reading The Daily Dirtnap, you get to know Mr. Market really well, by osmosis.
And you’ll start noticing the same things Jared notices: crowded trades, lopsided positioning, the stories everyone believes a little too much. Cultivating that instinct is what really makes the difference to your bottom line over time.
What's Included:
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Investment Risk: Medium
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Near-daily market commentary (Around 225 days per year)
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Straight from Jared’s inbox to yours
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Macro analysis across stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities
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Jared's highest-conviction market ideas
“Nothing else like it.” – Dave T.
Chaotic Neutrality
Stocks, bonds, commodities, politics, psychology, magazine covers... if it could move markets, it's fair game.
A Daily “Mind Vitamin”
Not every issue contains a trade, but every issue will make you look at markets differently. And yes, “mind vitamin” came from a Dirtnap subscriber, too.
Only Curiosity Required
The Daily Dirtnap was first built for investment professionals, but now about half the readers are individual investors.
Sentiment First
Markets are made of people. Dirtnap is basically an 18-year long study of what happens when people get greedy, fearful, euphoric, or just plain weird.
Three Pages. Every Morning.
Long enough to make you think, short enough to finish before your coffee gets cold.
Readers Don’t Leave
Nearly two decades in people’s inboxes, and around 80-90% of subscribers renew every year.
“A Realistic Voice in an Otherwise Sometimes Crazy Market.”
– Hans
The Daily Dirtnap could only have been written by one person.
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A Coast Guard officer who ran the Lehman Brothers' ETF trading desk... A finance guy with an MFA... An adjunct professor and best-selling author who DJs. You get the picture. Someone who thinks so far outside the box that it’s hard to see the box.
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Jared has spent the last 18 years writing The Daily Dirtnap because he can't help himself. Markets are what he thinks about, what he writes about, what he dreams about. (Literally.)
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And after thousands of issues and 18 years, The Daily Dirtnap still sounds exactly like the person who started writing it.
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“A daily punch in the face that reminds you to start paying more attention to how the world of finance actually works.”
— Sven D.
“An unmissable and crucial read! The Daily Dirtnap is insightful, thoughtful and prescient. Jared covers a wide range of topics impacting investors with a dash of humor thrown in.”
— Laurence B.
“Closing out the year up 58%+ without having taken on a lot of risk. Thanks Jared. Always love your writing and you are helping me build a better future for my family.”
— David L.
“Justice Potter Stewart could not describe pornography. And I cannot describe The Daily Dirtnap. I just say 'read it, you will love it.'”
— Charles H.
“A look behind the curtain… it has greatly expanded my view of markets, how they work, and the players involved on a day-to-day basis.”
— Stanley P.
“The Daily Dirtnap is my mind vitamin. Jared’s writing and insights are refreshingly different from any other research or strategy you will find. When I come back from a vacation I read all the back issues.”
— Tai W.
“I absolutely love Jared Dillian. He is brilliant, uncommonly honest, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. What a gift he is!”
— Demi W.
“My portfolio was up 31% last year, in large part due to following you (gold, commodities, emerging markets). If this year is even half as good as last year, I'll probably be moving up my retirement date.”
— David R.
“Reading something daily is not always easy. This is.”
— Joe J.
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“The Dirtnap is something that I read every word of every edition. He has a great feel for the market's Zeitgeist. As someone who worked on a trading desk for 30+ years, he is one of those interesting people on the desk that you always wanted to listen to.”
— Robert R.
“I Think I’m an Addict and Probably Need to Attend The Daily Dirtnap Anonymous.” – Aubrey T.
We’re not being lazy by letting Dirtnap subscribers pretty much write this page. Believe it or not, we’re actually being restrained with the number of testimonials we’re putting on here. There are hundreds and hundreds of them. Here are a few more:
“You Can Count on Me to Be a Dirtnap Lifer as Long as You Publish” – Dan S.
For nearly two decades, The Daily Dirtnap has landed in inboxes almost every trading day. It has grown almost entirely by word of mouth, and today it’s read by everyone from individual investors to some of the biggest names on Wall Street.
Membership is $995 a year, for around 225 issues a year (usually more, never less). Almost every day markets are open, you'll get three pages straight from Jared. Some mornings it'll be a sentiment read, others it’ll be a trade... sometimes it’ll be a bird’s-eye macro view, others it’ll be a narrow 3-pager on one particular instrument. Sometimes it'll be a call that you agree with immediately, others it’ll be a call that makes you want to rip The Dirtnap up (until a few months later, and it turns out Jared was right — usually). Every issue is a surprise—and readers like it that way.
Here's what your membership includes:
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Around 225 Issues a Year: Three pages from Jared, delivered almost every trading day.
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The Daily Dirtnap Portfolio: Jared's current positions, macro views, and highest-conviction ideas.
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Straight From Jared's Inbox to Yours: No committee or (heaven forbid) ghostwriters. Just Jared's thoughts before the market opens.
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The “Dirts”: The Dirtnap community is low ego, high intelligence. Jared does a conference every year, and meetups and get-togethers with subscribers in cities around the country when he travels.
“I publish pretty much every day, promising readers 225 issues per year, though usually it is more than that. I’m a workaholic, and rarely take more than a week off. I love what I do—helping people make money and entertaining them... If you read it for a year, and you find that it’s not for you, no hard feelings! But I think you will find that it becomes an indispensable part of your morning routine.”
— Jared Dillian, co-founder Jared Dillian Money
Questions,
Answered.
Still stuck?
Email support@jareddillianmoney.com and a real human will reply.
There are trade ideas and a live portfolio, but that's not really the point. The Daily Dirtnap is about understanding how markets work, how investors behave, and where the biggest opportunities are hiding.
Nope. The Daily Dirtnap was originally written for investment professionals, but today about half the readership is made up of individual investors. If you're curious, enjoy learning, and don't mind occasionally Googling something, you'll fit in just fine.
Most issues are around three pages long and take about five minutes to read. Thinking about them afterwards tends to take a bit longer.
Nope. Jared is interested in big, investable trends, not chasing every market move. Some ideas play out quickly. Others take months.
We’ll let Jared take this one: “I am not a tape hound. I do not know about every piece of news going on in every corner of the world. Some people are good at aggregating information. Not me, at least, not yet. But the way I look at it, you are not paying for news, if you want news, you can subscribe to the FT or the Wall Street Journal or something like that.”
Good! Jared would probably be disappointed if you didn't. The Daily Dirtnap isn't designed to tell you what to think. It's designed to challenge how you think. Sometimes you'll agree, sometimes you won't. Either way, you'll almost certainly come away seeing markets a little differently.
You can take a look at our full FAQ here, or drop us a line at at support@jareddillianmoney.com.