….

Tumbling Dice

Song by The Rolling Stones (1972)

“Baby, get it straight

You got to roll me and call me the tumbling dice

Got to roll me (Call me the tumbling dice)

Got to roll me Got to roll me

Got to roll me (Oh, oh yeah)

Got to roll me (Oh, oh)

Got to roll me (Oh yeah)

Got to roll me (Oh, keep on rolling)

Got to roll me (Oh, keep on rolling)

Got to roll me (Oh yeah, keep on rolling)

Got to roll me (Call me the tumbling dice)

Got to roll me (Yeah)

Got to roll me (Roll me, baby)

Got to roll me (Ah yeah)

Got to roll me (Oh my, my, my, my)

Got to roll me

Got to roll me (Keep on tumbling down, baby, oh)”

…

Introduction

Mick Jagger said:
“It’s weird where your lyric things come from. On ‘Tumbling Dice,’ I sat down with the housekeeper and talked to her about gambling. She liked to play dice, and I really didn’t know much about it, but I got it off her and managed to make the song out of that. [It] was written to fit Keith’s riff. It’s about gambling and love—an old blues trick.”

 These Rolling Stones’ lyrics channel the spirit of a promiscuous gambler—and it’s hard to find a better metaphor for today’s markets. “It’s about gambling and love,” Jagger said, and that sentiment feels especially relevant in 2025, where speculation and emotional investing are rolling together more than ever. From meme stocks to margin loans, Robinhood traders to crypto cowboys, the modern investing landscape looks a lot like dice—thrown over and over again.

As we discussed in last quarter’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ letter, vast segments of the market now resemble Jagger’s “promiscuous gambler”—where trading, investing, gambling, and entertainment all blur into a 24/7, touchscreen casino. The Degenerate Economy, a term coined by Stocktwits CEO Howard Lindzon, captures this dynamic perfectly: speculative bets, fueled by easy access, with digital wallets becoming everything from brokerage accounts to betting slips.

 "Over the past few years, Stocktwits CEO Howard Lindzon has been exploring what he calls the 'Degenerate Economy'—the next phase of investing where the lines between trading, ownership, and gambling blur, and it all happens in the palm of your hand. In this new economy, people are making high-risk moves and embracing a more speculative approach to finance, where digital wallets on your phone hold everything from investments to assets with just a few taps.”

And if you want a poster child for this era, look no further than Robinhood (HOOD)—up +524% year-over-year. What’s driving that growth?
1.    Trading fees—mostly from options and crypto
2.    Margin lending—borrowed money fueling retail speculation
3.    Prediction markets—yes, betting lines for finance, up 100% year over year

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