Episodes
March 26, 2025
Did Trump Blink? (EP. 405)
On episode 405 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: how to become indispensable at work, the stock market comeback, the wealth effect, international stock outperformance, who owns the US stock market, 1...
March 24, 2025
Talk Your Book: A Better Money Market Fund
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alex Morris, CEO and Mark Spindel, Senior Advisor for F/m Investments to discuss how TIPS work, why it was so hard to hedge infl...
March 19, 2025
Live From Miami
On episode 404 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: a bear market in Mag 7 stocks, one of the fastest corrections ever, surveys gaslighting investors, a possible consumer slowdown, more travel stories a...
March 17, 2025
Talk Your Book: How Private Credit Works
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Phil Baur, SVP and Portfolio Specialist at Calamos Investments to discuss how private credit differs from high yield, intricacie...
March 15, 2025
Talk Your Book: How to be a Supercommunicator with Charles Duhigg
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by author Charles Duhigg to talk about his book, Supercommunicators. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealt...
March 12, 2025
The Tariff Tantrum (EP.403)
On episode 403 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: a healthy correction in the stock market, growth stocks getting slaughtered, bonds are working again, recession worries are back on the table, interna...
March 10, 2025
Talk Your Book: A Better 60/40 Portfolio
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by JD Gardner, CIO and Founder of Aptus Capital Advisors to discuss who Aptus is, shifting to riskier portfolios using options, usi...
March 5, 2025
Is a Recession Coming? (EP.402)
On episode 402 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: GDP growth rolling over, the probability of a recession is rising, timing a bear market, Ray Dalio's crash calls, the crypto strategic reserve, the bu...
March 3, 2025
Talk Your Book: Custom Portfolio Protection
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Matthew Radgowski, CEO of Halo Investing to discuss the difference between buffered ETFs and structured notes, Halo's new struct...
Feb. 26, 2025
Time to Get Bearish? (EP.401)
On episode 401 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the potential for an economic slowdown, Steve Cohen gets bearish, the labor market is slowing, giving the US economy the benefit of the doubt, the top...
Feb. 24, 2025
Talk Your Book: State of The Real Estate Market
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Paul Baiocchi, Chief ETF Strategist of SS&C ALPS Advisors and Nick Tannura, Portfolio Manager and CIO of GSI Capital Advisors to...
Feb. 19, 2025
Life and Death (EP.400)
On episode 400 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Jon Carlson's story, dealing with grief, why financial planning matters, Jon's life advice, the power of kindness and the mundane, gambler's fallacy o...
Feb. 17, 2025
Talk Your Book: A Short History of the Nasdaq 100
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Emily Spurling, SVP, Global Head of Index at Nasdaq and Mark Marex, Senior Director of Index and Research and Development to dis...
Feb. 12, 2025
Is $1 Million a Lot of Money? (EP.399)
On episode 399 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the shrinking number of small businesses, the stock market chart of the decade, why excess capital investment in technology leads to booms/busts, the ...
Feb. 10, 2025
Talk Your Book: How to Eliminate Negative Alpha
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Cole Wilcox, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Longboard Asset Management to discuss if trend following still works for st...
Feb. 5, 2025
The Dumbest Trade War (EP.398)
On episode 398 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the financial impact of tariffs, why AI could save the stock market, market return assumptions for the next decade, the Vanguard Effect, levered ETFs,...
Feb. 3, 2025
Talk Your Book: Bitcoin for Anyone
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Matt Kaufman, SVP, Head of ETFs at Calamos to discuss using downside protection for cash, understanding caps and buffers using B...
Jan. 29, 2025
Your Budget Sucks (EP.397)
On episode 397 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Future Proof Citywide in Miami, the DeepSeek rug pull on Nvidia, what this means for the Mag 7 stocks, the most beloved bear market of all-time, Howar...
Jan. 27, 2025
Talk Your Book: The Private Credit Opportunity Set
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Kyle Brown, CEO, President, and CIO of Trinity Capital to discuss valuations in the VC market, what advisors should be asking ab...
Jan. 22, 2025
Trump Coin (EP.396)
On episode 396 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: a memecoin from the President, what's next for the crypto industry, the golden age of financial fraud, recessions are becoming less prevalent, how muc...
Jan. 20, 2025
Talk Your Book: 3 Reasons to Buy Bonds
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Dave Braun, Managing Director and Generalist Portfolio Manager at PIMCO to discuss why rates have been moving higher, if the Fed...
Jan. 15, 2025
A Key Market Signal (EP.395)
On episode 395 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the devastating fires in LA, why homes are the most important financial asset for the middle class, a roundtrip in stocks since the election, why rate...
Jan. 13, 2025
Talk Your Book: Moneyball Meets Private Equity
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Greg Bond , CEO of Man Numeric and Head of the Americas for the Man Group to discuss how the private equity portfolio is constru...
Jan. 8, 2025
Predictions For 2025 (EP.394)
On episode 394 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: all sorts of predictions for the upcoming year, the AI bubble, the roaring 2020s of stock market returns, financial regrets at age 80, housing is the ...