Episodes
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 …
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 di…
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 s…
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 …
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, Howa…
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 a…
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 mu…
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 Fe…
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 rat…
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 constr…
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…
Jan. 6, 2025
Talk Your Book: Direct to Consumer Venture Capital
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Elia Infascelli, Partner and CEO of The Cashmere Fund to discuss celebrities within VC, utilizing networks for private investme…
Jan. 1, 2025
It Was a Very Good Year (EP.373)
On episode 393 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the year that was in the stock market, expectations for 2025 returns, the Steve Ballmer portfolio, record ETF flows, the new normal of speculation, r…
Dec. 30, 2024
Talk Your Book: Conviction in Growth Investing
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Charly Travers, Portfolio Manager at Motley Fool Asset Management to discuss how the Motley 100 Index is constructed, growth vs…
Dec. 29, 2024
Talk Your Book: The Economy is not the Stock Market with David Rosenberg
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by David Rosenberg, Founder and President of Rosenberg Research , to discuss David's macro track record, thoughts on where the eco…
Dec. 25, 2024
All In on US Stocks (EP.392)
On episode 392 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: healthy corrections, rate cuts vs. the stock market, terrible sentiment towards foreign stocks, the crack cocaine of the stock market, addiction in t…
Dec. 23, 2024
Talk Your Book: Looking for the Next NVDA
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Nick Frasse, Product Manager at VanEck , and Angus Shillington, Equity Research Analyst at VanEck to discuss NVDA vs everyone e…
Dec. 18, 2024
Eff You Money (EP.391)
On episode 391 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the prospects for another 20% year in the stock market in 2025, the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders, no one is predicting a recession anymore…
Dec. 16, 2024
Talk Your Book: Buy Low, Sell High in China
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson talk to Brendan Ahern from KraneShares about Chinese tech stocks, historically low sentiment towards international stocks, US vs. China tech …
Dec. 11, 2024
The Bears Capitulate (EP.390)
On episode 390 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the 4 biggest types of investment mistakes, bears throwing in the towel, Bitcoin hitting $100K, more travel stories, the greatest family movie of all…
Dec. 9, 2024
Talk Your Book: Matching Longs with Shorts
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Mick Rasmussen, Portfolio Manager at Wasatch Global Investors , to discuss how to construct a long/short portfolio, factors tha…
Dec. 4, 2024
The Mother of All Bubbles (EP.389)
On episode 389 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: US exceptionalism in markets and the economy, losing all of your retirement savings, yield sells, financial nihilism, the downfall of the CFA, the gr…