Episodes

On episode 348 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the people you see on every vacation, the cure for the loneliness epidemic, the biggest driver of stock market returns, the John Bogle expected returns formula, the best returning stock might surprise you, Bitcoin ETF flows, why there won't be a baby boomer retirement crisis, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Supercharge your client conversations with the latest and greatest data from YCharts’ ...

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Bruce Bond, Co-Founder and CEO of Innovator Capital Management to discuss: behavioral finance, and the popularity of defined outcome products during bull markets, how equity floor ETFs work, Innovator's latest defined income ETF solutions, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundn...

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Jared Dillian to discuss his new book No Worries: How To Live a Stress-Free Financial Life . Jared is the editor of The Daily Dirtnap , a daily market newsletter for investment professionals. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundnews.com with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas...

On episode 347 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why McDonald's is getting more expensive, the prospects for another bear market this year, fundamentals that drive stock returns, concentration in the S&P 500, Nvidia vs. China, tail risk strategies, consumer credit, commercial real estate, fixing youth sports, and more! Thanks to Spear Funds for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about the Spear Alpha ETF, visit: https://spear-funds.com/ Find complete show notes on o...

On today's show recorded in person at the New York Stock Exchange, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Kay Herr and Rick Figuly of JP Morgan 's Global Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities group to discuss: JP Morgan's newest bond ETF offering, why JP Morgan chose the NYSE over other exchanges, what a securitized bond is and how they work, thoughts on interest rates, and much more! J.P. Morgan ETFs are distributed by JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. is a member of FINRA. J.P. Mor...

On episode 346 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: concentration risk in the US stock market, economic dominance from the United States, when the Fed will cut rates, competing takes on the Apple Vision Pro, macro is hard, wage growth won't quit, why there are so many realtors, another investing book from Tony Robbins, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Download your copy of their ETF research and don’t forget, get 20% off your initial YCharts Pr...

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined again by Bob Long, CEO of StepStone to discuss: - What investments StepStone is making within Infrastructure - How liquidity works with infrastructure investments - The inner workings of interval funds, StepStones fees, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundnews.com with any feedba...

On episode 345 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the types of people you see on every flight in America, why new highs in the stock market are perfectly normal, why the Fed should cut rates even in a strong economy, this is more like the 1990s than the 1970s, young people are wealthier than you think, the biggest story about the economy no one is talking about, and much more! Kraneshares just released their latest content including their 2024 China outlook, 2024 Carbon ...

On this episode of Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alex Morris, CIO of F/m Investments to discuss: 2024 rate cut possibilities, the difficulty of forecasting, and why everyone got 2023 so wrong, utilizing spreads as a forecasting tool, why solving for corporate duration can be a useful risk management tool, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an...

On episode 344 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the average length of bull and bear markets, what's up with small cap stocks, $8.8 trillion in cash, no show China, the vibecession is over, the softening labor market, airline credit cards, 0% rate loans, the Bitcoin ETF, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription at: https://go.ycharts.com/animal-spirits-referral Find complete show notes on ou...

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are live at FARMCON to discuss: the macro economy and inflation in 2023 and 2024, commodity trading with legendary trader Andy Daniels, how behavioral finance affects investment decisions, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundnews.com with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas f...

On episode 343 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: setting return expectations moving forward, US Large Cap stocks generating a ton of cash, a bear market in used cars, an update on Bitcoin ETFs, Great Quarter Guys, driving in a blizzard, and much more. Thanks to Nasdaq ETFs and Fabric by Gerber Life for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about Nasdaq ETF offerings, visit: https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/nasdaq-etf-listings For more about life insurance from Fabric, ...

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined again by Chris Shuba, Founder and CEO of Helios Quantitative Research to discuss: the experience of a diversified investor in 2023, utilizing AI to build portfolios for advisors, Helios' latest trading service offering, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundnews.com with any feedba...

On episode 342 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the biggest winners and losers of 2023 in the markets, short-term vs. long-term returns for stocks, why the U.S. dominates financial markets, the problem with being right once in a row, Bitcoin ETF fees, Americans are richer than you think and much more! Registration is open for Future Proof 2024! Secure your pass: here ! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The...

On today's show, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Nate Conrad, Head of LifeX to discuss: how LifeX can earn higher yields than US Treasuries, how payouts differ depending on investor age, utilizing the LifeX income fund within a portfolio, and much more! Past performance is not indicative of future results. The material discussed has been provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security or strat...

On today's show we discuss 2023 market performance, a bunch of 2024 predictions, our favorite historical stock market return series, the high quality of restaurants, paying off your mortgage early, the downsides of behavioral finance, Ben's most cynical take of the year and much more. Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Our very own Nick Maggiulli is joining YCharts' webinar on January 11th, to explore evolving market themes and potential challenges of the new year, register here: htt...

On episode 340 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Christmas arguments, green shoots in prices, 1940s vs. 1970s inflation, why we're not worried about index funds, how to save & invest in middle age, why Bitcoin is the most extreme asset, celebrating no recession in 2023, why the U.S. economy is more resilient, some Christmas movie recommendations, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Check out the YCharts webinar with Michael and Ben at: https://...

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Todd Morris, International Growth Portfolio Manager and Analyst for Polen Capital to discuss: reasons for the valuation discrepancies between international stocks and US stocks, how the dollar affects international investments, understanding cultural differences when investing outside the US, position sizing within a concentrated portfolio, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...

On episode 339 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: mission accomplished from the Fed, what comes after a soft landing, new highs in the stock market, small caps breaking out, the best thing we've built in America, more people own stocks than ever, the economic chart of the year, the best movie of the 2020s (so far), and much more! Thanks to AllianceBernstein and the College for Financial Planning—a Kaplan Company—for sponsoring this episode! To learn more about the Allian...

On this episode of Talk Your Book, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by, Marco Hanig, Managing and Founding Principal of Alternative Fund Advisors and former Principal at AQR to discuss: the basics to Private Credit, the differences between a loan and a bond, why Private Credit is earning a premium yield, and much more! To learn more visit: https://alternativefundadvisors.com/ Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevan...

On episode 338 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: good news on the economy, why the stock market loves lower inflation, did Elon Musk help kill inflation, getting bullish on consumer sentiment, Netflix won the streaming war, Rich Dad/Poor Readers, timing the housing market, and much more! Thanks to YCharts and the College for Financial Planning—a Kaplan Company—for sponsoring this episode! Secure a copy of "The Top 23 Charts of 2023" deck and remember, get 20% off your i...

On today's Talk Your Book, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Alex Morris, CIO and President of F/m Investments to discuss: F/m Investments Opportunistic Income ETF, interest rate risk vs. credit risk, market cap weighting bonds, knowing when to sell a bond, and much more! Learn more about F/m Investments ETFs at: https://fmetfs.com/xfix/ Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an e...

On episode 337 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Charlie Munger, how much the Fed really matters, negativity bias in America, the blame game for inflation, why you don't invest based on the headlines, narratives on bond yields, doom spending in the economy, a quiet crypto boom, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Nuveen and Kaplan Schweser. Learn more about investing with Nuveen at: https://www.nuveen.com/en-us Check out Kaplan Schweser's CFA exam prep study pac...

On today's Talk Your Book, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined again by Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium to discuss the golden grain cycle, the cost of production and expected long term returns for commodities, how everyone got the oil market wrong, how the US dollar affects the commodity market, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor Feel free to shoot us an email at animalspirits@thecompoundn...