Episodes

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...

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 a...

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 p...

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@thecompoun...

On episode 336 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why people keep spending so much money, long droughts between new highs in the stock market, the best upside AI hedge, intelligence vs. pessimism, denominator blindness with inflation, most Americans are better off, why people are unhappy at work, when it will be a good time to buy a house again, and much more! Thanks to Victory Shares for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about their Free Cash Flow ETF at: https://adv...

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Nuveen Portfolio Manager Nick Travaglino to discuss the bond market, the Fed, fixed income yields, what's goin on with interest rates, and 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 for future topics of conversation. Check ou...

On episode 335 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the blowout year for the Nasdaq 100, how experience shapes investment decisions, transitory inflation arguments, where prices have risen the most, who got the biggest wage gains, why housing prices refuse to crash, where to find affordable houses, why you can't trust sentiment surveys, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Register for Michael and Ben's year-end wrap up at: https://ycharts.zoom.us...

On episode 334 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the Fed's victory over inflation, what Americans get wrong about inflation, the price of iPhones is actually going down, when we get the first Fed rate cut, the rising unemployment rate, housing prices vs. recessions, Netflix movies, vests are overrated, and much more! Thanks to Amplify ETFs for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about their cash flow focused ETFs at: https://amplifyetfs.com/ Learn more about The Smoke...

On today's show, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Chris Kuiper, Director of Research at Fidelity Digital Assets to discuss: fundamental reasons Bitcoin is outperforming in 2023, illiquid Bitcoin values and supply/demand affects on digital assets, what Ethereum's different layers represent, 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@thecompou...

On episode 333 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the cooling labor market, why the 60/40 portfolio looks more attractive now, why the Fed is in a tough spot, why everyone hates this economy, how to become a millionaire, realtor commissions, reclining your seat on a plane, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode. Register for Michael and Ben's year-end wrap up at: https://ycharts.zoom.us/webinar/register/1316977225613/WN_ZwvEURfASPK06-zAxVKEWA Find...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Alex Morris, Co-Founder and CIO of the US Benchmark Series to discuss: making bets on duration, risks on the short and long end of the treasury curve, finding asymmetries in the fixed income 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@thecompoundnews.com with any feedback, questions, recommendations, ...

On episode 332 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why so many people hate this economy, anecdotes vs. data, a depression in the mortgage industry, the good news about falling stock prices, small caps look cheap, consumers need a recession, and much more! Thanks to Kaplan Schweser for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about how they can help you prepare for the CFA at: https://www.schweser.com/cfa?utm_source=animal_spirits_podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=infl_p...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Brendan Ahern, CIO of Kraneshares to discuss: the creation of Kraneshares Luxury ETF, demographic trends and utilizing the wealth affect, challenges in investing in international markets, luxury dynamics in a recession, 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, questio...

On episode 331 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: higher growth and higher rates vs. lower growth and lower rates, why there is so much focus on 60/40 portfolios, bears vs. doomers, the annoyance economy, why no one is happy about the economy right now (or ever), a record jump in net worth, renting vs. buying, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about their advisor resources and tax efficient investing, visit: https://go.ycharts.c...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Hamilton Reiner, MD, PM, and Head of US Equity Derivatives at J.P. Morgan Asset Management to discuss: how hedging ladders provide downside protection, the goal of the HELO ETF, hedged equity strategies vs traditional 60/40 portfolios, the impact of volatility on the strategy, 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 an...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Samir Kaji, CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Allocate to discuss: what start-up prices look like today, if the free money era is gone forever, VC return dynamics and the power law, 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 animalspiritspod@gmail.com with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topi...

On episode 330 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: inflation coming down, the continued strength of the US consumer, Howard Marks on investing for a sea change, the risk-reward in bonds, what would happen if the US government paid off its debts, EMH in crypto, the worst case scenario for the housing market, and much more! Thanks to iShares for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), visit: https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Jason Anderson, Regional Vice President of Northpointe Bank NMLS# 243209 to discuss: the All-In-One Loan, how interest rates affect home equity lines of credit, who this product may or may not benefit, the dangers of financial engineering, 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 animalspiritspod@gmail.com with any feed...

On episode 329 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why long-term bond yields are rising, the worst bond market sell-off in history, when good news is bad news for the economy, continued strength in the labor market, boomers are holding up the economy, Michael Lewis book review, why millennials are more prepared for retirement, and much more! Today's episode is sponsored by our friends at YCharts! Start your free trial and get 20% off your first subscription at: https://g...

On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by David Schulhof, Founder and CEO of MUSQ to discuss: what the MUSQ ETF is comprised of, whether or not the music industry is undervalued, the affect Taylor Swift is having on the economy, how AI and blockchain technology might impact the music industry, and much more! Learn more at: https://www.musqetf.com/ 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 u...

On episode 328 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: crazy moves in US Treasuries, how prepared the consumer is for a recession, more positive data on inflation, Michael Lewis and the SBF situation, dark meat chicken, the best 80s movies, and much more! Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125 years. Visit https://www.nuveen.com to learn more. The CFA Program is very difficult, but Kaplan Schweser can help you prepare. Visit https://www.schweser.com/ to learn mor...

Description: On today's show, we spoke with Eric Crittenden, CIO of Standpoint Asset Management to discuss: The creation and use of trend following, market changes over time, understanding what investors need vs. what they want, utilizing a mutual fund wrapper instead of an ETF, and much more! Learn more with the Monthly Update: https://www.standpointfunds.com/monthly-update and https://www.standpointfunds.com/ Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Mi...

On today's show we discuss higher for longer, soft landings, why nothing has broken yet in the economy, where the housing bubbles are, why it's harder than ever to outperform the market, gambling vs. day trading, NFTs are worthless and much more! Today's episode is sponsored by our friends at YCharts! Start your free trial and get 20% off your first subscription at: https://go.ycharts.com/animal-spirits-referral Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense M...

On today's show, we are joined by Ed Egilinsky, Managing Director and Head of Alternatives at Direxion to discuss: How leverage is created within leveraged ETFs, Why leveraged ETFs should not be held long-term, Investing in China, Using ETF flows as a trading signal, Direxions tactical commodity ETF, Diversifying Nasdaq exposure with equal weight ETFs, and much more! Learn More at: https://www.direxion.com/ Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michae...