Episodes
Dec. 22, 2025
Talk Your Book: A Tactical Strategy That Actually Works
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Dan Russo from Potomac Fund Management to discuss: the bear market in diversification, trend-following, quantitative tactical asset management and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...
Dec. 17, 2025
All-Time Highs Should Feel Better Than This
On episode 443 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the stock market rally is broadening out, no one wants an AI bubble, the return outlook for 2026, Howard Marks on how to invest today, hedging an AI bubble, concentration risk, financial markets don't care about labor markets yet, the worst part about inflation, data centers in space, the housing outlook for 2026 and more. This episode is...
Dec. 15, 2025
Title: Talk Your Book: The Anti-AI Portfolio
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by John Neff, portfolio manager and CIO at Akre Capital Management to discuss: the firm's concentrated stock portfolio, how to hold stocks for the long-run, beating the S&P 500 and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealt...
Dec. 10, 2025
Netflix vs. Paramount (EP. 442)
On episode 442 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss huge losses in the Nasdaq 100, 2026 outlooks, OpenAI, 401k millionaires, consumer spending vs. a slowing labor market, money without meaning, price cuts on housing are accelerating, baby boomer riches, Netflix and Paramount vie for Warner Brothers and more. This episode is sponsored by NEOS Investments, Exhibit A, and Fidelity Trader+. E...
Dec. 8, 2025
Talk Your Book: Investing in Real Estate Credit
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Charlie Rose from Invesco to discuss: investing in private real estate, credit in real estate as an asset class, the different types of real estate investments and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...
Dec. 3, 2025
The Age of Discontentment (EP. 441)
On episode 441 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss why boring plain vanilla portfolios are hard to beat, predicting the 2026 stock market, Robinhood is Netflix, teens investing in stocks, all-time highs in rich people, the case against an AI crash, the crypto crash, how expensive housing is changing behaviors, ranking the best Disney rides, YouTube is eating TV, the joys of homeownership and more. ...
Dec. 1, 2025
Talk Your Book: The Psychology of Income
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Troy Cates, Co-Founder, Managing Partner at NEOS Investments to discuss: options-based income ETFs, why investors love yield so much, how to hedge using options and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...
Nov. 29, 2025
Talk Your Book: The State of the Housing Market
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Logan Mohtashami to talk about first-time homebuyers, how to fix the housing market, housing myths, how often housing prices fall and much more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Mi...
Nov. 26, 2025
Wait, Are We in a Recession??? (EP. 440)
On episode 440 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss stocks moving on no news, reasons today's market is not like the 90s, the Fed needs to cut, Google's breakout, thoughts on Disney, Cembalest's favorite movies, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Invesco & KraneShares Visit https://www.invesco.com/ to learn more. Invesco. Let’s rethink possibility. To learn more about KraneShares’ KOID E...
Nov. 24, 2025
Talk Your Book: Staking Your Crypto For Yield
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Krista Lynch, Senior Vice President, ETF Capital Markets at Grayscale to discuss: the crypto ETF landscape, how staking works, what's coming next in this space and much more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...
Nov. 19, 2025
Is the AI Trade Over? (EP. 439)
On episode 439 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the Degen Dow pain trade, the lack of euphoria, AI skepticism, long bear markets, Michael Burry's crash calls, the great stuff transfer, the Bitcoin crash, first-time homebuyers, Blue Owl and much more. This episode is sponsored by Nuveen & YCharts Invest like the future is watching. Visit https://www.nuveen.com/future to learn more. Register f...
Nov. 17, 2025
Talk Your Book: Will The Bubble Get Bigger?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Michael Arone, Chief Investment Strategist and Managing Director at State Street Investment Management to discuss: government spending, bailouts, the S&P 500, stock market concentration, the AI bubble and much more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s ...
Nov. 15, 2025
Animal Spirits Take Las Vegas
On this episode of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson keynote the financial planning association’s annual event. 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...
Nov. 12, 2025
Is a 50 Year Mortgage a Good Idea? (EP. 438)
On episode 438 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the problem with the K-shaped economy narrative, are young people screwed, the benefits of bubbles, the rate cutting cycle, OpenAI, Las Vegas, how to fix the housing market, restaurant stocks are getting killed, the degen economy and more. Today's show is brought to you by Xtrackers by DWS Find out more at https://xtrackers.com Sign up for The Compou...
Nov. 10, 2025
Talk Your Book: Public & Private Opportunities in AI
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Jonathan Shelon, Chief Operating Officer at KraneShares to discuss: the AI opportunity set, how to invest in private companies in an ETF, the differences between now and the dot-com bubble and the Kraneshares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF. Find complete show notes on our blogs... B...
Nov. 8, 2025
Talk Your Book: The Two Biggest Stories of the Year: AI & Tariffs
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Ara Kharazian, Economist at Ramp to discuss: how companies run their finances, trends in artificial intelligence usage and why tariffs are so confusing. This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXCompound Fi...
Nov. 5, 2025
Never Go All in on Stocks (EP. 437)
On episode 437 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss bad breadth, a historical melt-up in tech stocks, the case against an AI bubble, sequence of return risk, the economy that's better for parents than their grown-up kids, demographic warfare, why tariffs are so confusing, the data center buildout, AI chart crimes, Michael Saylor and more. This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Vanguard. Download YCharts...
Nov. 3, 2025
Talk Your Book: Emerging Markets Are Back
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Rahul Sharma, Portfolio Manager at Schafer Cullen Capital Management to discuss: China, the falling dollar, why emerging markets are outperforming and the firm's dividend-focused strategy. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense...
Nov. 1, 2025
Talk Your Book: Money and Marriage
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Doug and Heather Boneparth to talk about their new book, Money Together. This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXCompound Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s ...
Oct. 29, 2025
Never Pay Off Your Mortgage (EP. 436)
On episode 436 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss how behavior drives bull markets, how many companies outperform the S&P 500, bubble predictions, 5x ETFs, $20 lunches, surviving the AI capex boom, we need lower housing prices, why private credit is an easy sale to make, Halloween decorations and more. This episode is sponsored by Nuveen and Invesco. Invest like the future is watching. Visit https://www.nuv...
Oct. 27, 2025
Talk Your Book: JP Morgan's Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Gabby Santos, Chief Market Strategist for the Americas at JP Morgan to discuss the 30th annual edition of the firm's capital market assumptions report that covers stock returns, bond yields, inflation, GDP forecasts and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s ...
Oct. 23, 2025
Talk Your Book: How to Spend With Morgan Housel
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Morgan Housel, author of “The Art of Spending Money,” to discuss: Lambos, tipping, travel, spending your money with a purpose and his new book. This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXCompound Find complete show note...
Oct. 22, 2025
The Zero Dollar Club (EP. 435)
On episode 435 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss AI bubble indicators, what Jesse Livermore would think about this market, the pros and cons of owning gold, chart crimes, why the financial media is so negative, 5x leveraged ETFs, heavily shorted stocks are outperforming, will Bitcoin hit $200k by 2027, consumers are still in good shape, $50k new cars, Michael's top 10 horror movies and more. This episode is...
Oct. 20, 2025
Talk Your Book: Value + Momentum: The Best of Both Factors
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Lance Humphrey, head of portfolio management with the VictoryShares and Solutions team at Victory Capital to discuss: the firm's VictoryShares Value Momentum suite of ETFs, how to invest in both value and momentum, why there's so much more money in value strategies than momentum and much more. Find compl...