Episodes

Talk Your Book: Interest Rates Go Kablooey
April 21, 2025

Talk Your Book: Interest Rates Go Kablooey

On this two-part episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson speak with Jason Greenblath of American Century Investments about short duration fixed income, remaining active during recessions, in...
Talk Your Book: How Not To Invest Like Buffett
April 19, 2025

Talk Your Book: How Not To Invest Like Buffett

On this special two-part episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson speak with Barry Ritholtz to discuss his new book, How Not To Invest. Barry is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of...
The Dollar Dump (EP.408)
April 16, 2025

The Dollar Dump (EP.408)

On episode 408 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the tariff tantrum, why a falling dollar matters, yields are rising, betting markets on recession predictions, sentiment is falling off a cliff, buyin...
Talk Your Book: Elevator Growth in Mid Caps
April 14, 2025

Talk Your Book: Elevator Growth in Mid Caps

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick , CFA and Ben Carlson , CFA are joined by Matt Bartolini, CFA, CAIA, Managing Director at State Street Global Advisors and Head of SPDR Americas Research Team...
The Stock Market Crashed. Now What? (EP.407)
April 9, 2025

The Stock Market Crashed. Now What? (EP.407)

On episode 407 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the chaos surrounding tariffs, Dan Ives getting cautious, possible affects on the economy, fake headlines moving markets, cabanas are getting out of co...
Talk Your Book: International Stocks, So Hot Right Now
April 7, 2025

Talk Your Book: International Stocks, So Hot Right Now

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Rahul Sharma, Portfolio Manager and Executive Director at Schafer Cullen to discuss the catalyst for recent international outper...
Ben's Bearish (EP.406)
April 2, 2025

Ben's Bearish (EP.406)

On episode 406 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: auto tariffs, binary outcomes on Liberation Day, rising uncertainty, why household debt is going to rise, the Mag 7 bear market, the pros and cons of ...
Talk Your Book: Floating Rate Income
March 31, 2025

Talk Your Book: Floating Rate Income

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Fran Rodilosso, Head of Fixed Income ETF Portfolio Management and Bill Sokol, VP and Director of Product Management to discuss w...
Did Trump Blink? (EP. 405)
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...
Talk Your Book: A Better Money Market Fund
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...
Talk Your Book: How to be a Supercommunicator with Charles Duhigg
March 22, 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...
Live From Miami (EP.404)
March 19, 2025

Live From Miami (EP.404)

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...
Talk Your Book: How Private Credit Works
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 Bauer, SVP and Portfolio Specialist at Calamos Investments to discuss how private credit differs from high yield, intricaci...
The Tariff Tantrum (EP.403)
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...
Talk Your Book: A Better 60/40 Portfolio
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...
Is a Recession Coming? (EP.402)
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...
Talk Your Book: Custom Portfolio Protection
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...
Time to Get Bearish? (EP.401)
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...
Talk Your Book: State of The Real Estate Market
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...
Life and Death (EP.400)
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...
Talk Your Book: A Short History of the Nasdaq 100
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...
Is $1 Million a Lot of Money? (EP.399)
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 ...
Talk Your Book: How to Eliminate Negative Alpha
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...
The Dumbest Trade War (EP.398)
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,...