Episodes
Aug. 23, 2023
Rates to the Hilt (EP.322)
On episode 322 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: if bonds are more attractive than stocks right now, a lost decade for bonds, Michael Burry's track record, why the economy is so hard to predict righ…
Aug. 21, 2023
Talk Your Book: Customizing Your Assets
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Matt Radgowski, CEO of Halo Investing to discuss: customizing your assets, utilizing structured notes as a hedge, latest innovations in defined outcome products, and much more! …
Aug. 16, 2023
How Much is Happiness Worth? (EP.321)
On episode 321 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Ben's trip to NYC, stock market vs. bond market valuations, the 4% inflation scenario, why the consumer is so important, record home values (again), …
Aug. 14, 2023
Talk Your Book: Large Cap Alpha
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Francisco Bido, Senior Portfolio Manager for the Integrated Alpha group of F/m Investments to discuss: screening companies, growth vs value investing, investing in Apple, avoid…
Aug. 9, 2023
Do Valuations Matter? (EP.320)
On episode 320 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: bull market corrections, why valuations don't matter all that much, why people were so wrong about the stock market, why we haven't gotten a recessio…
Aug. 7, 2023
Compounding with Concentrated Portfolios
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by John Neff, Partner and Portfolio Manager of AKRE Capital Management to discuss: the AI investing craze, the creation of fundamental analysis, compounding returns with Warren Buf…
Aug. 2, 2023
Everything is Up This Year (EP.319)
On episode 319 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the biggest behavioral bias in investing, the number of IPOs that survive, rolling the dice on the stock market, why the consumer doesn't care about …
July 31, 2023
Talk Your Book: 100% Downside Protection
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Bruce Bond, Founder and CEO of Innovator ETFs to discuss: how 100% downside protection works, what upside you can earn with complete downside protection, who this product makes …
July 26, 2023
The Wealth Paradox (EP.318)
On episode 318 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the 2 types of bear markets, why everyone was wrong but the stock market was right about a recession, speculation vs. interest rates, real estate as …
July 24, 2023
Talk Your Book: Future Proof Festival
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Matt Middleton, CEO and Co-Founder of Advisor Circle to discuss: how Advisor Circle was started, why conferences needed to change, Future Proof 2022 and changes coming for 2023,…
July 19, 2023
Recession Not Required (EP.317)
On episode 317 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the stock market vs. the Fed's balance sheet, why expectations matter more than fundamentals in the short-run, the cruel irony of investing, how to h…
July 17, 2023
Talk Your Book: The Impact of a Bitcoin ETF
On today's show, we are joined again by Jack Neureuter, Research Analyst at Fidelity Digital Assets to discuss: knock-on affects of a spot Bitcoin ETF, the Grayscale discount, Bitcoin in bear markets vs bull markets, whether…
July 12, 2023
Is Twitter Dead? (EP.316)
On episode 316 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: when to get bullish on the long run, how to use sell side stock research, what's wrong with Disney, cruises are underrated, how the pandemic messed u…
July 5, 2023
Is the Housing Correction Over? (EP.315)
On episode 315 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the stock market fighting the Fed, the power of index fund flows, the most trustworthy source of financial advice, an economic miracle in the United S…
July 3, 2023
Talk Your Book: Optimizing Your Credit Card Points
On today's show, we are joined by Chris Hutchins, Host of All The Hacks Podcast to discuss: credit card point devaluation, the best cards to optimize spending, where you should book flights, transferring points for better re…
June 28, 2023
Why Crypto Needs BlackRock (EP.314)
On episode 314 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss why the bond market isn't always the smart money, some more good news on the inflation front, why lifestyle inflation is at all-time highs, talking ou…
June 26, 2023
Talk Your Book: Advisor Best Practices
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Chris Shuba, founder and CEO of Helios to discuss: ETFs vs. direct indexing, why differentiation matters for advisors, utilizing content to drive business, where the wealth mana…
June 21, 2023
Why Housing Prices Are So Expensive (EP.313)
On episode 313 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss investor behavior in a bull market, how boomers fell in love with stocks, how the unemployment rate impacts stock market returns, why Americans love s…
June 19, 2023
Talk Your Book: Internet Stocks with Income
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Jonathan Shelon, COO of KraneShares to discuss internet growth in China, how to get exposure to China, how the KLIP ETF is able to generate high yields, risks involved with cove…
June 14, 2023
Are Stocks Cheap? (EP.312)
On today's show Michael and Ben discuss the greatest company in history, why the bear market is over, why this might not be a new bull market, why the economy keeps humming along, what falling inflation means for the markets…
June 12, 2023
Talk Your Book: The Electrification of America
On today's show, Michael and Ben are joined by Timothy Kramer, Founder and CEO of to discuss investing in electricity, how CNIC Funds work, volatility in the energy market, what a suitable commodity exposure looks like, and…
June 7, 2023
Is the Bear Market Over? (EP.311)
On today's show Michael and Ben discuss the beginning of a new bull market, increased concentration in the stock market, the worst housing market ever for buyers, a worrying trend in demographics, the biggest momentum invest…
June 5, 2023
Talk Your Book: Investing in Treasuries During a Debt Crisis
On today's show, we spoke with Alex Morris, Founder and CIO of F/m Investments on how Treasury ETFs work, why the 1mo is yielding so much, how government defaults could affect treasuries, and much more! Visit to learn more.…
May 31, 2023
Something Has to Break (EP.310)
On today's show, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss Ben's guiding philosophy on life and markets, why people buy and sell stocks at the wrong times, NVIDIA's crazy run, why the economy remains so resilient, historic inc…