Episodes

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Greg Bond, CEO of Man Numeric and Head of the Americas for the Man Group to discuss how the private equity portfolio is constructed, screening out poor quality businesses, what private equity companies look for in investments, data and analytics within sports, Greg's experience with the Red Sox, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael B...

On episode 394 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: all sorts of predictions for the upcoming year, the AI bubble, the roaring 2020s of stock market returns, financial regrets at age 80, housing is the business cycle, when to sell big winner, the VC drop-off, what to do when you get super rich, 50 things a man should not know, and much more! Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to protect their family. Apply today in just minutes at https://meetfabric.com/spirit...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Elia Infascelli, Partner and CEO of The Cashmere Fund to discuss celebrities within VC, utilizing networks for private investments, how Cashmere was able to bring this to retail investors, how liquidity works for investors, portfolio structure with an evergreen fund, and much more! The Cashmere Fund disclosures: https://www.thecashmerefund.com/certain-risks-and-disclosures Find complete show notes ...

On episode 393 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the year that was in the stock market, expectations for 2025 returns, the Steve Ballmer portfolio, record ETF flows, the new normal of speculation, rich retirees who won't spend their money, the new normal of 7% mortgage rates, eff you money vs. your job, speaker phones, travel budgets, and much more! This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Fabric by Gerber Life. Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscriptio...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Charly Travers, Portfolio Manager at Motley Fool Asset Management to discuss how the Motley 100 Index is constructed, growth vs value investing, how Motley analysts approach stock picking, thoughts on S&P top 10 market cap turnover, 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 ...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by David Rosenberg, Founder and President of Rosenberg Research, to discuss David's macro track record, thoughts on where the economy is today, what Powell has gotten wrong, why the momentum trade has been working, David’s economic views for 2025, policy uncertainty moving forward, and more. Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevan...

On episode 392 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: healthy corrections, rate cuts vs. the stock market, terrible sentiment towards foreign stocks, the crack cocaine of the stock market, addiction in the information age, deflation in China, AI eats the world, houses are getting older, new vs. used cars for your kids, everyone is drinking Guinness, and much more! This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Fabric by Gerber Life. Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional s...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Nick Frasse, Product Manager at VanEck, and Angus Shillington, Deputy Portfolio Manager at VanEck to discuss NVDA vs everyone else, how the SMH is constructed, why other semiconductor companies are catching up, the issues at Intel, geopolitics and the semiconductor industry, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irreleva...

On episode 391 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the prospects for another 20% year in the stock market in 2025, the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders, no one is predicting a recession anymore, Hussman is still predicting a crash, why retail traders underperform, chart crimes, when money becomes a liability, when middle age hits, and more! This episode is sponsored by Westwood. Rethink how you approach energy investing and learn more at: westwoodgroup.com Animal...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson talk to Brendan Ahern from KraneShares about Chinese tech stocks, historically low sentiment towards international stocks, US vs. China tech companies, stimulus measures in China 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, r...

On episode 390 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the 4 biggest types of investment mistakes, bears throwing in the towel, Bitcoin hitting $100K, more travel stories, the greatest family movie of all time, and much more! This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Fabric by Gerber Life. Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription when you start your free trial through Animal Spirits (new customers only). Sign up at: https://go.ycharts.com/animal-spirits Joi...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Mick Rasmussen, Portfolio Manager at Wasatch Global Investors, to discuss how to construct a long/short portfolio, factors that make a good long vs a good short, how often the portfolio turns over, stock picking within small cap growth, 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 em...

On episode 389 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: US exceptionalism in markets and the economy, losing all of your retirement savings, yield sells, financial nihilism, the downfall of the CFA, the greatest trades of all-time, a 10 year outlook on housing prices, the bull market in podcasts on YouTube, the psychology of tipping, and much more! Thanks to Public for sponsoring this episode. Visit: https://public.com/compound and lock in a 6% or higher yield with a Bond Acc...

On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Jon Maier, Chief ETF Strategist and Shayan Hussain, Head of U.S. Investment Specialists at J.P. Morgan Asset Management to discuss the growth of ETF products, asset flows in and out of thematic ETFs, fixed income benchmarking, active investing with fixed income, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor ...

On episode 388 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: great stock market returns so far for 2024, Bluesky vs X, the impact of tariffs on the U.S. economy, when to sell Bitcoin, money in college athletics, a lightning round of vacation thoughts, and much more! Thanks to Global X for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about Global X’s entire suite of ETFs, visit: https://www.globalxetfs.com/ Animal Spirits survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZBBJ69Q Sign up for The C...

On today's show, we are live from Chicago with Alex Morris, Chief Investment Officer of F/m Investments to discuss why investors are still crowded on the short end of the curve, thoughts on why rates went up following a Fed cut, why credit spreads have remained so tight, not taking advice from hedge fund managers, 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 animalspiri...

On episode 387 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: 7 years of Animal Spirits, the miracle of US equities, the wall of worry has fallen, S&P 10,000, massive ETF flows, vibes rule everything around me, are crypto winters a thing of the past, where the low housing price are, becoming a grandparent, and more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode. Sign up for the YCharts conversation with Josh Brown on December 3rd! Animal Spirits survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co...

On today's show, we are joined by Barry Martin, Portfolio Manager of Shelton Equity Income Fund to discuss what it means to have shares called away, what makes a good stock to write a call option on, understanding the relationship between volatility and option premiums, how rates affect call option strategies, 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@t...

On episode 386 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why Trump won, how the Dems fumbled the economic messaging, how this will impact recession spending moving forward, 30% gains in the stock market, credit spreads, the reflation trade, how many people understand tariffs, how Bitcoin won, tiny houses, Mighty Ducks, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Roundhill Investments and Fabric by Gerber Life. Today's show is brought to you by Roundhill Investments and the Mag...

On today's show, we are joined by Jon Levin, CEO of GCM Grosvenor and Mark Gatto, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of CION Investments to discuss the basics around the infrastructure asset class, BDC's vs interval fund products, risk and return expectations for infrastructure, thoughts on infrastructure investing during rate cycles and election years, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investo...

On episode 385 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Warren Buffett's massive cash pile, the performance of the average stock this year, the Polymarket whale, markets in everything, Twitter replies now and then, the cost of college is going down, Bitcoin is still king, private equity in targetdate funds, politics vs. investing, and much more! This episode is sponsored by YCharts and CME Group. Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription when you start your f...

On today's show, we are joined by Nate Conrad, Head of LifeX at Stone Ridge Asset Management to discuss how longevity income ETFs work, what LifeX is actually investing in, why matching spending with investment products is important, understanding the inflation adjustment for inflation protected income funds, declining LifeX fees over time, 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...

On episode 384 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: changing narratives in the markets, why interest rates are rising, why you should never take macro advice from hedge fund managers, why the S&P 500 is so hard to beat, living paycheck-to-paycheck on $150k, why the 2020s inflation was so painful, 7% mortgage rates, the downside of Waymo, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Global X and Kraneshares. To learn more about Global X’s entire suite of ETFs from covered c...

On today's show, we are joined by Jared Dillian, Founder of Jared Dillian Money to discuss Jared's bearishness on private equity, understanding the demand side of private equity, a private equity sentiment bubble, an explosion of HVAC private equity deals, 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, recomm...