Episodes
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 manag...
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 sp...
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 cover...
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, why martinis are...
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 much more! ...
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 investors on the planet, Brad...
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. Find...
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 income gains at the bottom,...
May 29, 2023
Talk Your Book: Upside and Downside Customization For Your Portfolio
On today's show, we are joined by Jason Barsema, Co-Founder and President of to discuss how structured notes are made, counterparty risk during banking crises, customizing structured notes, and much more! Find complete shownotes...
May 24, 2023
Tech Stocks Are Back (EP.309)
On today's show, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the now-available Animal Spirits x Tropical Bros shirts, a great year for stocks (so far), Japan and Germany making new decade highs, US Government interest payments at all time highs, a...
May 22, 2023
Talk Your Book: Streamlining Alternative Investments
On today's show, we are joined by Brett Hillard, CIO of to discuss advisor pain points when investing in alts, the fund manager due diligence process, how interest rates affect the alternatives market, and much more! Find...
May 20, 2023
Living a Rich Life with Ramit Sethi
On today's episode of Animals Spirits: Talk Your Book we are joined by to talk about his new Netflix Show, How to Get Rich. Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s Michael Batnick’s Feel free to shoot us an email at...
May 17, 2023
The Only Game in Town (EP.308)
On today's show we discuss debt ceiling drama, the best long-term investment, money market funds, catching a falling knife, 24 hour trading, why workers are happier than ever, the greatest wealth transfer in history, why wealth inequality will get...
May 15, 2023
Talk Your Book: Fidelity Digital Assets Mailbag
On today's show, we are joined by Jack Neureuter, Research Analyst at to discuss what drives the price of Bitcoin, where to store Bitcoin, Bitcoin staying out of the headlines, and much more! Find complete shownotes on our...
May 10, 2023
Business Optimism Crashes (EP.307)
On today's show we discuss regional bank failures, confidence in the Fed, international diversification, the V-shaped recovery in the labor market, vibes vs. data in the economy, the best company in the world, middle age and much more. Thanks...
May 3, 2023
Bear Market Lessons (EP.306)
On today's show, we discuss never shorting junk food, a purgatory market, why spending isn't slowing down, our first mortgage rates, the First Republic takeover, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Simplify. Learn more about Simplify...
May 1, 2023
Talk Your Book: CLOs – The Providers of Leverage
On today's show, we are joined by Thomas Majewski, Managing Partner of to discuss what a CLO is, differences between a CLO and a CDO, how Eagle Point Credit is able to pay these yields, the 2023 banking crisis, and much more! Find...
April 26, 2023
Millennials Will Buy All the Stocks (EP.305)
On today's show we discuss what happens to stocks after a bad year, why foreign stocks are outperforming, why any recession should be mild, how millennials will impact stock market valuations, generational homeownership rates and much more. ...
April 24, 2023
Talk Your Book: Diversify Your Diversifiers
On today's show, we are joined by Paul Kim, CEO and Co-Founder of Simplify ETFs to discuss how rising yields affect alternative strategies, Simplify's interest rate hedge strategy, utilizing VIX strategies, and much more! Find complete...
April 19, 2023
The Crockpot Recession (EP.304)
On today's show we discuss why the bond market is so confused, why consumers are so confused, why Vanguard continues to dominate, why inflation is finally heading lower, why millennials aren't as broke as you think, why first-time homebuyers are...
April 17, 2023
Talk Your Book: Hidden Pricing Power
On today's show, we are joined by Haruki Toyama, Portfolio Manager and Head of Mid-Cap and Large-Cap Equity at Madison Investments to discuss finding wide moats, discovering hidden pricing power, using movie anecdotes to invest, and much more! ...
April 12, 2023
The Year of Disappointment (EP.303)
On today's show, we discuss corrections during election years, rich boomers, how great AirBNB is, more issues at Twitter, Successions last season, and much more! Find complete shownotes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s Michael...
April 10, 2023
Talk Your Book: Defining the Downside
On today's show, we are joined again by Bruce Bond to discuss Innovators latest fixed-income focused barrier ETFs, how rate volatility affects ETF yield, risk-reward in fixed-income, and much more! Find complete shownotes on our blogs... ...
April 5, 2023
The 3 Levels of Wealth (EP.302)
On today's show we discuss why investors are always looking to catch a falling knife, a reversal in the markets since last year, why European stocks are outperforming, how money market funds became the biggest market story of the year,...