Episodes

Bankless & Animal Spirits
June 16, 2024

Bankless & Animal Spirits

On this special episode of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman, of the Bankless podcast, to discuss: crypto cycles, Bitcoin vs Ethereum, crypto entering politics, an...
Addicted to Trading (EP.364)
June 12, 2024

Addicted to Trading (EP.364)

On episode 364 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: our trip to Charleston, slowing vs. normalization of the economy, the loneliness of the American worker, Fed rate cuts, getting rich fast, degens trad...
Talk Your Book: Utilizing Dividends for Income
June 10, 2024

Talk Your Book: Utilizing Dividends for Income

On today's show, we spoke with Chris Floyd, VP and Portfolio Manager for Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions to discuss how rates affect high-dividend paying companies, the low volatility aspect of the portfolio, utilizin...
The Consumer is Slowing Down (EP.363)
June 5, 2024

The Consumer is Slowing Down (EP.363)

On episode 363 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: what happens if the AI bubble bursts, 200 years of stock market concentration, how to find lower insurance premiums, the bottom 50%, the fentanyl of p...
Talk Your Book: Supply and Demand Always Wins
June 3, 2024

Talk Your Book: Supply and Demand Always Wins

On today's show Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium to discuss the cost of production and commodities, how inflation affects the cost of production, how investors are utilizing Teucriu...
Has the World Gone Crazy? (EP.362)
May 29, 2024

Has the World Gone Crazy? (EP.362)

On episode 362 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the great Bill Walton, how many people own stocks and houses in America, how the internet and outrage culture broke surveys, 401k millionaires, what i...
Talk Your Book: Growth Stage Debt Investing
May 27, 2024

Talk Your Book: Growth Stage Debt Investing

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Kyle Brown, CEO, President, and CIO of Trinity Capital to discuss how the Trinity Capital structure works, how venture debt investing works, understanding executi...
Wages Are Beating Inflation (EP.361)
May 22, 2024

Wages Are Beating Inflation (EP.361)

On episode 361 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: losing a family pet, the S&P 500 is not the economy, everything is up this year, the stock market is NOT a casino, wages are cumulative just like infl...
Talk Your Book: Higher For Longer
May 20, 2024

Talk Your Book: Higher For Longer

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Alex Morris, President and Chief Investment Officer of F/m Investments to discuss what duration, maturity, and convexity mean to a bond, the psychology of bond be...
When Will Houses Be Affordable Again? (EP.360)
May 15, 2024

When Will Houses Be Affordable Again? (EP.360)

On episode 360 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: pullbacks in bull markets, the legend of Jim Simons, if 401(k)s were a mistake, what a car says about its driver, hotel movies vs airplane movies, and...
Talk Your Book: Defining Risk with Structured Protection ETFs
May 13, 2024

Talk Your Book: Defining Risk with Structured Protection ETFs

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick spoke with Matt Kaufman, SVP and Head of ETFs at Calamos Investments to discuss: why embedding options within ETF wrappers has gotten so popular, how Calamos structures protect...
Fighting Inflation (EP.359)
May 8, 2024

Fighting Inflation (EP.359)

On episode 359 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the suffocating bull market, the other side of government debt, Jerry Seinfeld on when money changed everything, consumers are finally fighting back a...
Talk Your Book: Bitcoin Flows
May 6, 2024

Talk Your Book: Bitcoin Flows

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Christopher Jensen, Director of Digital Assets Research for Franklin's Digital Asset Investment Strategies Group to discuss, the resiliency of Bitcoin, the global...
Negative Arbitrage (EP.358)
May 1, 2024

Negative Arbitrage (EP.358)

On episode 358 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Michael vs. StubHub, inflation at Disney is undefeated, 30 years of stock market returns, the bond market correction rolls on, ARKK is finally seeing ...
Talk Your Book: Hedging Your Portfolio with Options
April 29, 2024

Talk Your Book: Hedging Your Portfolio with Options

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Eric Metz, President, and Chief Investment Officer of SpiderRock Advisors to discuss, the pending acquisition by BlackRock, covered call performance in a bull mar...
A Healthy Pullback (EP.357)
April 24, 2024

A Healthy Pullback (EP.357)

On episode 357 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the stock market needed a correction, why the 1990s is an outlier (in more ways than one), economic growth is a policy choice, Gen Z is doing bett...
Talk Your Book: The Bull Case for India
April 22, 2024

Talk Your Book: The Bull Case for India

On today's show, we are joined by Anupam Ghose, Managing Partner at System Two Advisors to discuss: why the China story is different than the India of today, India's macro tailwinds, how GDP growth translates to higher stock ...
The Yeah But Bull Market (EP.356)
April 17, 2024

The Yeah But Bull Market (EP.356)

On episode 356 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the stock market isn't down more, why the price of oil isn't up more, improvements in investor behavior, the auto insurance crisis, why home insur...
Talk Your Book: Diversifying Away From the Magnificent 7
April 15, 2024

Talk Your Book: Diversifying Away From the Magnificent 7

On today's show, we spoke with Ed Egilinsky, Managing Director, Head of Alternatives, and Head of Sales and Distribution at Direxion to discuss: flows into bullish and bearish levered funds, diversifying away from large-cap t...
Enjoy the Bull Market While it Lasts (EP.355)
April 10, 2024

Enjoy the Bull Market While it Lasts (EP.355)

On episode 355 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: how we prioritize our spending, 1987 vs. the Covid Crash, crazy index fund flows, stock market concentration, panic about government debt, the tech re...
Talk Your Book: Emerging Market Fundamentals
April 8, 2024

Talk Your Book: Emerging Market Fundamentals

On today's show, we are joined by Rahul Sharma, Portfolio Manager and Executive Director of Schafer Cullen Capital Management to discuss: China's effect on Emerging Markets, avoiding value-traps in EM, strong macro trends in ...
The Never-Ending Travel Boom (EP.354)
April 3, 2024

The Never-Ending Travel Boom (EP.354)

On episode 354 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: inflation helping corporate profits, what's going on with chocolate, airport traffic hitting all-time highs, the new Robinhood credit card, the downfa...
Talk Your Book: Preserving Your Capital
April 1, 2024

Talk Your Book: Preserving Your Capital

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined again by Jason Barsema, Co-Founder and President of Halo Investing to discuss: investing in notes structured around single stocks, the difference between hard and so...
The Roaring Twenties (EP.353)
March 27, 2024

The Roaring Twenties (EP.353)

On episode 353 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the elements are in place for a boom-time decade, why household allocations to stocks were so low in the past, how to lie with statistics, who kee...