This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Gabriela Santos, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. Among the topics covered: There are lots of positives going into 2022, says Santos, expecting the pandemic to fade further, inflation to moderate, and growth to remain strong. For now, at least, inflation should prove to be a boon to corporate profits. The only thing holding the JPMorgan Asset Management team from being uber-bullish i...
Dec 29, 2021•40 min
This week’s Alpha Trader features host Stephen Alpher speaking with Scott Bauer, CEO of Prosper Trading Academy (co-host Aaron Task is off this week). Among the topics discussed: The recent market stumbles probably have a lot more to do with the Omicron variant, rather than the Fed speeding up its pace of policy tightening, suggests Bauer. For now, Omicron is more about cases, rather than serious illness, but it’s too early to have a handle on how this plays out. Of that Fed tightening, Bauer is...
Dec 22, 2021•23 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. Among the topics covered: Speaking ahead of the results of this week’s FOMC meeting and after a couple of very speedy inflation prints, Detrick suggests a speedier taper has already been priced in by the markets. Betting on perhaps a more dovish Fed action tomorrow might be something to consider. Looking out to 2022, while markets have priced in thr...
Dec 15, 2021•26 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with J.C. Parets, founder and chief strategist at All Star Charts. Among the topics covered: The technician’s take on last week’s swoon and this week’s major bounce in the stock market. The Cliff’s Notes: The S&P 500 (SP500) held above its September low of 4,500, setting the stage for the rally. Swooning along with stocks, were cryptocurrencies, including a flash crash as we slept on Saturday morning, whic...
Dec 08, 2021•37 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking EVs with Pieter Taselaar, founding partner and portfolio manager of Lucerne Capital Management. He’s also the CEO of European Sustainable Growth Acquisition Corp. (EUSG), a SPAC which hopes to soon close on its acquisition of ADS-TEC Energy, a German-based company that manufactures EV charging stations that can charge batteries in minutes without putting strain on a city's electrical grids. Among the topics cov...
Dec 01, 2021•54 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Jim Iurio, managing director at TJM Institutional Securities. Among the topics discussed: Speaking as crude oil prices (CL1:COM) were jumping despite a coordinated governmental effort to boost supplies, Iurio reminds that it’s another entry in the “buy the rumor, sell the fact” mantra. Oil, he notes, was down about $10 per barrel in the weeks leading up to Tuesday morning’s announcement of the SPR release....
Nov 24, 2021•43 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Dr. Lacy Hunt, executive vice president of Hoisington Capital Management. Among the topics covered: Hunt and his partner Van Hoisington have correctly remained steadfastly bullish on long-dated U.S. Treasurys ([[TLT]], [[TBT]]) through multiple inflation scares over the past few decades. They remain bullish today despite some scary recent CPI prints, continuing to point out the clear evidence that over-in...
Nov 17, 2021•43 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. Among the topics discussed: While the Fed has begun to taper and may push through a couple of rate hikes next year, Schutte expects the central bank to be very patient about tightening policy. He’s in the “transitory” camp on inflation, noting plenty of slack in the labor market as evidenced by a labor force participation ...
Nov 10, 2021•33 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, and the author of There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths. Among the topics discussed: While the energy sector has been red-hot this year, it’s hard to say things are frothy, says Bahnsen. He notes yield spreads remain high, price-to-earnings and price-to-cash flow multiples remain low, and stock prices for many exploration and production com...
Nov 03, 2021•45 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher chatting with Ben Laidler, global market strategist for eToro. Among the topics discussed: Q3 earnings season has been a big reminder that growth is not dead, says Laidler. He sees upside to his 2022 year-end S&P 500 forecast of 5,050 as markets continue to dramatically underestimate earnings power, and still-low bond yields support perky equity valuations. Markets have already priced in three Fed rate hikes next y...
Oct 27, 2021•35 min
This episode of Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Brue Liu, CEO at Esoterica Capital, and portfolio manager of the Esoterica Thematic ETF Trust (WUGI). Among the topics discussed: 5G technology is much more than just an upgrade from 4G, says Liu. If one thinks of 4G as enabling the mobile internet, 5G will allow the digitization of every aspect of our lives - from streaming to smart homes to smart factories to remote healthcare to self-driving cars. ...
Oct 20, 2021•38 min
A special bonus edition of the Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Mike Alfred, founding CEO at BrightScope Digital Assets Data, and a board member at Eaglebrook. Among the topics discussed: Yes it’s nice that the current price action in bitcoin (BTC-USD) is bullish, but Alfred urges focus on the long-term. The size of the network will continue to grow, more institutions are buying in (but haven’t yet publicly announced), even more institutions are goi...
Oct 19, 2021•59 min
On the two-year anniversary of the Alpha Trader podcast, hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher welcome back to the show, Bob Iaccino, co-founder of The Stock Think Tank. Among the topics discussed: While the renewable energy movement is a worthy one, the world isn’t yet ready to run on sun and wind. The lack of investment in fossil fuels has the globe on the verge of, if not already in an energy crisis. Some believe oil would need to be in the triple digits to put a sizable dent in the economy and...
Oct 13, 2021•40 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking first with Mark Minervini, author of several best-selling books, Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard and Think and Trade Like a Champion, among them, and then with Dan David, the founder of short-focused activist-research outfit, Wolfpack Research. Minervini is leading the pack this year in the U.S. Investing Championship in the $1+ money manager category with a whopping 262% gain. Though not a short seller by na...
Oct 06, 2021•59 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Jeff Kilburg, chief investment officer at Sanctuary Wealth. Among the topics covered: What’s behind the current market jitters? Is it the debt ceiling debate, concern about tighter central bank policy, soaring energy prices, supply chain worries, China Evergrande? Whatever the reason and whatever the resolutions to the above concerns, all roads appear to lead to easier than otherwise Fed policy, and Kilbu...
Sep 29, 2021•38 min
This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with David Trainer, CEO of independent research firm New Constructs, and the author of Value Investing 2.0, a newsletter available on Seeking Alpha's Marketplace service. Among the topics covered: The Evergrande story out of China is naturally worth paying attention to, but it's particularly important during these times of stretched market valuations. The question at hand is whether the Chinese government will...
Sep 22, 2021•44 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher discussing the latest macro topics. Technical difficulties kept our guest - RSM Chief Economist Joseph Brusuelas - from the recording, but we were able to speak with him offline and relay some of his thoughts. Among the topics: “Team transitory” got a win with Tuesday morning’s softer-than-expected inflation report, says Brusuelas, but - with the CPI continuing to run at north of 5% - it’s still to early to declare vic...
Sep 15, 2021•24 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with George Ball, chairman of Sanders, Morris, Harris. Among the topics discussed: Stocks are expensive and the bull market is long in the tooth, but the Fed (or at least Chairman Jay Powell) is showing little interest in tightening policy. While fast growth and perky inflation would seemingly argue for the Fed to move, don’t discount that Powell would like to keep his job - tapering and/or higher rates wouldn’...
Sep 08, 2021•43 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features host Stephen Alpher talking with Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers (co-host Aaron Task is on vacation this week). Among the topics discussed: “Goldilocks is a 68-year-old man in a suit,” or how Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole keynote address managed to please both equity and fixed-income investors. Ahead of the talk, a number of Fed speakers made clear they were in favor of beginning the taper sooner, rather than later. Powell pushed ...
Sep 01, 2021•37 min
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Aug 25, 2021•46 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Brendan Ahern, chief investment officer at KraneShares, whose flagship fund is the $5B AUM KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB). Among the topics covered: Why the fall of Afghanistan - no doubt a serious issue for the Middle East - doesn’t necessarily translate into China getting more aggressive with Taiwan There’s plenty being lost in translation with respect to the regulatory news coming out of Chin...
Aug 18, 2021•49 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher chatting with Scott Bauer, CEO of Prosper Trading Academy. Among the topics covered: Barring worsening news on the Delta variant or some other unfortunate event, there’s little standing in the way of the market continuing to move higher, says Bauer. That doesn’t mean investors shouldn’t be buying protection, and - thanks to recent low volatility - that protection is relatively cheap at the moment. Recent strong economi...
Aug 11, 2021•33 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial. Among the topics covered: Appearing on Alpha Trader right in the middle of the March 2020 panic, Detrick cooly explained that the market had more than priced in an earnings disaster, making stocks a buy. Fast-forward 17 months, and we’re in the middle of what might be one of the best earnings seasons ever. So yes, things are a bit perky right now, but...
Aug 04, 2021•31 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Mark Dow, author of the Behavioral Macro Blog, and a former hedge fund manager. Among the topics covered: The China regulatory crackdown is clearly not good news for that country’s tech names, and suggests not great relations between Beijing and D.C., but it need not be a headwind for additional records for the S&P 500 While it’s entirely possible that we’ve already passed the peak growth phase of the ...
Jul 28, 2021•49 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Blu Putnam, chief economist at CME Group. Among the topics covered: Making sense of the continued decline in long-term yields even as inflation surges Why we’ve probably already seen the peak in economic growth for this recovery cycle A defense of the Fed’s “transitory” inflation argument Alternative data sources like international travel numbers, sports attendance, and restaurant seating might give the fi...
Jul 21, 2021•32 min
This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Fari Hamzei, the founder of Hamzei Analytics and Timer Digest's Top Timer for the past three, five, eight, and ten year periods. Among the topics covered: Any number of indicators clearly point to stocks in need of at least a modest correction (5%-7%), but the market continues to grind to new records Hamzei is on the lookout for a catalyst that might give the all-clear signal for an aggressive short. What ...
Jul 14, 2021•42 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Nancy Davis, founder and CIO of Quadratic Capital, and manager of the Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF (IVOL). Among the topics discussed: No one can be certain of the inflation outlook - be it the Fed’s “transitory,” or somewhat more persistent than that, or of the runaway type No matter the outlook, we’re all naturally “short” inflation, so should look to have at least some exp...
Jul 07, 2021•39 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Scott Redler, chief strategist at T3 Live and the T3 Trading Group. Among the topics discussed: Don’t get hurt with opinions, says Redler, a pure technical trader. He keeps his eye on the 8- and 21-day moving averages for the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000. When above, says Redler, that means “risk on,” and he’ll look to buy individual names with the best technical setups. Redler is unconcerned...
Jun 29, 2021•40 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking first with Jim Iuorio, director at TJM Institutional Services, and then with Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. Among the topics covered: Why Iuorio believes China’s crackdown on Bitcoin (and Beijing seems to mean it this time) makes the long-term thesis even more compelling, even as the bulls are likely to experience more pain in the near-term. Last week’s mode...
Jun 22, 2021•45 min
This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Sylvia Jablonski, co-founder and CIO of Defiance ETFs. Among the topics covered: The conundrum of falling long-term Treasury yields as inflation moves higher Jablonski’s expectation that the inflation scare will be transitory, and won’t derail the continuation of the reopening trade Why the recent underperformance of FAANG names like Apple and Amazon provides a great buying opportunity for long-term orient...
Jun 15, 2021•33 min
