Animal Spirits Podcast - podcast cover

Animal Spirits Podcast

Animal Spirits is a show about markets, life, and investing. Join Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson as they talk about what they're reading, writing, listening to and watching. Look for new episodes every Wednesday morning. See our disclosures here - https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/

Episodes

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 India, passive vs. active management in Emerging Markets, 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 [email protected] with any fee...

Apr 08, 202436 min

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 downfall of Jack Daniels, and much more! This episode is brought to you by YCharts and Kraneshares. Join thousands of users who rely on YCharts to easily answer those questions and much more by leveraging personalized proposal reports to truly showcase your value add. To learn mor...

Apr 03, 20241 hr 2 min

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 soft protection, what the Catapult Note is, Halo's annuity and annuity servicing capabilities for advisors, 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 a...

Apr 01, 202444 min

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 keeps buying Treasury bonds, picking the AI winners in the stock market, some good news for homebuyers, and much more! This episode is brought to you by TBIL and the US Benchmark Series. To learn more, visit: https://www.ustreasuryetf.com/ Sign up for The Compound newsletter an...

Mar 27, 202459 min

Talk Your Book: Finding a Bottom in China

On this episode, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Jonathan Shelon, Chief Operating Officer of KraneShares to discuss: an economic update on China, China's buyer of last resort, what happened in Chinese real estate, 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 [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future ...

Mar 25, 202438 min

Talk Your Book: Return Stacking

On this episode, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Corey Hoffstein of Newfound Research to discuss: managed futures, return stacking, using leverage effectively, 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 [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation. Check out the latest in financ...

Mar 23, 202437 min

This is a Good Thing (EP.352)

On episode 352 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: thoughts on Italy, consumers wall of cash, inflation at the grocery store, real estate agent commissions in trouble, the best airplane movie of all time, thoughts on Dune 2, and much more! Thanks to YCharts and Fabric for sponsoring this episode. Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription when you start your free YCharts trial through Animal Spirits (new customers only): https://ycharts.com/ Join the thous...

Mar 20, 20241 hr 8 min

Talk Your Book: The Mount Rushmore of ETFs

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Ryan McCormack, Factor and Core Equity Strategist and Paul Schroeder, QQQ Equity Product Strategist at Invesco to discuss: the creation of the Nasdaq 100, where the QQQ ticker comes from, the Nasdaq 100 special rebalance in 2023, 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 [email protected] wi...

Mar 18, 202436 min

The Richest Country in the World (EP.351)

On episode 351 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: one of the most resilient stock rallies ever, money market funds vs. crypto, Americans are rich, the stock market has always been concentrated, inflation at the grocery store, the biggest reason the Fed needs to cut rates, some good news for first-time homebuyers, and much more! Thanks to the Texas Small Cap Equity Index ETF ($TXSS) for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at: https://www.texascapitalbank.com/etf-funds-man...

Mar 13, 20241 hr 11 min

Talk Your Book: The Bitcoin Halving

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Chris Kuiper, Director of Research, and Matt Horne, Head of Business Development for Fidelity Digital Asset Management to discuss: the new Bitcoin ETFs, how much news is priced into Bitcoin price, what the Bitcoin halving is, how crypto and macro economics fit together, institutional adoption of Bitcoin, and much more! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Inv...

Mar 11, 202438 min

Things Are Getting Stupid Again (EP.350)

On episode 350 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the markets continue moving higher, why buy & hold is the best (and worst) strategy, how 401(k)s impact the stock market, billionaires can't complain about inflation, consumers keep consuming, the richest generation in history, crypto just won't die, why we keep seeing so many booms & busts, the best new show of 2024 and much more. Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new Attribution Analysis...

Mar 06, 20241 hr 7 min

Talk Your Book: Private Investing for Fiduciaries

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Jacob Miller, Co-Founder of Opto Investments to discuss: how difficult it is for RIAs to get private market exposure, the growth of private credit, and why that may be an issue, Opto's screening process for private investments, 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 [email protected] with...

Mar 04, 202444 min

Now Show Japan (EP.349)

On episode 349 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: where Ben stayed in the Keys, Michael's surreal experience with Eli Manning, the market needs a healthy correction, Japanese equities making a come back, good news for homebuyers, the new Costner trailer, and much more! Thanks to EZBC and Fabric for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about the Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC), visit: franklintempleton.com/strategies/bitcoin-etf Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabri...

Feb 28, 20241 hr 9 min

Talk Your Book: Investing for Income

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Josh Greco, Senior VP and Senior Institutional Portfolio Manager for Franklin Income Investors to discuss: asset allocation decisions within multi-asset funds, how rate changes affect portfolio yield, investors overallocation to cash, understanding convertible bonds, and much more! Learn more at: https://www.franklintempleton.com/ Learn more about INCM: https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/exchange-traded-funds/produ...

Feb 26, 202439 min

The Fed Should Cut Already (EP.348)

On episode 348 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the people you see on every vacation, the cure for the loneliness epidemic, the biggest driver of stock market returns, the John Bogle expected returns formula, the best returning stock might surprise you, Bitcoin ETF flows, why there won't be a baby boomer retirement crisis, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Supercharge your client conversations with the latest and greatest data from YCharts’ ...

Feb 21, 20241 hr 1 min

Talk Your Book: Putting a Floor on the Nasdaq 100

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Bruce Bond, Co-Founder and CEO of Innovator Capital Management to discuss: behavioral finance, and the popularity of defined outcome products during bull markets, how equity floor ETFs work, Innovator's latest defined income ETF solutions, 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@thecompoundn...

Feb 19, 202438 min

Talk Your Book: No Worries with Jared Dillian

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Jared Dillian to discuss his new book No Worries: How To Live a Stress-Free Financial Life. Jared is the editor of The Daily Dirtnap, a daily market newsletter for investment professionals. 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 [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas f...

Feb 17, 202435 min

Passive is Eating the Market (EP.347)

On episode 347 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why McDonald's is getting more expensive, the prospects for another bear market this year, fundamentals that drive stock returns, concentration in the S&P 500, Nvidia vs. China, tail risk strategies, consumer credit, commercial real estate, fixing youth sports, and more! Thanks to Spear Funds for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about the Spear Alpha ETF, visit: https://spear-funds.com/ Find complete show notes on o...

Feb 14, 20241 hr 6 min

Talk Your Book: Talking Bonds at the New York Stock Exchange

On today's show recorded in person at the New York Stock Exchange, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined by Kay Herr and Rick Figuly of JP Morgan's Global Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities group to discuss: JP Morgan's newest bond ETF offering, why JP Morgan chose the NYSE over other exchanges, what a securitized bond is and how they work, thoughts on interest rates, and much more! J.P. Morgan ETFs are distributed by JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. is a member of FINRA. J.P. Morg...

Feb 12, 202440 min

The Holy Grail of Investing (EP.346)

On episode 346 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: concentration risk in the US stock market, economic dominance from the United States, when the Fed will cut rates, competing takes on the Apple Vision Pro, macro is hard, wage growth won't quit, why there are so many realtors, another investing book from Tony Robbins, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Download your copy of their ETF research and don’t forget, get 20% off your initial YCharts Pr...

Feb 07, 20241 hr 10 min

Talk Your Book: Investing in Infrastructure

On today's show, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are joined again by Bob Long, CEO of StepStone to discuss: - What investments StepStone is making within Infrastructure - How liquidity works with infrastructure investments - The inner workings of interval funds, StepStones fees, 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 [email protected] with any feedba...

Feb 05, 202435 min

Gen Z Is on Fire (EP.345)

On episode 345 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the types of people you see on every flight in America, why new highs in the stock market are perfectly normal, why the Fed should cut rates even in a strong economy, this is more like the 1990s than the 1970s, young people are wealthier than you think, the biggest story about the economy no one is talking about, and much more! Kraneshares just released their latest content including their 2024 China outlook, 2024 Carbon ...

Jan 31, 202456 min

Talk Your Book: What's Going on in the Bond Market?

On this episode of Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alex Morris, CIO of F/m Investments to discuss: 2024 rate cut possibilities, the difficulty of forecasting, and why everyone got 2023 so wrong, utilizing spreads as a forecasting tool, why solving for corporate duration can be a useful risk management tool, 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...

Jan 29, 202437 min

New All-Time Highs! (EP.344)

On episode 344 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the average length of bull and bear markets, what's up with small cap stocks, $8.8 trillion in cash, no show China, the vibecession is over, the softening labor market, airline credit cards, 0% rate loans, the Bitcoin ETF, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription at: https://go.ycharts.com/animal-spirits-referral Find complete show notes on ou...

Jan 24, 20241 hr 7 min

Talk Your Book: Live at FARMCON

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are live at FARMCON to discuss: the macro economy and inflation in 2023 and 2024, commodity trading with legendary trader Andy Daniels, how behavioral finance affects investment decisions, 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 [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas f...

Jan 22, 20241 hr 12 min

The Cash-Returning Machine (EP.343)

On episode 343 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: setting return expectations moving forward, US Large Cap stocks generating a ton of cash, a bear market in used cars, an update on Bitcoin ETFs, Great Quarter Guys, driving in a blizzard, and much more. Thanks to Nasdaq ETFs and Fabric by Gerber Life for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about Nasdaq ETF offerings, visit: https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/nasdaq-etf-listings For more about life insurance from Fabric, ...

Jan 17, 20241 hr 5 min

Talk Your Book: Building Portfolios with AI

On this episode, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined again by Chris Shuba, Founder and CEO of Helios Quantitative Research to discuss: the experience of a diversified investor in 2023, utilizing AI to build portfolios for advisors, Helios' latest trading service offering, 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 [email protected] with any feedba...

Jan 15, 202432 min

The Fee War Comes to Crypto (EP.342)

On episode 342 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the biggest winners and losers of 2023 in the markets, short-term vs. long-term returns for stocks, why the U.S. dominates financial markets, the problem with being right once in a row, Bitcoin ETF fees, Americans are richer than you think and much more! Registration is open for Future Proof 2024! Secure your pass: here! Find complete show notes on our blogs... Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense Michael Batnick’s The ...

Jan 10, 20241 hr 10 min

2024 Predictions (EP.341)

On today's show we discuss 2023 market performance, a bunch of 2024 predictions, our favorite historical stock market return series, the high quality of restaurants, paying off your mortgage early, the downsides of behavioral finance, Ben's most cynical take of the year and much more. Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Our very own Nick Maggiulli is joining YCharts' webinar on January 11th, to explore evolving market themes and potential challenges of the new year, register here:http...

Jan 03, 20241 hr 4 min

What Will Perform Best in 2024? (EP.340)

On episode 340 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Christmas arguments, green shoots in prices, 1940s vs. 1970s inflation, why we're not worried about index funds, how to save & invest in middle age, why Bitcoin is the most extreme asset, celebrating no recession in 2023, why the U.S. economy is more resilient, some Christmas movie recommendations, and much more! Thanks to YCharts for sponsoring this episode! Check out the YCharts webinar with Michael and Ben at: https://...

Dec 27, 20231 hr 3 min