Top Traders Unplugged - podcast cover

Top Traders Unplugged

Niels Kaastrup-Larsenwww.toptradersunplugged.com
Discover the fascinating world of investing with Niels Kaastrup-Larsen and his remarkable co-hosts. Each week, we bring you compelling conversations with legendary investors, leading economists, masterful traders, and forward-thinking thought leaders. From Trend Following and Global Macro to Geo-Politics, Commodities, Quant Investing, Crypto, and Volatility, we uncover the strategies, stories, and lessons behind their success. Gain actionable insights from industry veterans as we celebrate their achievements and learn from their challenges. Stay ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of investing - tune in weekly and elevate your financial knowledge. For the latest episodes and expert insights, visit https://toptradersunplugged.com

Episodes

SI205: Trend Following...What Really Matters ft. Richard Brennan

Today, Richard Brennan joins us to discuss what really matters within Trend Following, as well as an update on the reaction to the latest CPI data. We also address questions from listeners regarding how to achieve a robust portfolio by avoiding recency bias and using a slow adaptive process, how sample size is most optimally used in Trend Following and the advantages of using a simplistic approach in your trading system. Lastly, we discuss the concept of warehousing risk and how it should b...

Aug 14, 20221 hr 8 min

IL06: The History of Interest & the Next Devastating Crisis ft. Edward Chancellor

Edward Chancellor, Author, Journalist and unrivaled Financial Historian, joins us today to discuss the history of Interest, based on his new book, “The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest". We address why it is crucial to pay attention to the historical perspectives of the economy, the allocation of capital and interest and why low interest rates have a feedback effect on the economy, the zombie corporate phenomenon and the impact it has on the economy. We also discuss the longer term cons...

Aug 10, 20221 hr 16 min

SI204: Trend Following & A Cocktail of Macro Factors ft. Alan Dunne

Today, Alan Dunne joins us to discuss the ongoing instability in the markets and rising inflation, and why we, as investors, should keep an open mind for what is to come. We address the pros and cons of replication strategies, the performance of the past months and why we are beginning to see a shift in the markets. We review some recent articles, including an interview with Edward Chancellor, who is current with a new book, The Price of Time. Topics we cover include the impact of low interest r...

Aug 06, 20221 hr 8 min

AL09: FED Funds may hit 8% ft. Bilal Hafeez

Bilal Hafeez, Founder, CEO and Head of Research at Macro Hive, joins us today to discuss the current state of the markets and how we are possibly heading into a new regime and why FED Funds may hit 8%. We address the economic outlook of the near future and how the FED will deal with the challenges of inflation and increasing interest rates, how technology has taken over parts of the labour force and how Covid-19 has changed the way people and companies work, how demographics impacts inflation an...

Aug 02, 20221 hr 9 min

SI203: A new way of doing Trend Following ft. Jerry Parker

Today, we are joined by Jerry Parker where we dive into some of the highlights from the challenging month of July and how the industry has handled the current high level of volatility and trend reversals, why Trend Following continues to work but how narratives can create vicious reversals in the markets. We also discuss questions from listeners regarding Jerry’s strategies for entering and exiting trades, advice for backtesting using continuous futures contracts, how to handle stop losses and i...

Jul 30, 20221 hr 24 min

IL05: The Road to Economic Stability ft. Andrew Smithers

Today, we are joined by Andrew Smithers, Author, Economist and Founder of Smithers & Co, to discuss how we can achieve economic stability, based on his book, “The Economics of the Stock Market”. We address the Q Ratio and why it is important for economic stability, how to use the idea of hindsight value to predict markets and how monetary policy has contributed to economic instability, the incentives for a company’s management and how to balance the level of leverage. Lastly, we discuss reas...

Jul 27, 20221 hr 7 min

SI202: Trend Following in a Binary World ft. Mark Rzepczynski

Mark Rzepczynsky joins us today for a weekly talk on Trend Following, where we discuss how we are beginning to see stagflation and recession around the world, how to manage systemic risk as a trend follower, how to construct your portfolio using Trend Following funds and why it’s preferred to let Trend Following funds replace bonds and commodities, whilst leaving equities in your portfolio. Additionally, we discuss how a global macro binary world allows for Trend Following to work and why Mark b...

Jul 24, 20221 hr 7 min

IL04: Inflation & The Great Demographic Reversal ft. Manoj Pradhan

Manoj Pradhan, Author and Founder of Talking Heads Macroeconomics, joins us in today’s episode to discuss the structural forces that will drive markets in the future, based on his book, “The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality and an Inflation Revival”. We cover demographics and how it has impacted inflation and interest rates, the idea of using robots and automation to make society more efficient and productive, how ageing is a major contributor to a country’s debt a...

Jul 19, 20221 hr

SI201: Trend Followers Positioned for Recession ft. Richard Brennan

Today, Richard Brennan tackle lots of great questions from listeners as to why Trend Following works, why trends occur in markets and why it is best to exploit them using a systematic approach, the idea of doing Trend Following on Trend Following using the TTU trend barometer. We also discuss different ways of looking at leverage in your portfolio, pros and cons of using stops and different approaches to applying volatility targeting. Lastly, we discuss why it can be beneficial to trade more tha...

Jul 16, 20221 hr 24 min

IL03: Finding Optimism in Times of Crises ft. Larry Siegel

Today, Larry Siegel, Author and Director of Research at CFA Research Foundation, joins us to discuss his book, “Fewer, Richer, Greener: Prospects for Humanity in an Age of Abundance” and how demographic trends impact inflation. Additionally, we discuss the benefits of population growth, the importance of having a free society and how authoritarianism and fascism impairs a population, the history of economic growth and how it has enabled better and cheaper sources of energy, nuclear power and how...

Jul 13, 20221 hr 4 min

SI200: Stacking Returns into a Tightning Cycle ft. Alan Dunne

Today, Alan Dunne and I discuss the use of return stacking in asset management when building a diversified portfolio and the risk implications, adding CPPI on top of Trend Following and using options to achieve a constant cash flow. We also discuss the increasing inflation and rising uncertainty in the economy, the relationship between inflation and unemployment and how we are in the middle of a different Fed tightening cycle, as well as ways to build a portfolio in a difficult asset environment...

Jul 10, 20221 hr 7 min

IL02: Cold War & US Relations with China ft. James A. Fok

James A. Fok, Financial Markets Professional and author of the book, “Financial Cold War”, joins us today for a discussion on how the Great Leap Forward has had an impact on China as a society and why they start to experience a virtual societal collapse, the financial relationship between China and the U.S and how financial warfare between the two countries can create a global crisis. We also discuss the idea of financial mutually assured destruction and how the Western society can become more f...

Jul 06, 20221 hr 5 min

SI199: Achieving Highest CAGR through Optimal Leverage ft. Rob Carver

Rob Carver joins us to discuss the eventful month of June and take questions from listeners regarding moving average crossover systems including what the best exit rules are for these systems, and why it might not be a good idea to enter all existing positions for new accounts. We also debate the sustainability of short-term Trend Following and intraday trading, and how much of the profit from TF Systems can be expected to come from Long sided trades as well as ways of investing into UCITS funds...

Jul 03, 20221 hr 20 min

IL01: Turning Water Into Wine with Diversification ft. Antti Ilmanen

In today’s episode, Antti Ilmanen, author and Global co-head of the Portfolio Solutions Group at AQR Capital Management, joins us to discuss key learnings from his new book, “Investing Amid Low Expected Returns”. We break down why commodities are crucial for generating returns in periods of high inflation and how to manage risk through diversification. We also discuss portfolio construction and whether bonds are still valuable in a diversified portfolio, market timing and how to balance emerging...

Jun 29, 20221 hr 7 min

SI198: Trend Following wearing Loose Pants ft. Jerry Parker

Today, we are joined by Jerry Parker to discuss how recessions affect current trends and returns for Trend Followers, how to use ATR to determine the initial stop and when to switch to using a trailing stop for your position. We also discuss if it's possible to achieve comparable performance when investing through a public or private fund. Finally we turn to a few imporant topics like how “alts” or "alternatives" mean different things to different people, the Commodity Super Cycle and how it can...

Jun 26, 20221 hr 21 min

GM20: Bitcoin & The Great Power Shift ft. Nathaniel Whittemore

Nathaniel Whittemore, aka NLW, creator and host on The Breakdown podcast, joins us in today’s episode to discuss the big power shifts and social changes that are taking place in the world right now, the limits of Central Banks to handle inflation, the future of Crypto and how it impacts the social dynamics of society. We also discuss the dark sides of Bitcoin, regulation of the Crypto space and its potential pitfalls and much more. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VID...

Jun 22, 20221 hr 27 min

SI197: Why Trend Following Works...Especially Now ft. Mark Rzepczynski

In today’s episode, Mark Rzepczynski joins us to discuss a listener question regarding different ways of adding capital and adjusting position size. We also take a deep dive into the latest research paper from Aspect Capital, which discuss the Great Repricing of Risk and why Trend Following strategies are advantageous in times of crises, dislocation of markets and how shocks in markets affect behaviour and performance. We also talk about the difference between unpredictable and predicable inflat...

Jun 19, 20221 hr 15 min

GM19: Brace Yourself for Dramatic Market Moves ft. Peter Atwater

In today’s episode, Peter Atwater, author and adjunct professor of Economics at William & Mary, joins us to discuss socionomics and why media is a great mirror of mood, how confidence in Central Banks relates to the level of interest rates, “stacked vulnerability” and how it runs the potential of creating exhaustion, inequality and the battle between the top and the bottom of society. We also discuss how the current inflation creates false expectations and why we might see a violent move in ...

Jun 15, 20221 hr 18 min

SI196: Where Next for Trend Following? ft. Rob Carver

Today, Rob Carver joins us to discuss recent events in the world of Trend Following and takes questions from listeners regarding what it takes to do Trend Following full-time and how much capital is needed to do so. We also discuss potential benefits of adding a mean reversion system on a short term time frame and exploring trend following in spreads, what Rob thinks of trading alternative markets, how to mitigate the pain from false breakouts and how to select a universe of stocks to apply your...

Jun 12, 20221 hr 13 min

GM18: Boomers, Tax & Deflation ft. Alfonso Peccatiello & Andreas Steno Larsen

In today’s episode, the dynamic duo Alfonso Peccatiello, aka MacroAlf and Andreas Steno Larsen, join us to discuss all things Macro...from Central Banks and the reasons for the rising inflation, populism and how monetary policy has created inequality. We also get around demographics and how the shrinking labour force poses a threat to the economy, ESG and the impact it has on inflation, how a generational shift in politics can cause a taxation of the boomers, the 4th Turning and key mistakes to ...

Jun 08, 20221 hr 11 min

SI195: Trend Following 101 ft. Richard Brennan

Richard Brennan joins us in today’s episode, to discuss all things Trend Following and we take lots of questions from listeners regarding methods for calculating initial stops and trailing stops, how to define and classify Trend Following, programming languages and how CTAs follow their system rules during drawdowns. We also talk about how big the Trend Following industry really is, back testing, risk management and allocating funds to a professional manager and how the TTU Trend Following Index...

Jun 04, 20221 hr 23 min

GM17: Elon Musk...From Showman to Charlatan ft. Grant Williams

Today, Grant Williams, creator of The Grant Williams Podcast, joins us to discuss the direction that the world is heading from a global macro perspective, the role of the Federal Reserve and how it has corrupted the price of money. We also touch on how the loss of faith in institutions is a key feature of the Fourth Turning, how inflation impacts inequality and how confidence in the Federal Reserve correlates with the level of interest rates, crypto currencies and the underlying problems of the ...

Jun 01, 20221 hr 20 min

SI194: Trend Following & Manager Selection ft. Alan Dunne

Today, Alan Dunne joins us to discuss manager selection and how to overcome behavioural biases, based on his paper, “Solving the Manager Selection Puzzle”, narratives and dealing with randomness in Trend Following, the end of the 60/40 portfolio and moving from public to private equity, trend following performance and quantitative investment strategies, trend following in an ever changing world and the expectation of going back to “normal”, the challenges of globalization and demographics and mu...

May 29, 20221 hr 12 min

GM16: Central Banking in a De-Globalized World ft. Joseph Wang

Joseph Wang, former senior FED trader & known as the “Fed Guy”, joins us to discuss the credibility of the FOMC and what drives the neutral rate, Central Bank policies and the consequences of increased divergence, monetary policies and reducing liquidity to address the problems of inflation, de-globalization and how labour is no longer connected to corporate wellness, how the FED and other Central Banks have focused on the wrong things for the last few decades, exorbitant privilege and wheth...

May 25, 20221 hr 11 min

SI193: Nothing But Trend Following ft. Jerry Parker

Trend Following legend Jerry Parker joins me today, where we answer questions regarding the effectiveness and risks of Richard Dennis’ “Pyramiding” methodology, how single stocks have performed differently than the indices recently, how to most optimally apply breakout systems, how to react to a drastic fall in a market like we saw in LUNA and the difference between performance of short and long trades in non-volatility targeted systems, how to avoid harmful research pursuits and popular id...

May 22, 20221 hr 25 min

GM15: The New World Order & Space Race ft. Pippa Malmgren

Pippa Malmgren, former White House Adviser, technology entrepreneur and economist, joins us in today’s episode to discuss warfare in space and the space race between the super powers and the push to declassify UFO related information, how Pippa stays optimistic in a world of conflict and how the instability threatens Western democracy. We also discuss what we now know about COVID & the Vaccines and how this relates to the FED, how money printing has created a situation of both artificial cal...

May 18, 20221 hr 21 min

SI192: Knowing What You Don't Know ft. Mark Rzepczinsky

Mark Rzepczynski joins us in today’s episode to discuss inflation and how it threatens the economy, the power and paranoia of Trend Following and how you make the most money as a Trend Follower, what history tells us about common risks and diversification, portfolio construction and whether having more markets gives you better returns, the timing of Trend Following and why you need to have it as a core allocation, how to build the optimal portfolio and why bonds currently may not warrent an allo...

May 15, 20221 hr 11 min

GM14: The Dark Side of Renewable Energy ft. Adam Rozencwajg

Adam Rozencwajg, Managing Partner at Goehring & Rozencwajg, joins us in today’s episode to discuss ESG policies, the emerging energy crisis, and the new battle between the Climate-Green and the Nature-Green. We also dive into how the energy sector has evolved over time and the dark sides of renewable energy, why Moore’s Law does not apply to wind and solar energy, how cheap energy leads to distortion and malinvestment of energy, how the argument of human extinction skews the energy debate, n...

May 11, 20221 hr 17 min

SI191: The Flash Crash & Central Banks Screwing Up ft. Richard Brennan

Today, Richard Brennan joins us to discuss the fragility of the market and what happens if the Central Bank screws up, the current regime and how it benefits Trend Following, volatility targeting and how trending towards equilibrium differs from trending towards transition, how Trend Following has developed over the years, why he always invest in liquid markets, system diversification and how it allows you to expand your market diversification, the weak edge of Trend Following and much more. ---...

May 07, 20221 hr 11 min

GM13: The Decline of the Dollar & Prepping for the Worst ft. Izabella Kaminska

Today, Cem and I are joined by Izabella Kaminska, former Editor of Financial Times Alphaville and Founder of The Blind Spot, to discuss the war of information and mis-information, the aftermath of Covid 19, how the media contributes to a segmentation of society, the group-think phenomenon, how shifts in culture has an impact on economics and how the war between Russia and Ukraine affects the global economy. We also discuss the power balance between the Western and the Russian economy, the dollar...

May 04, 20222 hr 32 min