Adventures In Finance: A Real Vision Podcast

The Interview: M. Taylor Fravel, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Security Studies Program, sits down with his long-time friend Mike Green of Logica Capital Advisors to discuss a multitude of factors affecting China's strategic objectives. Although they examine certain aspects like demographics and the trajectory of growth for China's military, the focus of the interview is on geography and how China’s large number of land borders and their perception of being blocked off from the Pacific Ocean by U.S. military presence in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines makes the "first island chain" a potential flashpoint for conflict. Green and Fravel also discuss Green's hypothesis that Vladimir Putin and the Russians are the deftest participants in the triangular relationship between the U.S., China, and Russia. Recorded on February 25, 2021. Key Learnings: It wasn't too long ago that trade deal headlines were whipsawing markets back and forth. The outcome for

The Interview: Nick Kokonas, founder and CEO of Tock, joins Jason Buck, co-founder and CIO of The Mutiny Fund, to share the lessons he has learned on his path from a derivatives trader, to a restauranter, and to a technologist and fine dining innovator. Kokonas recounts his beginnings in finance in Chicago's trading pits, where he witnessed firsthand the perils of selling tail-risk, or extremely out-of-the-money options. Kokonas and Buck exchange outlooks on options trading and "the Greeks," before Buck prompts Kokonas to share how he founded restaurants such as Trio, Roister, and Alinea (the only restaurant in all of Chicago to retain three Michelin stars). Kokonas shares how identifying and solving the multitude of problems that befall the restaurant industry let him to create Tock. Recorded on March 19, 2021. Key learnings: Most restaurants waste a tremendous amount of time and money, and Kokonas uses the skills he gained as an options trader to spot inefficiencies and innovate in common practices such as

DB-Apr,23-2021: Real Vision senior editor Ash Bennington hosts managing editor Ed Harrison and editor Jack Farley for a live talk on the biggest market-moving stories as the week comes to a close. Harrison covers credit and shares additional thoughts on “The Great Biden Tax Grab.” Bennington makes sense of today’s economic data and takes a look at the cooling-off of crypto prices as well as the widening spread between the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and its net asset value. Farley looks at price action in commodities such as lumber, oil, as well as the recent shocking news from Kimberly Clark that the bull market in toilet paper could be over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr23,2021: Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison and editor Jack Farley tackle the whispers of a capital gains tax hike on America’s wealthiest investors, which triggered a midday sell-off in U.S. equities. Harrison analyzes the progress of global vaccination efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and argues why he believes the “fourth wave” of COVID-19 in the U.S. is very unlikely to destabilize the economy. Harrison shares with Farley how he sees industries evolving their businesses in a world that is fully re-opened yet still wracked by infection risk, something he terms “the new normal.” This conversation leads to Farley’s analysis of the earnings reports of Southwest Airlines Co ($LUV) and American Airlines Group ($AAL). Lastly, Farley and Harrison take a brief detour into Dogecoin as well as commercial real estate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr20,2021: Tony Greer of TG Macro joins Real Vision crypto editor Ash Bennington to update his thesis on commodities and interest rates as the U.S. economy continues to roar. Greer makes sense of a surging equity market that backed off today and argues that commodities will continue to perform in a “liquidity parade” set by a combination of the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Greer analyzes falling yields and a falling dollar and connects the rise in financing costs to the slump in cannabis equities. Greer covers the resurgent bull markets in grain, iron ore, and oil, contending that monetary authorities are pouring “kerosene” on these assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr19,2021: In the first segment, Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison and Jack Farley investigate the challenges the Federal Reserve faces as speculative fervor reaches a fever pitch in Dogecoin as well as the ultimate fate of the yield curve. Harrison and Farley look how Fed Funds futures indicate the implied probability of the future Fed Funds rate and explore whether the holding pattern in bonds can continue and where yields will go if they go back on the march. In the final segment, Farley speaks to Deep Knowledge Investing's Gary Brode, who shares his analysis of stocks such as Enova International Inc ($ENVA) and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co ($HMHC). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Interview: In the wake of interviews with Jeremy Grantham and his recent heir apparent Ben Inker, managing editor Ed Harrison welcomes a third member of GMO, portfolio manager Matt Kadnar, to Real Vision. Kadnar shares with Harrison his approach to asset allocation and risk management at this unique market juncture. Kadnar thinks a cyclical bout of inflation could be due, but is skeptical that a 1970s-era level of secular inflation will linger for long since these serious periods of inflation are caused by a wage price spiral and unemployment remains high. Kadnar argues that if the market prices in more inflation, interest rates will continue to rise, and this will likely cause high-flying growth stocks to return to the ground. This is in line with Kadnar's investment framework, which as he describes to Harrison is dependent on mean reversion in the long-run. Kadnar is not a believer in gold but notes that if real rates become sufficiently negative, gold begins to make more sense within a portfolio. Recor

The Interview: Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, welcomes Marcelo Lopez, managing partner at L2 Capital Partners, for a deep-dive on Uranium both as an energy source as well as an asset class. A former engineer, Lopez has built a model mapping every Uranium mine on earth and shares with Alden why he thinks supply will be constrained for years to come. Alden highlights the key role nuclear power will play in the global transition away from fossil fuels, particularly in countries like India, where three quarters of all energy is produced from coal. Lopez insists that, in the world of ETFs, $URNM is a much better alternative than $URA, but notes that active research and security selection will yield the best results. Lastly, Alden and Lopez comment on the uncorrelated nature of Uranium to other macro cycles and how this is beneficial within a portfolio. Recorded on February 22, 2021. Key learnings: Lopez argues that Uranium offers the most asymmetric trade he has ever seen in his lifetime.

DB-Apr16,2021: Real Vision senior editor Ash Bennington welcomes Real Vision co-founder and CEO Raoul Pal to discuss his Expert View, “The Exponential Age: Crypto’s Fast and Furious Rise,” released today. Ash and Raoul will be contextualizing this piece for macro investors and more. Please visit this link to watch the video just by adding your email address. The Exponential Age: Crypto’s Fast and Furious Rise, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr15,2021: Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison welcomes back Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research, to discuss the newest release in the weekly jobless claims data, comparing the vaccine roll-out in the U.S. to other countries, and how we are on the precipice of inflation. Bianco points out how, even though jobless claims fell to the lowest level since the pandemic, the question of job growth is trickier to address as enhanced benefits seem to be deterring people from seeking out work. He also considers how the level of COVID-19 infections and the pace of vaccine roll-outs both differ between the U.S., Europe, and Asia, which means that globally, the reopening is much further away. Bianco and Harrison also address how supply chain disruptions may feed into inflationary pressures, how new methodology may have an impact on CPI metrics, earnings expectations for this year, and Bianco’s thoughts on the trajectory of the bond market and rates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic

DB-Apr14,2021: Real Vision’s Jack Farley welcomes Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, to make sense of the release of earnings from big banks such as JPMorgan Chase ($JPM), Goldman Sachs ($GS), and Wells Fargo ($WFC). Whalen explains why the eye-popping net income figures, which exceeded expectations, are largely due to booking released loan loss reserves as profits as well as trading revenues, which may not be sustainable. Whalen argues that quantitative easing has reduced banks’ earnings power by compressing their net income margins. Lastly, he and Farley discuss the ongoing role of the Federal Reserve as well as today’s direct listing of Coinbase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crypto Wednesday: Arca CIO Jeff Dorman, Pantera Capital co-CIO Joey Krug, and BlockTower Capital CIO and co-founder Ari Paul join Raoul Pal, Real Vision CEO and co-founder, to discuss their three favorite sectors in crypto, portfolio construction outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and how they view DeFi. Each of the guests describe what decentralized finance means to them, touching on the risks of investing outside of the top two coins by market capitalization. They explain their thoughts on some of the current emerging crypto sectors such as NFTs. Recorded on February 18, 2021. Key Learnings: The crypto space is still young, and there are many new projects popping up all of the time. Investors should be very cautious about investing into newer projects in the space as smaller market cap projects tend to be increasingly risky with smaller size. For those that are interested in investigating further out the risk curve, DeFi and NFTs are the sectors most commonly mentioned in these discussions. Learn more ab

DB-April13,2021: Imran Lakha of Options Insight joins Real Vision’s Jack Farley to make sense of a market that is becoming calmer day-by-day as measured by implied as well as historical volatility. They discuss the halting of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution as well the release of the latest data on the Consumer Price Index, which, at a yearly change 2.6%, exceeded economist expectations of 2.5%. Lakha defines key terms and shares the mechanics of key options strategies such as collars (also known as “risk reversals” or “risk-ies”), straddles, and stock replacement. Lastly, Lakha shares tales from the burgeoning world of crypto derivatives, describing the rare “call skew” in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and explains why he, a two-decade veteran of the volatility markets, sees it as a tremendous opportunity. Lakha can be found on Twitter @options_insight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr12,2021: Real Vision editors Max Wiethe and Jack Farley prepare viewers for a huge week in markets, giving insight on the series of major investment banks set to release their earnings later this week as well as the pivotal disclosure of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI). Farley explains why “base effects” are so important, and Wiethe breaks down the inflation readings into their components, using insights from his upcoming interview with oil analyst Warren Pies. Lastly, Farley and Wiethe take a chart-heavy look at everything from Treasury volatility to cannabis stocks to Ecuadorean bonds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Real Vision Live Replay: Legendary chartist, Peter Brandt of Factor LLC, returns to Real Vision Live to run through his 2021 outlook for a handful of assets based on their technical setups. Together with Real Vision's Max Wiethe, Brandt will analyze the setups in US, Japanese, and Chinese equities. In addition to equities Brandt will also examine corn and other agricultural commodities, gold, bitcoin, US Treasurys, and currencies. Brandt will also take questions from the audience and provide his macro perspective after decades of successful trading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Interview: Raoul Pal, CEO and co-founder of Real Vision, welcomes Felix Zulauf, legendary investor and CEO of Zulauf Consulting, to share his thoughts on the interplay of interest rates, equities, and inflation as well as share his macro outlook as debt and demographics reshape the future of economic growth. Zulauf believes that the current macro setting of rising yields and a falling dollar mirror the conditions prior to the 1987 equity crash, commonly known as Black Monday, which wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars worth of equity valuation overnight. Zulauf sees this correction not as a disaster scenario but merely a detour to another leg higher. Zulauf remains constructive on equities, at least in the long-term, due to his belief that central banks are dedicated to propping up risk assets like never before since a decline in risk assets by 10% would roughly correspond to a loss in 1% of GDP growth. Recorded on February 11, 2021. Key learnings: Zulauf sees a possibility of a 10-15% correction i

The Interview: What are SPACs? What role do they play in the current investment landscape? What opportunities do they offer investors? And, perhaps most importantly, are they in a bubble? Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, joins Real Vision senior editor Ash Bennington to answer these questions and more. Yusko argues that SPACs offer exposure to the growth areas of the future—from online gaming and e-sports to electric vehicles and space exploration—and that SPACs present the path forward for early-stage companies to go public. Yusko traces the different stages in the SPAC capital formation process, which includes pre-IPO, private investment in public equity (PIPE), and post-merger, and he depicts the various opportunities they offer investors, noting that many stages offer bond-like risk but equity-like returns. Yusko describes his latest venture, the Morgan Creek and EXOS Launch SPAC Originated ETF, which seeks to deploy active management and long-term holding periods as a way to na

DB-April9,2021: Real Vision CEO and co-founder Raoul Pal joins senior editor Ash Bennington to make sense of a market in flux and share opportunities on his radar. Raoul updates his macro views on the dollar, interest rates, and economic growth before he discusses new developments in the crypto world such as the IPO of Coinbase as well as the U.S. listing of Galaxy Digital. Raoul also shares his latest views on ARK Innovation ETFs as part of his belief in durable secular trends driven by technology that abide by Metcalfe’s Law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB-Apr8,2021: Peter Boockvar, CIO of Bleakley Advisory Group and editor of The Boock Report, joins Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison to share his insights on the inflationary pressures and drawdown risks he’s observing. Boockvar discusses his take on why weekly jobless claims in the U.S. continue to be high while job openings are also at record highs, highlighting how enhanced unemployment benefits may be competing with wages and how this puts inflationary pressure on labor. He also analyzes Jamie Dimon’s statement of the economic boom running all the way into 2023 and points out that another leg up in rates, a potential tapering by the Fed, and the end of large-scale fiscal spending could all prove to upend that notion. Harrison and Boockvar also explore the potential influence that supply chain disruptions could have on earnings, a corporate tax grab under Biden, and the impact of high margin debt on markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DB- Apr7,2021: Jared Dillian, publisher of The Daily Dirtnap, returns to the Daily Briefing to update Real Vision’s Jack Farley on how America’s red-hot economy is precipitating wage inflation alongside monetary and fiscal stimulus, worth trillions of dollars, which shows no sign of slowing. Dillian argues that this booming reflationary environment will be hostile to bonds but could lead to a “melt-up” in U.S. equity indexes as value stocks surge and growth stocks remain at hold their own. Lastly, Dillian and Farley cover gold, retail leverage, and the Federal Reserve’s release of its minutes from the FOMC’s meeting in March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices