Adventures In Finance: A Real Vision Podcast

Editor Max Wiethe joins managing editor Ed Harrison to discuss the latest developments in markets, macro, and coronavirus. Max and Ed examine how the US is currently dealing with the virus and whether that means the nation is par for the course or has “gone off the reservation” as compared to other countries. They also talk about the risk factors that could put a highly volatile market over the edge, consider the longevity of US outperformance, and explore the current market rotation. They wrap up their discussion by sharing their thoughts on the latest video on Real Vision Essential and announce a special edition of the Daily Briefing on Friday as the U.S. observes Independence Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when an upheaval so massive forces financial markets, governments, and society to rethink how our systems work? Michael Krieger, author of the Liberty Blitzkrieg, joins Real Vision to explain what coronavirus and the response to the outbreak has revealed about the condition of American systems – from financial markets to the health care system. Tracing the story of financial markets and societal trends over the past two decades, Krieger outlines how our systems have been pushed to the brink – focusing on emergency policy responses and the everything bubble. He also provides viewers with potential solutions to the systemic decay that has been brought to the forefront by the coronavirus outbreak. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Greenhut, Western region director at R Street Institute and author of "Plunder: How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation," joins Mike Green of Logica Capital Advisers to discuss his coverage of the political paralysis that surrounds the issue of pensions in California. He guides Mike on a deep-dive into the gargantuan public employee compensation complex and how that complex bleeds into every other aspect of California government spending. He argues that public employees have forced state and local governments into a corner wherein they cannot maintain their obligations because of the massive burden of pension disbursements and employee compensation. Due to a lack of transparency, pension assumptions based on guesswork, and legal precedent overturning democratic decisions, Greenhut says that the perfect storm that will surely "surprise" Californian politicians has been plain to see for longer than a decade.  Learn more about your ad choices. Vis

Senior editor Ash Bennington hosts managing editor Ed Harrison to discuss a day of pain on Wall Street as the coronavirus shows no signs of relenting and the normally cautious Federal Reserve issued an alarming mandate to large-cap banks. Ed and Ash also flesh out their thinking on a potential "double-dip recession" and a second wave of coronavirus. In the intro, Jack Farley looks at COVID-19 data and analyzes the dire results from the Fed's "stress test" of the banking sector. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington and managing editor Ed Harrison break down the latest economic data amid a bullish day on Wall Street. They discuss the rising infections in states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida, and they take a data-driven look at the apparent stalling of the jobs recovery and the reversal of the durable goods slowdown. Ash looks at how peoples’ marginal propensity to spend is affecting the recovery, while Ed explores whether different asset classes are pricing in different recovery “shapes” (equities pricing in a V-shape, high-yield pricing in a Nike swoosh, and investment grade pricing in a “reverse radical”). In the intro, Nick Correa discusses what's happening in Texas and how the virus spread undetected for several weeks before the US locked down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins managing editor Roger Hirst to analyze the anatomy of bubbles, propelled by emotional mania, and how that is relevant to today’s markets. Bennington and Hirst discuss how equity markets appear to be inflated by flows rather than grounded in fundamentals and why the Fed’s balance sheet is the key driver of all of the recent price action. They also explain why time horizons are a critical piece to how traders should form their thesis and shapes the way they look at the market as well. In the intro, Nick Correa shares the IMF’s latest update on its global GDP projections, what’s happening in CDS markets, and the cost of business operations during coronavirus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins managing editor Ed Harrison to discuss the latest news in markets, macro, and coronavirus. Bennington and Harrison first analyze the breaking story about Wirecard, a German fintech company, and its implications for Germany. They also talk about how the Fed has released the animal spirits on markets, bolstered by exorbitant amounts of liquidity, and anticipate the pullback in consumption in light of a W-shaped recovery. Finally, they explain how the pandemic reasserting itself will end up strengthening the dollar and lead to a liquidity crunch. In the intro, Nick Correa explains the latest developments in the Wirecard story and provides some context around how they arrived at this point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington and managing editor Ed Harrison explore the perilous state of the global markets amid the unrelenting spread of coronavirus. They discuss the disturbing “second wave” of coronavirus in the U.S. – in states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona – as well as around the world and evaluate how the continued spread will impact economic growth and financial returns across different asset classes. Ed hazards whether the U.S. yield curve will see bear-steepening (or bull flattening), and Ash puts the widening “breadth” of the U.S. rally in proper context. In the intro, Jack Farley explores why CLO managers are often rendered incapable just at the time that bold action is most required. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Rasmussen, the CIO and Founder of Verdad Capital Advisers, speaks with his colleague Greg Obenshain, Verdad's director of credit, to examine the credit market sell-off over the past two months. They focus on the recent widening of spreads and other areas of financial markets hit hardest by the recent acceleration. Rasmussen asks Obenshain what the biggest factors for returns in corporate credit are, the turmoil in the credit markets has impacted the energy sector, and where they see the biggest opportunities for investors will be coming out of the crisis. They also update Verdad's Fool's Yield thesis that the company has been writing about since January 2020 and that Rasmussen has presented to Real Vision members in the past few months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venture capitalist, Bill Tai, has been at the intersection of venture capitalism and innovation since the early days of Silicon Valley before the orchards were replaced with technology company corporate headquarters. He joins Real Vision's Raoul Pal to provide his uniquely qualified perspective, having experience on both the technology development and financing sides of Silicon Valley. Tai and Pal discuss data science, Tai's explanation of the "waves of innovation," and where Tai sees the next wave of innovation currently developing. Tai also talks about his early investment in Bitcoin, his view of digital assets separate from Bitcoin including CryptoKitties, digital currencies like Libra, and what he calls "the Electrodollar."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal joins senior editor Ash Bennington to reflect on a week of muted volatility amid a "quadruple witching" and unprecedented interventions from the world's major central banks. Raoul and Ash analyze the ECB's recent meeting around fiscal policy, and whether the Bank of Japan (BOJ), European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BOE) will follow the Fed and go into "hyperdrive," as Raoul puts it. The pair also discusses Apple's decision to close stores in the U.S. as the coronavirus continues to spread. Lastly, the pair looks forward to the upcoming "Crypto Gathering" on Real Vision. In the intro, Jack Farley discusses the recent Wirecard scandal and gives an overview of new action in the burgeoning corporate debt market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing editor Ed Harrison joins Peter Boockvar, CIO of Bleakley Advisor Group, to discuss the latest developments in markets, macro, and coronavirus. Harrison and Boockvar dive into what the trajectory of inflation will be and how it’s not a monolithic concept, talk about the possibility and implications of a V-shaped recovery, and explore the broader investment opportunities ahead. In the intro, Peter Cooper explains how the wedge between Wall Street and Main Street continues to be driven deeper. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins Tommy Thornton, founder of Hedge Fund Telemetry, to discuss the latest in markets, macro, and coronavirus. Thornton argues that the need for intervention in repo markets starting back in the fall of 2019 indicated that the market wasn't healthy going into the coronavirus shutdown— and that if it was, the level of stimulus markets have received would’ve been unnecessary. Thornton also talks about how the market is currently too hot and what the risks are for speculators going forward. In the intro, Peter Cooper discusses how companies are issuing debt at extreme levels and how that bodes ill considering how coronavirus is still a major tail risk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins managing editor Ed Harrison to unpack today's positive retail numbers as well as whether the recession is now "over" (even if in name only). Bennington and Harrison explore what this actually means in the technical sense, but how it may lend itself to a double-dip recession in the same way the Great Depression was. They also discuss the increased spread of the virus, the public perception of COVID-19 wrecking more havoc on the economy, and Jay Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee today. In the intro, Peter Cooper discusses how the Fed’s announcement on its corporate bond-buying program as well as burgeoning retail sales numbers have supported the stock market rallies this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison to discuss a day of "risk on risk off" on Wall Street. Ed maps out a new paradigm he's noticing in the world of energy, equities, and the dollar, and Ash places the vacillations of U.S. stocks in context of central bank liquidity and the ongoing pandemic. Ed and Ash also discuss the CALPers bold move into private equity and private debt. In the intro, Jack Farley looks at the shape of the "volatility smile" and discusses the looming bankruptcy risks in the oil and gas sector. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trevor Mottl, managing director at Lazard Labs, speaks to Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal about how machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) can inform and transform the investment process – from idea generation to position sizing to risk management. He tells Raoul about the AI team he runs at Lazard Asset Management that uses machine learning to identify patterns in markets too complex for the human brain to recognize in order to reliably generate alpha too obscure for human investors to reliably capture. Mottl also breaks down his three-piece framework of finance – which includes pricing, time horizon, and liquidity – and explains how this framework has shaped his investment philosophy and informed his macro outlook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Aitken, partner at Aitken Advisors, joins Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal to discuss the intricate relationship between bond and FX markets and how this often overlooked connection is playing out at this critical juncture of the credit cycle. Aitken and Pal put the recently announced central bank policies – remarkably generous swap lines, sweeping repo facilities, and the revival of quantitative easing (QE) – in proper context and analyzes how central banks' commitment to be the "buyers of first resort" will affect cross-currency basis swaps, yields on corporates, and the U.S. dollar. Aitken also describes his investing framework to deploying capital in this unprecedented economic crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal and Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison discuss today’s undulating recovery as global equities tried to regain ground lost in yesterday’s market rout. Raoul and Ed explore why today’s snapback wasn’t as strong as expected and Raoul places this discussion within the context of his “unfolding” thesis. In the intro Jack Farley discusses the VIX and a daring attempt by Hertz bondholders to take advantage of the moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing editor Ed Harrison joins Lloyd Khaner, general partner and CIO at Khaner Capital Management, to discuss his macro outlook for the next year and beyond. Khaner explains some of the growth opportunities he sees in equity markets and breaks down how he determines value in a volatile market saturated with liquidity. In the intro, Peter Cooper gives an update on how the global reopening has affected the spread of coronavirus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior editor Ash Bennington joins Jay Pelosky, CIO and co-founder of TPW Investment Management, to unpack his contrarian and bullish thesis on the economy and markets. Pelosky argues that the big plays for 2020 is not in tech, but in commodities, as well as in value stocks and cyclicals. He explains that the overwhelmingly strong stimulus, both in the forms of monetary and fiscal policies, have undergirded demand in a way that will allow it to spring back later in the year. Pelosky also discusses why this is the decade of Europe and ESG, the growing appreciation for EM currencies, and the potential headwinds that might dampen the current broad appetite for equities. In the intro, Jack Farley reviews the Fed’s latest press release and delves into some of their rate forecasts and economic projections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices