Podcast

Will and Adam discuss the market’s reaction to the last big event of the year, i.e., the Fed’s December meeting. We also try to discern what its stance tells us about the prospects for growth, inflation, and the omicron variant. We also explore the structural reasons inflation might decline despite the shrinking pool of labor, as well as the widening chasm between the performance of the stock market and that of the individual stocks of which it is comprised.

After a brief hiatus due to technical difficulties, Will and Adam return to a market fraught with the same. We explore how index performance masks the performance of the average stock, not to mention how the U.S. has diverged from every other market. We also examine the Fed’s shift from its transitory narrative, debate whether proposed tapering is likely bark or bite, and end with an analysis of the Biden administration’s curiously active November, especially against the backdrop of the Omicron variant.

With football mania sweeping Cincinnati, we talk about some other manias that are helping lift markets to all-time highs. We also juxtapose the most recent monetary policy decisions of the Fed and Bank of England and how each reflects a slightly variant view of the variant. Finally, we head down the rabbit hole to talk COVID, cryptocurrencies, and oil.

We return with a new format but provide updates on some old favorites: inflation, complacency, and valuation. We also explore how the “sky is falling” narrative is changing how investors allocate capital, especially in the energy sector, why legacy producers in the Middle East are okay with the Mad Max scarcity scenario, and how U.S. producers are the Jekyll and Hyde that moodily swing prices. Stay tuned until the full time whistle, when Will gives the team talk on speculating with leverage.

We explore the cacophony emanating from the loudest voices in the room on things like meme stocks and the delta variant, and provide our own measured analysis to separate hyperbole from reality. We also explore the jaws opening between economic data and interest rates, the Fed’s conundrum, and stretched valuations for the most speculative stocks.

We explore the cacophony emanating from the loudest voices in the room on things like meme stocks and the delta variant, and provide our own measured analysis to separate hyperbole from reality. We also explore the jaws opening between economic data and interest rates, the Fed’s conundrum, and stretched valuations for the most speculative stocks.

We ignore the flashing red light on the microphone, just like markets have been ignoring any number of warning signs. We discuss the bond market (or lack thereof), explore the conflicting signals sent by treasury yields, and the explore the inexplicable appetite for the currently misnamed high-yield debt. The bifurcation of equity returns between megacap and the rest is discussed, as are the potential effects of the delta variant on supply chains. We also discover Will and Adam were, unsurprisingly, both in high school Latin clubs. Caveat emptor.

We bark again about the continued mania in meme stocks, as well as delve into the inflationary pressures building in certain parts of the economy. The massive flows into equities and misnamed “high yield” debt are also topics of conversation, as are looking to the late 1940s and late 1960s as potential playbooks for what might be a choppy remainder of the year.

Come aboard. We’re expecting you… We make another run after a technology glitch to discuss the Love Boat’s star-crossed investors, the knife-sharpening industry, and the strange dichotomy between market complacency as a whole versus the mania around retail trading in meme stocks. From there, we delve into a discussion of inflation as reflected in things like lumber and labor. We then debate how a trade can be both right and wrong concurrently and why capital allocation matters for companies in secular decline.

Will and Adam delve into the return of meme-stock mania and address listener feedback vis-à-vis valuations and geese. They also discuss the circular logic of inflation versus expectations, how the market interprets this, and how the real impact of inflation is often mismeasured, using candy bar sizes. No free samples of a candy line-up will be provided.