Exponential Investor Podcast

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

This week, Sam Volkering and Shae Russell discuss the benefits and impact of real “boots-on-the-ground” research.

Over the last few weeks, they’ve both been to major industry events “IRL” (in real life) to speak with and hear from the people shaping our future.

Whether it be for commodities markets, FinTech, crypto or just investing in general, it pays to be at some of the conferences and events the world has to offer.

You get to have the conversations, “fireside” chats and insights that you’ll never have at a virtual conference.

You get to see, hear, and feel innovation first hand, as well as enjoy a real-world experience that no Zoom meeting will ever deliver.

This gives the investors in attendance an edge, and affords them a level of understanding that most people won’t ever have or bother to obtain.

To hear more about the level of inside information (in the completely legal sense) that we have access to, tune in to this week’s Exponential Investor podcast.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

Early in the week our mates in the G7 countries “banned” buying Russian gold. In other words, Russia can mine its gold all it wants, but G7 members are forbidden from purchasing it.

This must be the most useless government ban, in the history of government bans. Given that there are a lot of governments around the world that choose not to follow NATO (or other widely recognised groupings of Western nations) in imposing sanctions, this symbolic gesture from the G7 is hollow.

Expect Russian gold to turn up in China, India and even the United Arab Emirates as these are major gold buyers. What I should have mentioned in the video, is that once gold is melted down and recast, it’s impossible to tell where it even originated.

Given gold’s portability (which is a reason why we like it) it’s not hard for Russian gold to leak into the G7 member countries… but let’s not go ruining the politicians’ good PR stunt with facts.

At the end, I cover the gold and silver ratio, and why you should keep an eye on miners’ half-year results.

Also, it appears I’ve been caught out. In the video I mention that I’ve written why I don’t think the gold-to-silver ratio will revert to the long-term average, but… it appears I haven’t. Whoops!

I’ll be sure to write about that next week.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

I (Shae Russell) am flying solo this week, and today’s podcast comes to you from the Australian Gold Conference in Sydney.

Given that I’m at a gold function, it will come as no surprise to you that today I’m discussing all things concerning the precious metal.

I cover some of the most common questions I get about gold, such as, “Have I missed the boat?”, and “Is there a right and wrong time to buy?” (Not-so-subtle hint: never buy gold when it’s in the news!)

Plus, for those who are looking to invest in mining stocks, I go through the three key things you should look out for before taking the plunge: a great management team, companies that beat their own expectations, and another side of “ESG” (environment, social and governance) that’s rarely discussed.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

In today’s Exponential Investor…

What are the business leaders, founders and CEOs of the world saying about the economy and the markets?

Are they calling this the “new normal”? Are they petrified that we’re about to head into a decade-long depression? Are they talking about an energy, food, fuel crisis?

Or…

Are they looking at all the incredible development and innovation happening in banking and finance, hunting out opportunities to build the next great era of global finance?

Guess what? It’s not the first list of things.

In this week’s Exponential Investor podcast, I’m live in Amsterdam from the Money20/20 conference, getting the inside info from the founders and CEOs of companies such as Stripe, Visa, Blockchain.com, Kraken, Citi, Fireblocks, Ripple, Booking.com, ING, Nexo, HSBC, Zopa and more.

While it’s clear that there is some trepidation over the longevity of the economic headwinds, most are aware this isn’t the first time we’ve been in this position.

In fact, Peter Smith, founder and CEO of Blockchain.com, explained how, in crypto, these cycles hit every couple of years, and that he felt “comfortable”. That’s because he runs his company lean, doesn’t over hire, and didn’t bloat his business in the hype phase of growth.

Now with things tapering off, money and access to it drying up, he’s just fine. And that’s a common theme. Companies that are lean and make hard decisions about where to spend and where to tighten the belt will be just fine. Conditions such as these sort the wheat from the chaff, and the better players come out the other side bigger, wiser, and stronger.

Right now, that means those companies primed to make it through are at discounts – they are “bargains” in the market that present a great opportunity for investors.

Also, while the traditional market might throw up these chances, everyone is looking at crypto now in a way I’ve not seen before. That’s a good thing, because the scope they are now seeing – from networks, to payments, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse and decentralised finance (DeFi) – is huge. That means that, if you’re ahead of the game in those sectors (as we are), there’s a lot of exciting growth to still come.

Anyway, check out today’s podcast, and what I’ve been able to dissect from a jam-packed schedule here at Money20/20.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

It is the Queen’s Jubilee long weekend, which (according to The Royal Mint) means, “shared lunches, street parties and concerts.”

We’re not so sure about the whole “shared lunches” thing, but we are sure there will be plenty of celebration here in the UK.

It also means that due to there being a two-day bank holiday, the markets are closed.

That doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about your investments.

In fact, for many people this weekend is a good reminder that perhaps setting some money aside for some bullion coins or bars isn’t such a bad idea.

It’s something we’ve been looking at for a while and may very well action this weekend.

After all, if you pop on to the Royal Mint website, you’ll find everything from James Bond 1OZ gold bullion bars to special gold “proof” coins celebrating “Queen Lizzie’s” longest reign in British history.

However, if you’re thinking about getting some gold or silver collectible coins, or perhaps some of the more expensive gold bars or coins, what do you need to know?

What are the things to look out for? What are the things you need to understand?

And if you’re looking around the market for bars or coins, what are some of the dangers to look out for to ensure that you’re not getting ripped off?

To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee in our own unique way in today’s Exponential Investor podcast, we look at all these things and more.

If you’ve ever thought about buying silver or gold coins or bars, then today’s episode is a must watch (or listen).

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

In this week’s Exponential Investor podcast, Sam Volkering and I (Shae Russell) sit down to discuss some uncomfortable truths.

Whether we like it or not, the market doesn’t care about our feelings.

Just because ESG (environmental, social and governance) is the latest investor buzzword, it doesn’t mean that all companies fall under that banner. And more importantly, simply whacking ESG on some corporate documents also risks glossing over some of the uglier truths about their business.

From here, Sam and I ask ourselves the tough questions on what this means for investors. In particular, we provide a reminder that as a shareholder, you have a right to vote in how a company operates, and you can tell them what is important to you as an investor.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

In this very eventful Exponential Investor podcast, I ask co-editor Sam Volkering to explain quantum computing.

No amount of the analogies I come up with to simplify it get it right, Sam gently points out.

Though he does go on to say “quantum computing isn’t ‘coming’, it’s here, just not in personal-computing form yet”. With a supercomputer in the home office some years away yet, he then runs through a few of the investing opportunities that have presented themselves as more of us work from home.

We discuss whether electronic retailers should be considered consumer staples now rather than discretionary stocks, compare who has the biggest monitor, then the smoke alarm goes off, but the show doesn’t stop.

I (Shae Russell) kicked off today’s Exponential Investor podcast asking my co-editor Sam Volkering, are the current falling stock and crypto markets a “zoom out” or a “buy the dip” opportunity?

“The markets” said Sam with his index fingers. “Pfft”. It turns out, Sam isn’t a fan of simply referring to all asset sectors as just “the markets”. Rather, he points out, what really matters is looking for the individual opportunities within the markets.

Tech stocks, commodity stocks and cryptocurrencies have all seen sell-offs of various sizes. It’s not a case of buy the dip, Sam tells me, but rather look for excellent companies that are being unfairly knocked around by market sentiment.

Settle in and join Sam and I as we talk about what to look for when stocks get kicked around. (Bonus points if you spy the moment where Sam ran away to take delivery of nine extremely large chipboard panels...).

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

Which three key events will lead to global stagflation? That’s what I ask a special guest in today’s episode.

Earlier in the week, I attended an Australian mining conference where I asked keynote speaker Nick Frappell, ABC Refinery’s Global Head of Institutional Markets, to share his speech with us.

Today, this is basically me introducing you to one of my all-time gurus.

You see, Nick has been on the institutional side of the precious-metals markets for the better part of 30 years. Or, as he puts it: “I’m two bear markets and one bull market old” – a reference to gold’s bull market from 2002 to 2012 once in Nick’s three decades of trading gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

Nick doesn’t just understand what moves gold, he feels the flow of the metal.

Nick and I kick off our discussion with some technical analysis around crude prices, complete with some very bullish price targets. We also talk about how Russia’s prolonged invasion in Ukraine is putting extreme pressure on food prices, and about central banks increasing rates, and how this could push gold prices higher in the next 12 months.

Nick explains that all of these factors are leading to global stagflation.

For more expert financial analysis from the Exponential Investor team, go to: https://subscribe.exponentialinvestor.com/X983X827/3c-sb

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