Val Zlatev, Portfolio Manager and Senior Partner at hard tech specialist hedge fund Analog Century Capital Management joins Other People’s Money to discuss what he thinks investors still fail to appreciate about the secular growth of AI and semiconductors. He also discusses why DeepSeek was so misunderstood, other aspects of the AI supply chain, the state of the analog chip cycle, running long/short and market neutral strategies and garnering interest from the large multi-manager platforms.

Learn More About Analog Century Capital Management: https://www.analogcm.com/

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Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:15 What is Hard Tech?

02:41 The Evolution of the Hard Tech Sector From the 90s to Now

05:04 Investors Are Underweight Hard Tech

11:09 The Massive Impact of the End of Moore's Law

16:59 New Investment in Semiconductor Capacity

18:08 Why AI Should Be Compared to Cloud, Not Fiber

22:55 What Investors Got Wrong About DeepSeek

25:41 The US Government's Impact on AI & Chips

33:04 The Chinese Government’s Involvement in AI & Chips

35:13 Dominant Players in Chinese Semiconductor Market

39:12 The AI Supply Chain Beyond Semiconductors

43:53 Analog Semiconductors & Power Management

49:55 Winners, Losers, and Fakers in AI

57:03 Research Process for Hard Tech

01:01:25 Dispersion in Hard Tech Returns

01:03:31 Trading and Portfolio Construction at Analog Century

01:08:13 Market Neutral & Garnering Interest From Multi-Manager Platforms

01:12:20 Market Neutral vs Long/Short Investors

01:14:51 The Value of Partners and Team Continuity

01:16:42 Conclusion

To learn more about the VanEck Merk Gold ETF (OUNZ): https://www.vaneck.com/OUNZJack/overview/

To view the prospectus: https://www.vaneck.com/OUNZProspectus

Gerard Minack of Minack Advisors joins Monetary Matters to discuss why even though other developed nations like Japan may have higher debt to GDP ratios, factors like net debt, monetized debt, and the overall size of US debt make this comparison flawed. He argues these factors make the current trajectory of US debt levels completely unsustainable and that the bond vigilantes will step in long before even more extreme levels are reached. He also discussed the extreme valuation gap for US assets compared to the rest of the world, why he thinks that gap will narrow, Mag 7 dominance and AI, and why he thinks Japan, not China, is the large Asian market set to outperform.

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You can find Gerard Minack on Bloomberg

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:24 Van Eck OUNZ

01:00 Interest Rate & Bond Market Views

09:13 Comparing US Debt Levels to Japan

12:21 Comparing Soft & Hard Data

16:19 Two Growth Scenarios Affecting Rates This Year

23:30 Van Eck OUNZ

24:05 The New World of Higher Rates

33:12 How Higher Rates Impact Stocks

43:01 The AI Trade and US Valuations

49:23 The US Valuation Gap vs The Rest of the World

53:12 Mag 7 Dominance

01:03:15 Bearish on Chinese Stocks and Bullish on Japan

01:09:23 Japan's Macro Backdrop

01:16:19 The Neutral Rate & Demographics

01:21:22 No Recessions in Australia

01:26:16 Australian Outlook

Marko Papic, Chief Strategist at BCA Research, joins Monetary Matters to argue that while tariffs may be the catalyst that shifts global appetites for US assets, it will be the necessary shift to fiscal hawkishness that will drive the end of “American Exceptionalism” and outperformance of US markets. Papic also discusses his views on as shift towards a multipolar world and why he views the dual polar world with US and China as competing global hegemons as the least likely outcome when compared with a multipolar reality or the revitalization of the American Empire.

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Timestamps:

01:00 Why TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) is Wrong

08:29 Recession Risks vs Stock Market Risks

12:21 Comparing Soft & Hard Data

15:12 Timeline for Trade Policy Certainty

20:53 Tariffs as a Catalyst for Domestic Economic Improvements Globally

26:47 The US Fiscal Facade

28:28 China Outlook

30:14 The Big Beautiful Bill & US Fiscal Deficit

41:02 DOGE’s Political Signal Value

48:09 US Defense Spending

51:13 Russia & Ukraine War

56:07 Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World

01:03:01 Middle East Stability

Bob Robotti, legendary value investor and President and CIO of Robotti and Company Advisors, is one of a very select group of investors with a 30+ year track record of S&P 500 outperformance. Here he joins Other People’s Money to discuss long-term value investing, why he likes to invest in companies perceived to be facing headwinds, and his view that American based industrial companies are competitively advantaged for reasons completely unaffected by trade policy. He also discusses how he operates both an advisory business and a broker dealer business and how the broker dealer has served as a starting point for many other great value investors.

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Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:27 Patient Capital

08:05 Investing in Companies with Headwinds

12:13 Building Products Businesses

16:08 North American Industrial Advantage

22:41 Industries Returning to the USA

27:18 Valuing Businesses on Cost of Replacement

30:56 The Links Between Lumber, Building Products,

33:24 Engaging With Management in Long-term

39:04 Trading Around Long-Term Positions

47:57 Buying Stocks After They've Gone Up

52:56 Trading Against Each Other

55:01 Having a Broker Dealer and Advisory Business

59:15 Jumping From the Sell Side to the Buy Side

01:04:08 Capital Churn

01:06:03 All US Equity Investors Should Compare

To view the prospectus for the VanEck Merk Gold ETF (OUNZ), please visit: https://www.vaneck.com/OUNZProspectus

Learn more: https://www.vaneck.com/OUNZJack/overview/

Steve Hanke, author of “Making Money Work” and Professor of Applied Economics The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, joins Monetary Matters to share his thoughts on the anemic bank credit growth, fiscal and tariffs policy in the United States, and the global Dollar system. Recorded May 20, 2025.

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Steve’s book, “Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System”, on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Money-Work-Rewrite-Financial/dp/1394257260

“Making Money Work” from Publisher (Wiley): https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Making+Money+Work%3A+How+to+Rewrite+the+Rules+of+Our+Financial+System-p-9781394257270

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Jason Furman, former Chairman of Council of Economic Advisers for President Obama and Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University, joins Monetary Matters to share his view of the Trump administration’s “three-legged stool” of tariffs, deregulation, and tax cuts. Recorded May 20, 2025.

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Monetary Matters listeners can get a 25% discount to Prometheus Macro: https://www.prometheus-macro.com/monetarymatters

Aahan Menon, founder and CEO of Prometheus Macro, returns to Monetary Matters to share his in-depth macro process. He talks about how returns come from three factors: carry, mean reversion, and trend, and about how these three factors interact with other macro variables. Prometheus Macro is a trusted source for Jack and Monetary Matters listeners can get discounted access to Aahan’s research service by using the link below. Annual subscriptions can be purchased at 25% off the monthly subscription rate, and monthly subscribers can get a 10% discounted rate.

https://www.prometheus-macro.com/monetarymatters

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Fabio Natalucci, CEO of the Anderson Institute for Finance & Economics, joins

David Kotok, Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor at Cumberland Advisors, joins Monetary Matters to discuss insights from his new book, “The Fed and the Flu: Parsing Pandemic Economic Shocks.” Kotok cites data over millennia to show that pandemics typically cause natural real interest rates to decline, and productivity and inequality to rise. Kotok argues that we must prepare for the next pandemic and shares his view on the origin of the COVID virus. Part II of an interview recorded on April 4, 2025, with the first part having aired on April 7, 2025. 

David Kotok’s book, “The Fed and the Flu: Parsing Pandemic Economic Shocks”: 

https://www.amazon.com/Fed-Flu-Parsing-Pandemic-Economic-ebook/dp/B0DCK1ZHJT

Paper, “Longer-Run Economic Consequences of Pandemics”: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26934/w26934.pdf

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