Rick Rule, president and CEO of Rule Investment Media and co-founder of Battle Bank, joins the Julia La Roche Show to explain why he remains surprised by economic resilience despite mounting challenges, breaks down why gold could reach $9,000-$10,000 as governments inflate away debt obligations, and shares specific sectors he sees as undervalued including oil & gas, community banks, and wholesale insurance. Rule also provides a sobering analysis of America's $130+ trillion in total obligations, explains why the government will likely choose gradual inflation over outright default, and offers advice for younger generations on navigating what he expects to be a challenging decade ahead.

Register for the Rick Rule Symposium 2025.

Timestamps:

Links:

Rick Rule Symposium: https://registration.allintheloop.net/register/event/rick-rule-symposium-2025-ccha?via=julia

Marc Faber, editor and publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, joins the Julia La Roche Show to break down why he believes asset inflation is coming to an end while consumer price inflation accelerates. He explains why 70% of households are struggling despite government statistics showing growth, critiques Federal Reserve policies that favor Wall Street over Main Street, and shares his framework for portfolio allocation across real estate, stocks, bonds, and precious metals. Faber also provides a tour of his rare book and communist memorabilia collection in his office while sharing thoughts on capitalism, society, and his newest motorcycle.

George Goncalves, head of U.S. macro strategy at MUFG, joins the Julia La Roche Show to discuss why 2025 will be a "balancing act" as markets transition from record highs to new economic realities. In this wide-ranging conversation, Goncalves explains why the Trump administration faces a critical choice between taking "short-term pain for long-term gain" early in the term or continuing fiscal largesse, analyzes why the 10-year yield breaking above 4.75% could trigger market turbulence, and breaks down why the Federal Reserve needs to keep cutting rates to avoid a recession in the second half of the year.

Links:

https://x.com/bondstrategist

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome to George Goncalves

01:17 Background and macro framework

03:15 2025 as a "balancing act"

05:35 Market complacency and valuations

07:19 Short-term pain for long-term gain

09:43 Business vs. government-led growth

11:01 Different starting points from Trump 1.0

13:38 Economy propped up by fiscal spending

16:21 Interest rates and fiscal policy

17:14 Bond market dynamics explanation

21:43 Credit market implications

23:26 Soft landing analysis

28:01 Market euphoria and transition risks

29:41 Deficit and debt analysis

33:05 Scott Bessent's 3-3-3 plan analysis

34:40 Fed policy outlook for 2025

39:15 Closing thoughts on dollar and oil

Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst, joins Episode 223 of the Julia La Roche Show for his first outlook of 2025. Whalen explains why he believes long-term interest rates could rise unless Trump makes "real progress" on the federal deficit, warns a "kamikaze release" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship without legislation would be highly disruptive, and shares why focusing on Treasury policy rather than the Federal Reserve is "all that matters." He also discusses why stocks could be "ready for a downward adjustment" after outperforming in 2023-2024, and offers a surprisingly optimistic longer-term view if Washington can demonstrate "real leadership."

Links:    

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    

Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/    

The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/   

Stanley Middleman book: https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Around-Corners-Achieving-Business/dp/B0D5PTSJVC/  

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome back to Chris Whalen

01:12 2024 retrospective and consumer spending

02:42 Housing affordability and discretionary spending

04:49 Inflation outlook and Fed policy

06:31 Fed's focus on market stability over inflation

08:16 Fed rate cuts projection for 2025

10:52 Trump administration 2.0 outlook

11:42 Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conservatorship discussion

13:21 Recession probability assessment

15:25 GSE release implications

19:45 Best approach to GSE reform

21:47 Federal deficit challenges

23:38 US debt situation and spending freeze

25:49 Treasury debt issuance strategy

27:42 Shifting narrative from Fed to Treasury

28:36 Market outlook for 2025

30:50 Closing thoughts on leadership and demographics

Luke Gromen, founder of FFTT, joins Episode 222 of the Julia La Roche Show to discuss why he believes the Department of Defense, not the Federal Reserve, now drives U.S. economic policy. Gromen warns that if the incoming Trump administration attempts efficiency cuts (DOGE) before devaluing the dollar, "they will fail spectacularly" and "what happened in '08 will look like a tea party." He explains why rebuilding America's hollowed-out defense industrial base requires significant spending that can't be constrained by bond market concerns, shares his portfolio strategy favoring gold, Bitcoin, and T-bills over long-term bonds, and explores how a strategic Bitcoin reserve could help rebalance global trade.

This episode was recorded on Dec. 16.

Links:

website: https://fftt-llc.com/

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lukegromen

00:01 Introduction and welcome Luke Gromen

00:47 Two key themes for 2025

03:12 DOD driving economic decisions, not Fed/Treasury

04:58 Bond market dynamics and military spending

07:25 Defense industrial base concerns

09:16 Historical parallels to WWII financing

12:07 Currency as release valve

14:01 Impact on equities, Bitcoin, gold

16:04 Foreign vs. domestic bondholders

21:06 U.S. debt situation

24:03 Healthcare and entitlement challenges

31:10 Social Security reform mathematics 35:42 Historical dollar devaluations

41:10 DOGE and order of operations

44:15 Optimism about dollar devaluation

47:04 Portfolio allocation strategy

56:09 Strategic Bitcoin reserve discussion

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist of QI Research and former Federal Reserve insider, joins the Julia La Roche Show for an in-person interview to discuss why she sees "frayed nerves" at the Federal Reserve about the incoming Trump administration. In this wide-ranging conversation, DiMartino Booth reveals why 18 months of downward revisions to jobs data is "statistically impossible," explains how bureaucrats could start "releasing the Kraken" with true economic data that gets "pinned on Trump," and warns about the explosion of buy-now-pay-later debt that's not showing up in official credit statistics. She also shares a powerful message about the growing divide between Wall Street and Main Street

A global thought leader in monetary policy, economics, and finance, DiMartino Booth founded QI Research in 2015. She is the author of FED UP: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America (Portfolio, Feb 2017), a business speaker, and a commentator frequently featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, Fox Business News, BNN Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance and other major media outlets.  Prior to QI Research, DiMartino Booth spent nine years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. She served as Advisor to President Richard W. Fisher throughout the financial crisis until his retirement in March 2015. Her work at the Fed focused on financial stability and the efficacy of unconventional monetary policy.

DiMartino Booth began her career in New York at Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where she worked in the fixed-income, public equity, and private equity markets. DiMartino Booth earned her BBA as a College of Business Scholar at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.

Links:  

QI Research: https://quillintelligence.com/subscriptions/

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/dimartinobooth

Fed Up: https://www.amazon.com/Fed-Up-Insiders-Federal-Reserve/dp/0735211655

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome Danielle

01:00 Reaction to the FOMC, frayed nerves at the Fed

3:08 Fed spooked by inflation

3:45 Fed went in opposite direction of staff presentations

6:30 10-Year

8:03 A "closer call"

9:12 Does the Fed make policy for the public good?

13:00 Nihilism among younger generations

16:30 The government is buying the economy time, and the Fed is making the wealthier wealthier  

18:48 Are we in a recession?

22:00 Declining consumption is not a prerequisite to recession

24:10 Could Trump inherit a recession?

26:30 Jobs numbers

30:00 Story behind the data

31:20 Trump administration 2.0

37:45 Stock market

39:50 What's keeping Danielle up at night

42:11 Parting thoughts

Former hedge fund manager Felix Zulauf, founder and president of Zulauf Consulting, returns to The Julia La Roche Show for episode 220 for his annual outlook interview to discuss why U.S. stocks are in a bubble and what could break it. In this wide-ranging conversation, Zulauf explains why watching the Japanese yen is critical for understanding when global liquidity might dry up, warns that AI stocks could fall 50-70% when the bubble bursts, and shares his view that 2025 will be a "mini version" of the decade's roller coaster ride for markets. He also discusses why Trump's proposed tariffs could create significant economic headwinds, explores why Europe and China face structural challenges, and outlines his targets for Bitcoin ($115,000-$130,000) before a potential 80% correction.

https://www.felixzulauf.com/

0:00 Welcome back Felix Zulauf

00:50 Macro picture

03:47 China's structural challenges

06:14 Germany and Europe's structural malaise

09:36 US labor market dynamics

12:46 Impact of government spending cuts and tariffs

16:30 US stock market bubble discussion

21:14 Global liquidity and Japanese yen dynamics

25:14 Market bubble indicators and timing

28:39 Decennial pattern analysis

32:36 Discussion of inflation dynamics

36:36 Bond market paradigm shift

41:20 Commodity sector leadership outlook

45:21 Trade war risks and historical parallels

48:56 Gold and Bitcoin outlook

51:20 Financial system stability concerns

https://www.felixzulauf.com/

Professor Campbell Harvey, professor of finance at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and the inventor of the most famous recession indicator — the inverted yield curve — returns to The Julia La Roche Show for episode 219 to discuss the state of the economy, the yield curve, and what's ahead for U.S. growth.

Links:  

DeFI and the Future of Finance: https://www.amazon.com/DeFi-Future-Finance-Campbell-Harvey/dp/1119836018 https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/campbell-harvey https://people.duke.edu/~charvey/ https://twitter.com/camharvey

Timestamps:

00:02 Introduction to Professor Campbell Harvey

00:51 BlackRock's "end of boom-bust cycle" thesis

04:15 Historical perspective on market cycles

06:14 Impact of wealthy consumers on economy

07:13 Role of technological innovation

11:37 U.S. leadership in innovation

14:31 Growth prospects and productivity potential

16:09 Post-election growth outlook

24:56 U.S. debt and deficit challenges

28:16 Social Security sustainability issues

32:51 Inverted yield curve indicator discussion

40:11 Impact of technological innovations

45:21 Federal Reserve policy critique

50:20 Distortions from Fed's zero-rate policy

54:18 Future consequences of Fed decisions

59:40 Closing thoughts on U.S. prospects

James Lavish, reformed hedge-fund manager and co-managing partner of the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and author of The Informationist newsletter, joined Episode 218 of the Julia La Roche Show as Bitcoin crossed the historic $100,000 milestone.

Lavish provides a comprehensive analysis of the current macro environment, explores why "all roads lead to inflation," breaks down MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy, and shares his outlook on institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. He also discusses the widening wealth gap in America and examines the challenges facing the Department of Government Efficiency's ambitious spending cut goals.

Links:

Twitter/X: https://x.com/jameslavish

The Informationist: https://jameslavish.substack.com/

The Bitcoin Opportunity Fund: https://www.bitcoinopportunity.fund/

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and welcome James Lavish

00:45 Post-election market overview

02:34 Fed policy and bond market reaction

04:56 Labor market and unemployment analysis

06:40 Discussion of economic soft spots

09:27 Wealth inequality and Cantillon effect

12:16 Federal Reserve's policy options

15:05 Understanding unemployment metrics

18:41 Debt and deficit discussion

24:19 Department of Government Efficiency analysis

29:34 Bitcoin breaking $100K milestone

33:24 Bitcoin ETF impact and institutional adoption

38:36 Bitcoin catalysts and outlook

44:18 MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy explained

51:13 Corporate Bitcoin adoption outlook

55:18 Closing thoughts and investment approach

Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, joins Julia La Roche on Episode 217 to discuss his new book "The Little Book of Bitcoin." He shares his journey from his 11-day tenure as White House Communications Director to SkyBridge Capital's bold entry into cryptocurrency that nearly led to the firm's collapse. Scaramucci offers insights on failure, risk-taking, and explains why he believes Bitcoin's value will increase tenfold from today's price.

Links:

https://x.com/scaramucci

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Bitcoin-Already-Figured/dp/1394286643

0:00 Welcome Anthony Scaramucci

01:50 Scaramucci on Trump

04:00 Politics

05:00 Impact on relationship

06:23 Take risks and fail

08:37 How bad did it get economically?

10:29 Doing nothing is sometimes the best thing to do, but it's very hard on Wall Street

12:20 Island of Elba observation

14:15 Getting fired from the White House

17:55 Macro picture

25:00 Skybridge taking a massive risk in 2020, going in on Bitcoin

32:00 Raising money again, buying Bitcoin still

33:57 Said Bitcoin was going to $100K at the end of 2022

36:13 Trump and Bitcoin

39:17 Michael Saylor

43:16 Bitcoin existing as part of Wall Street

50:00 If I'm right, it's going to be worth 10x where it is today, $150K-$300K next 3-5 years

53:11 Why Gary Gensler helped the crypto industry

55:30 Parting thoughts