Corporations announced a staggering $233.8 billion in stock buybacks in April, the second-highest monthly total ever recorded. But unlike previous buyback bonanzas, this isn’t a sign of economic strength or corporate confidence. Quite the opposite. Are buybacks just one big shell game or are they fiscally prudent? Corporate stock buybacks have inspired great debate since a Reagan era tax law change and a Clinton era deal sweetener. On the one hand they have enriched shareholders and made executives extremely wealthy. On the other hand, the growth in buybacks mean companies aren’t investing in innovation, workers, or expansion. Let’s talk about it.

Resources

Longtermtrends: S&P 500 PE Ratio

FRED: Quarterly Financial Report: U.S. Corporations: All Information: Total Cash on Hand and in U.S. Banks

BNN Bloomberg: Corporate America plans record stock buybacks as turmoil mounts – BNN Bloomberg

Bipartisan Policy Center: How the U.S. Taxes Stock Buybacks and Dividends

Congress.gov: Stock Buybacks: Concerns over Debt-Financing and Long-Term Investing

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: The Great Leverage 2.0? A Tale of Different Indicators of Corporate Leverage

Penn Wharton: Raise the Excise Tax Rate on Stock Repurchases

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: Newly Proposed Regulations on Stock Buyback Excise Tax Largely Adopt Approach From Initial IRS Guidance

The New Republic: Bill Clinton Created This Terrible Corporate Loophole. Will Hillary Close It?

ProPublica: The Executive Pay Cap That Backfired

Harvard: Short-Termism And Capital Flows

Roosevelt Institute: Regulating Stock Buybacks: The $6.3 Trillion Question

ICIJ: The Panama Papers: Exposing the Rogue Offshore Finance Industry

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

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Crude Oil tanks as OPEC+ floods the market with product. Russia and Saudi Arabia just did the unthinkable by announcing that they’re increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day starting in June. With demand forecasts going down every day as the world braces for a Trump induced global recession, it’s the exact opposite move from what everyone expected. This episode tackles what this means for the economy, the future of energy, Trump’s tariff gambit, inflation and unemployment. 

Access the episode resources.

Resources

OPEC

OilPrice.com

U.S. EIA: Advances in technology led to record new well productivity in the Permian Basin in 2021

EnergyNews: OPEC maintains its forecast for oil demand growth in 2025 and 2026

Reuters: US agrees to sell Saudi Arabia $142 billion arms package

Responsible Statecraft: Lobby Horse: Trump’s ‘trillion dollar' visit to Saudi Arabia

Deloitte: 2025 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook

World Economic Forum: 5 trends shaping the energy world in 2025

AInvest: JPMorgan Cuts 2025 Oil Price Forecasts 12% on Weak Demand, OPEC+ Output

ExxonMobil: ExxonMobil Announces First-Quarter 2025 Results

Reuters: OPEC output hikes, trade wars have US oil producers wary of 'drill baby drill'

Trading Economics: United States Exports By Category

St. Louis Fed: Breakeven Fiscal Oil Price for Saudi Arabia (SAUPZPIOILBEGUSD)

UNFTR Episode Resources

Peak Oil: It's a Crude, Crude World.

Bitcoin & Crude Oil.

The Energy Independence Myth.

Iceberg. Dead Ahead.

Video: Oil Prices TANK as OPEC Floods the Market

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is this the end of Capitalism? If so, what comes next? Does it even matter what we call it? Today Max pauses to reflect on the speed and totality of damage wrought by the Trump administration, and whether it’s bringing about the end of Capitalism on purpose in order to return to a state reminiscent of the industrial era when the working class lived to serve the elite and the poor thrown to the streets.

Resources

Marketplace: Higher income Americans drive bigger share of consumer spending

Book Love

Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives

UNFTR Resources

YouTube: The End of Capitalism: What comes next is worse.

YouTube: Phone A Friend: Yanis Varoufakis

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

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Max and 99 return from their Show Notes hiatus to discuss the 5 Non-Negotiables, global events, and share some genuinely insightful tangents (for a change lol). Enjoy!

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:21

Discord Comments: 00:06:46

5NN: 00:10:04

Emails: 00:33:34

Memberships: 01:58:40

Outro: 02:01:41

Resources

Only 3 days left in our Spring Fund, Friend, and Hell Raiser! Become a member today.

Subscribe to the YouTube Channel.

Visit our 5NN homepage.

Save PBS and NPR!

Unf*cker Recommendations

Sarah Smarsh: Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth

Timothy Snyder: On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Jason Stanley: How Fascism Works:The Politics of Us and Them

Ilan Pappe: A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict

Sayash Kapoor + Arvind Narayanan: AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

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Market speculation into commodities like Bitcoin and Crude oil pose dangerous risks during the best of times. Heading into a recession, the stakes are even higher. The temptation to participate during volatile periods is a psychological phenomenon that takes hold among casual investors who rarely realize when they’re part of an institutional con. When leveraged institutions are in desperate need of liquidity they’ll stop at nothing to game the system. In this episode, Max offers a cautionary tale of speculative behavior in the crude oil markets during the financial crisis that very few people even know about. He then connects it to the dangers posed to investors who dabble in digital currencies like Bitcoin, especially under a pro-crypto Trump administration.

Access the episode resources.

Resources

Forbes: ‘Worse Than 2008’—Bitcoin Price Braced As Billionaire Ray Dalio Warns Of ‘Monetary Order Breakdown’

Forbes: ‘Big Catalyst’—Serious Fed Warning Spurs Huge BlackRock Bitcoin Price Prediction

NPR: What to know about Trump's 'crypto strategic reserve' plan

Yahoo Finance: Donald Trump’s 29-year-old crypto guru lays out the president’s plans for regulating crypto and rolling back a Biden-era crackdown

Pillsbury Law: Trump 2.0: A New Era for the Regulation of Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets

SDLC Corp: Stablecoins: Characteristics, How They Work, Functionality, and Use Cases

Bitpanda Academy: Meme Coins: Definition & Characteristics

St. Edward’s University: What Are the Exchange Coins

The Digital Chamber: Why is Bitcoin a Commodity?

Investopedia: Is Crypto a Commodity? What It Means, Examples

Book Love

Dan Dicker: Oil's Endless Bid: Taming the Unreliable Price of Oil to Secure Our Economy

Emily Lambert: The Futures: The Rise of the Speculator and the Origins of the World's Biggest Markets

Peter Maass: Crude World

Leah McGrath Goodman: The Asylum: Inside the Rise and Ruin of the Global Oil Market

UNFTR Episode Resources

Peak Oil: It’s a Crude, Crude World.

The U.S. Dollar and 10 Year Treasury: Why Economists Are Freaking the F*ck Out.

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a hidden market that might crash the economy in 2025. Tariff chaos. Leverage in the Repo Market. A burgeoning liquidity crisis. There’s an iceberg, dead ahead, only we can’t see below the surface to know how big it is. In this episode Max takes a big swing at the existential crisis brewing in the financial markets. Trump’s tariffs, declining economic data and slumping global demand will potentially neutralize half of the Fed’s crisis response arsenal. The logical and expected response to what is shaping up to be a catastrophic summer is the “Fed Put.” In other words, another bailout. But if the Fed looks to expand its balance sheet to accomplish this during a liquidity crisis, will the buyers of U.S. debt show up? Inflation and a weak dollar, frayed nerves in the bond market and more reckless behavior coming out of the White House could cause a run on the big banks and other firms that live in the “shadow repo” market leaving the Fed balancing the world on its shoulders.

Access the episode resources.

Resources

Apollo Global Management: How are US consumers and firms responding to tariffs?

LendingTree: BNPL Tracker: 41% of Users Late in Past Year

The Fed: What Happened in Money Markets in September 2019? 

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Treasury Market Dysfunction and the Role of the Central Bank

--

If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

Become a member at unftr.com/memberships.

Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is how we win. This is the closing argument of the project to build the foundation of the people’s platform and take over the Democratic Party: The 5 Non-Negotiables of the Left. Three to earn the trust of the American people to win back the country, and two to salvage our democracy and our planet. The Trump administration is the culmination of a 70 year neoliberal plan to divide the population and place the wealth of the nation and levers of power into the hands of the few.

The dystopian doctrine that drives this agenda is rooted in fear born from economic precarity. As such, the opposite holds true as well. Everything positive is attainable when a population lives in economic security and has satisfied the most basic human needs. We need a politics centered on achieving this goal before we can broaden our horizon. To accomplish this we have to use the tools at our disposal, which means we have to take over most functional political apparatus available: The Democratic Party. Our contribution to this plan is simply to provide structure and clarity. This is how we win.

Access the episode resources.

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:30

Non-Negotiable #1: 00:26:16

Non-Negotiable #2: 00:28:14

Non-Negotiable #3: 00:30:04

Non-Negotiable #4: 00:31:59

Non-Negotiable #5: 00:33:56

The People's Platform: 00:36:22

Get Involved: 00:37:50

UNFTR Episode Resources

Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1.

Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse: Non-Negotiable #2.

Medicare for All: Non-Negotiable #3.

Election Integrity: Getting Money Out of Politics: Non-Negotiable #4.

Climate Action: Non-Negotiable #5.

--

If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have a special edition of Show Notes today! In a rare occurrence, Max, Manny and 99 were all in the same place and they took to the mics to mark the occasion. Enjoy!

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

Become a member at unftr.com/memberships.

Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are there hidden market patterns that signal massive economic change? A weak dollar and rising yield on the ten year treasuries sent Wall Street into panic mode over fears that Trump was torching the global economy with his tariff wars. Since 1945 the U.S. dollar has been the bedrock of the global economy. Trump’s reckless behavior has allies and enemies alike wondering if this is the end of U.S. hegemony in the world. Last week when the dollar and ten year treasury yield briefly split, the global bond market suddenly came into focus and was on everyone’s radar. This episode boils down the jargon to explain what’s going on and why everyone freaked out. Ultimately, while we may not tear down the global order, there’s no question that we won’t restore faith in the U.S. Dollar and economy until Trump is out of office.

Access the episode Show Notes.

Resources

Compound Real Estate Bonds: Bond Vigilantes: Definition, Role & Impact on Markets

EWA: The Relationship Between US Dollar Index and US 10 Year Treasury Bond

Investopedia: Bonds: Treasury Yields and Interest Rates

CNBC: Investors are growing concerned about a U.S. asset exodus as Treasurys and the dollar decline

Privalgo: The relationship between bond yields and currencies

ScienceDirect: International capital flows and U.S. interest rates

St. Louis Fed: Nominal Broad U.S. Dollar Index (DTWEXBGS)

St. Louis Fed: Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity, Quoted on an Investment Basis (DGS10)

Darden Report Online: What the Sell-Off in Treasuries Means for Your Mortgage

The Washington Post: Fact Check: Has Trump declared bankruptcy four or six times?

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

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Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have a cool one for you today, a conversation with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Currently, Mamdani is a member of the New York State Assembly. He’s a Democratic Socialist running in the Democratic primary against a pretty busy slate of contenders, and he’s polling second to former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who only recently entered the race. Now Mamdani was the first candidate to hit the fundraising threshold for city matching funds—setting it in record time—and doing it primarily through small dollar donations. His campaign is extremely organized, and it’s galvanized New Yorkers in every borough with a stunning clarity of message. Now, in many ways, to us, at least, Zohran has captured the zeitgeist as it feels like his campaign is a proxy for the discontent felt not just in urban areas, but throughout the country. So it’s our great pleasure to welcome to the show Zohran Mamdani.

Resources

Zohran for NYC Website

Zohran on Facebook

Zohran on Instagram

Zohran on TikTok

Zohran on Bluesky

UNFTR Resources

Watch the interview on YouTube.

Access the transcript.

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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord.

Become a member at unftr.com/memberships.

Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.