WTFinance

Interview recorded - 26th of August, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming back Lyn Alden. Lyn is one of the foremost macro strategists, Founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy & author of the book “Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better”.

During our conversation we spoke about what is happening in the markets, rotation out of the US, which markets are investable, broadening US markets, energy, China and more. I hope you enjoy!

0:00 - Introduction
1:50 - What has happened the past few weeks in markets?
7:20 - International investors leaving US?
9:05 - International markets
11:10 - Which countries to benefit?
13:50 - Who benefits from rate cuts?
15:45 - Broadening of US market?
18:38 - Powell made right decision?
22:26 - Similarities to 90’s?
24:19 - Fiscal repression
29:50 - Interest payments impact on deficit?
32:28 - Solution for social securities?
36:03 - AI to fix outcomes?
37:58 - Energy shift
43:46 - Chinese manufacturing growth to continue?
46:13 - West less control over China?
48:32 - Chinese soft power
51:23 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Lyn runs an investment research service for both retail and institutional investors at LynAlden.com. Her focus is on fundamental investing with a global macro overlay, with an emphasis on equities, currencies, commodities, and digital assets. 

Lyn has also worked for over a decade in the aviation industry in a range of roles, starting as an electronics engineer and moving into project and facility management, and engineering finance. Eventually she became the head engineer and head of technical procurement for the facility, before retiring in my 30s. 

Lyn has a bachelor's in electronics engineering and a master's in engineering management, with a focus on engineering economics and financial modelling. 

Lyn Alden - 

Website - https://www.lynalden.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynalden/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/lynaldencontact?lang=en

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 27th of August, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming back Michael Howell. Michael is the Founder & Managing Director of CrossBorder Capital.

During our conversation we spoke about the liquidity cycle, dollar drop, risk on, treasury actions, financial repression, Bitcoin/Gold as risk off assets and more. I hope you enjoy!

0:00 - Introduction
1:47 - Market flying?
5:04 - Anything else to pay attention to?
9:21 - Surprised by dollar drop?
11:34 - Liquidity cycle
18:15 - Majority of returns at beginning of liquidity cycle?
19:33 - Yellen fiscal dilemma?
23:17 - Treasury actions
32:11 - Bond yields to rise?
33:15 - Basel 4 financial repression
34:01 - Risk-on the current strategy?
35:35 - Industrial metals to benefit?
37:21 - Bitcoin/Gold de-correlating to markets?
40:01 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Michael Howell is CEO of CrossBorder Capital, a London-based FCA registered, independent research and investment company that he founded in 1996. Previously he was Head of Research for Baring Securities and Research Director of Salomon Brothers Inc, the US investment bank. The liquidity methodology he pioneered monitors cross-border flows and Central Bank behaviour across some 80 countries world-wide. Liquidity flows are a central part of CrossBorder Capital's asset allocation advice, which is currently provided to major global investors, including institutional asset managers, government agencies, Central Banks and endowment funds. Michael has been in financial markets since 1981 and is a regular conference speaker and media commentator. He graduated from Bristol and London Universities with a finance doctorate, specialising in Fixed Income.

Michael Howell -

Website - https://crossbordercapital.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/crossbordercap
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-howell-357b1416/?originalSubdomain=uk

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 21st of August, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming on Ed Yardeni. Dr Ed is the President of Yardeni Research.

During our conversation we spoke about his thoughts on the economy, potential for it being a new roaring twenties, productivity, normalisation of growth, interest rate decisions, impacts on markets and more. I hope you enjoy!

0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Thoughts on global economy?
4:40 - Why rolling recessions?
11:04 - Employment data revision?
13:08 - Illegal migration impact?
15:05 - Normalisation of growth?
17:16 - Interest Rates & Monetary policy
22:38 - FED for a day?
27:08 - Higher interest rates on deficit?
30:26 - 90’s soft landing again?
32:07 - What will the FED do?
34:05 - Which industries will perform well?
38:11 - One message to takeaway from conversation?

Dr. Ed Yardeni is the President of Yardeni Research, Inc., a provider of global investment strategies and asset-allocation analyses and recommendations. He previously served as Chief Investment Strategist of Oak Associates, Prudential Equity Group, and Deutsche Bank’s US equities division in New York City. He was also the Chief Economist of CJ Lawrence, Prudential-Bache Securities, and EF Hutton. He taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and was an economist
with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He also held positions at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the US Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Ed earned his PhD in economics from Yale University in 1976, having
completed his doctoral dissertation under Nobel Laureate James Tobin. Previously, he received a master’s degree in international relations from Yale. He completed his undergraduate studies magna cum laude at Cornell University.

Dr. Ed is frequently quoted in the financial press, including The Wall Street
Journal, the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Barron’s. He was dubbed “Wall Street Seer” in a Barron’s cover story. He appears frequently on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, and Fox Business. See Dr. Ed’s market calls as reported in the financial press.

Dr Ed Yardeni:

Website - https://yardeni.com/
Twitter - https://x.com/yardeni
Quicktakes - https://www.yardeniquicktakes.com/
YouTube -  @YardeniResearch

WTFinance -

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes -https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-fatseas-761066103/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 26th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming back Simon Hunt.

During our conversation we spoke about the risk of a market crash in 2024, BRIC's currency, Global Cold/Hot War, financial system crisis and more. I hope you enjoy.

0:00 - Introduction
1:52 - Market crash in 2024?
9:01 - Control over the heartland?
13:13 - BRIC’s currency
19:30 - Republicans to cut spending?
21:16 - South China Sea
27:18 - Cold vs hot world war?
31:24 - Financial system correction?
34:09 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Simon Hunt began his career in 1956 in Central Africa as a PA to the Chairman of Rhodesian Selection Trust, one of the two large copper companies in what was then Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.

In 1961 he came back to London and joined Anglo American Corporation of South Africa as a PA to one of the Board Directors, followed by being part of a small sales and marketing team for copper. From there, he helped start up a new copper development organisation, CIDEC, financed by copper producers, which he then joined, focusing on conducting end-use studies of copper in Europe.

He then went into the City to gain financial experience and founded Brook Hunt in 1975. He was instrumental in setting up the company’s cost studies and end-use analyses. He appeared as material witness and consultant in two ITC anti-dumping cases in 1978 and 1984, winning both at the commission level.

He has spent 2-4 months every year in China since 1993 and until a few years ago would be visiting some 80 wire and cable and brass mill factories across the country every year. He now restricts these factory visits to a smaller number, all of which he has known for many years. He also spends many weeks each year traveling around Asia.

The focus of the company’s services is on the global economy, including the changing geopolitical and financial structures, China’s economy and its copper sector, and then the global copper industry as each part is interconnected.

Simon is the author of the “Frontline China Report Service,” which is marketed by the TIS Group. The Service provides regular reports on China’s economy, politics, and financial outlook.

Simon established this company in January 1996.

Simon Hunt -

Website - https://www.simon-hunt.com/
Email - [email protected]

WTFinance -

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes -https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-fatseas-761066103/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 24th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of hosting Steve Hanke. Steve H. Hanke is a professor of applied economics and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University.

During our conversation we spoke about Steve's economic outlook, the quantity theory of money, Hanke Golden Rule, US going into the recession, why FED's models are wrong, tariffs and more!

0:00 - Introduction
1:12 - Steve’s current outlook?
4:17 - What is causing the money supply shrinkage?
6:12 - What is the quantity theory of money?
10:12 - Why do central banks not look at money supply?
14:27 - Hanke Golden Rule
16:15 - Economic growth without money supply growth?
22:30 - US going into a recession?
23:52 - How bad could recession get?
25:38 - FED late to the party
26:44 - FED to change models?
27:36 - What economies is Steve positive about?
30:00 - Increasing tariffs impacts
32:20 - Impact of money supply on markets?
34:15 - One message to takeaway from conversation?

Steve H. Hanke is a Senior Fellow, Contributing Editor of The Independent Review, and a Member of the Board of Advisors at the Independent Institute. He is a Professor of Applied Economics and Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is also a Senior Adviser at the Renmin University of China’s International Monetary Research Institute in Beijing, and a Special Counselor to the Center for Financial Stability in New York. Hanke is also a Contributing Editor at Central Banking in London and a Contributor at National Review. In addition, Hanke is a member of the Charter Council of the Society for Economic Measurement and a Distinguished Associate of the International Atlantic Economic Society. He is ranked as the world’s third-most influential economics influencer by FocusEconomics in Barcelona, Spain.

Steve Hanke: 

X -  https://x.com/steve_hanke
Bio - https://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=516

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 24th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming on Bill Fleckenstein. Bill is a professional money manager with over 30 years of experience. He writes a writes a daily column and is the author of “Greenspan’s bubbles: the age of ignorance at the federal reserve”.

0:00 - Introduction
1:07 - Economic and market outlook?
6:10 - Stagflation?
7:42 - GDP growth
10:02 - What has the FED had on the economy?
13:22 - QE & QT
15:42 - How can financial system be resolved?
18:48 - Where could inflation go?
21:13 - What could encourage asset appreciation?
25:38 - What is Bill watching to gauge markets?
26:42 - Long AI, Short Small cap
31:53 - What is driving dollar movements?
33:23 - Can Japan increase interest rates with debt level?
34:28 - How long does monetisation of debt last?
36:40 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Bill Fleckenstein is president of Fleckenstein Capital, a money management firm based in Seattle. He writes a daily Market Rap column for his website, Fleckensteincapital.com, as well as the popular column Contrarian Chronicles for MSN Money.

Bill Fleckenstein began writing a daily column on the Internet in 1996. Initially, the Market Rap was a daily recap of market events, with an added "Yes, but..." emphasis. "I quickly learned that the contrarian viewpoint was often misrepresented and under-reported. Since then, my daily column has always called it like I see it. I've tried to write the column in a way that even the novice investor can understand. I believe it's better to teach someone how to fish, rather than just give them an occasional fish."

Bill Fleckenstein -

Website: https://www.fleckensteincapital.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/fleckcap?lang=en

WTFinance -

Instagram -

Interview recorded - 18th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance I had the pleasure of welcoming back Julian Brigden. Julian is the Head of Research at Macro Intelligence 2 Partner.

During our conversation we spoke about Julian's thoughts on the economy, recession on the horizon, why market crash could be a catalyst for recession, hyperfinancialisation, volatility in bubble, dollar, treasuries and more. I hope you enjoy!

0:00 - Introduction
1:25 - Julian’s thoughts of the economy?
6:50 - Recession on the horizon?
9:10 - Linked to the 1960’s?
11:50 - Government pressure of central banks?
15:10 - Service inflation always been high?
17:30 - Unemployment coming through?
21:26 - Similarities to great recession?
26:31 - Volatility in bubbles
29:03 - Why no rotation?
31:59 - What impact on fixed income & dollar?
34:31 - Where do the dollars go?
37:41 - Relatively bullish on surplus markets?
38:51 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Julian Brigden is the Head of Research at Macro Intelligence 2 Partners, a firm he co-founded in 2011. He leads a six-person team of research and market professionals to publish independent macroeconomic research that is both ahead of market consensus and timely. Julian has over 30 years of experience in financial markets including positions in market and policy focused consulting to institutional investors as well as FICC sales. 

Julian is a trusted advisor to many top money managers who use MI2 Partners’ research to guide their investment process. He has extensive experience with macro data analysis, broad fixed income, equity market (not individual stocks) and currencies. He is particularly skilled at exploring correlations in the economy and financial markets vital to a vast array of investment decision-makers. As a global macro strategist, Julian’s primary focus is understanding and explaining macroeconomic and policy-related developments to tell clients what is important in markets and what to fade. 

When asked about his market outlook for 2022, Julian stated that the US policy response was massive. As a result, the economy has closed the output gap and is in danger of overheating. Together with inflation, Julian believes that this means the Fed needs to rapidly tighten policy while slowing growth. As rates rise and the balance sheet shrinks, the risks to very overvalued asset prices, especially stocks, will rise. He then stated that in Europe, as the impact of Omicron fades and the inventory cycle surges, the ECB will need to raise rates, which will add to the pressure in global bond markets. 

Julian spent five years at Medley Global Advisors from 1999 to 2004, a leading macro policy intelligence firm, as the Managing Director of the G7 Client Team, providing timely trading recommendations. From 2004 to 2011, he served as North American Head of Hedge Fund Sales at Crédit Agricole. He has worked in London, Zurich, New York and Vail at UBS, Lehman Brothers, HSBC, Drexel, Credit Suisse, and Salomon Brother in foreign exchange and precious metals.

Julian -

Website - https://mi2partners.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/JulianMI2
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-brigden-150b2114

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 18th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming  back Danielle DiMartino Booth. Danielle is the CEO & Chief Strategist for QI Research, a research and analytics firm.

During our conversation we spoke about her outlook for the economy, unemployment and whether it could stick, how bad could the recession be and more. I hope you enjoy.

0:00 - Introduction
1:44 - Outlook for the economy?
3:15 - Unemployment going to stick?
5:35 - Is the economy soft?
6:40 - What will FED do?
9:45 - Further fiscal deficit?
12:30 - Both parties to increase fiscal spending?
13:30 - How bad could the recession be?
17:55 - Are interest rates really high?
18:23 - Trust the economic numbers?
20:50 - Bonds back to safe haven?
22:05 - One message to takeaway from conversation?

DiMartino Booth set out to launch a #ResearchRevolution, redefining how market intelligence is conceived and delivered to guide portfolio managers and promote financial literacy. To build QI, she brought together a core team of investing veterans to analyze the trends and provide critical analysis on what is driving the markets – both in the United States and globally.

Since their inception in 2015, commentary and data from DiMartino Booth’s The Daily Feather and The Weekly Quill have appeared in other financial sources such as Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, Institutional Investor, Yahoo Finance, The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, TD Ameritrade, TheStreet.com, and more.

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.

Danielle DiMartino Booth - 

Website - https://quillintelligence.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DiMartinoBooth
YouTube -  @DanielleDiMartinoBoothQI 

WTFinance -

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes -https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-fatseas-761066103/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 9th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming on Professor Richard Wolff. Richard is a well-known critic of an alternative contemporary economic system, host of the Economic Update and Founding Director of Democracy at work.

During our conversation we spoke about his thoughts on the economy, why the US may not be the strongest economy, causes of economic inequality, direction of travel and more.

0:00 - Introduction
1:30 - Richard’s outlook on the economy?
4:34 - United States strongest economy?
9:56 - Side-effect of one world power?
12:41 - Challenge with bureaucracy
17:02- Causes of inequality?
24:27 - Globalisation of wealth
27:22 - What is the direction of travel??
32:52 - One message to takeaway from our conversation?

Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City.

Earlier he taught economics at Yale University (1967-1969) and at the City College of the City University of New York (1969-1973). In 1994, he was a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Paris (France), I (Sorbonne). Wolff was also regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum in New York City.

Prof Wolff is the co-founder of Democracy at Work and host of their nationally syndicated show Economic Update.

Professor Richard Wolff:

Democracy at work: https://www.democracyatwork.info/
Website: https://www.rdwolff.com/
X: https://x.com/profwolff
YouTube:  @RichardDWolff  

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

Interview recorded - 8th of July, 2024

On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming back David Collum. David is a Professor of Organic Chemistry and leading thinker on markets and the larger world around us. 

During our conversation we spoke about Dave's thoughts about the world, why he is still bearish, governments can't afford pensions, shift from boomers to millennials, societal shifts, what has surprised David, Biden and more. I hope you enjoy!

0:00 - Introduction
1:28 - Dave’s overview of the world?
2:53 - Why is Dave still bearish?
5:37 - Definite bust or potential for small pullback?
7:08 - What will Dave be watching for catalyst?
9:43 - Governments can’t afford pensions
15:28 - Shift from boomers to millennials
23:28 - Societal shifts?
26:10 - What has surprised David?
30:56 - Lag for interest rate cuts to kick in
31:56 - President Biden
39:04 - Next Democrat Candidate?
41:36 - Numen next Bernie Sanders?
44:46 - Dave’s portfolio
50:04 - One message to takeaway from conversation

David Collum received a BS in biology from Cornell in 1977 and an MA, MS, and PhD in chemistry from Columbia University in 1980. Dave currently is the Betty R. Miller Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University. While at Cornell Dave has served as Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Graduate Studies, associate chairman, and chairman while running a research program in organic chemistry for forty years, which include collaborations with a host of large-cap pharmaceutical companies exemplified by Merck and Pfizer. In recent years he has become interested in the interface where politics and markets meet. He compiles an annual Year in Review, does several dozen podcasts per year, and occasionally stirs up trouble on more mainstream media sources.

Dave Collum - 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/davidbcollum?s=21&t=xvXQIRnoZm5mxXw68trHEQ
Year in Review - https://peakprosperity.com/2022-year-in-review-all-roads-lead-to-ukraine/

WTFinance -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfn
iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas