Animal Spirits Podcast
Animal Spirits is a show about markets, life, and investing. Hosts Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss what they're reading, writing, listening to, and watching. New episodes are released every Wednesday morning.
Episodes
Are Higher Rates Worse Than ZIRP? (EP. 486)
On episode 486, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: stock market concentration worries, how to hedge AI market risk, maxing out your 401k, who got richer this decade, AI is crowding out the economy, tariffs didn't work, higher rates are crushing the housing market, why people love parlays and longshot bets, Rotten Tomatoes inflation and more.
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Talk Your Book: Will AI Debt Cause a Recession?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by JP Morgan's Bill Eigen to discuss: how
Sudden Wealth Syndrome (EP. 485)
On episode 485, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: what can stop the hyperscalers from spending, why the stock market is neat all-time highs again, speedball capitalism, how capex cycles work, it's a high beta decade, how to lie with statistics, young people are going to be fine, the top 0.1% is really rich, the problem with getting rich young, private markets are overvalue
Talk Your Book: How Higher Rates Are Re-Shaping Commercial Real Estate
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Jerry Baglien from Benefit Street Partners
Will Higher Rates Kill the Stock Market? (EP. 484)
On episode 484, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the stock market has an excuse to sell off, valuations are falling across the board, the cause of the next correction, 5% bond yields, the worst bond market of all-time, incomes are rising, the wealth effect is real, AI personal assistants, the Consumer Inertia basket of stocks, 7% mortgage rates, the fall of the creative
Talk Your Book: The Next Generation of Income Strategies
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Mike Laughlin from Janus Henderson to discuss:
The Wobbly House of Cards (EP. 483)
On episode 483, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the interconnected hyperscalers, AI's risk to the economy, the chart of the year, Nvidia's valuation, Meta's personal assistant, $186 trillion in household wealth, 10 year return projections, the case for owning bonds, why the Fed raised rates, Bitcoin's comeback, fixing the housing crisis is harder than it sounds, the best m
Talk Your Book: Price Is the Ultimate Factor
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Bill Mann from Motley Fool Asset Management to dis
How to Talk To Your Clients About Ray Dalio (EP. 482)
On episode 482, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: AI human extinction fears, the biggest AI risks, why things go viral, why the stock market is so confusing right now, how to think about bearish hedge fund managers, why bonds offer a good deal right now, Fed rate hikes, government debt fears and more live from Future Proof in Huntington Beach, CA.
This episode is sponsored by
Talk Your Book: Why Aren't There More IPOs?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Christian Munafo from VanEck to discuss: AI IPOs, the t
Everywhere Millionaires (EP. 481)
On episode 481, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: how bull market gains have changed the markets, AI is crowding everything else out, when the next financial crisis will hit, Ray Dalio keeps scaring investors, the earnings boom, a buying opportunity for bonds, the American Dream is still alive and well, is college worth the cost, why AI isn't impacting the labor market, the most
Talk Your Book: AI Winners & Losers
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alger's Dan Chung to discuss: investing in concentrated por
The Next Michael Burry (EP. 480)
On episode 480, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the AI debt binge, no recessions for the rest of the 2020s, Kevin Warsh thoughts on the economy, the dead cat bounce in software stocks, bull market M&A deals, no one cares about dividends anymore, rising yields are a good thing, AI civilizations, Gen Z will be buying houses, Tom Cruise remakes and more.
This episode is sponsored
Talk Your Book: Cash Was Easy… Now What?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Brandon Clark from Federated Hermes to discuss: generating
Are Free Markets Dead? (EP. 479)
On episode 479, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the Treasury bond buybacks, Stanley Druckenmiller's op-ed, the real government debt risk, the most hated asset class in the world, why Bitcoin woke up, the end of the Go-Go years, finance bros are having a moment, private market fraud, the high cost of housing and transportation, Jean-Claude Van Damme and more.
This episode is spo
Talk Your Book: The Alternative to Alternatives
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Matt Radgowski from Halo to discuss: the structured notes space
The Best Bear Case on AI (EP. 478)
On episode 478, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: one of the greatest bull markets of all time, falling valuations, why young people gamble, financial nihilism, the next recession, $3 trillion in money markets, when bond yields compete with stocks, debating AI outcomes, NHL ETFs, renting vs. buying, rich sports owners in trouble, breaking even at the blackjack table and more.
Thi
Talk Your Book: The Most Important Thing Nobody Owns
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Steve Schoffstall from Sprott ETFs to discuss: investing in cri
Depressed Day Traders (EP. 477)
On episode 477, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: new all-time highs in the stock market, AI is the only thing that matters, emerging markets are cheap, 1987 crash calls, things rich people and poor people have in common, day trading is hard, how often you should check your portfolio, early retirement, housing market recessions and much more.
This episode is sponsored by Xtracker
Talk Your Book: Why Momentum Investing Works
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by John Lewis from Nasdaq Dorsey Wright to discus: how the momentum facto
When Genius Failed, Again (EP. 476)
On episode 476, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: a crazy month in the stock market, Situational Awareness, leverage always gets you, the semiconductor crash, 60/40 will never die, the behavior gap lives, One Wish Willow for the economy, a theory about the Fed, the economy is still booming, apathy for Bitcoin, the biggest movie weekend ever and much more.
This episode is sponsored by YCh
45 Million Rich Households (EP. 475)
On episode 475, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: a good sign for the bull market, semoconductor stocks crashing, why valuations keep falling, everyone is bearish about bonds, South Korea traders, how big SpaceX could get, why people keep spending money, Netflix is still dominating streaming, why there aren't more IMAX theaters and more.
This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Calamos.
Talk Your Book: Is Crypto Dead?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Grayscale's Krista Lynch to discuss: the current sentiment surrounding cryp
Say Bubble One More Time. I Dare You! (EP. 474)
On episode 474, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the bloodbath in certain tech stocks, investor behavior in South Korea, a normal market environment, the Mag 7 shine has worn off, Nike lost its moat, why we don't have recess
Talk Your Book: Private Credit’s Next Act
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alona Gornick from Churchill from Nuveen to discuss: credit market cycles, a
Will the Fed Buy Stocks? (EP.473)
On episode 473 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: hyperscalers vs. semiconductors, 10 reasons to be bearish, Nvidia is cheap, analysts are good at forecasting earnings, why small caps are booming, investors stil
Talk Your Book: Do We Need the Federal Reserve?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alex Morris from F/m Investments to discuss: the Fed, what the bond market is tell
10 Reasons to be Bullish (EP. 472)
On episode 472 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the vibecession is over, experience vs. expertise, reasons to be bullish, reasons to be bearish, small caps on are fire, market concentration, Samsung's ridi
Talk Your Book: How SpaceX Got Into the Nasdaq 100
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Invesco's Paul Schroeder to discuss: the Nasdaq 100, index methodology, tech fundamenta
Is Debt Fueling the Rally? (EP. 471)
On episode 471 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: all-time highs in margin debt, the small cap rally, the hyperscaler dilemma, why Micron is up so much, everything is outperforming the Mag 7, concentration is no
Talk Your Book: Investing in the Power Grid
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Ryan Issakainen from First Trust to discuss: investing in the buildout of a new power grid,
Everything is Outperforming the S&P 500 This Year (EP. 470)
On episode 470 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why diversification is working again, how AI is creating more winners and losers in the stock market, why the Mag 7 is underperforming, the triple-digit club, why in
Talk Your Book: AI Is Not a Bubble
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Dr. Ankur Crawford from Alger to discuss: what everyone is getting wrong about the AI trade, wh
How Much is $1 Trillion? (EP. 469)
On episode 469 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the desire to call an AI top, the SpaceX IPO frenzy, taking profits, why value is beating growth, why EM is beating the US, the markets were right about the war, agentic
Talk Your Book: The Case for Investing in Emerging Market Bonds
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Eric Fine from VanEck to discuss: how emerging markets have changed, geopolitical risk, currencies,
The Teflon Economy (EP. 468)
On episode 468 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: NBA Finals ticket prices, AI's lack of impact on the labor market, one day of carnage in the stock market, prices drive the narrative, the Mag 7 is underperforming, tech is
Talk Your Book: Diversification in Private Assets
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Danielle Singer from Invesco and Ben Linder from LGT Capital Par
The Biggest Short Squeeze of All-Time (EP. 467)
On episode 467 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: peak FOMO, chip stocks going nuclear, 1990s stock market flashbacks, trillion dollar IPOs, the AI trade is global, the bear case, a tale of two bull markets, bad luck in the rea
Talk Your Book: Why Rising Rates Won't Hurt You Anymore
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Ben Barber from Franklin Templeton to discuss: investing in municipal bonds, how to think abou
A Fire Alarm For Interest Rates (EP. 466)
On episode 466 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: the SpaceX IPO, index fund bag holders, the pros and cons of rising bond yields, the markets got the war right, how consumer sentiment broke, the Bezos tax plan, AI optimism, di
Talk Your Book: Investing in the Rise of the Robots
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Derek Yan from KraneShares to discuss: the investment opportunity in humanoid robots, how far away we
The Fat Pitch For Bears (EP. 465)
On episode 465 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: what can stop the stock market, Nvidia is too big, the boy who cried wolf predictions, market timing reminders, Michael Burry crash calls, AI portfolio strategies, AI is the new Net
Talk Your Book: Is the Nasdaq 100 in Another Bubble?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Mark Marex from Nasdaq to discuss: the differences between now and the dot-com bubble, the fundamentals of the
This Won't End Well (EP. 464)
On episode 464 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Ben's new book Risk & Reward, an epic melt-up in the stock market, semiconductor stocks going berserk, why this isn't a bubble (yet), South Korean stocks, AI portfolios & advisors, why
The Stock Market Is Doing Something We’ve Never Seen Before (EP. 463)
On episode 463 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Paul Tudor Jones on market valuations, how many people own stocks, mind-boggling numbers from the hyperscalers, a lost decade for bonds, why higher gas prices sting, some macro prediction r
Talk Your Book: Animal Spirits Live with F/m Investments
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Alex Morris from F/m Investments for a live show recorded in Washington D.C. that covers inflation, the Fed, AI, t
Paycheck-To-Paycheck on $500,000? (EP. 462)
On episode 462 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: how AI will impact wealth management, a stock market boom for the ages, why the Fed never created a financial crisis, an ode to Tim Cook, the world's biggest ETF, ridiculous car payments, A
Talk Your Book: Consternation About Concentration
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by State Street's Michael Arone to discuss: the origin story of SPY, what's driving ETF adoption, geopolitics vs. AI, pote
Investing Isn't Supposed to Be Fun
On episode 461 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why the stock market feels like it makes no sense, stocks are the smart money, the speed of market moves, an epic bull market run, a new inflation regime, Hyperliquid, what Austin got right
Talk Your Book: Juicing Your Returns
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Matt Kaufman from Calamos to discuss: how autocallable ETFs work, the structured products boom and a new way to target
Everyone Back in the Boat (EP. 460)
On episode 460 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Tax Day, the benefits of writing, energy vs. tech, a confusing labor market, a rite of passage for younger generations, millennials vs. boomers, AI uncertainty, Bitcoin vs. software stocks, the dow
Talk Your Book: The Biggest Active ETF
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by J.P. Morgan's Hamilton Reiner to discuss: creating income via options and how covered call strategies work.
Check out J.
$1 Million is the Worst Amount of Money (EP. 459)
On episode 459 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: he psychology of stock market losses, the Mag 7 impact on returns this year, value is beating growth, the upper middle class is growing, why rich people don't feel rich, the impact of higher gas prices
Talk Your Book: Income and Momentum
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson have two guests. First up is Bill Mann from Motley Fool Asset Management to talk about the momentum factor. Next is Kevin Lynyak from Mor
Home Buyer's Remorse (EP. 458)
On episode 458 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: recession fears, the stock market is bad at recession predictions, why this is an orderly sell-off, earnings are still rising, stocks rarely finish the year down, there are so many rich people, wealth ineq
Talk Your Book: Navigating Fixed Income in a Crazy World
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Invesco's Stephanie Larosiliere to discuss: how to diversify your bonds, AI's impact on the economy, hedging higher inflation a
The Best Stocks in History (EP. 457)
On episode 457 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: how markets are controlling the war, the cost of higher energy prices, why the stock market isn't falling more, why the Fed shouldn't raise rates, the Forrest Gump market, why gold is down 20%, the not-so-K-sh
Talk Your Book: What's the Latest in Crypto?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Krista Lynch from Grayscale to discuss: crypto legislation, stablecoins, ETFs, in-kind creations and more.
Find complete show no
The Perfect Price of Oil (EP. 456)
On episode 456 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: why oil prices aren't higher, complacency in the markets, energy stocks, oil as the new meme stock, geopolitical events vs. the stock market, why AI isn't a bubble, bitcoin isn't dead yet, housing affordability is
Talk Your Book: After-Tax Alpha
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Erkko Etula, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Brooklyn Investment Group, to discuss tax advantaged long/short SMAs.
Find complete
Will AI Displace Financial Advisors? (EP. 455)
On episode 455 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are live from Future Proof Citywide in Miami talking with Michael Kitces and Phil Huber about the wealth management business in the age of AI, the private credit crisis of confidence and a very special Animal Spirits roast.
Talk Your Book: What's Working in the Stock Market?
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Franklin Templeton's Chris Galipeau to discuss: a broadening out of stock market leadership, what's working, what's not working, how AI is
A Wave of Redemptions (EP. 454)
On episode 454 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the geopolitical impact on markets, inflationary risk, when risk goes off, concentration risk, AI vs. white collar workers, the optimistic case for AI, falling and rising bond yields, inheriting a house from your paren
Talk Your Book: The Bull Market in Real Assets
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by David Schassler from VanEck to discuss: the case for owning real assets, the gold bull market, how AI is fueling the demand for energy and mate
Everyone Hates AI (EP. 453)
On episode 453 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the AI doom scenarios, the value of human relationships in a digital world, housing as an AI hedge, the AI backlash, a very weird stock market, the global bull market, consumers keep spending money, Bitcoin is a softwa
Talk Your Book: Investing in Next Gen Tech Stocks
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Paul Schroeder from Invesco to discuss: the Invesco NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF, the broadening out of market leadership this year, where investor
Is AI a Mistake? (EP. 452)
On episode 452 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the software apocalypse, stock market blow-ups, AI fear-mongering, how AI will impact your job, in defense of SaaS, the ex-US trade is working, a bull market in Japan, Gen Z loves the stock market, prediction markets, a ta
Talk Your Book: Why Commodities Are Working
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Greg Sharenow from PIMCO to discuss: the boom in real assets, the role of momentum in trading commodities, how to gain exposure to real assets and more.
Fin
What Would You Do With $3 Million? (EP. 451)
On episode 451 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss how the bull market is changing shape, software stocks getting slaughtered, it's finally a stock picker's market, Anthropic changed the AI narrative, ex-Mag 7 is finally working, the case for emerging markets, the crypto blood
Talk Your Book: The 3 A's of the U.S. Economy
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Bill Mann, Chief Investment Strategist at Motley Fool Asset Management to discuss: asset prices, artificial intelligence, affluent consumers and what it all means
Gold's 1987 Moment (EP. 450)
On episode 450 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the never-ending news cycle, the gold/silver crash, how the Internet changed markets forever, the commodities supercycle, emerging markets are on fire, the new Fed chair, the chart of the century, crypto feels dead again, the gove
Talk Your Book: Investing in a Concentrated Stock Market
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Matthew Bartolini from State Street Investment Management to discuss: stock market concentration, the S&P 493 vs. the Mag 7, dividends vs. share buybacks and more.
Hi-Yo Silver! (EP. 449)
On episode 449 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss snow days, government debt vs. household debt, the wealth effect, diversification is working again in 2026, stocks vs. earnings, Jeremy Grantham, the dollar is falling, Silver is the new meme stock, gold is crushing bitcoin, housing m
Talk Your Book: How to Fix the Plumbing of the Financial System
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Ryan Lovell from Chainlink to discuss: how blockchains and defi can make the financial markets less costly, more efficient and a better experience for the users.
Small Caps Are Back (EP. 448)
On episode 448 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss geopolitical risk in the markets, rising bond yields, why small caps are breaking out, running the economy hot, household balance sheets are in good shape, the end of money, the great real estate wealth transfer, the bottom 50% wealth gai
Talk Your Book: Structured Notes in an ETF
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Jeff Schwarte from Simplify ETFs to discuss: barrier options, how structured products work in an ETF, creating regular income and how equity income funds can fit into
Is the Stock Market Invincible? (EP. 447)
On episode 447 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss Jerome Powell, credit card rates, the institutional ownership of homes, lowering mortgage rates, how to fix the housing market, AI vs. the labor market, the broadening out of the bull market, the growth in sports gambling, where housing i
Talk Your Book: The Bull Case for China With Brendan Ahern
On this episode of Animal Spirits: Talk Your Book, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are joined by Brendan Ahern from KraneShares to discuss: the differences between China and the United States, the state of Chinese Internet stocks and more.
Find complete show notes
Tax the Billionaires (EP. 446)
On episode 446 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss 2026 predictions, the risk of a bear market, why valuations should be higher, why international stocks outperformed, recession risk in 2026, AI hallucinations, self-driving cars, Disney stock, where to find cheaper housing, an appreciatio
The Best Performing Stocks of 2025 (EP. 445)
On episode 445 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss the best and worst S&P 500 stocks this year, 2025 investing lessons, why silver is going vertical, international small caps are crushing it, family offices are booming, sentiment is still broken, over-optimization is a problem, how millen
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