
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 1 chart position in 1 market.
By chart position
- 🇮🇪IE · Business News#5010K to 30K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
3K to 9K🎙 Daily cadence·88 episodes·Last published yesterday - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
10K to 30K🇮🇪100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
5.5K to 17K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
—
* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
Recent episodes
Markets Happy Hour - Live from Sydney - featuring Annette Beacher of Hesta
May 11, 2026
42m 28s
Markets Happy Hour Podcast - May 7, 2026 - When Hormuz Hath No Fury
May 8, 2026
34m 19s
Markets Happy Hour Podcast May 6, 2026: Model Comparisons - Live from Singapore
May 6, 2026
28m 48s
Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 30, 2026
Apr 30, 2026
19m 15s
Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 23, 2026 - With Special Guest David Kelly
Apr 23, 2026
31m 05s
Social Links & Contact
Official channels & resources
Official Website
Login
RSS Feed
Login
| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/11/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour - Live from Sydney - featuring Annette Beacher of Hesta | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast, we are back in a salon-style session - this time live from Sydney on the eve of Tuesday's budget. Our special guest if Annette Beacher, investment manager of Hesta, an Australian Superannuation fund with over AUD$100 m in assets under management. This conversation is in the usual podcast format but we include data points and discussions of Australian economic fundamentals such as the recent third consecutive rate hike by the Royal Bank of Australia, and the inflation and led to it. We discuss the unique structure of the housing market here, the role it plays for consumers, and the state of the jobs market.We spend some time on the Superannuation system and the split of assets that most clients experience, the underpinning demand for Australian equities and the need to seek return abroad too, given the rising volume of assets in the mandated system. After a breakdown of the drivers of the Australian equity market snd a comparison with the AI and tech narrative driving the US indices we bring things back to local again by looking at the likeky contents of the next day's budget. | 42m 28s | ||||||
| 5/8/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - May 7, 2026 - When Hormuz Hath No Fury | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are joined by Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist of Man Group. a global alternative investment manager. In this role, she provides views and insights on the economy and markets. | 34m 19s | ||||||
| 5/6/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast May 6, 2026: Model Comparisons - Live from Singapore | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast, which we held "salon style" in Singapore with a diverse group of guests, we bring you highlights from our multi-faceted discussion. First we track the spread of the inflation epidemic into this part of the world - note the divergence from economies with inflation at a six year high (Vietnam) and economies where inflation has succumbed to longer term deflationary expectations - as in Japan.We track the inflationary changes - which are impacting the region - in some areas more than others and ask whether affordability is an issue.This leads to a question as to whether an markets have the same K shape as the US market, and whether inequality is likely to persist and impact consumer demand – just as in the US a small percentage of the population (10%) are responsible for 50% of the consumer spending. We discuss recent equity market volatility and the new highs just reached, then assess the latest news regarding GameStop and E-Bay, as well as the consulting ventured being pursued separatelyThen we move to what investors are underestimating about this region - and the swiftness and dynamism behind AI rollouts, healthcare advances, and building from the ground up particularly in China are noted. The recent blocking of Meta's acquisition of Manus highlights the perceived threats to national security as well as IP and the protectionist responses that this is inducing. | 28m 48s | ||||||
| 4/30/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 30, 2026 | In today’s Markets Happy Hour podcast we reflect on more bumper earnings from tech stocks, discuss the semi-conductor sector that is making huge strides as demand seems to be totally inelastic and in fact growing, despite price rises. We ask whether it will soon be time to “sell in May and go away”? Starting with inflation it is interesting to reflect on how much sentiment and expectations affect the ultimate outcome – in Japan for example the memory of an extended inflationary era is quite raw, so there even though inflation briefly got over 2% it is already more subdued. The Iran war has had the opposite effect on European inflation expectations which are already heading towards 2.75% for the end of the year, having been lower for some time. In terms of the rising components of inflation food and oil prices continue to be high. The Fed guard will officially change soon but the outgoing Chair, Jerome Powell is staying on as a Governor, which introduces some stability. Expectations have sharply turned around in terms of rate cuts with a minority now expecting rate hikes this year. The fact that the Fed described inflation as “misbehaving” is rue to have struck a chord.Equity markets remain buoyed by solid earnings and certain sectors like semi-conductors in particular which are experiencing a meteoric rise quite similar to pre-1999. Other factors of interest include the weak performance of the Bill Ackman “best ideas” fund and the fact that Ken Griffin thinks that retail investors had a poor understanding of private credit. While this may be true, it is more likely the case that their advisors lost conviction, which raises a more troubling possibility that these investments were not taking place with the right level of portfolio planning. | 19m 15s | ||||||
| 4/23/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 23, 2026 - With Special Guest David Kelly | In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are joined with Dr. David Kelly of J P Morgan Asset Management. Both of us are delicately negotiating stairs based on having run Monday's Boston Marathon, so we share our race experiences and - naturally - relate them to some of our market observations. The first of these is - "Beware the Downhill" - the Boston marathon is notorious for its long downhill section at the beginning and for the uninitiated, or undisciplined or the simply euphoric, it can be a damaging start - particularly to the quads. The second is pattern recognition - while 8 year consecutive runners like David can rely on the pattern recognition of the 130 year old course, in markets pattern recognition has been more difficult given the length of the upswings and the downswings are shifting to become longer, and shorter, respectively. The third is innovation - we discussed the appeal of products such as the super shoes as well as gel products - and while David prefers the unique marathon fuel of dense traditional Christmas cake (of the fruitcake variety) he does wear "super shoes" and does believe in making small changes designed to generate small, incremental improvements. And clearly they were successful for him in 2026.We move then to the question of inflation and the "landmark" analogy we have used of the Eiffel Tower - inflation tends to rise steeply and then fall steeply. David's view is that this is a temporary aberration in that the economy is not "inflation prone". We dig into this concept at little looking at the three factors that render the economy not inflation prone, and suggest that this leaves more leeway for interest rate cuts in time.Staying on the factors that render the economy not inflation prone, we discuss the waning power of labor and pricing power that workers enjoy, discuss how this translates into earnings, which have remained strong. We compare the resilient US consumer to the European consumer, and David suggests that there may be a case of a different mindset around austerity that applies in the US and Europe and certainly a different approach to spending.We cycle through equity markets dynamics, the validity of the rotation into the Russell 2000 stock market and other factors that have been underpinning the markets and end with a quick discussion of the current private credit dynamics, asking if the current concentration is really a concern, and likely to be a systemic problem or something that adjusts and plays out over time. | 31m 05s | ||||||
| 4/16/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - Salon - Live in London - April 16, 2026: Paying it Forwards | For today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we gathered our first Salon together in London with six opinionated guests - for a fantastic discussion from AI to geopolitics to the UK real estate market. We had bulls and bears present, and cycled through our usual topics of inflation, interest rates, equity markets geopolitics and other asset classes.With the title "Paying it Forwards" we discussed consumers bringing forward expenditure as expectations of inflation rise, discuss the allure of equities amid the "debasement" trade and whether the current geopolitics are a real concern for markets - do they render them "different this time" or will it pass. We look then at the productivity revolution and ask where in the market cap spectrum the most productivity gains are likely to be felt.Turning to the concept of "resilience" we discuss a different kind of resilience this time - not simply market resilience, although a streak of 10 days positive market performance suggests that markets really are simply looking through the war. This resilience is the one that KKR describes as the "Resilience of Everything". We ask if this is a new trend or if markets and operators have always cared about resilience and security, particularly when it comes to energy, cybersecurity and security of supply chains.We end by discussing the real estate market in London and the dynamics that are prevailing around residential as well as office, and ask whether real estate will likely form a solid component of a portfolio diversification going forward. | 46m 08s | ||||||
| 4/10/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 10, 2026 - Ships Passing in the Night | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we talk about two sorts of ships passing in the night - the ships that are stalled, or slowly passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the Artemis II mission that will be shortly returning to earth - a symbol of persistent technological progress and pace towards a new frontier in energy extraction. Markets have come down to earth too as geopolitical risk has increased although since Tuesday's announcement of a fragile ceasefire have shown intermittent attempts at take off again - fuelled by resilient earnings and strong economic data. The inflation picture remains mixed - short term focused on transitory drivers, such as gas at the pump (up over 20% year to date) and the spike in oil and other supplies such as fertiliser. However the long-term picture is more muted and more in line with historic norms. This settling into long-term norms has also led to interest rates enjoying a soft landing too - with a new Fed chair on the horizon and the expected "points on the board" he seeks to score with an early concessionary rate cut (or cuts). Moving to the economic vibes we saw a stark rally in global markets in the aftermath of the cessation of escalation rhetoric. We ask whether the new normal is in fact the “new chaos” as markets have now normalized a rupture in the old world order as we knew it – starting with the new unorthodox foreign policy of President Trump and punctuated by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “rupture” speech at Davos. This same chaos has been now the norm in oil markets and the movement in oil prices this week – which ranks with other dramatic oil price sell-offs in history, reflecting the real impact of these geopolitical tensions.Flows have told another interesting story about risk appetite. The US has been seen as a safe-haven, despite being one of the real actors in the current conflicts. We have seen a surge of flows into US assets including US treasuries and the US Dollar has essentially seen a recovery of its slump. The Euro has levelled out with its weakness. Meanwhile flows have continued out of emerging markets although there has been some parsing of the difference within emerging markets with some countries clearly more dependent on the Middle East for its energy supplies and these countries suffering accordingly.We cycle quickly through other trends in markets – the sustained underperformance of software, the surprising underperformance of defence stocks despite the increase in kinetic warfare and rising concern around trust and security around AI. This adds to the uncertainty around AI business models just as the increase in fund raising in this sector breaks prevous records. We ask ultimately whether this breakdown of geopolitical trust and the need to reduce dependency on single sources of energy supply will lead to deglobalizing forces or enforce alliances between “middle powers” such as Europe. This echoes what is termed as the “energy trilemma” – the tension between energy security, energy affordability and energyEnding with private credit while much remains unknown about the nature of the contagion and underlying default rate across this segment the policy of “sell first, ask later” continues to apply, particularly in some high profile funds, and given that in the worst affected funds there has not been the same level of satisfaction or meeting of redemptions, which of course compounds the negative impression and the selling pressure. This has become a crisis management exercise at this point – a public relations quest to stem panic and shore up confidence and trust. Jamie Dimon’s recent statement on the matter suggested that the risk was not likely to be “systemic” due to the relative small size of the private credit sector, but he did continue to stoke concern. | 25m 15s | ||||||
| 4/3/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - April 3, 2026 with special guest Christian Abuide | In this week’s Markets Happy Hour podcast we are joined by special guest Christian Abuide, Christian brings an international perspective to our discussion, with more than 20 years’ experience managing multi-asset portfolios and asset allocation strategy for private and institutional clients.He is the former Head of Asset Allocation at Lombard Odier, where he chaired the firm’s Global Investment Committee with responsibility for investment strategy and positioning over CHF 200bn in assets.Our conversation is heavily grounded in portfolio construction and how to counter some of the current stresses in market where a hierarchy of risk is prevailing with investors forced to sift through the risks and rank them, acting to protect or participate accordingly. We start with the shift in inflation expectations and reflect how they have ticked up in 2026, driven by the geopolitical stresses, while they remain heading downwards in 2027. We reflect on how this has been a bad outcome for the balanced portfolio – with the traditional 60/40 portfolio seeing its worst month since 2022. One question is asked regarding how many investors still hold 60/40 portfolios at this stage, given the low return potential in bonds, particularly with a backdrop of persistently higher inflation.The conversation turns to oil prices and demand destruction and we look at a few examples where this is already taking place - such as in Malaysia where there has been a return to remote working in some sectors in order to save on fuel.Moving to the situation for government bonds we reflect on a few interesting factors in the bond market today – volatility seems to be low, while rates on government bonds have been spiking in countries such as the UK and Italy, as well as in the US over the past month. There is a discussion of the foreign holdings of US treasuries, which are continuing to see their own form of “demand destruction”, while recently government bonds have started to see a shift back into favour as the expectations turn to rate cuts once more. Equity markets continue to demonstrate their core fortitude with earnings doing the “heavy lifting” and noise such as the Space X IPO and a number Open AI fundraise indicating the strong underpinning of FOMO that is driving equity market flows. | 29m 24s | ||||||
| 3/25/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - Live in Washington DC | In today’s markets happy hour podcast we host a group of investors in Washington DC, with representation across public funds, the buy side and industry bodies representing LPs and their interests.We start with our usual examination of inflation, and clearly the stealth mode and creep of service inflation as well as rising wages are continuing to press upon the consumer, while the stark spike in the oil price has now reached a crisis level for oil consumers outside the US. On the interest rate side government bonds are starting to fell “oily” – i.e. moving on geopolitical news and showing a gap out in all markets – relating to concern, perhaps, regarding government debt levels and fiscal guardrails.Speaking of guardrails, we look to where investors can look to diversify today epecially amid the lack of the safety trades working as they should c.f. gold and government bonds.We ask what is behind the flighty behavior in the quarterly liquidity funds – is it the clients themselves feeling jittery, is it financial advisers losing conviction around some of their erstwhile high conviction recommendations. One guest asked whether this stemmed from the mergers of mainstream institutional consulting firms merging with the private wealth channel, and some disconnect in terms of the communication of the use of such products? We ask then where rebalancing out of private credit and private equity will go? There are few options today given the current levels of valuations – but arguably the rotation trades will still be compelling. With thanks to our wonderful guests for allowing us such a robust discussion. | 39m 20s | ||||||
| 3/19/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast March 19, 2026: Decisions, Decisions | In this week’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are joined by special guest Richard Tomlinson, CIO of Local Pensions Partnership Investments, who brings a strong institutional investing lens to our discussion today.We obviously can’t discuss market events without the oil price moves as a starting point, and we start there, noting that the situation remains very fluid with prices spiking past $110 per barrel today. Equity markets are remaining relatively resilient to the price moves, which is somewhat surprising, as we can see the very direct impact that fuel prices have on the savings rate, and therefore the cushion against adverse conditions that consumers can maintain. Equity markets were less impressed by new messaging regarding the trajectory of interest rates, and while the US Fed maintained rates on hold, their telegraphing regarding current uncertainty and likely future rate moves, triggered a negative reaction. Otherwise traditional safety trades are not working as intended, and we distinguish in our conversation between maintaining shock absorbers in a portfolio and cushioning against shocks and building in far more long-term protections around something like Stagflation, which is now rearing its head not just in the UK where it has been a frequent interloper. Now that fund managers see this as a likely scenario in the near term we turn to the thought experiment as to what works when inflation is high and growth is anemic to stagnant. There are few obvious answers to this – although we do toy with the idea that defensive and staple holdings – the last bastion of consumer spending will remain resilient in this scenario.Our conversation takes a whistle stop tour through the UK and China – taking a view on their respective economic states of health, and then turns to analyzing the behavior of gold and short term government bonds as the uncertainty in markets continues to cascade.Our last word is on private credit and the nagging concerns that plague this market. Stay tuned for next week’s podcast which will be live from Washington DC. | 31m 57s | ||||||
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 3/12/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast March 12, 2026 - Oil Spill | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we start "happy hour" early on Thursday morning, which is an essential disclosure - given the pace of newsflow affecting market expectations and trends in real time. We kick off with a discussion of the oil price shocks, and how oil has now for some months been the marginal responder to geopolitical news. We illustrate how much it moved in one day alone in response to a (later rebutted) assertion that some oil tankers were being escorted through the Straits of Hormuz.Inflation was - prior to the current oil shock - trending downwards and had been subdued both in terms of pressure from labour and from services, although there were pockets of concern that the next rate move - at least by the ECB - would be upwards following their current pause. Interest rate expectations have seen a significant U turn in recent days - suggesting that expectations around the effect of the current conflict would not be transitory. This has manifested as spikes in government bond yields - particularly the 2 year GILT and the US 10 Year Treasury. This is an interesting development as it begs that question as to whether these - supposedly - risk free assets are behaving like safety assets. It would seem not, perhaps it is because the overhang of currency debasement, rising fiscal deficits (only rising more with defence and war expenditure) and general skittishness that is preventing investors from fleeing to government bonds. Gold similarly has not been seeing many inflows - falling 2% over the last few weeks - since the outbreak of the conflict. Again, this could be due to unique factors driving technical levels in gold over recent weeks. In equity markets there has been volatility but no clear move down - indicating the level of assets on the sidelines that will be risk seeking as they seek to deploy cash. Certain markets such as Korea were particularly exposed to oil price movements, as we saw last weeks market movement there. Moving then to private markets, the current newsflow is certainly a distraction from the spotlight being shone on private credit and private equity. The nagging concerns persist however, with a concern around contagion from SAAS companies and their travails, a general lack of due diligence (MFS in the UK) and crowding in the general space. Our final comment is regarding AI and the current wave of interrogation that is facing that segment, which is around governance. The spat between the Department of War and Anthropic underscored the moral pivot points that will define the AI rollout and now that companies themselves are concerned about guardrails of their own systems, is an indication that reviews will be forthcoming. | 19m 07s | ||||||
| 3/6/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast March 5, 2026 - LIVE in New York City | We were delighted to be back in NYC for our second live podcast - joined by 25+ year veteran Jai Jacob. Jai overseas multi-asset and equity strategies and has built platforms that translate data science into practical portfolio decision. He speaks on modernization, customization and disciplined investment process in evolving markets. This special live podcast digs deeply into AI and investing, and Jai strips the discipline of investment back to 8 verbs e- Observe, Believe, Categorize, Qualify, Analyze, Rank, Weight and Commit.We go through each one and assess the different that AI will make, and explore areas where it might be less effective - such as in fiduciary oversight (can AI be a board member for example) and in creativity. We also tackle the problem of nurturing and training human capital and what that means for th next layer of ingenuity and resilience. | 43m 16s | ||||||
| 3/5/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast March 5, 2026 - Spring has Sprung with Special Guest Ryan Boothroyd | In today’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast we discuss the unfolding geopolitical events that are impacting markets and are joined by special guest Ryan Boothroyd. Ryan is Head of External Manager Research at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership a pool of over £100bn which manages the assets of 18 UK local government pension funds. He is responsible for the management of over £20bn of funds across equities and credit. Our conversation starts with the recent jumps in inflation, which are bucking a trend of steadily declining inflation that we have seen in recent months. Just as headline UK inflation seemed to be showing it was coming closer to 3% we have seen a spike in food price inflation to 4.3%, while European inflration rose to 1.9%, up from 1.7%. These inflation pressures are likely to be more intense due to rising fuel prices, and Ryan discusses the more general pattern that we are seeing in inflation more generally. While some headlines describe this as a “phony inflation scare” due to the immediate circumstances, it is certainly true that they are likely to increase the strain on the consumer, which is already showing some stress.Moving to equity markets, we discussed the immediate fallout from the war in Iran – a fall in gold, US Treasuries and emerging markets – particularly the Kospi, which is particularly exposed to imported oil, while the USD and US assets were broadly winners, as well as oil of course. We look back at some of the experience from recent history in which market downturns had been more pronounced than the current drawdown, but ask whether this is because the current geopolitical shock had the clear shock absorber of the boon in AI and tech stocks to support it – as indeed it has propped up most of the economy and markets for months.Moving to AI and the current state of investor thinking we reveal the divergence of outcomes that investors are currently grappling with and ask whether it is possibly to modify one’s exposure in reaction to this. We conclude with a discussion of private credit and the current negative tailwinds there.Tune in to our second podcast of the day later when we hold a LIVE discussion in NYC with Jai Jacob, a 25+ year veteran and have a particular focus on AI and investing. | 32m 08s | ||||||
| 2/27/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast February 27, 2026 - More Flurries | In this week's Markets Happy Hour we discuss the long winter that has descended on the East Coast of the US and the ongoing chill and flurries of anxiety and activity that we are experiencing in markets. We suggest with the new injection of volatility in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court striking down the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are in at 6:3 decision. This uncertainty is continuing to unsettle markets which are already coping with the rupture that AI is continuing to create in market expectations.This week was a particularly busy one for this kind of existential thinking, between the continuing fallout from the SAAS-apocalypse as well as well as more contagion. Much of this was due to the 5000-word viral Citrini research piece, has started to cascade through financial services and beyond. We parse this, as well as two other pieces of critical newflow – the standoff between Anthropic and Pentagon with respect to the use of its models in citizen surveillance as well as autonomous weapons, and just overnight the announce of Block cutting 40% of its workforce as it pivots to a more lean business model. Block’s announcement was met by a surge in the stock price. So will it be a sign of things to come?Nvidia’s earnings were blowout, but not that well-received given the already fraught mood in markets. Moving then to private credit we note the “winter” that has descended on sentiment there, which awkwardly is coinciding with a full throttle advance by that segment into the burgeoning private wealth (and retirement savings) business. Clearly a time to be highly selective. Finally the recent fallout for Bitcoin seems to have levelled out somewhat and we analyze this hints at a “floor” or simply a broadening of the depth. Don't forget to tune in next week to our live event in NYC - we will be featuring multi-asset specialist Jai Jacob for a special discussion on AI. Details here.https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1983274102228?aff=oddtdtcreator | 19m 50s | ||||||
| 2/24/26 | ![]() AI CapEx: Boom, Bust, or Groupthink? | Full episode: INUNDATED linked belowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWxIlGvENsQ&t=101s | 3m 38s | ||||||
| 2/24/26 | ![]() Inflation: Real Progress or Canary in the Coal Mine? | Full Episode: INUNDATED linked belowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWxIlGvENsQ&t=10s | 2m 55s | ||||||
| 2/20/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - February 19, 2026 - Inundated | In this week’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast we deal with the inundation – both literal and metaphorical that markets and populations are contending with this week – whether the flooding of the zone with newsflow and the actual inundation with rain and snow and parts of Europe. We kick off with apparent evidence that inflation continues to ease – particularly in the case of the service component which is now lower.This could, of course be a further indication of the waning power of labor and indicate the source of some of the consumer discontent we highlighted last week - all in all though, inflation is subdued in major developed markets, and in the UK in particular, there was a surprise drop to 3%, leading to heightened expectations of a near-term rate cut by the Bank of England.Returning to the “calm” in fixed income discussed last week, we again refer to the diminished volatility in fixed income markets, as well as the record tight investment grade spreads, which are back to levels not seen since before the 2008 crisis. Equity markets continue to be a model of “rotation” in action, as well as shifting investor sentiment away from lavish AI expenditure. The rotations that we discussed before are in evidence still - growth to value, Mag 7 to the other 493 stocks, and from US stocks to Asian and European markets. AI expenditure is continuing to get scrutiny - and the Apple example is held up as an outlier, whereby the company has preferred to outsource its solutions to other companies while waiting on the sidelines when it comes to its own spend.We end with a discussion of geopolitics, and ask whether the same inundation that we discussed at the beginning has led to investors capacity to understand and digest developments, particularly those as severe as the building tensions between the US and Iran. We do a brief thought experiment on what this could mean for markets were it to intensify . . clearly the oil price would be affected, but it might rattle anotherwise jittery set of investors. | 20m 17s | ||||||
| 2/12/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast February 12, 2026 - Where is the Love? | In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we ask where is the love? As Valentine's Day approaches, it seems that consumers, and investors themselves are not displaying a whole lot of love for the AI and tech stocks of which they had been quite enamored not long ago. There is, similarly, a bit of a shift away not only from them but also the US as a market, as other markets such as Japan and Europe start to show their relative strengths.In the discussion of inflation we reflect on soaring food prices and how – in the US at least – this has started to affect footfall and spend at restaurants such as McDonalds and Burger King. There has been a shift in the spending from restaurants towards grocery stores. We move from discussing the K shaped economy to a new concept that Alex introduces – the W shaped economy, in which there are two key segments – those that shop at Wholefoods and those who shop at Walmart, each of whom are struggling in their separate ways. This vibe check notes the recession in consumer confidence and the fact that the labor market is no longer putting as much pressure on inflation.Interest rate expectations have moderated again, as markets have digested the announcement of the next Fed Chairman, while fixed income volatility remains very low relative to its history.Moving to equity markets, the calling cries of markets are of a US tech detox and the continuing rotation into European tech, Japanese equities value from growth and sectors such as infrastructure and financials. This is all occurring against a backdrop of “sell now, see later” whereby AI automation threats are cascading through different sectors – first SAAS and now wealth management as new intelligent tools are released at a fast pace. | 29m 19s | ||||||
| 2/5/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast February 5, 2026 - Moltbook and Melt-downs | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we digest another busy week of market movements, economic data, momentum shifts and shifting expectations. We start with the surprisingly low (and under control) inflation data from Europe, where Eurozone inflation came in at 1.7%. This has led to the ECB maintaining rates on hold and Christine Lagarde suggesting that the Eurozone is in a “good place” (at least with respect to inflation), and similarly the Bank of England kept its rates on hold at 3.75% although did hint at a further cut later in the year (its inflation had surprised on the upside in December at 3.4%). Turning to the economy vibe checks, it is interesting to see that there remains a divergence between customer's actual experience (trending downwards) and expectations (low and remaining low), as actually expectations have never really been too elevated, despite the foaming at the mouth that has occurred by onlookers of the "red hot" economy. Employment numbers have been weaker than expected, while expectations are weaker still, so there is definitely a cloud hanging over the K shaped economy, especially as the oil price gets higher on geopolitical concerns, which could drive pump prices.All eyes remain on the putative Chair of the Fed, Kevin Warsh, and there has been some vacillation around his expected positioning. It is clear he is in favor of a smaller Fed, with a shrunken balance sheet, but his positioning around inflation is less clear. Is he a hawk and mindful of inflation - or does he not consider it important - as calculated by economists anyway. The answer to this question could dictate his positioning around rate cuts and for now, he is a bit of a challenging study. The initial expectation that he would be hawkish (another Volcker?) sent the dollar higher and other assets into somewhat of a tailspin this week. Gold and silver were particularly hard hit, with both falling precipitously, silver more than gold. This may have been due to technical factors such as silver being essentially thinly traded, but either way it was spectacularly bad timing for an asset class that had been recently driven upward by a large degree of retail buying. Bitcoin had an even worst trajectory - and has now fallen back to its pre-election levels, below $70,000 as we write. There is no particular fundamental reason for this, although it is clearly a risk-off trade, and it could be an indication of the risk aversion coursing through tech exposures currently.Finally turning to tech stocks, the focus on capex after the Alphabet earnings call indicates that investors are increasingly scrutinizing capex to see if the expenditure will be justified. There is more skepticism regarding tech stocks broadly, particularly after the staggering revelations about Moltbook, a social network for AI agents. This perhaps sent a chill - a reminder that the pace of advancement in AI has been rapid, and perhaps that it has got ahead of our ability to control it. More skepticism ensued. The fallout from this skepticism was a rise in rotations - from growth to value (value has outperformed growth for the last three months, from tech stocks into smaller and mid-cap stocks and out of the US into non-US equities. For clients with a broadbased portfolios this will be rewarding. | 18m 35s | ||||||
| 1/30/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast January 30, 2026 - YoYos and YOLO | In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we cover the post-Davos week, which, as is now typical has been filled with newsflow, most recently chatter regarding the pending appointment of the next Fed Chair. As we go to print it seems likely to be Kevin Warsh - a current Fed Governor, one of the youngest, and considered to be an "orthodox" pick, given his existing reputation as a Fed Governor and expectation that he will not be necessarily a channel for political preferences. The recent Fed decision to leave rates flat was difficult to parse - as the message was essentially more of the same. There is clearly a mixed message in terms of jobs, the perception of jobs being plentiful and being hard to find are now roughly the same – so clearly no big gap as there was post Covid.The employees in tech industries are flat to trending lower despite revenues and capacities soaring – this points to productivity gains and will continue to matter for jobs. Other equity market sectors have diverged, there are some indications of saturation points being met in certain areas of tech – there is a fall and stabilization of TikTok users, while Apple (which has had a mixed AI launch) has had a set of 8 consecutive weekly declines. Other sectors such as “gridTech” – a new sector coined by Bloomberg – which contains a basket of companies exposed to the pick-up in investment in the electricity grid. It is notable that this, as well as the utilities index more broadly have not generally performed as well as other equity sectors. This latency is interesting – as clearly the one broadly accepted truth is that more electricity will be needed going forward and that this will have to be met from all sources, including solar, which has accounted for 61% of the increase in electricity demand in the US.The performance in precious metals has continued to define the risk off appetite from time to time – with gold moving to a record $5,500 per oz, and US markets considerably weaker compared to the gold. There is some indication that Chinese retail holders of gold have peaked considerably pointing to the potential for some speculative interest there and the potential for more volatility. Silver, similarly, has seen a stark ascent, as well as sharp intra-day volatility just in the past week.The podcast ends with a comment on the use of precious metals in a portfolio and the role that they play. | 21m 24s | ||||||
| 1/23/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast January 22, 2026 - Drama at Davos - With Special Guest Matt Rice | In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we conduct a "review" of the drama (and at times melodrama) that has played out at Davos this year, and digest what it has meant for markets.We are joined by CIO and founder of Vistamark and former CIO of the consulting firm Fiducient - Matt Rice, who works with institutional investors and shares his insights on market dynamics and portfolio construction. Starting at our usual starting point of inflation Matt shares his view of the long term deflationary impact that AI is likely to have we touch on the impact of the oil price weakness that will in the more immediate term depress prices. Turning then to the economic "vibe check" we note the sensitivity of equity markets to the prevailing geopolitical drama around both the rhetoric on Greenland as well as the on-again/off-again tariff announcement on European countries.The uncertainty over recent days has been reflected in equity markets, which clearly still show some sensitivity to geopolitical risk, and the ascent of metals continues - clearly reflecting a risk aversion and a concern about currency debasement. Oil, on the other hand, remains flat - reflecting high inventories and only some sensitivity to geopolitical news (in this case the news from Iran). Moving to other sources of risk, even Secretary Bessent has attributed some of this week's weakness in US equity markets to the dramatic movements in the Japanese long dated government bond market over the past week. In what may be Japan's Liz Truss moment (echoing the weakness in UK markets which ultimately led to the downfall of Prime Minster Liz Truss towards the end of 2022). In recent developments the Japanese 40 year bond yield had surpassed 4% for the first time, while the 30 year bond had never suffered such a large drop in a single day. In our discussion Matt suggests that this correction was well overdue and could be the canary in the coal mine for other economies with high levels of government debt. We end our discussion with a reflection on Europe, firmly in the cross-hairs now at Davos, and remind ourselves of the positive impact on European defense stocks that has been a direct response to the challenge from President Trump, as well as on some of the other areas said to be trailing (IT infrastructure) as well as "financial plumbing". | 31m 09s | ||||||
| 1/17/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Live from New York City - January 16, 2026 - Blocking and Tackling | We started the year with some chilly weather, some American football inspired blocking and tackling and a tech challenged yet warmly engaging live podcast in New York. The video and slides will follow next week, but for now please enjoy the audio. In front of a live audience we discussed the inflation picture, the delayed transmission effect of tariffs and the ongoing disconnect with consumer's price experience on the ground. We examined the market reaction to the announcement last week of a criminal investigation into former Chairman Powell. The decisive push back, via video recorded by Chairman Powell, seems to have been viewed as a form of checks and balances working as they should, and, as ever in recent years, bond markets have reacted calmly, being decidedly unbothered.Equity markets have been somewhat lack luster this week, coming off the prevailing uncertainty in geopolitics and domestic checks and balances, but the US market still stands alone in having experienced few "flight" events in recent years - a flight event being defined here as a simultaneous fall in equities, bonds and currency. This underscores the sense of "might is right" that dominates not just in equity markets but also - now - in geopolitics.We discuss some of the tangential effects of the recent rhetoric around Venezuela and the importance of military power. We examine whether this is galvanizing efforts in Europe to join forces, as well as within other trading partners - namely China, which is seeing its largest ever trade surplus. | 30m 02s | ||||||
| 1/8/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast January 8, 2026: Regime Change and Regime Adaptive Portfolios | In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast, we are joined by Alan Dunne, founder of Archive Capital, who has written a recent white paper on the regime adaptive portfolio. It is a particularly appropriate topic given the heightened discussion of regime change that we have seen over the past week – both at the level of a specific country, as well as at a broader level as a new form of foreign policy is now emerging, fairly unprecedented its scope. We start our discussion by reflecting on the likely impact on the oil price that the Venezuelan situation may have – so far the impact has been muted, and an increase of supply should – according to traditional metrics, lead to lower prices. The mixed signals that inflation is sending – lower oil prices on the one hand – continuing pressure on services on the other is also being noted by the US Fed, and the latest minutes of their most recent meeting underscore the divide that is in place there. Moving to the outlook for interest rates, Alan underscores the mixed data facing the Fed as well as the rising fiscal burden and concern about central bank independence that defines this regime as different from the last one.Equity markets remain robust, particularly according to market commentators in the US, but we ask whether it is likely to be a 1995 or a 1999 in terms of market outcome, and we then proceed to examine the sectors that are most likely to offer diversification and resilience.Alan then sets forth his thesis on what a regime adaptive portfolio should look like. We discuss the characteristics of the current regime, how different asset classes are behaving and the role that traditional diversification will play. | 34m 01s | ||||||
| 1/1/26 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - January 1, 2026 - New Year/New Nihilism | In this first Markets Happy Hour Podcast of the New Year, we reflect on the dark turn that many of the “Year in Review and Look Ahead” commentaries took over the traditionally slow period between Christmas and New Year. Some of this related to the new financial “nihilism” and not only was there a Wall Street Journal on the topic but an X post describing a degenerate generation attained over 20 million views. This suggestion that Generation Z is increasing opting out when it comes to traditional professional paths and paths of wealth creation and are opting to “bet the house” to aim for large and outsized gains, hence the increase in gambling and betting, such as Kalshi and Polymarket. This suggestion that there is divergence in terms of meaning and wealth creation is also a subcurrent of one of our themes for 2026, which is a theme of “enough”. Equity markets have ended the year on a positive note, although recent sharp sell-offs in silver after the margin requirements were altered by CME have been a reminder of the volatility that has now become a feature instead of a bug in markets, and another reminder of the perils of leverage. We discuss some positive news in real estate which shows how some real estate is becoming affordable due to overbuilding as well as the technical factors that baby boomers will be downsizing at around the same time that many Gen Z buyers are (belatedly) preparing to buy their first home. This may make affordability fall within reach for some, and is a welcome antidote the common doom-laden refrain about housing being out of reach for an entire generation.Financials have had a strong year and the top 6 US “too big to fail” banks now top $2 trillion, with JP Morgan representing one third of that. Similarly green energy has had a surprisingly strong year despite the headwinds presented by the Trump administration, as the demand for energy and electricity has been so high. In a final sweep through other asset classes we note how the Bitcoin Treasury frenzy has died down given the volatility in Bitcoin. As we have done before we compare it to other diversifiers such as metals – and note that the drivers for using these diversifiers is actually quite different. While metal purchasers may be driven by greed, it may also be fear – fear of currency debasement, fear of rising fiscal imprudence, lack of trust in traditional assets. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is driven more by greed than fear, particularly as it is still not a universal store of value. | 28m 37s | ||||||
| 12/26/25 | ![]() Markets Happy Hour Podcast - December 26, 2025 Short Post Christmas Round Up | This week’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast comes to you the day after Christmas and is the last of 2025. We ask whether in what often seems to be a season of plenty – we are about to enter the year of “enough”. Will 2026 be the year when consumers declare that they have had enough of the productivity enhancements that technology – and particularly AI – can bring? Will they have had enough of price rises and vote with their feet accordingly? Will affordability become the new siren call? Will they have had enough tokenization and cut some of their streaming subscriptions – again hearkening back to affordability?Consumer spending data continues to underscore the sharp K shaped divide – with over 50% of consumer spending in the US coming from only 10% of the households. This supports the fact that thus far in this cycle, the struggles of the consumer at the lower end of the spectrum don’t move markets. Markets buy what they know. Most market participants come from the upper earning end of the spectrum. Other trends of note in the markets as we near the end of the year are the strong contribution of cyclicals and the fact that Asian markets have actually outperformed US and European equity markets year to date. Flows into ETFs are at record levels, and now are approaching $60 trillion in traded value with over $1.5 trillion in flows and over 1000 ETFs launched in 2025 alone. While this data does not differentiate between active and passive ETFs the majority of ETFs are passive (90%) which suggests that the flows into passive investing remain extremely robust. Meanwhile Gold is on a trajectory to have its best year since 1979, having hit records on no less than 50 occasions this year alone. The year has been framed as a “defining” one for metals. The dollar, on the other hand, is set for its largest annual drop since 2017. | 17m 51s | ||||||
Showing 25 of 89
Sponsor Intelligence
Sign in to see which brands sponsor this podcast, their ad offers, and promo codes.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.

























