Two Quants and a Financial Planner

In this Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down why rising long-term bond yields may be justified by stronger nominal growth, large fiscal deficits and AI-driven capital spending, and why the bigger market risk may be an AI earnings bubble rather than a valuation bubble. Featuring Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel, the episode also explores private equity’s huge software bet, the traits of elite stock pickers, and how the worldview of AI leaders could be driving unusually aggressive capital spending and risk-taking.Topics covered:Why long-term bond yields may be more rational than alarming given stronger nominal GDP, inflation, deficits and heavy Treasury and corporate issuanceHow global fiscal expansion and the AI infrastructure build-out are adding to bond supply and upward pressure on ratesWhy suppressing market interest rates can distort an important economic signal and create unintended consequencesHow private equity became a lagged momentum investor and built massive exposure to software and healthcare technologyWhy recurring revenue does not make a business bulletproof, and how AI could challenge software economics that once looked untouchableIan Cassel’s benchmarks for good, great and GOAT stock pickers, from 10-year outperformance to 20% annualized returnsThe five or six core investing skills elite stock pickers need, and why world-class investors become exceptional at one or twoHow AI CapEx can boost current supplier earnings while the buyer’s expense is spread over years through depreciationWhy an AI earnings bubble could exist even if headline valuation multiples do not look extremeHow futurism, expected-value thinking and confidence in AGI may be encouraging AI leaders to take enormous capital spending risksTimestamps:00:00 Intro: Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel05:09 Why suppressing bond yields could create new risks09:54 Private equity as a lagged momentum investor14:15 Why investment committees chase three- and five-year returns19:00 The skills that separate good investors from great ones23:11 Why elite stock picking takes a decade or more to judge27:18 How AI CapEx is changing cash flow, buybacks and earnings31:47 Price bubbles vs earnings bubbles36:00 Why AI leaders may be taking massive CapEx risk40:49 AI adoption bottlenecks and the need for skepticismLearn more about the Excess Returns podcast network:https://excessreturns.coNo information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

In this week's Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down Jim Paulsen's warning that falling Treasury yields could become bad news for stocks if markets shift from inflation fears to growth fears, and Dom Rizzo's bullish case for AI productivity and frontier models. They also examine whether today's productivity boom is real, how AI coding tools like Claude Code and Codex could reshape white-collar work, and why recessions can create misleading spikes in measured productivity.Topics coveredWhy falling Treasury yields can be bullish when inflation is cooling but bearish when growth is weakeningJim Paulsen's case that economic surprise data could be pointing toward lower 10-year Treasury yieldsWhat the stock-bond correlation says about whether investors are more worried about inflation or recessionDom Rizzo's bullish case for AI-driven coding productivity and the rapid growth of frontier AI modelsHow large the AI coding market could become and where OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies may capture valueWhy open-source and lower-cost AI models could dominate token volume while frontier models capture most of the economicsWhether enterprise AI spending is evidence that companies are already seeing meaningful returnsThe challenge of translating more code and faster knowledge work into measurable revenue, cost savings and economic productivityJim Paulsen's argument that recessions often create temporary spikes in measured productivityWhether today's productivity gains reflect a genuine AI boom, economic weakness, or some combination of bothTimestamps00:00 Why hearing the AI case you disagree with matters04:47 When falling Treasury yields could become bad news for stocks10:54 Dom Rizzo on AI coding productivity and who captures the value16:49 Can we actually measure the economic payoff from AI?22:52 Jim Paulsen on why recessions can create false productivity booms27:00 What today's productivity data may be saying about the economyLearn more about the Excess Returns podcast network:https://excessreturns.coNo information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

On this episode of the Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler examine how the AI capital spending boom, an unpredictable Federal Reserve, reduced corporate reporting and factor investing are reshaping markets.They break down Ben Hunt's warning about private credit and AI infrastructure, Cameron Dawson and Dave Nadig on the loss of Fed forward guidance, Wes Gray on why value may matter more than company size, and Rupert Mitchell on the rate hike that could end the cycle.Topics covered:Why the AI capital spending boom is forcing hyperscalers to borrow money and issue equityHow private credit and private equity are financing the AI infrastructure buildoutWhy a slowdown in AI CapEx could create broader financial system riskHow government borrowing and AI investment are crowding out capital and pushing interest rates higherThe impact of data center electricity demand on consumers and the broader economyHow Kevin Warsh's no-forward-guidance policy changes Federal Reserve expectationsWhy greater front-end interest rate volatility matters for floating-rate debt and private creditThe debate over replacing quarterly corporate reports with six-month reportingWes Gray's argument that value, not small-company size, is the real source of higher expected returnsRupert Mitchell's death shot framework for how a final central bank rate hike can end a market cycleTimestamps:00:00 AI spending, Fed uncertainty and this week's market themes05:07 How the AI buildout crowds out capital across the economy10:44 No Fed forward guidance and a new era of policy uncertainty15:48 Why six-month corporate reporting could hurt investors20:30 Wes Gray on the small-cap premium24:42 Why value matters more than company size28:57 How a surprise rate hike could break risk assets34:05 Global value investing and pairing different investor perspectivesLearn more about the Excess Returns podcast network:https://excessreturns.coNo information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.