Adventures In Finance: A Real Vision Podcast

Not since March 2000 has the Federal Open Market Committee announced a 50-basis-point increase to the federal funds target rate. Now, the FOMC is a day away from doing just that. And traders are pricing in near-even-money odds of a 75-basis-point hike in June. The FOMC is also expected to introduce its plan to reduce the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet on Wednesday, a process with its own implications for interest rates. U.S. equity indexes held solid gains late Tuesday. Factory orders for March rose a better-than-expected 2.2%, job openings reached an all-time high of 11.5 million, and U.S. natural gas prices hit a 13-year high on growing concern supply will fall short of demand this summer. The data suggest the Fed has room to do what it needs to do to fight inflation. But, as Warren Pies notes, “Oil is driving this market…” And there are structural factors at play that could make the central bank’s job impossible. Pies, founder of 3Fourteen Research, joins Real Vision’s Weston Nakamura to talk about today’

Hard-core technical analysts will tell you that, ultimately, “price” is the only thing that matters. Countless investors, traders, and speculators making decisions about the values of assets will contemplate just about every conceivable issue. “Price” is where all that shows up. Today, the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond surged past 3% to a three-year high, as the market braces for the first 50-basis-point increases to the federal funds target rate since March 2000 at Wednesday’s conclusion of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Stocks opened mostly higher but slid into the red as the trading day wore on. The Nasdaq Composite is coming off its worst month since 2008, and the S&P 500 is off to its worst start to a year since 1939. Still, as Dave Floyd sees it, “Most traders and investors are not prepared for the perfect storm we are all facing.” Floyd, founder of Aspen Trading, joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to talk about what technical indicators are telling him about the current co

Real Vision Co-Founder and CEO, Raoul Pal, joins MI2's Harry Melandri on the debut episode of The Next Big Trade to discuss his unique financial journey, potential opportunities in US bond markets, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's a full-length episode from Real Vision's new original series, My Life in 4 Trades - be sure to subscribe. Fan favorite and skilled trader, Tony Greer, joins Maggie Lake in a special live edition to share how exactly he went from being on the exchange floor to running his own company, TG Macro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. equity indexes traded lower today, with the Nasdaq Composite down 2.7% two hours before the close of regular trading and headed toward its worst month since 2008. The S&P 500 was down 2.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.5%. Inflation remains the major overhang, with supply-chain disruptions as well as high food and energy prices only made worse by pandemic and war and the authorities’ responses to those crises. The Federal Reserve has turned aggressively hawkish, but its efforts to tighten monetary conditions into a slowing economy threaten to bring about recession. Raoul Pal joins Ash Bennington for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about inflation, stagflation, and recession. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/3MDmdzM. To join Raoul on his multi-week journey of learning and discovery for global recession, Is Everyone Wrong, go to https://rvtv.io/3s0ep3d. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. equity indexes were well in the green Thursday afternoon despite the fact that gross domestic product contracted at an annualized rate of 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Earnings reports continue to reflect consumer resilience in the face of historic inflation, even as the conflict in Eastern Europe metastasizes and the situation in Japan – with the central bank still trying to control the yield curve but the government pushing for a stronger yen – threatens a fiscal crisis. “The bottom line with the U.S. economy is where the breaking point is with respect to the consumer response to ever-rising prices,” notes Peter Boockvar. “We are moving closer to it, and there are signs here and there that we are hitting it. But, from what I’ve heard from company CEOs, we’re not there yet.” Boockvar, the CIO of Bleakley Advisory Group, joins Ash Bennington for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about the economy, inflation, and today’s price action. Want to submit

Prices for assets of all kinds were up Wednesday, including stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The U.S. dollar continued to strengthen, and global bond yields marched higher. That’s despite the emergence of still more signs of underlying weakness, including Robinhood laying off 9% of its workforce. And Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria in the latest escalation of the war in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will meet tomorrow to discuss monetary policy, as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda remains committed to an accommodative stance despite the yen’s historic weakness. China, too, is sticking with accommodation, as President Xi Jinping said the government will support major infrastructure projects in cities impacted by renewed coronavirus lockdowns. Darius Dale, founder and CEO of 42 Macro, joins Weston Nakamura to talk about financial markets, geopolitics, and the odds central banks are able to engineer a soft landing for the global economy. Want to submit questions? Drop

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading to the downside with a 3.0% loss two hours short of the close of the day’s regular trading, the S&P 500 off 2.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 1.6%. Today’s selling reflects concern about growth in the face of what seems to be inexorable inflation, as widespread COVID-19 testing in Beijing augurs a lockdown of the biggest city in the world’s second-largest economy. Concerning the war in Eastern Europe, Moscow will stop sending natural gas to Poland on Wednesday, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned there’s a “serious” risk of nuclear war over Ukraine. The Federal Reserve’s increasingly hawkish tone is having its effect, as mortgage rates have moved sharply higher. Home prices are still rising, but new home purchases slipped 8.6% to a 763,000 annualized pace. Mortgage refinance demand is also slowing rapidly. “But there's all this pent up demand they said... not at higher rates there isn’t,” notes Steven Van Me

The major U.S. equity indexes were mixed Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 in the red but the tech-heavy Nasdaq holding a modest gain on reports that Elon Musk is nearing a deal to take Twitter private. Investors continue to grapple with the fact that the Federal Reserve is aggressively tightening monetary policy into what appears to be a slowing economy. As Mark Ritchie II notes, this “feels like a potential lose-lose for riskier assets.” Ritchie II, managing partner and chief investment officer at RTM Capital Advisors, joins Maggie Lake for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about recent price action, relative strength, and whether the Fed will be able to engineer a soft landing. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/3k8eqxw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using hedge fund strategies and venture strategies to construct client portfolios. Thanks for watching The Interview, the premier business and finance interview series in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seasoned investor, Mish Schneider, joins Maggie to discuss her career paths in both trading and teaching, becoming one of the first female traders on the New York Stock Exchange, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yesterday, Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy aggressively to fight inflation, noting that a 50-basis-point hike is on the table for the May Federal Open Market Committee meeting. U.S. stocks, still processing the Fed’s hawkish pivot, are well in the red Friday, with the major equity indexes all down nearly 2%. According to Jared Dillian, “The curve will continue to flatten in such fashion until 2s are at 3% and 10s are at 2% (or thereabouts) and we will have a massively inverted curve at the end of this.” Dillian, editor of The Daily Dirtnap, thinks we’re headed for recession. He joins Maggie Lake for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about the bond market, central banking, and the economy. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/3s6Xpsb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. dollar climbed to a fresh two-decade peak to the Japanese yen on Wednesday, this latest move catalyzed by Federal Reserve officials pushing for more aggressive interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan continues to defend its ultra-accommodative policy. Policymakers there believe inflation is indeed transitory and that capping interest rates remains the wise course. But this divergence is creating unprecedented tension in the bond and forex markets. According to Jim Bianco, president and founder of Bianco Research, “The bond market, the banking system, and the financial system are not really designed to have the entire bond market lose 10% of its value in four months. Every other time we’ve seen this we have run into problems.” Bianco joins Real Vision’s Maggie Lake for today’s Daily Briefing to talk about the Japanese yen’s systemic significance, the Fed’s fight against inflation, and the trajectory of the U.S. and the global economy. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exc

Is the Bank of Japan brewing up a Netflix-blockbuster-level disaster with its dogged adherence to “yield curve control”? Is Netflix itself a blockbuster-level disaster with its declining subscriber numbers? The U.S. dollar hit a 20-year high against the Japanese yen, as the Bank of Japan announced it would buy an unlimited amount of fixed-rate 10-year Japanese government bonds at 0.25% from April 21 through April 26. And shares of the pandemic-era stock market darling plunged 37% today after management reported a 200,000 decline in paying customers during its most recent quarter. The BoJ is desperate to hold interest rates down as other global central banks push for tighter monetary conditions. Netflix is desperate to boost revenue growth; it’ll crack down on password-sharing and consider a lower-priced ad-supported tier. Darius Dale, founder and CEO of 42 Macro, joins Real Vision’s Weston Nakamura to talk about Japan, Netflix, and markets in general on today’s Daily Briefing. Want to submit questions? Drop t

The major U.S. equity indexes were all up more than 1% late in Monday’s regular trading session, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading the way with a 1.85% gain. Stocks today seem to reflect a strong start to earnings reporting season. According to Bloomberg, 38 of the 48 S&P 500 components that have reported so far have posted positive surprises. Earlier in the day, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note touched 2.93%, a level the benchmark rate hasn’t seen since 2018, as bond investors continue to price in the impact of Federal Reserve efforts to fight inflation. U.S. natural gas prices eased off after hitting 13-year highs ahead of an unusual April snowstorm in the Northeast. Crude oil slid nearly 5% on Tuesday, as the International Monetary Fund cut its 2022 and 2023 global growth forecasts. And broader concerns about global resource constraints amid the war in Eastern Europe linger. Thomas Thornton, founder of Hedge Fund Telemetry, joins Warren Pies, founder of 3Fourteen Research, for today’s

“The Fed has been in the business of suppressing volatility in financial assets for most of the post-Global Financial Crisis period,” notes Bill Zox, “but they are out of that business now.” According to Zox, co-portfolio manager at Brandywine Capital, tighter financial conditions to contain inflation mean wider credit spreads and lower equity prices. Zox joins Maggie Lake for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about opportunities for investors in the high-yield bond market amid unprecedented uncertainty at the macro level. War in Eastern Europe has only added to global inflationary pressures. But close to 20% of high-yield is in energy companies and other commodities producers that benefit from an inflationary environment. And inflation is good for credit quality, as the value of fixed-rate debt declines and principal and interest payments are made in inflated dollars. As Zox explains, high-yield can be hit particularly hard by volatility and illiquidity. But, as long as you can hold through these pe

Why did global equities stage their biggest rally since November 2020 upon the official launch of a monetary tightening cycle at the March 2022 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee? Why was this decisive risk-on move in stocks led by the tech sector, as front-end bond yields surged, curves collapsed, and dot plots adjusted? And why are the vast majority of market commentators confused, with no consensus explanation forming for this indiscriminate demand for shares as the Fed finally moves off the zero bound? Weston Nakamura explains the sustained upside in global equity markets in the aftermath of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Award-winning hedge fund manager and market commentator, Hugh Hendry, joins Maggie to break down his fascinating career, what he learned from 17th century rice traders, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The average 30-year mortgage rate in the U.S. surged past 5% for the first time since 2011 this week, up from 4.72% last week, as the market continues to price in an aggressive monetary tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve. Inflation remains the dominant factor for policy makers, investors, and consumers. In fact, as Jared Dillian notes, it’s time to think about the unthinkable: hyperinflation. Policy choices have fed into structural factors to create an upward producer and consumer price spiral that the Fed and other central banks will be hard-pressed to control. Dillian, the editor of The Daily Dirtnap, joins Maggie Lake for today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about the macro picture, gold, and why Elon Musk would be good for Twitter. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/37P5H0u Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report on the producer price index for March showed the biggest month-over-month and year-over-year gains on record, 1.4% and 11.2%, respectively, as inflation continues to dominate the discourse. The PPI data follow the hottest consumer price index reading in 40 years, 8.5%. As the Federal Reserve continues to try to convince markets and consumers it’s serious about tightening monetary conditions and reining in spiraling prices, policymakers in China and Japan press on with accommodation. Our man in Japan, Weston Nakamura, joins Maggie Lake at the top of today’s Real Vision Daily Briefing to talk about the Japanese yen’s role in the global financial system and the worrying signals he’s seeing in forex markets. Then, Maggie welcomes Darius Dale, founder and CEO of 42 Macro, to talk about the Fed, markets, and inflation as we head into a critical earnings-reporting season. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/3EeUTF4 Learn more about yo