What's up, everybody? My name is The Major Cofinas, and you're listening to Hidden Forces, a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens to challenge consensus narratives and to learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world. My guest on this episode of Hidden Forces is someone I've gotten to know mainly by following his anonymous account on Twitter, where he goes by the name Shrubbery Capital, or Leshrub for short. He consistently provides some of the most entertaining and clever market commentary you will find anywhere, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to have him on the podcast, especially given the fact that we were both located in the same city and were able to have this conversation in person. Leshrub and I spend most of the first hour discussing his background, his investment philosophy, and his process for coming up with new trade ideas, as well as his experience shorting the housing market in 2008 as part of a famous team known for doing the big short. What he learned from that experience and how it applies to today's markets are also part of that conversation. The rest of the episode, including the second hour, is a deep dive into many of the topics that are top of mind right now for investors and policymakers alike. We discuss the divergence between bonds and equities, the bull and bear cases for commodities, the fate of emerging markets, the bull and bear cases for different European economies, China, gold, the US dollar, and of course, no conversation is complete today without a discussion about the investment implications of AI and yes, aliens. This is a phenomenal conversation with a brilliant investor. If you want access to all of it and you're not already subscribed to hidden forces, you can join our premium feed and listen to the second hour of today's episode by going to hiddenforces.io slash subscribe. All of our content tiers give you access to our premium feed, which you can listen to on your mobile device using your favorite podcast app just like you're listening to this episode right now. If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the hidden forces genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis in person events and dinners, you can also do that on our subscriber page. And if you still have questions, feel free to send an email to info at hiddenforces.io and I or someone from our team will get right back to you. Lastly, because this conversation deals with investing, I want to make absolutely clear that nothing I say on this podcast can or should be viewed as financial advice. All opinions expressed by me and my guests are solely our own opinions and should not be relied upon as the basis for financial decisions.