Global Macro Update

“Usually coincidences don’t exist in geopolitics.” Ed D’Agostino speaks to Jacob Shapiro of Cognitive Investments about military tensions running hot across the globe, including the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine, and dustups in the Balkans and the South China Sea. It almost makes you wonder if US enemies are acting in concert to spread our military thin.

Few people bring together as much expertise on the military, geopolitics, and investing as former CIA Director General Petraeus, who is currently a partner at global investment firm KKR. Petraeus and Ed D’Agostino discuss how the conflict in the Middle East could escalate, what Putin has really accomplished in Ukraine, and the United States’ delicate relationship with China.

The US can’t rely on Russia for uranium anymore. Hear from Uranium Energy Corp. CEO Amir Adnani on US energy policy and the critical role nuclear plays for the US military, NASA, and artificial intelligence-backed technologies.

Master of nuance Jacob Shapiro, a partner at Cognitive Investments, breaks down why the last 30 years of globalization were an aberration, how it started to unwind with Obama’s tire/poultry trade war, and which country will become “the next China.”

Bleakley Advisory Group CIO Peter Boockvar talks interest rates, why new housing construction is set to plummet, and what dog food says about the economy. You’ll also hear why chatter about China’s economic Armageddon is overblown and why that’s good for everyone.

Mauldin Economics COO Ed D’Agostino talks to Louis Gave, CEO of Gavekal Research, about China’s so-called economic crisis, the Fed’s unspoken third mandate, and “the real story of the summer.”

Jan Stuart has one of the most fascinating jobs in finance. As an energy analyst at investment bank Piper Sandler, he not only monitors trends in the energy markets, but also the spiderweb of geopolitical forces that affect how (and if) 8 billion people across the globe keep the lights on. In the latest Global Macro Update interview, Jan and Ed D’Agostino discuss nuclear energy’s “green” makeover, the private support Bill Gates is pouring into nuclear development, and whether uranium bulls are too early to the party.

The state of modern warfare has changed. It has moved into space for control of what’s orbiting the planet. This poses new threats, including attacks on satellites that control global GPS, and sabotage that renders critical orbits unusable. And a new race to the moon is underway to capture the ultimate commanding heights. We also look at political angst in America, the growing belief that it is us against the political elites, and the upcoming presidential election. I cover that and a whole lot more with guest Dr. Pippa Malmgren, author, economist, and advisor to policymakers and presidents around the world.

US trade with China is way down with one disturbing exception: fentanyl. Thousands of Chinese companies are capable of manufacturing ingredients needed to produce the drug and exporting them to the West, along with instructions on how to create fentanyl powder. Many of these companies are state-owned enterprises, according to Allison Fedirka, my guest this week. She says there is no denying that China’s government is involved with the fentanyl drug trade to the US. Allison Fedirka is the director of analysis at Geopolitical Futures (GPF). My subscribers are familiar with the in-depth work of George Friedman and his team at GPF.

Zombie companies need cheap money to survive. Cheap money is a thing of the past, and casualties are piling up. It’s a familiar script: borrow money to fund growth, and compete on price. That business model fails when interest rates rise quickly. As debt-burdened, low-cost providers get squeezed by higher rates, more will fail. My guest is Barry Habib of Highway.ai. Barry fears the Fed is looking for clues in the rear-view mirror. Looking ahead and extrapolating trends would give the Fed a better perspective and less incentive to raise rates. We also cover interest rates, housing, and inflation.