Superinvestors and the Art of Worldly Wisdom

W. Ben Hunt, Ph.D. looks at the financial markets through a truly unique lens. With an extensive background in political science, game theory and history, Ben came to the financial markets relatively late in life. But it's precisely this wandering path to the world of investing that gives him rare insight into what drives asset prices and how these forces change over time. In this conversation we discuss how investors as a group play the "common knowledge game" and how Ben views these trends through what he terms a "narrative machine." Ben also shares his views towards the current trends of rising inflationary pressures, the backlash against big tech and much more. For links and notes related to this episode visit TheFelderReport.com.

Grant Williams cut his teeth in the world of finance during one of the greatest speculative manias in history. As a prop trader at one of the largest firms in Tokyo, he had a front row seat to the epic Japanese twin bubbles in equities and real estate in the late-1980's which endowed him with a healthy skepticism towards herd behavior in the financial markets. Eventually, he would go on to a serve in similar roles in nearly all of the world's largest financial centers but not before he learned what he believes to be one of the most important lessons in the investing game: simply surround yourself with brilliant people and just listen. Today, he does this full time for RealVision where his long-form interviews with some of the greatest minds in the industry are produced and aired. He also shares much of what he learns through this process in his nearly decade-old publication "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...." In this conversation, we discuss some of the parallels between the bubbles of the past and the bubbles in today's markets, his evolution as a trader and how it was shaped by his careful listening to so many brilliant people over the years and much more.

Eric Cinnamond has been called, “the godfather of small cap absolute return investing.” From 1998 to 2016 he ran an equity investment strategy that handily beat the 8% average annual return of the Russell 2000 Index. But what’s even more impressive is he did this while holding an average cash allocation of about 40% so his equity performance was roughly double that of the index. In this episode we discuss, in the words of Lincoln Electric CFO Vince Petrella, 'the rapidly increasing inflationary environment' and how it is currently affecting Corporate America, investors, the economy and monetary policy. For notes and links related to this conversation visit TheFelderReport.com.

Simon Mikhailovich emigrated from the Soviet Union at the age of 19 with his family and just $100 in a suitcase. After putting himself through college he began a career in finance. Eventually, he found himself at the leading edge of the development of the financial derivatives that would be at the center of the great financial crisis. Upon successfully navigating those rough investing waters, he turned his attention to effectively hedging risk in an era of mass financialization. Today he manages the Tocqueville Bullion Reserve, a limited partnership focusing on the efficient ownership of physical gold. In this conversation, we discuss the end of the great debt super cycle, its implications for both financial assets and real assets and how gold represents the ultimate insurance policy during this time of growing uncertainty. Visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast for links and charts related to this episode.

Roger McNamee is one of the most successful technology investors of all time. While running the T. Rowe Price Science & Technology Fund, and generating a 17% compound average growth rate in the process, Roger made the unheard of move of committing capital, as a mutual fund manager, to venture investments in Electronic Arts and Sybase. From there, he started the industry's first crossover fund with John Doer, investing in both late-stage venture capital and public market securities. In March of 2000, he co-founded private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in anticipation of the tech bust and, in 2004, founded Elevation Partners where he would become one of the first investors in Facebook and other nascent tech stars. In this episode, Roger shares what made him so successful as an investor, how music saved his life and why he has shifted his focus today from investing in tech to warning of the rising risks tech giants present to democracy and society. For notes and links related to this episode visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast

Among professional investors, Kiril Sokoloff is well known for his ability to identify major trends early on in their development cycle. For this reason his views are some of the most sought out in the world of finance. Since 1983 he has been sharing his thoughts about markets and more at the firm he founded, 13D Research, via its weekly report, What I Learned This Week. In this episode, we discuss his research process, how he goes about identifying these major trends and his current views about markets and economies around the world. For notes and links related to this episode visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast.

Tobias Carlisle runs Carbon Beach Asset Management and is the author of several books including Deep Value, Concentrated Investing and his latest, The Acquirer's Multiple. In this episode we discuss both the similarities and the differences between the successful value investing methodologies employed by investing greats like Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn. Toby also shares his views on the "death of value," focused investing and position sizing and updates his views on some recent stock picks. For notes and links related to this Episode visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast.

Peter Atwater was pioneer in securitization and has served in important leadership roles at some of the largest financial institutions on the planet. Today, he writes and speaks extensively about how changes in confidence affect our preferences, decisions and actions. In this episode we discuss how he discovered socionomics, what about it appealed to him and how it shapes his views on the markets and more. For links and notes related to this episode visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast.

Erik Townsend is a retired software entrepreneur turned hedge fund manager and host of the Macro Voices podcast. In this conversation Erik shares some of his formative experiences like breaking into MIT as a teenager to eventually selling his software firm near the height of dotcom mania. He explains why it "sucked" being a young retiree on a yacht in the Caribbean and how he's much happier today working long hours at his trading desk running his hedge fund. He also discusses his current macro framework and some of major themes that inform his trading today. For links and notes related to our conversation visit TheFelderReport.com/podcast.

To regular listeners, Mark Yusko needs no introduction. It was just a few months ago he appeared on the podcast to discuss Gut Instinct (And Why His Says We're Headed For A Crash). This time Mark shares his thoughts on the wild popularity of passive investing, the outright disdain for hedge fund investing and his potential 10-year bet with Warren Buffett. For notes and links related to this episode visit TheFelderReport.com/Podcast.