Why people keep spending so much money, long droughts between new highs in the stock market, the best upside AI hedge, intelligence vs. pessimism, denominator blindness with inflation, most Americans are better off, why people are unhappy at work, when it will be a good time to buy a house again, and much more!

Nuveen Portfolio Manager Nick Travaglino joins Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson to discuss the bond market, the Fed, fixed income yields, and interest rates. They explore misconceptions and opportunities in the bond market, strategies for mitigating risk and maximizing returns, and characteristics of a bad market environment for their strategic income strategy.

Topics in this podcast include the blowout year for the Nasdaq 100, how experience shapes investment decisions, transitory inflation arguments, where prices have risen the most, who got the biggest wage gains, why housing prices refuse to crash, where to find affordable houses, why you can't trust sentiment surveys, and much more!

Hosts discuss frustrations with falling inflation rates, potential impact of Fed rate cuts in 2024, long-term stock market charts, state of the housing market, financial analysis of Home Alone, changing habits and weak demand, opinions on vests and clear backpacks, thoughts on Sebastian Meniscalco and new TV show The Curse.

Chris Kuiper, Director of Research at Fidelity Digital Assets, joins Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson to discuss Bitcoin's outperformance in 2023, illiquid Bitcoin values, Ethereum's different layers, and the potential impact of a Bitcoin ETF.

The podcast discusses the cooling labor market, the attractiveness of the 60/40 portfolio, the Fed's tough spot, why everyone hates the economy, how to become a millionaire, realtor commissions, reclining seats on planes, and more!

Alex Morris, Co-Founder and CIO of the US Benchmark Series, joins the hosts to discuss making bets on duration, risks on the treasury curve, finding asymmetries in fixed income, and more! They explore trading strategies, bond purchases vs ETFs, impact of interest rate changes on bond prices and yields, buyers of institutional debt, and consensus on rates.

The podcast explores the discrepancy between economic perception and reality, analyzes the impact of increasing interest payments, discusses the current state of the economy and market performance, and explores the divergence in mortgage rates and its impact on young people. The hosts also share their challenges with finding time for TV shows and discuss explaining death to a child.

Brendan Ahern, CIO of Kraneshares, joins Michael and Ben on this episode. They discuss the creation of Kraneshares Luxury ETF, demographic trends and the wealth effect, challenges in investing internationally, luxury dynamics in a recession, and more!

Topics include higher growth and higher rates vs. lower growth and lower rates, the focus on 60/40 portfolios, bears vs. doomers, the annoyance economy, why no one is happy about the economy, a record jump in net worth, renting vs. buying, Netflix's growth strategies and earnings, and casual conversations on dogs, house temperatures, and apartment living.