Betting On Zero

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the ninth episode of Season Two.John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, and as of just two months ago, Gaming Wall Street, now on HBO Max.Gaming Wall Street is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml. The two-part documentary explores the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and the light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street. In this new episode, as John is midway through his dive down the rabbit hole that is TerraUSD, the stablecoin that wasn't so stable, when Burke gently reminds him about something interesting and highly unexpected that happened last week--Burke got invited to go on Tucker Carlson Today to talk about GameStop. After a whirlwind sequence of events, Burke traveled to Tucker's studio to talk about the meme stock frenzy that of course was the subject of Gaming Wall Street. Tune in to see how the interview went (spoiler alert--Burke did not think he sounded as stupid as he feared he might, at least in his own mind.)After paying proper homage to Burke's 15 minutes of fame, the conversation turned back to TerraUSD, the crypto stablecoin that wasn't--and what may in fact be the canary in the coal mine for the entire crypto ecosystem and potentially other ecosystems. As much as we try, algorithmic-backing of a digital currency is not a subject we really comprehend. But try, and laugh we do!And of course, no episode of the Betting On Zero podcast would be complete without us bashing Russia and China for their brutal regimes. And of course, this leads us to Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter! We'll see what happens! Rates are up again and, stocks are down further. Tune in to hear more about what's happening in the always exciting financial markets, and enjoy!

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the eighth episode of Season Two.John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, and just last month, Gaming Wall Street, now on HBO Max.Gaming Wall Street is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml. The two-part documentary explores the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and the light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street. In this new episode, while are still basking in the warm afterglow of getting the documentary out into the world, there is still the seemingly unlimited supply of Wall Street shenanigans to discuss, starting with this week's arrest of former trading superstar Bill Huang. The enigmatic Huang, who once ran Tiger Asia, was picked up by federal authorities for a long laundry list of no-nos, including racketeering and market manipulation. Turns out when you lie to your federally-insured bankers about how much of their capital you have put at risk they don't like it very much. Huang's leverage at his family office Archegos was like nothing we've ever seen. Our discussion of Huang's downfall leads into a discussion of the broader Chinese market downturn, which apparently reflects the growing lockdowns in Shanghai and possibly additional Chinese cities, which of course has massive implications for the rest of the world's economy.  Unfortunately, the freedom of the Chinese people to talk about what's happening there is limited, which limits our own understanding. This censorship is the same tool used by Putin to support his terrible war in Ukraine--anywhere freedom of speech is impaired, really bad things tend to happen.And of course, this leads us to Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter! We'll see what happens! Rates are up, stocks are down. Tune in to hear more about what's happening in the always exciting financial markets, and enjoy!

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the seventh episode of Season Two.John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, and now... another one! Gaming Wall Street!OK, so the secret is out. Biltmore Films, the company founded by Betting On Zero producers Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn, is excited to announce a new documentary film, Gaming Wall Street, about the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street.The two-part documentary debuted on March 3 on HBO Max. The film is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml.In this episode, we are still basking in the warm afterglow of getting the documentary out into the world, and of course, since Gaming Wall Street is about Wall Street shenanigans and bizarre behavior, it will always be current. Accordingly, our discussion starts off with how AMC Entertainment is acquiring a 22 percent stake in a gold mining company.  Meanwhile GME Chairman Ryan Cohen has bought almost a 10 percent position in Bed Bath & Beyond. What does this mean for shareholders?And if you thought trading in GameStop was rigged or at least favored the big guys, you'll likely enjoy our discussion of how the London Metal Exchange has closed trading in nickel for the last five days so a fat cat can wriggle out of an actual bona fide short squeeze.Of course, we talk about the recent volatility in the markets and what it means for stocks. Are there opportunities out there?And if you haven't streamed Gaming Wall Street, go do it!Gaming Wall Street shows how the self-proclaimed "apes" set off to take down Wall Street bad guys, only to discover a game that was far more rigged than they could ever imagine. And in the process, they almost took the whole system down. Enjoy this episode!

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the sixth episode of Season Two! John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, and now... another one!OK, so the secret is out and the exciting hour is almost upon us. Biltmore Films, the company founded by Betting On Zero producers Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn, is excited to announce a new documentary film, Gaming Wall Street, about the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street.The two-part documentary will debut on March 3 on HBO Max. The film is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml.This is perhaps our most fun episode in two years. It's a celebration of the hard work put in by Toby and his team, including producer Tessa Byford, which resulted in a documentary on HBO Max that we happen to think is first rate.We discuss how Toby first got involved with the  GameStop story, prowling around on Reddit and drinking the stock market Kool-Aid. Then, after the GameStop story began to take shape, we started chatting and soon enough we were crafting a narrative, meeting characters, and going down rabbit holes. Soon enough, we were in bed with HBO and racing to get a quality project out into the market. And we succeeded. Gaming Wall Street shows how the self-proclaimed "apes" set off to take down Wall Street bad guys, only to discover a game that was far more rigged than they could ever imagine. And in the process, they almost took the whole system down. Tune in starting on March 3 to see how it all played out, and how it continues to play out. And enjoy this episode!

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the fifth episode of Season Two! John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero. Keep your eyes peeled for their next film, due out in the first quarter of this year.In this episode, we cover the latest in crypto fraud news, which is saying something because there's something new every week and the losses are staggering. Crypto talk leads to the NFT marketplace, which is something neither of us really comprehend but we both agree that it is hilarious, though sad because neither of us owns any ape cartoons and so neither of us is a gazillionaire. NFTs and apes lead us back to Reddit Apes and the latest in the meme stock rally and crash, and finally, since we're talking about the metaverse, we cover the value destruction at Meta Platforms, which until recently was known to the world as Facebook. Finally, we close out the episode with some movie recommendations. Also, we drag Yoko Ono through the mud. This is a wide-ranging episode and fun. We hope you enjoy it, and have a great weekend.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the fourth episode of Season Two! John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero. Keep your eyes peeled for their next film, due out in the first quarter of this year.In this episode, we are joined by Anne Stevenson-Yang, who runs J Capital Research Ltd., a research firm specializing in China. Anne is considered one of the premier China-focused investment research analysts on the planet and we were thrilled to have her join us, as China's economic problems seem to be deepening.Of course, like many discussions of China, this leads to a brief discussion of crypto, so this episode has a little something for everyone. This is a great episode with which to kick off the New Year. We hope you enjoy it, and have a great weekend.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the third episode of Season Two! John, who regularly appears on financial news networks and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.In this episode, a little shorter than some in keeping with the holiday spirit, we begin by griping about the holiday spirit. John reveals how he feels about Ebenezer Scrooge (gee, we wonder!) and this of course gives way to a discussion of the holiday stress and anxiety, despite of and in some cases because of modern technology. Speaking of tech and Scrooge, we have a fast-paced discussion about the recent performance of the broad tech sector and small caps in the financial markets and what it might portend for next year. As most economic discussions do these days, we come around to talking about inflation vs. deflation and what everyone thinks about it, from JP Morgan to hoagie makers in Brooklyn. This is a great little pre-holiday episode. If you're looking for some holiday cheer, this is a good place to find some. We hope you enjoy it, and have a wonderful holiday season.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the second episode of Season Two! John, who regularly appears on financial news networks and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.In this episode, we start off with a discussion of China and its faltering property markets and what this might mean for Chinese equity markets and beyond. Now that Evergrande is basically under administration by the Chinese government, are the problems getting cleaned up or are they just beginning? Our China chat leads into a discussion of commodity prices and their direction, which naturally feeds into a discussion about inflation. Did the Fed just smush inflationary pressures or will it need to do a heckuva lot more?Finally we delve into the meme stock implosion currently taking place and we talk about how desperately this country needs to improve the way it teaches its citizens about investing, which is that it doesn't.We're really glad to be back  with this super fun and interesting episode. We hope you enjoy it. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the first episode of Season Two! John, who is on the board of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com and other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.In this episode, we dive right into familiar territory we discuss Herbalife, the stock of which imploded earlier this week after a disappointing outlook.  Amazing how the stock gets crushed right after Icahn sold out!Speaking of implosions, no discussion would be complete this week without a conversation about the apparent insolvency of the largest property developer in China, which is in the process of defaulting on close to $400 billion in liabilities.  We discuss what Evergrande, which we have been following for years, means for markets and whether Xi can bring himself to bail out a billionaire. Our chat about China leads to a discussion about commodities and what we think might be in store for global commodity prices and  what we think about the ESG movement at the moment. Finally,  our commodities talk begets a  fascinating discussion about Wall Street Bets' latest darling, the uranium market. We're really glad to be back for Season Two with this super fun and interesting episode. We hope you enjoy it. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. In this episode, we are joined by business professor William Keep, who has written extensively on multilevel marketing and was featured in the 2017 documentary Betting On Zero.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com and other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.William Keep is one of the nation's experts on multilevel marketing and pyramid schemes. He is a professor of marketing at the College of New Jersey and former dean of the business school there.  When Bill Ackman was going after Herbalife, Keep was one of the people he turned to for information about the industry.  As Keep does in Betting On Zero, he articulates what's wrong at the dark heart of the ‘direct selling' industry—every industry has its problems but there might be only one where the very existence is a problem. Yet, as Keep points out, the industry, which accounts for a de minimis proportion of retail sales in the United States, has its own congressional caucus. An industry that buys its protection buying touting how many “jobs” it creates and how it is born out of the American dream of capitalism and free markets is in fact extremely anti-capitalism and anti-free markets. Listen and find out how. Keep also has a multilevel marketing awareness conference coming up. Be sure to check it out at https://www.mlmconference.com.This is a great episode with one of the sharpest anti-MLM minds around. We hope you enjoy it. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. In this episode, we are joined by financial journalist Scott Wapner, whose coverage on CNBC of the Herbalife battle and the personalities behind not only made it into Betting On Zero but set the standard for financial journalism for the next decade.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com and other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.Scott's book, When The Wolves Bite, about the Ackman versus Icahn element of the Herbalife saga, is wonderful. Through highly detailed reporting, the book gives the reader not just a fascinating account of a war between two powerful investors but compelling psychological portraits of both Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn. Naturally, we were more familiar with Ackman and his narrative; learning more about Icahn and his background and personality was compelling reading indeed. Wapner's account brought the battle to life again in vivid detail. Presumably, most people think of Scott as a television reporter—but he has serious writing chops too. If we have read better financial non-fiction recently, we do not remember when.We spend about half the episode discussing the subject of the book and the film, then we turn to some events of the day such as GameStop and thematic investing. As you would expect, Scott has some fascinating insights. For example, can one imagine how Herbalife shares might have reacted had Ackman made his famed presentation today?This is a fun and enlightening episode with one of the best financial reporters of our generation. We hope you enjoy it. We sure did. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the world of investing the ‘old-fashioned' way—generating a return on capital and paying attention to valuation.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com and other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero.In this episode, we are joined by Martin Hale, CEO of Hale Capital Partners, who has been a successful investor for decades. Martin is an experienced tech and small cap investor, and with the big recent moves in those areas, Martin's take—and it is deep—is especially fascinating. This is not a superficial episode filled with snark and goofy anecdotes. While we always have fun, there was way too much to learn from our guest. Martin takes us down memory lane to the dotcom era, when the tech mania was at its zenith, and compares and contrasts today's investing environment to that time and to the “garbage market” of the 1960s. This is not an episode so much about the markets as about investing and what that really means. Martin takes us through his approach and what he looks for when putting his capital to work. What's he looking for? You'll have to listen…We hope you enjoy this nugget-packed episode.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us, which today starts with GameStop and the battle between retail investors and short-sellers..John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com and other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, which of course is about a short-seller.In this episode, we are joined by Kyle Bass, chief investment officer of Hayman Capital, who has been an observer of capital markets and geopolitical machinations for decades. He is an experienced short-seller, and with this week's madness over Gamestop, Kyle's take is especially fascinating. This is a fun and far-reaching episode.  We'll have to have Kyle back soon, because while we could have talked about GameStop all day, there were too many other topics to touch on. Of course, that's how capital markets work--one topic leads to another and everything is connected.Precisely because of that, Kyle thinks the GameStop folly could have a meaningful impact on the markets. If suddenly every risk-management model has to incorporate a probability of a social media mob running over each position, markets will behave differently. Social media is changing the balance of power all over the world, capital markets included. Of course, any discussion of balance of global power leads to a discussion about China, and Kyle is one of the world's closest watchers of the Middle Kingdom. And any discussion of global politics includes a discussion of global markets and, well, you get the picture. Kyle Bass is a fantastic guest.We hope you enjoy this action-packed episode. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. Today we visit one of our favorite topics, multilevel marketing.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com among other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. In this episode, we are joined by Robert Fitzpatrick, multilevel marketing (MLM) expert, who has just written a new book, Ponzinomics. The book is a comprehensive account of how multilevel marketing was created in America, escaped criminal and civil prosecution, and spread all over the world. Fans of Betting On Zero will remember Bob from the film, giving articulate testimony about the nature of multilevel marketing companies and their insidious nature.This is a fascinating episode.  Of course, we think any discussion of MLM is fascinating, but this is top-notch because Bob is uniquely gifted at articulating the particular and peculiar nature of MLMs not as an industry but as a belief system. Bob takes us from MLM's early days as an evolution from the Dale Carnegie sales mentality into something a little darker. As pressure on America's middle class grew, the allure of MLMs grew more enticing. And just when the feds had their clutches around the industry's neck, powerful backers intervened. Within years, U.S. presidents were speaking at MLM gala events and just a few years later, a future U.S. president was not only hawking his own MLM, but honing the skills that would carry him to the White House.The last time John, Bob and I were together was in a little bar down the street from the West Manhattan studio where John Oliver records his Last Week Tonight show, after the episode that put Betting On Zero on the map. That was fun, but this visit was perhaps even more fun.We hope you enjoy this lengthy but action-packed episode.   

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, owner of TheStreet.com among other media properties, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. In this episode, we are joined by Mark Yusko, founder and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management. Prior to founding Morgan Creek, Mark was previously the chief investment officer for the endowment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More recently, Mark has taken the crypto plunge.No discussion of politics and markets can ignore the presidential election and the controversy surrounding it, and John points out that the excessive political theater stoking doubt in our nation's institutions could give rise to doubt in our currency, could also stoke inflation fears. Of course, this would have enormous ramifications for the Fed, for financial markets and for cryptocurrencies. Mark believes that cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, will become an important part of everyone's financial future. This rabbit hole goes deep. Who are the Mad Hatters in this story, the crypto enthusiasts or the central bankers? How is crypto like gold and how is it different? Will it really be around in 5,000 years? Which cryptocurrencies will have staying power?This is our most fun discussion to date. There was a lot to unpack; we will have to visit with Mark again because we could have talked all day and almost did.As always, there's a Betting On Zero tie in. Mark was with us at Tribeca Film Festival, watching the film premiere back in 2016, and even has a credit in the film for being a good friend to us during production. The other tie-in is our discussion of “The Big Lie,” a line Ackman uses to describe how corporations get away with seemingly obvious impropriety. In this case, we apply it to the narrative that the election was stolen, with twists and turns along the way.We hope you enjoy this lengthy but action-packed episode. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the events that unfolded in Washington, DC yesterday and the political climate that led up to it, and of course what we believe the impact of the election will be on financial markets. John, who is executive chairman of Maven, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. In this episode, we talk about the lawlessless that broke out our nation's capital yesterday and how markets were able to shrug it off, looking forward as they always do. Still, the mob scene that occurred, funny hats and all, is indicative of deeper problems in American society having to do with themes we explore frequently in the film Betting On Zero and on this podcast—there is no set of facts upon which competing narratives agree; there is no commitment to critical thinking; and the media has no incentive to encourage anything other than confrontation. The markets are a better place to look for real world impact than the Internet, though the markets themselves are far from free of distortion.We talk about changes in inflation expectations and the accompanying changes in interest rates, and we discuss the outlook for energy-related assets. And of course we can't ignore the recent news that Carl Icahn finally sold out of his Herbalife stake, bringing the tale of Ackman vs. Icahn over Herbalife to a close. And no discussion of global economics is complete without touching on China, which leads us back to American politics, Peter Navarro, and election intrigue.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn catch up in this podcast and discuss the Texas lawsuit headed for the Supreme Court, more on Hunter Biden and the state of investigative reporting. With guest Matt Tyrmand.John, who is executive chairman of Maven, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. In this episode, we talk about the ongoing drama surrounding the presidential election with special guest Matt Tyrmand, investigative journalist and avowed right-wing provocateur. Tyrmand has done a lot of homework on Hunter Biden and has some interesting things to say about some of Biden's business associates, but a lot of the discussion is about Project Veritas, the right-leaning investigative reporting organization which Tyrmand describes as modern-day muckraking in the tradition of Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair. Project Veritas was most recently in the news for eavesdropping on CNN's Jeff Zucker. We also get pretty deep with Matt on his take on the controversial Texas lawsuit that may or may not be headed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Politics aside, the task of convincing lots of people that “incontrovertible” evidence exists confirming something that doesn't foot with their current worldview or personal interests is a difficult one. It's something that Bill Ackman ran up against in his campaign against Herbalife. It's something that short-sellers have to contend with every day, and it's something that organizations such as Project Veritas make it their job to overcome. Project Veritas has the same issue that short-sellers do; the organization can be called partisan because it raises money from private sources, so it's critics can say there is a conflict of interest. It's the same battle that Ackman had to fight. We appear to be living in a post-truth world. I suspect we will be covering this in more episodes to come.

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn are joined by William N. Finley IV (aka Seth Crossno), the man who brought down Fyre Fest. We discuss Betting On Zero's  strange relationship to the Fyre documentary on Netflix, Seth's experience at the ill-fated festival, and plans for another documentary, this time about perhaps the biggest treasure hunt of the century. 

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn catch up in this episode and discuss the presidential election, markets, guns, crypto, hornets and yelling fire in a movie theater.

Executive Producers Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the Hunter Biden allegations, smoking guns, censorship, and why movies aren't getting made right now.

John and I take our maiden voyage in the podcast world, discussing the presidential debate, markets and a few stocks.