Podcasts about alpher

No século 20, descobertas revolucionárias abalaram a visão estática do cosmos. A constatação da expansão contínua do universo desafia conceitos antigos, revelando a existência de energia e matéria escuras, enigmas cruciais na cosmologia. A inadequação das teorias atuais para explicar a expansão acelera do universo revela coisas fundamentais do espaço, tempo e gravidade, que não estamos percebendo, revelando um cosmos mais estranho e desconcertante do que imaginávamos. O que acontece nas entranhas do universo que explicariam esses fenômenos?

Many Israelis have lost faith in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not preventing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, says Yossi Alpher, but he adds that the population is broadly united in backing the military campaign in Gaza. Matt Galloway gets the view from inside Israel with Alpher, a former senior official with Israel's intelligence agency Mossad; and Ronen Bergman, a New York Times writer based in Tel Aviv.

Welcome to another episode of “On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir.” Today's guest is Yossi Alpher, a consultant and writer on Israel-related strategic issues. He is a former intelligence officer, and served as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel in July 2000, during the Camp David talks, concentrating on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In this episode, we discuss Israel's current response to Hamas' attacks against Israel on October 7, various scenarios of how the response will proceed from here, an analysis of the various players in the broader conflict, including Hezbollah, and whether or not Israel can fully eliminate Hamas from Gaza, and the long-term prospects in Gaza. Full bio Yossi Alpher is a consultant and writer on Israel-related strategic issues. He is the author of the prize-winning Periphery: Israel's search for Middle East allies and No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015 and 2016, respectively). His latest book is Winners and Losers in the ‘Arab Spring': Profiles in Chaos (Routledge, 2020), which won the Chaikin Prize in 2021. Alpher served in the Israel Defense Forces as an intelligence officer, followed by service in the Mossad in operational and analytical roles. From 1981 to 1995 he was associated with the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, ultimately serving as director of center. From 1995 to 2000 he served as director of the American Jewish Committee's Israel/Middle East Office in Jerusalem. In July 2000 (during the Camp David talks) he served as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel, concentrating on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. From 2001 to 2012 he was coeditor, with Ghassan Khatib (until recently vice-president of Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority) of the bitterlemons family of internet publications.

In this episode, Daniella Alpher, VP of Marketing at RevealSecurity joins Maria and Gianna to discuss Israeli vs American cyber marketing.   To begin, Daniella shares that she began her career in film and television as a producer for ABC News. In the early 2000s, tech began threatening the television industry. This inspired her to get a degree in business administration and enter the tech sector, specifically focusing on marketing. Next, Daniella highlights the differences she has noticed working as a marketer in Israel vs. America. 10% of attacks at a national level are directed at Israel, 40% of investments in cybersecurity go to Israeli companies and 16% of  cybersecurity vendors are Israeli. Compared to the size and population of Israel tech (specifically cybersecurity) is a huge income-driving sector for the country.  In the last 20-30 years, Israel also built a large strength in product and development of cybersecurity products. In more recent years, it has naturally become a hub for cybersecurity marketing.   For most Israeli startups, the sales portion is often based in the U.S. Marketing, however, is often a mix between the two companies. In Daniela's experience, American marketing tends to have a more long-term philosophy, while Israelis often have a much shorter-term strategy for survival. Israeli marketers are still learning the importance of branding over performance. Most Israeli marketers are focused on selling in the U.S., but it is rare for a U.S.-based company to consider marketing in other countries. Stereotypically, Daniela shares, Israelis tend to come off rude, aggressive, and emotional to American analysts, whereas Americans are the opposite. Then, there are those smaller, technical differences like the use of WhatsApp vs. Slack for digital communication and group messages.   Before wrapping up, Daniela engages alongside our hosts in a fun guessing game to reveal what career she would pursue outside of the cybersecurity marketing field.   Links:   Follow Daniella on Linkedin. Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

Sign up for my Daily Fintech or Daily Digital Banking Newsletters here. Check out my latest podcast episode below: Welcome to another episode of our Daily Fintech Podcast. THE NEWS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY IS Not all fintech unicorns are cutting jobs. After Klarna announced plans to lay off 10% of its workforce Monday, some rival fintechs are making it clear that they have no intention of cutting jobs or freezing hiring. Revolut, the $33 billion digital banking start-up, said the company is "actively hiring," with over 250 open roles listed on its website. JUST IN: Latin American VTEX and Bitso laid off hundreds of employees on Thursday. Brazil's Vtex alone has cut nearly 200 employees, according to a person familiar with the company. That number is equivalent to 13% of the team, the person said. In Mexico, crypto exchange Bitso terminated at least 80 people in technical and commercial areas. ALSO: Former Tory minister Theodore Agnew has launched a public attack on Starling Bank, dragging the online lender into the Covid loans scandal by claiming it did not run adequate checks on borrowers before handing out taxpayer-backed loans. WHAT ABOUT CRYPTO? A group of former executives from Binance has created a $100 million venture fund. AS FOR PARTNERSHIPS Mastercard announced a strategic partnership Saudi Arabia-based HyperPay to drive the adoption of digital payment solutions across the Middle East and North African region. Alpher. Partnered with digital investments service provider WealthKernel. Scalapay has formed a partnership with circular economy fintech Twig to enable customers to resell products they have purchased via the buy now, pay later provider, and get paid upfront by Twig.

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/israel-studies

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion. Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking EVs with Pieter Taselaar, founding partner and portfolio manager of Lucerne Capital Management. He's also the CEO of European Sustainable Growth Acquisition Corp. (EUSG), a SPAC which hopes to soon close on its acquisition of ADS-TEC Energy, a German-based company that manufactures EV charging stations that can charge batteries in minutes without putting strain on a city's electrical grids. Among the topics covered: Task and Alpher discuss Fed Chair Jay Powell's surprising hawkishness on Tuesday morning, which helped send stocks sharply lower. They also dig into Jack Dorsey's exit from Twitter (TWTR), and what it might mean for the future of that platform Not an investor in the EV auto manufacturers, Taselaar instead looks for opportunities in companies providing the critical charging and battery infrastructure for the industry. Key to his thesis is the need for fast charging, and - in addition to above-mentioned ADS-TEC Energy - Taselaar is a fan of Wolfspeed (WOLF), and ASML (ASML), who make the semiconductors necessary for the battery chargers. He's also an owner of EVgo (EVGO), a pure EV play which could benefit from the subsidies in the Biden infrastructure bill. Nothing goes in a straight line, of course, and WOLF and EVgo have had rough recent runs. The EV revolution, however, is going nowhere, and Taselaar suggests investors consider adding on dips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"[Goal] number one is to help to build a more resilient, peaceful society in the places that we work," says David Alpher, a contractor for the Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention at the United States Agency for International Development. He adds, "working with communities, the key is working with the consent and the leadership of the people of the ground." Joining him is Ivan Rasiah, an employee at USAID's local office in Sri Lanka, who manages peacebuilding projects in the country. Drawing from their experience, David and Ivan help us understand the who, what, when, where, why, and how of American peacebuilding missions at their most and least effective.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Fari Hamzei, the founder of Hamzei Analytics and Timer Digest's Top Timer for the past three, five, eight, and ten year periods. Among the topics covered: Any number of indicators clearly point to stocks in need of at least a modest correction (5%-7%), but the market continues to grind to new records Hamzei is on the lookout for a catalyst that might give the all-clear signal for an aggressive short. What that might be is uncertain, but Hamzei suggests the Robinhood IPO might make a blowoff top event in the same way the Coinbase IPO marked the peak for bitcoin earlier this year. Hamzei is playing his current bearishness by being long put spreads on the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), but things are uncomfortable. The question he's wrestling with now: Roll the positions forward, or cut bait? Another consideration is the start of earnings season - Hamzei is mulling whether it makes sense to get a little bit long to take advantage of what should be strong results Task and Alpher mull Tuesday's inflation report which showed a 13-year high for the headline rate (5.4%) and a 30-year high for the core rate (4.5%). The bond market snoozed right through those big prints, with the 10-year Treasury yield remaining near a multi-month low at 1.36%. What gives? Is the bond market discounting an as of yet unforeseen economic slowdown? Or has all price discovery been lost thanks to the Fed's massive monthly asset purchases? Whatever it might be, Alpher reminds that a fast inflation print isn't necessarily a good reason to sell bonds. After all, the previous CPI high came in 2008 amid one of the great deflationary episodes in market history. Links: Hamzei Analytics Bonds snooze, bitcoin slides, gold perky as inflation rises to 30-year high Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking markets in general with Randy Frederick, VP of trading and derivatives at Schwab, and SPACs with Chris DeMuth, founder of Rangeley Capital, and editor of Seeking Alpha Marketplace service, Sifting the World. While Frederick believes things are looking frothy right now, he reminds that frothiness doesn’t necessarily mean a market downturn is in store, but instead that markets are vulnerable to a sizable dip. His advice for these times - scale into positions, and don’t be too quick to try and buy bottoms. Frederick made a prescient bullish call on the financial stocks (XLF) when he last appeared on Alpha Trader in October, and he and team continue to have an outperform rating on the sector today. Alpher takes note of the vaccine, another fiscal stimulus bill and super-easy monetary policy as behind what might be a big move higher in economic growth, the yield curve, and the financial names. DeMuth isn’t ready to call the SPAC boom any sort of bubble, instead noting that SPACs are disrupting what’s been a broken IPO process. The large numbers of companies going public (via SPAC), he says, are simply “clawing back” what’s been decades of more and more companies remaining private and not becoming publicly traded. More of the venture capital world is moving into the more transparent and more accessible world of public companies. When DeMuth last appeared on Alpha Trader in July, he was bullish on recently gone-public Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH), and he remains so today, even after more than a 50% rise in shares despite no deal being announced. DeMuth fully expects Bill Ackman and team to announce a merger target before the end of Q1. As for the criteria DeMuth looks for in a SPAC, they remain the same: Among them, an experienced team (SPACs that have Roman Numerals after their name are always worth a look), and large enough size to purchase well-known brands. There’s plenty more, including the one other sector Frederick has an outperform rating on, and a few of DeMuth’s other SPAC picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yossi alpher is the author of Hard Questions, Tough Answers, APN’s weekly analysis of political and strategic affairs. Now an independent security analyst, Alpher is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer.  In this episode, he assesses the various aspects of the Israel-United Arab Emirates normalization deal. Hard Questions, Tough Answers on APN's web site  Donate to APN

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Seeking Alpha contributor and editor of The Lead-Lag Report, Michael Gayed. Gayed is also portfolio manager of the ATAC Rotation Fund, which has managed to walk between the raindrops in 2020, returning about 60% year-to-date. Prior to the wide-ranging interview with Gayed, Task and Alpher mull Friday afternoon's big news - the disclosure of a $500M stake in Barrick Gold (GOLD) by Berkshire Hathaway ([[BRK.A]], [[BRK.B]]), alongside major cuts in holdings of Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan (JPM), and Goldman Sachs (GS). Warren Buffett, of course, has made no secret over the years of his disdain for investing in the yellow metal, and whether it was The Oracle himself, or Ted Weschler or Todd Combs who made the Barrick purchase remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the news lit a fire under Barrick and the gold miners (GDX) in general on Monday, not to mention maybe playing a role in lifting gold (XAUUSD:CUR) almost back to the $2K level. The ATAC Rotation Fund is highly tactical and designed for low correlation with broader markets - rotating into Treasurys when indicators point to high volatility, and into equities with leverage when indicators point to low volatility. The fund's signals got it into Treasurys in late January and back into equities in late March - hence, the big gains in 2020. Key to the indicators - the behavior of utilities (XLU) and long-dated Treasurys (TLT). And what are those indicators saying now? It's a bit cloudy, says Gayed, noting the absolute yields of Treasurys suggests deflationary pressure, but the underperformance of the utility sector suggests reflationary pressure. In the short term, at least, Gayed suspects the reflationary forces will win out. There's plenty more, including the growing chance of a major selloff in Treasurys, why we should pay attention to the soaring price of lumber, and how Gayed might position his fund for a "two crash" scenario. Finally, we get into Gayed's recent article, "The Greatest Disconnect Between Stocks And The Economy Continues," and how COVID-19 has exposed capitalism's weaknesses. Listen to or subscribe to Alpha Trader on these podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher

Faith Alpher is my guest today, on this very poignant day, Juneteeth, 2020.  In Faith's one woman sold-out show, Black Girl. Funny World, Faith portrays 25 different characters. It’s Intimate, humorous and heartwarming, showing traces of her life story and the many challenges she has faced and overcame. She has performed throughout the New York City and San Francisco Bay Area. When I thought about all the questions I wanted to ask Faith, I realized that everything I wanted to talk about was in her show.  We talked about her experience in Catholic school, about being in an interracial marriage and having white in-laws, about hair (of course, HAIR!), and about Black Lives Matter.   This was a very special interview for me. Faith's words and laughter went straight to my heart. Faith is the person who changes your life when she tells you her story.  This is a heart broken wide open moment. Listen in.   Watch Black Girl. Funny World here. Visit Faith on her website here. Find Faith on Instagram and Facebook.   BOOKS: The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business by Kindra Hall

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Marc Chaikin, founder and CEO of Chaikin Analytics. Prior to the chat with Chaikin, Task and Alpher discuss the remarkable run in Tesla (TSLA), and the beginning of Q2 earnings season, with many of the country's largest banks set to report results this week. For Tesla, it appears poised to enter the S&P 500 as soon as this month, and at its current capitalization north of $300B, it would be a top ten market cap stock in that index. As for the banks, Q2 is widely expected to be their worst quarter since the financial crisis. They've been pretty well sold already though. The question before the court: Has what's sure to be an ugly Q2, and what might be a soft outlook been priced in yet? Market momentum fueled by Fed liquidity and bearish market sentiment is a better guide than trying to parse the Covid-19 statistics, says Chaikin. At this point, Chaikin - noting daily record highs in the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and a lagging S&P 500 (SP500) - isn't too worried about narrowing breadth and the sort of tech outperformance we haven't seen since 1999. This time is different, says Chaikin, fully aware of the meaning of that phrase. So much money today, he says, is pegged to strategies that force money into the mega-cap growth stocks leading the Nasdaq 100. Chaikin's tech favorites - Adobe (ADBE), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), and his stock of the week, Qualcomm (QCOM). There's plenty more, including why Chaikin likes high-quality biotech like Regeneron (REGN), why he's not bottom-fishing in roughed up sectors like financials (XLF) and energy (XLE), and why it pays to lighten up whenever a stock spikes higher on earnings.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking about the second-half outlook with Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. Prior to the chat with McMillan, Task and Alpher talk about recent market action. Among the items - a bull run that appears to be getting its legs again, and a pickup in dealmaking. Of the bull run, Task notes that an equal-weighted S&P 500 is down 9% since June 8. The move higher in the headline indices of late is getting even more focused on big-cap tech. Of dealmaking, the hosts are interested to see Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway ([[BRK.A]], [[BRK.B]]) finally putting some of their $137B to work with the $9.7B cash purchase of the natural gas transmission assets of Dominion Energy (D). There was also Monday's $2.65B purchase of Postmates by Uber (UBER), with Task pointing out that this is an all-stock deal. At least Uber thinks its currency is of pretty fancy value right here. It's hardly surprising that the key to McMillan's outlook rests with what happens with the pandemic. For now, his base case is that we get Covid-19 under control and the economic recovery continues (even if at a slower pace than current). In that case, we're pretty much back to normal by early next year. That doesn't necessarily mean McMillan's a big bull on the stock market at current levels. Instead, he sees stocks as pretty expensive even if earnings come back, and expects the S&P 500 to end the year about where it stands right now. There's plenty more, including McMillan's take on the wild swings in jobs numbers we've seen, whether or not we get another stimulus package, and what he considers to be the most underrated economic statistic.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher speaking with Jim Bianco, president of Bianco research. Prior to the chat with Bianco, Task and Alpher note that equities continue to march higher (or at least hold their ground) in the face of a batch of disquieting headlines pointing to a renewed surge in COVID-19 infections. Task wonders if the so-called "second wave" and the upcoming election might keep the market in a trading range for a few months. Jim Bianco wasn't too surprised by the bounce from the March lows, particularly given the Fed's unprecedented efforts to support markets. The size of the equity bounce and the Fed's doubling down on what was already massive action took him by surprise though. And last week, Bianco made news by fully embracing this bull move. Not making enough news last week, says Bianco, was the fancy legal footwork the Fed had to go through to enable its program to purchase individual corporate bonds. To Bianco, it shows the central bank will stop at nothing to support markets - including the purchase of stocks should the need arise. As to where this ends, Bianco wonders if it ever will, noting nothing was ever really wound down from the post-global financial crisis interventions. How far have we come? Quantitative easing (QE) was thought of as completely radical when it was announced nearly a decade ago, but today it's considered par for the course, and in use by major central banks across the globe. Finally, Bianco suggests the result to all this will be rising inflation in 2021 and beyond. Interestingly, this doesn't make him a gold (or crypto) bug. The hope of bulls in both assets - that they're a hedge against monetary disrupt - hasn't played out. Thanks to ETFs, gold (XAUUSD) has been financialized, he says. And thanks to the need to at some point shift crypto to dollars, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is financialized as well. The result: The fortunes of both are at least somewhat dependent on the financial markets. He reminds that both gold and Bitcoin crumbled alongside stocks in the March meltdown, and both recovered as equities recovered.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Jack Bouroudjian, chief economist, co-founder and director of the Universal Compute Exchange, and chairman of the Global Smart Commodity Group. Prior to chatting with Bouroudjian, Task and Alpher discuss this remarkable rally which has sent the Nasdaq to a new all-time high and brought the S&P 500 back to green for the year. Stan Druckenmiller less than one month ago said the risk-reward was the worst he'd ever seen. Following an 11% rally in the S&P 500 since, he was back on the airwaves yesterday morning pronouncing himself "humbled" by the market. Druckenmiller's bearishness a few weeks back was shared by other great investors like Sam Zell and David Tepper. If you missed this rally, you're in good company. Items arguing for a continued rally include a widening yield curve (the 10-year Treasury yield was up 25 basis points last week), and a broadening of stocks participating - financials, industrials, and cyclicals have joined the move in the last few weeks. Items arguing for a reversal include rising speculative fervor - Seeking Alpha colleague Nathanial Baker says FOMO - fear of missing out - has been replaced with POMO - panic of missing out. There's also the issue of the coronavirus, and whether the reopening of the economy might lead to a resurgence. Asked for his thoughts on this rally, Bouroudjian reminds that the Fed in the space of a couple of weeks put in place more stimulus than it ever did during the many months of the global financial crisis. Similar action is happening in Europe via the ECB. Despite scary headlines in March and April, says Bouroudjian, in his mind there was always an optimism that the lockdowns would be short-lived. For now, that's looking like the case. As for the economy going forward, Bouroudjian does worry about employment returning to previous levels. Companies have been forced to become more efficient, and that means doing the same amount of work with fewer workers. Without COVID-19, it may have taken 3-5 years for the work-from-home trend to fully take hold. Instead it's taken 3-5 months. Perusing Friday's surprising jobs report (2.5M jobs added vs. expectations for a loss of 8M jobs), Bouroudjian isn't so shocked. The early months out of a recession, he says, are the easy ones for job gains. Going forward, Bouroudjian expects far softer employment adds thanks to the productivity gains afforded by work-from-home. Turning back to stocks, Bouroudjian calls himself a reluctant long, noting either the economy needs to get a whole lot better in coming months, or the stock market will take a hit. Not going so far as to sell in May and go away, he suggests hedging in May and going away.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Rick Bensignor, president of In The Know Trader, and a former chief market strategist at Morgan Stanley. Bensignor's thesis for now is that the market has seen both its high and low for the year. He's inclined to be a seller of S&P 500 (SPY) rallies above 3,000, and a buyer below about 2,650. For bulls, the potential for more bad news, i.e. a possible 2nd wave of infections as the economy reopens, likely caps upside. For bears, the bad news (and the market's reaction) won't ever be as bad as it was in late February to mid-March, likely putting a floor on the downside. Bensignor cut his teeth as a pit trader, and he's got plenty to say on the subject as it pertains to crude oil. First, novices need to avoid trading the U.S. Oil Fund (USO), which is no longer a very good proxy for front-month oil. Second, he sees oil's current rally topping out in the mid-$30s, which would somewhat fill the gap set in early March when the Saudis over a weekend launched a price war and sent crude plunging on the Sunday evening open. Moving to gold (XAUUSD:CUR), Bensignor is a long-term bull, but currently kicking himself a little bit after cashing in on the current rally about $40 per ounce ago. He's looking for a spot to get back in, believing the global central bank rush to paper over the current crisis means new highs are in store for the metal. The next level of resistance: Roughly $1,780-$1,805. As opposed to the oil ETF, he's got no issue with the popular SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) or the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) as acceptable vehicles. And don't forget the folks who actually mine the yellow metal - the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) two weeks ago broke through long-term resistance. There's plenty more, including Task and Alpher discussing some of last week's big stories, the dour outlooks by the Jay Powell, Stan Druckenmiller, and David Tepper among them.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking about the markets with fund manager and Behavioral Macro blog author Mark Dow. Prior to chatting with Dow, Task and Alpher consider that we might be entering a new phase for markets. Phase one was the panicky crash from late February into mid-to-late March, and phase two was the straight from central casting big bounce. The "hard" part may be starting now. The idea of a re-opening economy may seemingly have the bears on the defensive, but the bulls need to ponder profits, or lack thereof. Amazon (AMZN) plans on spending its anticipated $4B+ in profits in Q2 on safety measures for workers and customers, and business is booming for the House of Bezos. Pity the retailer or restaurant that - even if allowed to open - will surely be doing so at reduced customer capacity and higher labor costs. Following the stunning move higher, Mark Dow is now positioned for some momentum to the downside. He turned from being bullish only last week after the market was unable to rally despite a decent amount of good news - Wednesday's Fed meeting and pledge to support markets, positive data on Gilead's (GILD) COVID-19 treatment, and strong results from important players like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon. But shouldn't the Fed's continued pumping assure that markets march even higher? No, says Dow. Fed liquidity is important to keep the engine of the system running, but the money the central bank "prints" doesn't find its way into equities unless investors place it there. While the Fed might assist through a placebo effect, ultimately it has to be investors taking on more risk appetite. There's plenty more, including Dow's review of Fed Chair Jay Powell (Cliff's Notes: Thumbs up), why he likes the homebuilders (XHB), and his continuing thesis that a shortage of investable assets ultimately means good things for stocks.

This week's Alpha Trader features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Jim Bianco of Bianco Research about the "nationalization" of large swaths of the financial markets. Prior to the chat with Bianco, Task and Alpher mull the major bounce in stocks over the past few sessions. They note that the bear markets of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009 had any number of "face-ripping" rallies, only to reverse and make new lows shortly after. The easy call for now is that this too is another face-ripper, but Task reminds that we've seen plenty of historic moves this year. It's probably not likely, but maybe the trillions being thrown around by the Fed and the government did help put the bottom in last Monday. In case anyone forgot, Bianco reminds that the Fed is only allowed to buy securities directly guaranteed by the federal government. What's unique about the current rescue plan is the central bank's move to buy investment-grade corporate bonds and ETFs that mostly hold such bonds. How? By creation of a special purpose vehicle which the Treasury has capitalized, and the Fed has made financing available to. So here we are. What started in 1987 - when Alan Greenspan ended the crash by stating the Fed's willingness to support markets - has progressed over the years to the point where now the central bank (in conjunction with the Treasury) has had to more or less nationalize financial markets in order to stop the bleeding. Any number of market watchers over the past thirty years have looked at exploding government deficits, and come away bearish on bonds. Jim Bianco isn't one of them. The massive stimulus program this time around, however, might have Bianco changing his tune. The new spending alone is going to make the current $1T deficit seem puny, and if it happens to work - if the economy gets moving again - we're bound to see some move higher in inflation.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with Jeff Macke about retail amid the pandemic panic. Prior to the chat with Macke, Task and Alpher mull the speed with which markets have plunged through any number of bazookas fired by the Fed (Editor's note: Roughly 48 hours after the recording of this podcast, the Fed announced an even larger bazooka - unlimited QE, the purchase of corporate paper, and a dusting off of the financial crisis' TALF facility - markets continue lower). Goldman Sachs on Friday predicted a 24% annualized contraction in Q2 GDP, and then St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard over the weekend said he thought GDP might contact 50%, with the unemployment rate rising to 30%. The best advice might be to try and not pick a bottom, with Task and Alpher noting the financial crisis low didn't come for several months after the Lehman collapse, any number of Fed interventions, and the passage of TARP. Very slowly putting money to work might be the way to go. "There is no way to value equities on future cash flows in this situation," says Jeff Macke. "It's not even possible to pretend. We don't have enough information." Run away from anyone telling you they can figure things out, says Macke, and run doubly fast from any company management saying they can offer reasonable guidance. If you want to see who is on top of things right now, check and see who has updated their app, suggests Macke. Business isn't usual for anyone, but it'll give you an idea of which players are still fulfilling orders, still getting at least some facsimile of their business done. He notes a place like The Gap (GPS), which already had plenty of work to do in its online business - that's going to be really hard to do when there's a "goose egg" on the top line. As for possible changed consumer behavior, Macke reminds that more than half the stuff sold on Amazon (AMZN) doesn't come from Amazon. Should the current situation continue a lot longer, the product you order off of Amazon may or may not show up, and you may not know anything about whoever sold it. This could be an advantage for Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) with their well-developed supply chains, and ability to stand behind what they sell.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking about the market panic from COVID-19, and chatting with The Schork Report's Stephen Schork about the crash in crude oil. Editor's note: This podcast was recorded late last week - prior to the market's 10% gain on Friday, 12% loss on Monday, and 100 basis point Fed rate cut in-between. The speed of the market decline has shaken everybody up, but Task and Alpher figure there are a couple of things we can count on. One is that the Fed will somehow stumble its way into making sure that the liquidity is there for the financial system to continue operating. The other is that instead of trading or rushing to pick a bottom, those who spend their time researching and putting together a solid buy list of names will be rewarded. Be greedy when others are fearful is the Warren Buffett maxim, and while The Oracle may not yet have hit the "buy" button, it's a near-certainty his next move(s) will be the purchase of sizable chunks of good businesses selling at discount prices. Spying a drop in demand prior to the coronavirus, and then the growing pandemic compounding those issues, Stephen Schork had already been bearish on oil prices, and fully expected OPEC to reach an agreement on a production cut at that fateful meeting about 10 days ago. That didn't happen thanks to Russian intransigence, and the Saudis responded hours later by launching an all-out price war, sending crude crashing well below where Schork's bearish models had forecast. So why would Russia not go along with production cuts? The answer may lie in Russia's (not to mention Saudi Arabia's) desire to take American shale producers down a notch or three. Schork notes U.S. oil production is up 10% Y/Y, making the U.S. the globe's largest producer, not to mention a sizable net exporter of black gold. The battle for market share is on. As for American shale producers, many of them are over-leveraged, and won't survive this shake-out. Some will go bankrupt, some will get taken over, but major consolidation is on the way. That's good news for big players like BP (BP), Shell ([[RDS.A]], [[RDS.B]]), and Exxon (XOM) who are going to be able to pick up great acreage at fire-sale prices.

We were live on @InspirationFM with Head of Strategic Communications, Kemi Ogunleye and Nnenna Jacob-Ogogo, the Head of Alpher talking about Union Bank’s newest proposition Alpher - an initiative for the Nigerian woman.

This week's Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher chatting with Kevin Simpson of Capital Wealth Planning. For a few months now, Task and Alpher have held that the Fed successfully engineered a soft landing in 2019, leading to a healthy bull market, a la 1995. The action of late though has them questioning whether we're now closer to a bubbly late-1999 scenario. They remind that Cody Willard was on the podcast just weeks ago making the bull case for names like Tesla (TSLA), Virgin Galactic (SPCE). They've both gone parabolic since, making even Willard wonder whether things have gotten too perky. With plenty of other news surrounding markets, many didn't pay attention to Fed Chair Jay Powell's congressional testimony, but - in a time of record-low unemployment, minuscule interest rates, record-high equities, and a $1T government deficit - he called on Congress to do more to support the economy. It indicates that another recent Alpha Trader guest, Tony Dwyer had it right when he argued about a sea change in thinking at the Fed - the central bank has given up the inflation battle and is instead laser-focused on not allowing a Japan- or Europe-like deflationary environment take hold. Invest accordingly. Acknowledging the hit to earnings from the coronavirus for plenty of the large-cap dividend growers he likes to hold, Kevin Simpson reminds it's not likely to affect the long-term profit power of players like Disney (DIS), Home Depot (HD), and Walmart (WMT). A writer of calls on the names he holds, Simpson recently had his Apple (AAPL) called away. A longtime owner of Apple, Simpson says it's not the first time he's been out of the stock during its run higher. It remains one of his favorite names, and he expects to be able to buy it back cheaper than it is today.

Alpha Trader's 11th episode features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher riffing on the year just passed, and mulling what might be to come in 2020. Before getting into 2019, Task reminds just how poor 2018 was - with negative returns across pretty much every asset class of note. That red ink came alongside what turned out to be the end of a multi-year Fed tightening cycle. 2019 brought with it Fed easing, and the market responded by moving sharply higher. The "soft landing" having been achieved, the Fed appears happy (for now) to sit on the sidelines in 2020. The current period reminds Alpher of the mid-90s, when markets had a bit of a rough go it in 93-94 while Alan Greenspan and company were hiking rates, but bounced in 1995 when the Fed eased a bit. The soft landing set the stage for several more years of a bull run. Staying in the mid-90s, Task digs out The Maestro's famous "irrational exuberance" quip, and says there's nothing approximating that right now. He notes a recent poll in which most respondents said the market was down this year (S&P 500 is up 27% at the moment)! Being bullish for 2020 doesn't mean it's straight up from here, and the hosts remind the late-90s bull move had sizable hiccups in 1996, 1997, and 1998. They remark that there hasn't been a bear in a long run of Alpha Trader guests - from Eddy Elfenbein to J.C. Parets to Ryan Detrick to Jim O'Shaughnessy to Mark Dow to Jon Najarian. Task also comes back to the Fed's repo operations which is injecting 10s of billions of dollars into the reserve system each month. He wonders if there's a parallel with the Fed's 1999 liquidity injections to stave off Y2K fears. The Y2K worry proved to be unfounded, and the Fed's goosing did little but help create the final blow-off top of the 90s bull market.

The eight episode of Alpha Trader features longtime energy trader Bob Iaccino of Path Trading Partners. Asked to handicap this week's OPEC meeting, Iaccino doesn't expect additional production cuts (nor does he see the cooperation for cuts in the future). One reason is OPEC's dwindling influence over the global crude market. He notes the previous cut had little effect, and OPEC likely realizes it would take a drastic reduction to really move prices higher. Another reason is the Saudi Aramco IPO - the company is now answerable to shareholders instead of The Kingdom, and is likely to have greater focus on things like profits and dividends. On whether the beat-up energy sector (XLE) might be a good investment, Iaccino isn't so sure. Not "big on correlations," Iaccino believes that if you've got an opinion on crude oil, you ought to be trading crude oil futures, not energy names, nor ETFs like [[USO]]. Prior to chatting with Iaccino, Task and Alpher talk about Monday's tariff news - first the president re-imposing tariffs on Brazil and Argentina, and then Commerce Secretary Ross reiterating that December 15 is the deadline for China to make a deal or face higher tariffs. If 2019 has been the year when companies were able to sail past the difficult tariff news, will 2020 be the year when higher costs catch up? The Fed meets this week, and isn't expected to continue with the rate cut cycle - news that surely won't sit well with the president. The central bank takes heat from everyone, but with the end of rate cuts (for now), it's worth considering whether the Fed has accomplished the so-called "soft landing." Speaking of the economy, the early overall holiday sales picture is looking strong, with the online juggernaut continuing, but retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) adjusting very well, particularly with their in-store pickup initiatives. Amazon (AMZN) has been the category killer, but if Walmart and Target - with their well-located real estate - are going to become distribution centers, perhaps the onus is now on the House of Bezos to adjust.

The seventh episode of Alpha Trader features Jim O'Shaughnessy, who helms O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, and is the author of several book on the market, including the seminal What Works on Wall Street. "Arbitraging human nature is the last sustainable edge," says O'Shaughnessy when asked if "what worked" when that book was published (1997) still works today. In other words, yes, systematic and rules-based strategies still have a place for investors looking for alpha. Passive investors, suggests O'Shaughnessy have one point of failure - things are cruising along, the market drops 20%, they start reading the headlines, panic, and sell ... often at the bottom. Active investors have an additional point of failure - that they will abandon a possibly successful, but underperforming strategy at just the wrong time. Turning to the more practical, O'Shaughnessy talks about one favored strategy, and that's buybacks. It's underperformed of late, but the data going a long way back is pretty definitive - companies that are active in returning cash to shareholders do significantly better over time than those who spend the money otherwise. To be more specific, large-cap companies that are cheap, operate with low leverage, and are high-conviction in their buybacks (5% or more of the float) are the ones you want to look for. Prior to chatting with O'Shaughnessy, Task and Alpher get ready for Black Friday by looking at some recent retailer earnings - in particular strong numbers from Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT). Results and the 2019 price charts (up and to the right) suggest the consumer is doing just fine and both companies have successfully navigated the China tariffs. The hosts also consider the rise in animal spirits as evidenced by what's quickly become a sizable wave in M&A activity. It might prove to be a harbinger of a Santa Claus rally as investors place bets on who's next to be taken over.

The fifth episode of Alpha Trader features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking to the WSJ's Greg Zuckerman, author of The Man Who Solved The Market: How Jim Simons Launched The Quant Revolution. Already a highly accomplished mathematician and successful commodities trader, Jim Simons in his mid-40s wanted more, and took his particular set of skills to the far deeper world of stocks. Equities trading then (the mid-80s) was dominated by fundamental analysis, but Simons didn't know the first thing about dissecting a balance sheet or income statement. Simons (and team) relied instead on harnessing massive amounts of data into purely algorithmic strategies for trading stocks. Money soon began rolling in by the truckload - since 1988, Renaissance Technologies' flagship Medallion Fund has generated average annual returns of 66% and trading profits topping $100B. It's also changed the financial world. Today, so-called quants are the largest players in the markets, accounting for about 30% of stock trading. Renaissance is famously secretive, but Zuckerman somehow found a few to open up (just a bit), including Jim Simons himself. It makes for a fascinating story. Sorry, no trading strategies are revealed! Prior to their chat with Zuckerman, Task and Alpher mull last week's big move higher in interest rates. The surge in yields across maturities for now does away with the inverted curve, though it's only modestly sloped upward. The 10-year yield, however, remains relatively low compared to levels seen just a few months ago. Was last week's action the start of a larger trend? Also up for discussion is today's highly-anticipated launch of Disney Plus (DIS), and what that might mean for the world of streaming, Netflix (NFLX) in particular. At $6.99 per month, Disney's service is a good deal cheaper than Netflix's most popular plan. While large numbers of folks might not ditch Netflix for Disney, the days of Netflix's pricing power may be coming to an end.

The fourth episode of Alpha Trader features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking to Jim Grant, the founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer. The business of modern-day central banking, says Grant, is the business of manipulating the most sensitive price in capitalism - the rate of interest. If Jay Powell can't seem to get anything right, it's because the very nature of his job assures he'll be wrong. At least, notes Grant, Powell hasn't taken the U.S. down the path of negative interest rates (yet). Of the pressure Powell is getting from the man who appointed him to the role, Grant reminds this sort of criticism goes back to the days of Andrew Jackson, but Jackson - with Twitter unavailable - was perhaps a bit more tasteful about it. Turning to the credit cycle, Grant believes we're at a precarious stage. Exhibit A is Uber, which at the Grant's offices is known as "interest rates on wheels." The company has about $12B in losses over the past few years, and today sits no closer to profitability (or even a path to it). WeWork is a similar story that at least got sniffed out before being sold to the public. Over the course of a few weeks, it went from a $50B valuation to needing a bailout to stay afloat. Efficient Markets Theory anyone? Grant then brings up a unicorn maybe you haven't heard about, and that's German fintech player N26. Its co-founder over the summer told the FT, "In all honesty, profitability is not one of our core metrics." This, says an incredulous Grant, "is the kind of thing that causes the market gods to hurl down thunderbolts at us mortals." Moving to long ideas, Grant is a fan of Altria. Yes, it's in the business of selling a product many don't approve of, but the inelasticity of demand for cigarettes over the years has been nothing short of remarkable. Altria continues to generate an enormous amount of cash, allowing for a current dividend yield of 7.5% - positively mountainous in these days of microscopic interest rates. Prior to chatting with Grant, Task and Alpher discuss the latest Fed rate cut and employment report. The Fed on Wednesday gave off the vibe that it's done with the "mid-cycle adjustment," and the strong jobs number on Friday, for now, is making the central bank look good in that assessment.

The third episode of Alpha Trader features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking CME Group Chief Economist Blu Putnam, with topics moving from the Fed, to Brexit, and then back to these shores and the U.S. economy. The Fed is surely cutting rates this week, says Putnam, but the FOMC is quite divided - some are arguing that rate cuts aren't needed, and others are pushing for an even faster pace of monetary ease. He's going to be very interested in how Fed Chair Jay Powell navigates these differences at his post-meeting press conference. The Fed's new bill-purchase facility isn't necessarily normal open-market operations plumbing, says Putnam, but neither is it a new QE program. There was no doubt some stress in the repo markets earlier this month, but Putnam reminds that volatility in overnight rates was way higher in the 90s, so perhaps today's market participants have just been put to sleep by the past years' calm conditions. As for the QE question, Putnam says there's a big difference between what the Fed is doing today and its program of a few years ago: QE involved the purchase of vast amounts of long-dated paper, while the current actions involve only very short maturities. Moving across the pond, Putnam says Brexit is going to happen in one form or another, but what we're seeing is a lot of jockeying about who leads the U.K going forward. The Tories are divided and Labour is divided - the question for both is how they can play Brexit and then come out in power next year and beyond. Ahead of the talk with Putnam, Task and Alpher continue to scratch their heads about how rate cuts are even part of the conversation given a 3.5% unemployment rate. Is President Trump really influencing the Fed, or is Jay Powell's "mid-cycle adjustment" just an attempt at what in The Maestro's days was called the "soft landing?" Earnings season is well upon us, and Task notes that larger amounts of S&P 500 companies than normal are topping estimates. Is it good news, or just a good job by managements of massaging expectations? And finally that nagging question - when does Amazon (AMZN) stop being a big grower and start paying a dividend?

The latest episode for Alpha Trader features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with J.C. Parets of All Star Charts. J.C. is pure technician - caring not a whit about any of the news, but instead purely focused on what the charts are saying. And what is he hearing? Stocks for the last couple of years have essentially been in a consolidation following an historically strong bull market. This sort of pattern typically resolves in a continuation of the previous trend - meaning a fresh bull run lays ahead. Making Parets even more optimistic is market sentiment. He notes that pessimism today - with equity markets globally more or less at all-time highs - is greater than it was last December, when markets were falling apart. Strong price action alongside terrible market sentiment is a "killer combination," he says. It's not just stocks. Bitcoin, gold, and the dollar also have price charts, and J.C. has interesting outlooks on all three. Ahead of the chat with Parets, Task and Alpher mull last week's surprisingly hawkish comments from the usually dovish Chicago Fed President Charles Evans. Markets have priced in another rate cut at the Fed's late-October meeting. Is a surprise in store?

This week on The Guitar Nerds Podcast, Joe, Mark and Jay discover Alpher guitars, take a look at a cool new luthier series from Temple Guitars, and check out new releases from MXR, Mr. Black and Seymour Duncan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sanne is met een geigerteller door de kringloopwinkel gelopen en deel haar schokkende bevindingen. Rufus legt uit waarom Jan Rot een grotere invloed op de muziekgeschiedenis heeft gehad dan veel mensen denken. En Camiel vertelt over Ralph Alpher, die NIET de Nobelprijs ontving maar hem eigenlijk wel verdiende.Uraniumglaswww.theglassmuseum.com/uranium.htmEn deze glazen produceert Riedel tegenwoordig:www.riedel.com/en-nlJan Rot vertelt Gijs Staverman over zijn ontmoeting met Johnny Rotten:www.nporadio2.nl/nieuws/10658/zan…naam-van-jan-rotEen aflevering van VPRO Noorderlicht over Alpher, voor wie Silverlight installeert:www.vpro.nl/speel~WO_VPRO_04084…-oktober-1999~.html

This episode is an edited down version of a November 15th 2018 briefing call with strategic affairs expert Yossi Alpher, a former senior Mossad official and the former director of Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies.  Alpher is the Author of Hard Questions Tough Answers, APN's weekly news analysis. For past PeaceCast episodes on Gaza, see here.  for the full recording of the briefing call, see here. 

Volvemos de la mano de Benjamín Montesinos (Astrofísico e Investigador en el Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) del INTA) para repasar la historia de la Cosmología en los últimos 100 años, en concreto todas las ideas, teorías y descubrimientos que en esta centuria han permitido elaborar una teoría sobre la geometría del Universo. Según los modelos actuales, para conocer la forma del Universo es necesario pesar toda su masa y energía, Y justamente ahí radica el problema. Al tiempo que se elaboraban teorías, los descubrimientos aportaban nuevos datos, y nos hemos visto rodeados de materia y energía oscura cuya naturaleza intrínseca todavía esta por determinar. En este programa, buscando la conexión a lo largo de la historia, comenzamos a principios del siglo XX con la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein y las soluciones cosmológicas aportadas por Friedmann para determinar un Universo plano, hiperbólico o esférico, seguimos con los resultados de estas ecuaciones de un universo en expansión según Lemaitre y el descubierto posteriormente por Hubble de esta expansión del Universo, todo ello desemboca en la conocida Teoría del Big Bang de Gamow y Alpher con la predicción de una radiación de fondo correspondiente a los albores del Universo en los años 40. Dos décadas después se confirma la existencia de este Fondo Cósmico de Microondas y las distintas misiones a lo largo de finales del siglo XX y comienzos de este siglo nos permiten afirmar que el Universo esta repleto de algo que desconocemos. Sin embargo, con los conocimientos actuales del Universo observable, lo modelos cosmológicos permiten interpretar la forma de nuestro Cosmos, aún así hoy en día son todavía muchos los interrogantes y nos queda mucho por investigar…Agradecemos a Benjamín este maravilloso recorrido a través de la historia, del cosmos y del conocimiento científico, un gran ejemplo de humildad.

Original Air Date Wednesday, April 4, 2018 In this week's episode you will learn about:  ⦾ The link between poor sleep and depression ⦾ Why sleep differs from rest and how to use both to restore your energy ⦾ How your sleep habits affect your partner ⦾ Natural vs OTC & Pharmaceutical sleep aids 

Original Air Date Wednesday, April 4, 2018 In this week's episode you will learn about:  ⦾ The link between poor sleep and depression ⦾ Why sleep differs from rest and how to use both to restore your energy ⦾ How your sleep habits affect your partner ⦾ Natural vs OTC & Pharmaceutical sleep aids 

Auckland Writers Festival 2016 Israeli strategic consultant Yossi Alpher’s experience as an intelligence official for Mossad, director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University and special advisor to then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the 2000 Camp David Summit, makes him well placed to analyse the challenges facing Israel and the policies it currently operates. He has documented his views in two recently published books: Periphery: Israel’s Search for Allies in the Middle East and No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine. Alpher speaks to Jeremy Rose.