Podcasts about global head

Gas prices have soared on the back of the war in the Middle East, and US president Donald Trump criticised some European nations for not being helpful in the conflict. Plus, the ongoing crisis is disrupting precious-metals trade, and China will unveil its five-year plan during the National People's Congress meeting on Thursday. Mentioned in this podcast:Trump threatens to cut trade with ‘terrible' Spain and calls Starmer ‘no Churchill'China's cadres advocate end to overtime to encourage people to have familiesBrussels urges calm as Iran crisis sends European gas prices soaringGold and silver flows disrupted as Iran conflict grounds flightsNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig, edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon and Saffeya Ahmed. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michael Lello and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investors turned to gold and the US dollar in the wake of the Iran conflict, and Gulf states are panicking as Iran targets them in retaliatory strikes. Plus,can the US economy handle the surging oil prices caused by the attacks? Mentioned in this podcast:What will war in Iran do to the global economy?Panic in the Gulf as Iran lashes out at US alliesWhat will be in Rachel Reeves' spring outlook for the UK economy?Investors turn to gold, not bonds, as haven from war in IranHedge funds rethink emerging market bets after US-Israel strikes on IranNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Saffeya Ahmed and Nisha Patel. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world is reeling after the US and Israel struck Iran over the weekend. The FT's Najmeh Bozorgmehr details the situation on the ground in Tehran. Then we explore how the renewed conflict affects the United States and the Middle East. Plus, the FT's Malcolm Moore explains the potential implications for the oil market and the global economy. Mentioned in this podcast:What will war in Iran do to the global economy?Tehran: a city at warOil jumps as Donald Trump vows to continue striking IranInsurers to cancel policies and raise prices for ships in Gulf and Strait of HormuzAyatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, 1939-2026After Khamenei, who rules Iran?Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig and edited by Marc Filippino. It was produced by Julia Webster. Our show was mixed by Alex Higgins. Additional help from Peter Barber. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  Is your cloud foundation ready for the explosion of AI workloads, or are you about to scale technical debt at the speed of innovation? In this episode, I'm joined by Apurva Kadakia, Global Head of Cloud and Partnerships at Hexaware, an AI-first transformation company helping enterprises modernize the core systems that will determine whether their AI strategies succeed or stall. With a front-row seat to large-scale cloud programs across industries, Apurva explains why so many organizations that "moved to the cloud" still find themselves unprepared for what comes next, and why modernization-led migration has become a business priority rather than a technology upgrade. We unpack the real warning signs that cloud environments are not fit for AI, from monolithic architectures and spiraling compute costs to hidden integration complexity and security gaps that only surface at scale. Apurva introduces the idea of "clarity before cloud," a structured approach to understanding sprawling application estates, identifying what truly matters to the business, and matching each workload to the right modernization path using the five R's. It's a conversation that moves beyond theory into the practical decisions leaders need to make now if they want to avoid being locked out of future innovation. The role of AI inside the transformation journey is another major theme. Rather than treating AI as a destination, Apurva shares how AI-led and human-perfected assessment models are already accelerating application discovery, classification, and migration planning, completing the majority of the heavy lifting while keeping human judgment firmly in control. We also explore why governance cannot be an afterthought, and how a dedicated Cloud Transformation Office can drive adoption, reskilling, stakeholder alignment, and data readiness without slowing delivery. Looking ahead to a world of agentic systems and rapidly multiplying cloud workloads, this episode offers a clear message. The organizations that win will not be the ones that adopted cloud first, but the ones that modernized with intent. So as AI moves from experimentation to enterprise scale, are your applications, your architecture, and your operating model truly ready to support it, or is now the moment to rethink your path before the next wave hits?      

Our Deputy Head of Global Research Michael Zezas and Stephen Byrd, Global Head of Thematic and Sustainability Research, discuss how the U.S. is positioning AI as a pillar of geopolitical influence and what that means for nations and investors.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Michael Zezas: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Michael Zezas, Morgan Stanley's Deputy Head of Global Research.Stephen Byrd: And I'm Stephen Byrd, Global Head of Thematic and Sustainability Research.Michael Zezas: Today – is AI becoming the new anchor of geopolitical power?It's Wednesday, February 27th at noon in New York.So, Stephen, at the recent India AI Impact Summit, the U.S. laid out a vision to promote global AI adoption built around what it calls “real AI sovereignty.” Or strategic autonomy through integration with the American AI stack. But several nations from the global south and possibly parts of Europe – they appear skeptical of dependence on proprietary systems, citing concerns about control, explainability, and data ownership. And it appears that stake isn't just technology policy. It's the future structure of global power, economic stratification, and whether sovereign nations can realistically build competitive alternatives outside the U.S. and China.So, Stephen, you were there and you've been describing a growing chasm in the AI world in terms of access to strategies between the U.S. and much of the global south, and possibly Europe. So, from what you heard at the summit, what are the core points of disagreement driving that divide?Stephen Byrd: There definitely are areas of agreement; and we've seen a couple of high-profile agreements reached between the U.S. government and the Indian government just in the last several days. So there certainly is a lot of overlap. I point to the Pax Silica agreement that's so important to secure supply chains, to secure access to AI technology. I think the focus, for example, for India is, as you said; it is, you know, explainability, open access. I was really struck by Prime Minister Modi's focus on ensuring that all Indians have access to AI tools that can help them in their everyday life.You know, a really tangible example that really stuck with me is – someone in a remote village in India who has a medical condition and there's no doctor or nurse nearby using AI to, you know, take a photo of the condition, receive diagnosis, receive support, figure out what the next steps should be. That's very powerful. So, I'd say, open access explainability is very important.Now, the American hyperscalers are very much trying to serve the Indian market and serve the objectives really of the Indian government. And so, there are versions of their models that are open weights, that are being made freely available for health agencies in India, as an example; to the Indian government, as an example.So, there is an attempt to really serve a number of objectives, but I think this key is around open access, explainability, that I do see that there's a tension.Michael Zezas: So, let's talk about that a little bit more. Because it seems one of the concerns raised is this idea of being captive within proprietary Large Language Models. And maybe that includes the risk of having to pay more over time or losing control of citizen data. But, at the same time, you've described that there are some real benefits to AI that these countries want to adopt.So, what is effectively the tension between being captive to a model or the trade off instead for pursuing open and free models? Is it that there's a major quality difference? And is that trade off acceptable?Stephen Byrd: See, that's what's so fascinating, Mike, is, you know, what we need to be thinking about is not just where the technology is today, but where is it in six months, 12 months, 24 months? And from my perspective, it's very clear. That the proprietary American models are going to be much, much more capable.So, let's put some numbers around that. The big five American firms have assembled about 10 times the compute to train their current LLMs compared to their prior LLMs, and that's a big deal. If the scaling laws hold, then a 10x increase in training compute to result in models are about twice as capable.Now just let that sink in for a minute, twice as capable from here. That's a big deal. And so, when we think about the benefit of deploying these models, whether it's in the life sciences or any number of other disciplines, those benefits could start to get very large. And the challenge for the open models will be – will they be able to keep up in terms of access to compute, to training, access to data to train those models? That's a big question.Now, again, there's room for both approaches and it's very possible for the Indian government to continue to experiment and really see which approach is going to serve their citizens the best. And I was really struck by just how focused the Indian government is on serving all of their citizens. Most notably, you know, the poorest of the poor in their nation. So, we'll just have to see.But the pure technologist would say that these proprietary models are going to be increasing capability much faster than the open-source models.So, Mike, let's pivot from the technology layer to the geopolitical layer because the U.S. strategy unveiled at the summit goes way beyond innovation.Michael Zezas: Yeah, it's a good point. And within this discussion of whether or not other countries will choose to pursue open models or more closely adhere to U.S. based models is really a question about how the United States exercises power globally and how it creates alliances going forward.Clearly some part of the strategy is that the U.S. assumes that if it has technology that's alluring to its partners, that they'll want to align with the U.S.' broad goals globally. And that they'll want to be partners in supporting those goals, which of course are tied to AI development.So, the Pax Silica [agreement], which you mentioned earlier, is an interesting point here because this is clearly part of the U.S. strategy to develop relationships with other countries – such that the other countries get access to U.S. models and access to U.S. AI in general. And what the U.S. gets in return is access to supply chain, critical resources, labor, all the things that you need to further the AI build out. Particularly as the U.S. is trying to disassociate more and more from China, and the resources that China might have been able to bring to bear in an AI build out.Stephen Byrd: So, Mike, the U.S. framed “real AI sovereignty” as strategic autonomy rather than full self-sufficiency. So, essentially the. U.S. is encouraging nations to integrate components of the American AI stack. Now, from your perspective, Mike, from a macro and policy standpoint, how significant is that distinction?Michael Zezas: Well, I think it's extremely important. And clearly the U.S. views its AI strategy as not just economic strategy, but national security strategy.There are maybe some analogs to how the U.S. has been able to, over the past 80 years or so, use its dominance in military and military equipment to create a security umbrella that other countries want to be under. And do something similar with AI, which is if there is dominant technology and others want access to it for the societal or economic benefits, then that is going to help when you're negotiating with those countries on other things that you value – whether it be trade policy, foreign policy, sanctions versus another country. That type of thing.So, in a lot of ways, it seems like the U.S. is talking about AI and developing AI as an anchor asset to its power, in a way that military power has been that anchor asset for much of the post World War II period.Stephen Byrd: See, that's what's so interesting, Mike, [be]cause you've highlighted before to me that you believe AI could replace weaponry as really the anchor asset for U.S. global power. Almost a tech equivalent of a defense umbrella.So how durable is that strategy, especially given that some countries are expressing unease about dependency?Michael Zezas: Yeah, it's really hard to know, and I think the tension you and I talked about earlier, Stephen, about whether countries will be willing to make the trade off for access to superior AI models versus open and free models that might be inferior, that'll tell us if this is a viable strategy or not. And it appears like this is still playing out because, correct me if I'm wrong, it's not like we've received some very clear signals from India or other countries about their willingness to make that trade off.Stephen Byrd: No, I think that's right. And just building on the concept of the trade-offs and, sort of, the standard for AI deployment, you know, the U.S. has explicitly rejected centralized global AI governance in favor of national control aligned with domestic values.So, what does that signal about how global technology standards may evolve, particularly as in the U.S., the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, works to develop interoperable standards for agentic AI systems.Michael Zezas: Yeah, Stephen, I think it's hard to know. It might be that the U.S. is okay with other countries having substantial degrees of freedom with how they use U.S.-based AI models because they could use U.S. law to, at a later date, change how those models are being used – if there's a use case that comes out of it that they find is against U.S. values. Similar in some way to how the U.S. dollar being the predominant currency and, therefore, being the predominant payment system globally, gives the U.S. degrees of freedom to impose sanctions and limit other types of economic transactions when it's in the U.S. interest.So, I don't know that to be specifically true, but it's an interesting question to consider and a potential motivation behind why a laissez-faire approach might be, ultimately, still aligned with U.S. interests.Stephen Byrd: So, Michael, it sounds like really AI is becoming the new strategic infrastructure globally.Michael Zezas: Yeah, I think that's actually a great way to think about it. And so, Stephen, if that were the case, and we're talking about the potential for this to shape geopolitical competition, potentially economic differentials across the globe. And if that is correlated, at least, to some degree with the further development and computing power of these models, what do you think investors should be looking at for signals from here?Stephen Byrd: Number one, by a mile for me, is really the pace of model progress. Not just American models, but Chinese models, open-source models. And there the big reveal for the United States should be somewhere between April and June – for the big five LLM players. That's a bit of speculation based on tracking their chip purchases, their power access, et cetera. But that appears to be the timeframe and a couple of execs have spoken to that approximate timeframe.I would caution investors that I think we're going to be surprised in terms of just how powerful those models are. And we're already seeing in early 2026, these models that were not trained on that kind of volume of compute have really exceeded expectations, you know, quite dramatically in some cases. And I'll give you one example.METR is a third-party that tracks the complexity, what these models can do. And METR has been highlining that every seven months, the complexity of what these models are able to do approximately doubles. It's very fast. But what really got my attention was about a week ago, one of the LLMs broke that trend in a big way to the upside.So, if the scaling laws would hold, based on what METR would've expected, they would expect a model to be able to act independently for about eight hours, a little over eight hours. And what we saw was, the best American model that was recently introduced was more like 15. That's a big deal. And so, I think we're seeing signs of non-linear improvement.We're also going to see additional statements from these AI execs around recursive self-improvement of the models. One ex-AI executive spoke to that. Another LLM exec spoke to that recently as well. So, we're starting to see an acceleration. That means we then need to really consider the trade-offs between the open models and the proprietary. That's going to become really critical and that should happen really through the spring and summer.Michael Zezas: Got it. Well, Stephen, thanks for taking the time to talk.Stephen Byrd: Great speaking with you, Mike.Michael Zezas: And thanks for listening. If you enjoy Thoughts on the Market, please leave us a review wherever you listen. And share the podcast with a friend or colleague today.

Kraken's Mark Greenberg joins CoinDesk Live to announce a $20 billion milestone in tokenized equity volume and explain how xStocks is dismantling the traditional brokerage model through 24/7 fractional trading. Mark Greenberg, Kraken's VP of xStocks and Global Head of Consumer, joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus Hong Kong to announce a $20 billion milestone in tokenized equity volume. He explains how xStocks is dismantling the traditional brokerage model by allowing users to buy fractional shares of Tesla and the S&P 500 directly within everyday apps. Greenberg discusses the 24/7 trading advantage, the roadmap for adding Hong Kong stocks, and why tokenized equities are becoming the preferred asset class for retail investors across Asia. - This episode was hosted live by Jennifer Sanasie and Dave Lavalle at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, presented by Hex Trust.

Paramount Skydance is poised to triumph in its bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery after Netflix said it would not boost its offer, tech companies are increasingly turning to loans backed by the chips on which their large language models are trained and the FT's George Steer explains how Wall Street is hedging against the tech stock sell-off . Plus, Berkshire Hathaway's new chief executive will send his first letter to investors on Saturday. Mentioned in this podcast:Paramount poised to clinch Warner Bros deal after Netflix walks awayTech groups turn to more chip-backed loans to fund AI arms raceWall Street turns to complex trades to dodge AI ‘implosions'Warren Buffett hands over Berkshire Hathaway's reins to Greg AbelBehind the Money podcast: Berkshire after BuffettNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig, and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michela Tindera, Gavin Kallmann and Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Skilled trades are becoming one of the most important — and overlooked — drivers of the global infrastructure boom. As trillions of dollars flow into energy systems, transportation networks, telecoms, and AI data centers, the constraint is no longer just capital — it's labor. The scale of the infrastructure buildout is historic, but delivering it depends on the availability of trained workers.In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido is joined by Claire Chamberlain, Global Head of Social Impact and President of the BlackRock Foundation, and Sandra Lawson, Managing Director in Global Corporate Affairs, to explore why skilled trades are central to the next phase of infrastructure investing. With an estimated $85 trillion in global infrastructure investment needed over the next 15 years, demand for electricians, HVAC technicians, grid specialists and plumbers is accelerating.Claire and Sandra explain how apprenticeship-based career pathways offer paid training, competitive wages, and the prospect of long-term financial stability — while also highlighting the growing supply-demand imbalance in the labor market. The conversation explores how philanthropy, employers, unions, schools, and policymakers can work together to expand training capacity and modernize workforce development. As megaforces like AI and infrastructure reshape capital markets, human capital will be just as critical as financial capital in determining long-term economic success.Key moments:00:00 Introduction and meet the guests02:13 WWhat the $85 trillion infrastructure opportunity means for labor markets03:54 Why AI and infrastructure are increasing demand for specialized workers04:45 Why Are These Skilled Jobs Good Jobs?07:15 Training Pipeline Worker Shortage08:43 Philanthropy as Catalyst For The Infrastructure Skilled Trades Requirement10:41 What success looks like for workforce development in an infrastructure-driven economy12:56 Rethinking Going to College vs Apprenticeships and Skilled Trades15:25 How collaboration among employers, unions schools, and philanthropy can expand training capacity17:19 Wrap Up and DisclosureSkilled trades, infrastructure investing, workforce development, capital markets, AI infrastructure, megaforces, economic growth, energy transitionSources: “On the record: Infrastructure and the opportunity in skilled trades”, BlackRock 2026Written Disclosures In Episode Description:This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kraken's Mark Greenberg joins CoinDesk Live to announce a $20 billion milestone in tokenized equity volume and explain how xStocks is dismantling the traditional brokerage model through 24/7 fractional trading. Mark Greenberg, Kraken's VP of xStocks and Global Head of Consumer, joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus Hong Kong to announce a $20 billion milestone in tokenized equity volume. He explains how xStocks is dismantling the traditional brokerage model by allowing users to buy fractional shares of Tesla and the S&P 500 directly within everyday apps. Greenberg discusses the 24/7 trading advantage, the roadmap for adding Hong Kong stocks, and why tokenized equities are becoming the preferred asset class for retail investors across Asia. - This episode was hosted live by Jennifer Sanasie and Dave Lavalle at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, presented by Hex Trust.

Original Release Date: Feb 6, 2026Our Global Head of Fixed Income Research Andrew Sheets and Global Chief Economist Seth Carpenter unpack the inner workings of the Federal Reserve to illustrate the challenges that Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh may face.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Andrew Sheets: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Andrew Sheets, Global Head of Fixed Income Research at Morgan Stanley. Seth Carpenter: And I'm Seth Carpenter, Morgan Stanley's Global Chief Economist and Head of Macro Research. Andrew Sheets: And today on the podcast, a further discussion of a new Fed chair and the challenges they may face. It's Friday, February 6th at 1 pm in New York. Seth, it's great to be here talking with you, and I really want to continue a conversation that listeners have been hearing on this podcast over this week about a new nominee to chair the Federal Reserve: Kevin Warsh. And you are the perfect person to talk about this, not just because you lead our economic research and our macro research, but you've also worked at the Fed. You've seen the inner workings of this organization and what a new Fed chair is going to have to deal with. So, maybe just for some broad framing, when you saw this announcement come out, what were some of the first things to go through your mind? Seth Carpenter: I will say first and foremost, Kevin Warsh's name was one of the names that had regularly come up when the White House was providing names of people they were considering in lots of news cycles. So, I think the first thing that's critically important from my perspective, is – not a shock, right? Sort of a known quantity. Second, when we think about these really important positions, there's a whole range of possible outcomes. And I would've said that of the four names that were in the final set of four that we kept hearing about in the news a lot. You know, some differences here and there across them, but none of them was substantially outside of what I would think of as mainstream sort of thinking. Nothing excessively unorthodox at all like that. So, in that regard as well, I think it should keep anybody from jumping to any big conclusions that there's a huge change that's imminent. I think the other thing that's really important is the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve really is made by a committee. The Federal Open Market Committee and committee matters in these cases. The Fed has been under lots of scrutiny, under lots of pressure, depending on how you want to put it. And so, as a result, there's a lot of discussion within the institution about their independence, making sure they stick very scrupulously to their congressionally given mandate of stable prices, full employment. And so, what does that mean in practice? That means in practice, to get a substantially different outcome from what the committee would've done otherwise… So, the market is pricing; what's the market pricing for the funds rate at the end of this year? About 3.2 percent. Andrew Sheets: Something like that. Yeah. Seth Carpenter: Yeah. So that's a reasonable forecast. It's not too far away from our house view. For us to end up with a policy rate that's substantially away from that – call it 1 percentage, 2 percentage points away from that. I just don't see that as likely to happen. Because the committee can be led, can be swayed by the chair, but not to the tune of 1 or 2 percentage points. And so, I think for all those reasons, there wasn't that much surprise and there wasn't, for me, a big reason to fully reevaluate where we think the Fed's going. Andrew Sheets: So let me actually dig into that a little bit more because I know our listeners tune in every day to hear a lot about government meetings. But this is a case where that really matters because I think there can sometimes be a misperception around the power of this position. And it's both one of the most public important positions in the world of finance. And yet, as you mentioned, it is overseeing a committee where the majority matters. And so, can you take us just a little bit inside those discussions? I mean, how does the Fed Chair interact with their colleagues? How do they try to convince them and persuade them to take a particular course of action? Seth Carpenter: Great question. And you're right, I sort of spent a bunch of time there at the Fed. I started when Greenspan was chair. I worked under the Bernanke Fed. And of course, for the end of that, Janet Yellen was the vice chair. So, I've worked with her. Jay Powell was on the committee the whole time. So, the cast of characters quite familiar and the process is important. So, I would say a few things. The chair convenes the meetings; the chair creates the agenda for the meeting. The chair directs the staff on what the policy documents are that the committee is going to get. So, there's a huge amount of influence, let's say, there. But in order to actually get a specific outcome, there really is a vote. And we only have to look back a couple weeks to the last FOMC meeting when there were two dissents against the policy decision. So, dissents are not super common. They don't happen at every single meeting, but they're not unheard of by any stretch of the imagination either. And if we go back over the past few years, lots going on with inflation and how the economy was going was uncertain. Chair Powell took some dissents. If we go back to the financial crisis Chair Bernanke took a bunch of dissents. If we go back even further through time, Paul Volcker, when he was there trying to staunch the flow of the high inflation of the 1970s, faced a lot of resistance within his committee. And reportedly threatened to quit if he couldn't get his way. And had to be very aggressive in trying to bring the committee along. So, the chair has to find a way to bring the committee along with the plan that the chair wants to execute. Lots of tools at their disposal, but not endless power or influence. Does that make sense? Andrew Sheets: That makes complete sense. So, maybe my final question, Seth, is this is a tough job. This is a tough job in… Seth Carpenter: You mean your job and my job, or… Andrew Sheets: [Laughs] Not at all. The chair of the Fed. And it seems especially tricky now. You know, inflation is above the Fed's target. Interest rates are still elevated. You know, certainly mortgage rates are still higher than a lot of Americans are used to over the last several years. And asset prices are high. You know, the valuation of the equity market is high. The level of credit spreads is tight. So, you could say, well, financial conditions are already quite easy, which can create some complications. I am sure Kevin Warsh is receiving lots of advice from lots of different angles. But, you know, if you think about what you've seen from the Fed over the years, what would be your advice to a new Fed chair – and to navigate some of these challenges? Seth Carpenter: I think first and foremost, you are absolutely right. This is a tough job in the best of times, and we are in some of the most difficult and difficult to understand macroeconomic times right now. So, you noted interest rates being high, mortgage rates being high. There's very much an eye of the beholder phenomenon going on here. Now you're younger than I am. The first mortgage I had. It was eight and a half percent. Andrew Sheets: Hmm. Seth Carpenter: I bought a house in 2000 or something like that. So, by those standards, mortgage rates are actually quite low. So, it really comes down to a little bit of what you're used to. And I think that fact translates into lots of other places. So, inflation is now much higher than the committee's target. Call it 3 percent inflation instead core inflation on PCE, rather than 2 percent inflation target. Now, on the one hand that's clearly missing their target and the Fed has been missing their target for years. And we know that tariffs are pushing up inflation, at least for consumer goods. And Chair Powell and this committee have said they get that. They think that inflation will be temporary, and so they're going to look through that inflation. So again, there's a lot of judgment going on here. The labor market is quite weak. Andrew Sheets: Hmm. Seth Carpenter: We don't have the latest months worth of job market data because of the government shutdown; that'll be delayed by a few days. But we know that at the end of last year, non-farm payrolls were running well below 50,000. Under most circumstances, you would say that is a clear indication of a super weak economy. But! But if we look at aggregate spending data, GDP, private-domestic final purchases, consumer spending, CapEx spending. It's actually pretty solid right now. And so again, that sense of judgment; what's the signal you're going to look for? That's very, very difficult right now, and that's part of what the chair is going to have to do to try to bring the committee together, in order to come to a decision. So, one intellectually coherent argument is – the main way you could get strong aggregate demand, strong spending numbers, strong GDP numbers, but with pretty tepid labor force growth is if productivity is running higher and if productivity is going higher because of AI, for example, over time you could easily expect that to be disinflationary. And if it's disinflationary, then you can cut it. Interest rates now. Not worry as much as you would normally about high inflation. And so, the result could be a lower path for policy rates. So that's one version of the argument that I suspect you're going to hear. On the other hand, inflation is high and it's been high for years. So what does that mean? Well. History suggests that if inflation stays too high for too long, inflation psychology starts to change the way businesses start to set. Andrew Sheets: Mm-hmm. Seth Carpenter: Their own prices can get a little bit loosey-goosey. They might not have to worry as much about consumers being as picky because everybody's got used to these price changes. Consumers might be become less picky because, well, they're kind of sick of shopping around. They might be more willing to accept those higher prices, and that's how things snowball. So, I do think that the new chair is going to face a particularly difficult situation in leading a committee in particularly challenging times. But I've gone on for a long, long time there. And one of the things that I love about getting to talk to you, Andrew, is the fact that you also talked to lots of investors all around the world. You're based in London. And so when the topic of the new Fed chair comes up, what are the questions that you're getting from clients? Andrew Sheets: So, I think that there are a few questions that stand out. I mean, I think a dominant question among investors was around the stability of the U.S. dollar. And so, you could say a good development on the back of Kevin Warsh's nomination is that the market response to that has been the price action you would associate with more stability. You've seen the dollar rise; you've seen precious metals prices fall. You've seen equity markets and credit spreads be very stable. So, I think so far everything in the market reaction is to your; to the point that you raised, you know, consistent with this still being orthodox policy. Every Fed chair is different, but still more similar than different now. I think where it gets more divergent in client opinions is just – what are we going to see from the Fed? Are we going to see a real big change in policy? And I think that this is where there are very different views of Kevin Warsh from investors. Some who say, ‘Well, he's in the past talked about fighting inflation more aggressively, which would imply tighter policy.' And he's also talked more recently about the productivity gains from AI and how that might support lower interest rates. So, I think that there's going to be a lot of interest when he starts to speak publicly, when we see testimony in front of the Senate. I think the other, the final piece, which I think again, people do not have as fully formed an opinion on yet is – how does he lead the Fed if the data is unexpected? And you know, you mentioned inflation and, you know, Morgan Stanley has this forecast that: Well, owner's equivalent rent, a really key part of inflation, might be a little bit higher than expected, which might be a distortion coming off of the government shutdown and impacts on data. But there's some real uncertainty about the inflation path over the near term. And so, in short, I think investors are going to give the benefit of the doubt. For now, I think they're going to lean more into this idea that it will be generally consistent with the Fed easing policy over time, for now. Generally consistent with a steeper curve for now. But I think there's a lot we're going to find out over the next couple of weeks and months. Seth Carpenter: Yeah. No, I agree with you. Andrew, I have to say, I'm glad you're here in New York. It's always great to sit down and talk to you. Let's do it again before too long. Andrew Sheets: Absolutely, Seth. Thanks for taking the time to talk. And to our audience, thank you as always for your time. If you find Thoughts the Market useful, let us know by leaving a review wherever you listen. And also tell a friend or colleague about us today.

Unpacking the regulatory path forward for prediction markets with Coinbase Litigation Head Ryan VanGrack. Coinbase's VP of Legal and Global Head of Litigation, Ryan VanGrack, joins Jennifer Sanasie and Renato Mariotti to discuss why the company is challenging state regulators to ensure a unified federal framework for prediction markets. He also shares why he believes bipartisan market structure legislation is still on the table despite recent setbacks. - Timestamps: 01:10 - The CFTC's Response to Kalshi's Insider Trading Accusations02:38 - Why Coinbase is Suing the States03:41 - Prediction Markets vs. Sports Betting08:14 - The States Are "Gaslighting" the Public on Prediction Markets11:31 - Is Market Structure Still Possible?15:58 - Addressing Concerns About Coinbase's Role in Stalled Market Structure Legislation - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie and Renato Mariotti .

Nvidia beat Wall Street's estimates on Wednesday as the company continued to benefit from the boom in AI infrastructure, and HSBC is on track to deliver cost savings earlier than planned. Plus, Iran looks to tempt US President Donald Trump with investments in order to stave off war, and the FT's Robert Smith explains how Deutsche Bank rolled out the red carpet for Jeffrey Epstein. Mentioned in this podcast:Nvidia rallies on robust earnings powered by AI investment boomHSBC shares hit record as bank accelerates cost savings and lifts targetIran to offer ‘commercial bonanza' to US companiesHow Deutsche Bank rolled out the red carpet for Jeffrey EpsteinNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig, and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brittney Justice is the Global Head of Privacy at Valvoline Inc., leading the company's privacy strategy. She works at the intersection of data privacy, technology, and AI, advising on governance and risk at scale. Brittney also serves on the IAPP Privacy Law Advisory Board, shaping the future of privacy law. In this episode… Privacy and security leaders operate in an environment where innovation moves quickly, and risk evolves just as fast. That's why global companies need to maintain one consistent privacy program and layer in jurisdiction-specific requirements as privacy laws evolve. At the same time, organizations are adopting new AI tools while deepfakes and executive impersonation threats introduce new reputational challenges. How can companies enable innovation while staying ahead of emerging privacy and security risks?  When privacy and security teams are pulled into projects early, relationships strengthen, and teams no longer hesitate to involve them in new initiatives. Instead of being seen as gatekeepers, they become part of the conversation, strengthening trust and collaboration across business teams and prompting proactive issue spotting. That same discipline applies when evaluating and managing AI tools, where privacy leaders need to coordinate with business teams to understand what the tool will accomplish and how it could affect the company. This requires asking: what problem is being solved, what data is involved, and what the real impact would be if something goes wrong, especially when third-party vendors and model training are involved. That same mindset is critical to educating employees about AI deepfakes and executive impersonation risks, as coordinated response planning can reduce impact.  In this episode of She Said Privacy/He Said Security, Jodi and Justin Daniels talk with Brittney Justice, Global Head of Privacy at Valvoline Inc., about building a globally consistent privacy program while supporting business growth and managing emerging AI risks. Brittney explains her approach to building and maintaining one strong global privacy program without creating separate versions for every applicable jurisdiction, and the importance of embedding privacy and security teams into projects early to identify risks. She also shares tips on evaluating new AI tools, managing third-party and AI model training risks, and using executive deepfake simulations to strengthen employee awareness and establish clear escalation paths.

AI is changing communications and marketing faster than most organizations can keep up.In this in-depth conversation, I'm joined by Ephraim Cohen, Global Head of Data and Digital at FleischmanHillard, to explore how leading agencies are actually using AI in real workflows, not as experiments, but as everyday tools that improve strategy, creativity, and decision making.

US President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address last night, Europe's largest investment banks delivered their highest trading revenues in at least a decade in 2025, and UK self-driving start-up Wayve has raised $1.2bn in new funding. Plus, people are returning to Afghanistan in droves, but there are questions over whether the country can support this massive influx.Mentioned in this podcast:European traders celebrate decade-beating performanceUK AI start-up Wayve raises $1.2bn from carmakers and Big TechMillions of people are returning to Taliban-run AfghanistanFind a discounted subscription to FT.com here: ft.com/briefingsaleNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michael Lello and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Debtwired Podcast, host Madalina Iacob is joined by Wariz Anifowoshe, Head of Restructuring at Fortress Investment Group, Kevin Fortunato, Portfolio Manager at Benefit Street Partners, and Scott Greenberg, Global Head of Restructuring at Gibson Dunn. A central theme of the discussion is AI-driven disruption, particularly in software, and how investors are positioning defensively while selectively hunting for opportunities. Panelists emphasize that AI risk is already reshaping maturity extensions, underwriting assumptions, and liability management decisions, especially for businesses facing rapid technological change. The group also explores what's driving the unprecedented speed at which loans are trading down from CLO technicals, group-formation risk, and growing familiarity with liability management exercises (LMEs). Speakers expect both more LMEs and an uptick in Chapter 11 filings this year, including failed LMEs from prior vintages where balance sheets were fixed, but businesses were not. They unpack why LMEs are neither inherently successes nor failures, why every situation is bespoke, and how sponsors and not creditors typically set these processes in motion. Finally, the speakers conclude that cooperation agreements (co-ops) remain an essential and widely used tool for collective creditor action, and there has been no meaningful slowdown in their use since Optimum filed an anti-co-op lawsuit against its creditors.

US software stocks were hit with a fresh burst of selling on Monday as investors fretted that AI will upend the industry, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz heads to China this week to discuss trade. Plus, the FT's Ben Hall explains where things stand in the Ukraine war four years after Russia's full-scale invasion.Mentioned in this podcast:US software and private capital shares hit with fresh wave of sellingWhat Friedrich Merz is going to tell Xi JinpingVolodymyr Zelenskyy urges Donald Trump to see through Russia's ‘games'Find a discounted digital subscription here: ft.com/briefingsaleNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michela Tindera, Gavin Kallmann, and Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate resilience is no longer a distant or abstract concern for businesses. From rising heat and water stress to supply chain disruption and higher operating costs, quieter climate impacts are already shaping how companies plan, invest, and compete.   In this episode of The Optimistic Outlook, Erika Gupta, Global Head of Sustainability at Siemens Financial Services, is joined by Harry Morrison, Partner at Bain & Company, to explore what resilience really means for business today. Together, they discuss how severe weather dynamics show up in day-to-day operations, why action often lags even when risks are well understood, and how better data, analytics, and AI are helping leaders see and respond to risk more clearly.   The conversation looks beyond risk avoidance to examine how resilience can strengthen performance, support long-term growth, and help organizations make better decisions. Show notes: Transcript: https://assets.ctfassets.net/17si5cpawjzf/7oJC8z0fb4YhwgrsW8J3qS/26d5cd98a0e31eed2aa98fe01efdc021/022426-gupta-morrison-optimistic-outlook-transcript.pdf The CEO Playbook for Climate Resilience: https://www.bain.com/insights/the-ceo-playbook-for-climate-resilience-ceo-sustainability-guide-2025/ Infrastructure Transition Monitor: https://www.siemens.com/en-us/company/sustainability/infrastructure-transition-monitor-report/?acz=1&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23448235816&gbraid=0AAAAADEuPPM0SpA6QyiRjstvf154OVNCH&gclid=CjwKCAiAs4HMBhBJEiwACrfNZZfbMu0Y94Sr06CXOu6gggqnHIgCTHIGpLEg3pq4lkJc9YT5YM_DOBoCfGgQAvD_BwE Digital Business Optimizer: https://www.dbo.siemens.com/?utm_source=optimistic_outlook_podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=optimistic_outlook_podcast_with_bain_on_resilience&utm_id=E-qftC

At Pfizer, the employer brand is an experiment in progress where hypotheses are constantly tested to improve activation. We learn how they measure their progress as they go and weave employer brand concepts into the recruitment process. Anne Kennedy Dotson is the Global Head of Employer Brand, Recruitment Marketing & University Relations at Pfizer. Anne Kennedy Dotson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-kennedy-dotson-8362128/ Careers at Pfizer: https://www.pfizer.com/about/careers Subscribe to this podcast: https://employerbrandingpodcast.com Measure your employer brand: https://employerbrandindex.co Thanks for tuning in!

If your event bar still treats non-alcoholic drinks as an afterthought, we need to talk. I'm sitting down LIVE with Kevin Morgan, Global Head of Tempo by Hilton and a 24-year hospitality veteran who has worked his way through Hilton from front desk agent to brand leadership. Kevin also helped lead Hilton's global CleanStay response—so when he talks about safety, execution, and systems, he's lived it at scale. We're talking about Tempo's Free-Spirited beverage program—a non-alcoholic strategy that gives NA cocktails equal billing, thoughtful design, and operational clarity. Not a mocktail menu. Not a compromise. A deliberate approach to inclusion, guest experience, and risk management. Here's why this matters for planners and suppliers: ▶︎ Bars are social hubs at events—but alcohol-centric design excludes more guests than you think ▶︎ Inclusive beverage programs reduce pressure, improve guest confidence, and expand revenue opportunities ▶︎ Small operational details (like how drinks are marked and served) can prevent costly mistakes ▶︎ Fresh ingredients, reduced waste, and intentional partnerships can support sustainability without adding complexity Kevin will share how guest data—not personal preference—drives brand decisions, why inclusion is a baseline expectation, and how Tempo's beverage strategy connects safety, sustainability, and belonging in real, executable ways for hotels, venues, and events. If you plan events, design menus, manage food & beverage, or work with hospitality brands, this conversation will change how you think about what's in the glass—and who feels welcome holding it.

Dublin Tech Summit has revealed the first of its confirmed keynote speakers for Ireland's flagship tech event taking place this May. Returning for its tenth edition, Dublin Tech Summit 2026 will feature some of the world's biggest tech companies spanning sectors including AI and cybersecurity, fintech, new media, and more. The conference will serve as the marquee event during the second annual Dublin Tech Week, a week-long celebration of innovation, community, and collaboration running from 22 – 29 May. John Willett, co-founder and COO of Rogo, and one of fintech's emerging leaders, will be joining the conference this year. This January, Rogo raised $75 million from Sequoia Capital, a significant milestone. As the company opens its first international office in London to accelerate expansion across Europe, John is leading the charge on the ground, building strategic partnerships with European financial institutions and driving successful implementation and adoption. Recognised on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, John represents a new generation of operators scaling high-growth technology companies onto the global stage. Dublin Tech Summit will also host Paul Hourican, Head of Creative Industries at Napier Capital Partners. Paul has extensive experience in the music industry, having acted as Global Head of Music at TikTok, Head of Talent and Music at MTV, and senior leadership roles at YouTube. His deep understanding of creative industries, digital transformation, and audience engagement positions him as a leading voice on the evolving relationship between music, media, and technology. Ken Moore, Chief Innovation Officer of Mastercard will also be joining Dublin Tech Summit as a keynote speaker. A veteran of the tech industry, Ken brings decades of experience leading large-scale digital transformation across global organisations. He is widely recognised for his expertise in driving innovation within complex ecosystems, advancing secure digital payments infrastructure, and embedding emerging technologies into enterprise strategy to deliver long-term growth and resilience. Other Dublin Tech Summit speakers will include Bianca Zwart, Chief Strategy Officer at Bunq, Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of FreeNow, Sigurdur Arnason, co-founder and CEO of Overtune, and Eric Mosley, founder and CEO of Workhuman, with more to be announced soon. With a lineup of top-tier speakers, the conference will feature impactful platforms that bring together high-growth startups, disruptive scaleups, and forward-thinking industry leaders to explore the forces shaping the tech world-and beyond. This will include the Tech Hive stage which, through a unique silent-disco format, will showcase deep technical content from areas of quantum computing, cybersecurity, and blockchain. The Tech Hive stage represents the cutting edge of deep tech exploration, where developers, engineers, and technical innovators come together to tackle complex challenges in AI, software development, and emerging technologies. Clare Kilmartin, Chief Operating Officer, Dublin Tech Summit, said: "Since the first Dublin Tech Summit ten years ago, we've grown into one of the impactful tech events in Europe, uniting thought leaders from across the globe to foster conversation, innovation, and collaboration. This year's line-up of speakers represents the forefront of technological innovation, and highlights the calibre of our event." Dublin Tech Week, 22 – 29 May 2026: A Collaborative Celebration Of Innovation In Dublin brings together the city's tech leaders, educators, creatives and public through a vibrant series of events, showcasing Dublin as a dynamic global tech hub. As the flagship event of the week-long celebration of all things tech, Dublin Tech Summit highlights STEM engagement, fosters connections and the intersection of tech, culture, work and everyday life. See more stories here.

The US Supreme Court's decision to strike down President Donald Trump's use of emergency tariff powers is raising questions about existing trade deals, federal revenues, and the impact to American business. Plus, how JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon is preparing to spend a record $2bn a week.Mentioned in this podcast:Trump's new flat-rate tariff will boost China and BrazilWhat does Trump's latest tariff threat mean for his previous trade pacts?Corporate America demands refunds after Donald Trump's tariffs are struck downDonald Trump's tariffs send corporate America's import costs spirallingUS banks enjoyed record profits of $300bn in 2025Dimon seeks to sell JPMorgan investors on $2bn-a-week costs bill FT News Briefing subscription saleNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig, and produced by Julia Webster. Our show was mixed by Alex Higgins. Additional help from Peter Barber. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary: Autonomy and artificial intelligence are going to have a massive impact upon aircraft, mission systems, weapons, battle management, and other command and control functions. But it isn't enough to just write the algorithms for the autonomy and AI—we'll need to train them to effectively coordinate with human teammates, rapidly adjust to a dynamic threat environment, adhere to commander's intent, and afford sufficient insight for legal and reliability analysis. All of that involves capturing and curating data to promote warfighter context and relevant mission data. Lean more about this as Heather Penney chats with a team of AI experts and former warfighters, including Robert “Bobaloo” Rickard and Mark “Drifter” Valentine. Credits: Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Producer: Shane Thin Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey Guest: Robert “Bobaloo” Rickard, Founder & CEO, RCG, Inc. Guest: Mark “Drifter” Valentine, Global Head of National Security Strategy, Skydio Links: Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mitchell.Institute.Aerospace LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nzBisb Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellstudies/ #MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #AI #Data #MilitaryTechnology

Donald Trump says the next 10 days will decide if the US strikes Iran or does a deal with the Islamic republic. Plus, the FT's Anjli Raval explains just how bad the job market is for new graduates, and hiring platform Greenhouse's CEO tells us his solutions. Mentioned in this podcast:Trump says he will decide in next 10 days if US will strike IranThe great graduate job drought Find a discounted digital subscription here: ft.com/briefingsaleNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts. Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Henry Larson and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kent Militzer. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serhan Secman, Global Head of CLOs at Napier Park, joins The CLO Investor podcast to discuss the CLO investing business, inefficiencies in the market and the three factors that negatively effected CLO equity in 2025.

FROM TALENT ACQUISITION TO TALENT OPERATIONS is a forward-looking show for TA leaders who can feel the function changing - but need clarity on what it is becoming.     We'll examine the rise of talent operations as a distinct capability, driven by automation across scheduling, screening, compliance, and workflow management. As logistics are increasingly handled by platforms and AI, the skills that matter inside TA are changing fast. Data literacy is no longer optional. Leaders must understand demand forecasting, funnel diagnostics, quality signals, and cost-to-hire at a systems level—not just at req level.   At the same time, employer branding is making a return to centre stage. In a market shaped by transparency, social proof, and candidate choice, brand and messaging once again shape hiring outcomes. Talent intelligence becomes the strategic core: mapping skills, supply, pay, location, and future demand to inform decisions across the business.   Meanwhile, execution is fragmenting. More organisations are moving actual recruiting delivery to on-demand models—combining RPO, freelance recruiters, and specialist vendors—while internal teams focus on orchestration, insight, and governance.   This livestream will unpack what world-class talent operations looks like in practice, how leading teams are reorganising today, and what capabilities TA leaders must build next.   Viewers will learn how to transition from recruiter-led execution to an operational, intelligence-driven TA model built for scale, flexibility, and impact.   We're with Jamie Leonard, Founder of Recruitment Events Co, Jennifer Candee, Global Head of TA Transformation (IMI), Trine Rulffs, on Friday 20th February, 2pm GMT. Register by clicking on the green button (save my spot) and follow the channel here (recommended)       Ep362 is sponsored by Greenhouse   91% of recruiters and hiring managers have spotted or suspected candidate deception in the hiring process. Enter Greenhouse Real Talent™. Cut through spam and misrepresentation in your pipeline, verify a candidate's identity, and quickly identify which applicants are most aligned with your role. Learn more and book a demo today:

Paul Mackel, Global Head of FX Research, looks at what's causing USD weakness and which currencies could stand to benefit.Click here for appropriate Disclosures, including analyst certifications, and Disclaimers that must be viewed with this podcast: https://www.research.hsbc.com/R/101/rdpJ66bStay connected and access free to view reports and videos from HSBC Global Investment Research follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/hsbcresearch/ or click here: https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/global-research.

Our Global Head of FX and EM Strategy James Lord and Global Chief Economist Seth Carpenter discuss what's driving the U.S. policy for the dollar and the outlook for other global currencies.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----James Lord: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm James Lord, Global Head of FX and EM Strategy at Morgan Stanley. Seth Carpenter:  And I'm Seth Carpenter, Morgan Stanley's Global Chief Economist and Head of Macro Research. James Lord: Today we're talking about U.S. currency policy and whether recent news on intervention and nominations to the Fed change anything for the outlook of the dollar. It's Thursday, February 19th at 3pm in London. So it's been an interesting few weeks in currency markets. Plenty of dollar selling going on But then, we got news that Kevin Warsh is going to be nominated to Chair of the Board of Governors. And that sent the dollar back higher, reminding everybody that monetary policy and central bank policy still matter. So, in the aftermath of the dollar-yen rate check, investors started to discuss whether or not the U.S. might be starting to target a weaker currency. Not just be comfortable with a weaker currency, but actually explicitly target a weaker currency, which would presumably be a shift away from the stronger strong dollar policy that Secretary Bessent referenced. So, what is your understanding? What do you think the strong dollar policy actually means? Seth Carpenter: Strong dollar policy, that's a phrase, that's a term; it's a concept that lots of Secretaries of the Treasury have used for a long time. And I specifically point to the Secretary of the Treasury because at least in the recent couple of decades, there has been in standard Washington D.C. approach to things, a strong dichotomy that currency policy is the policy of the Treasury Department, not of the central bank. And that's always been important. I remember when I was working at the Treasury Department, that was still part of the talking points that the secretary used. However, you also hear Secretaries of the Treasury say that exchange rates should be market determined; that that's a key part of it. And with the back and forth between the U.S. and China, for example, there was a lot of discussion: Was the Chinese government adjusting or manipulating the value of their currency? And there was a push that currencies should be market determined. And so, if you think about those two things, at the same time – pushing really hard that the dollar should be strong, pushing really hard that currencies should be market determined – you start to very quickly run into a bit of an intellectual tension. And I think all of that is pretty intentional. What does it mean? It means that there's no single clear definition of strong dollar policy. It's a little bit of the eye of the beholder. It's an acknowledgement that the dollar plays a clear key role in global markets, and it's good for the U.S. for that to happen. That's traditionally been what it means. But it has not meant a specific number relative to any other currency or any basket of currency. It has not meant a specific value based on some sort of long run theoretical fair value. It is always meant to be a very vague, deliberately so, very vague concept. James Lord: So, in that version of what the strong dollar policy means, presumably the sort of ambiguity still leaves space for the Treasury to conduct some kind of intervention in dollar-yen, if they wanted to. And that would still be very much consistent with that definition of the strong dollar policy. I also, in the back of my head, always wonder whether the strong dollar policy has anything to do with the dollar's global role. And the sort of foreign policy power that gives the Treasury in sanctions policy. And other areas where, you know, they can control dollar flows and so on. And that gives the U.S. government some leverage. And that allows them to project strength in foreign policy. Has that anything to do with the traditional versions of the strong policy? Seth Carpenter: Absolutely. I think all of that is part and parcel to it. But it also helps to explain a little bit of why there's never going to be a very crisp, specific numerical definition of what a strong dollar policy is.So, first and foremost, I think the discussion of intervention; I think it is, in lots of ways, consistent, especially if you have that more expansive definition of strong dollar, i.e. the currency that's very important, or most important in global financial markets and in global trade. So, I think in that regard, you could have both the intervention and the strong dollar at the same time. I will add though that the administration has not had a clear, consistent view in this regard, in the following very specific sense. When now Governor Myron was chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, he penned a piece on the Council of Economics website that said that the reserve currency status of the dollar had brought with it some adverse effects on the U.S., and in terms of what happened in terms of trade flows and that sort of thing.So again, this administration has also tried to find ways to increase the nuance about what the currency policy is, and putting forward the idea that too strong of a dollar in the FX sense. In the sense that you and your colleagues in FX markets would think about is a high valuation of the dollar relative to other currencies – could have contributed to these trade deficits that they're trying to push back against. So, I would say we went from the previous broad, perhaps vague definition of strong dollar. And now we're in an even murkier regime where there could be other motivations for changing the value of the dollar. Seth Carpenter: So, James, that's been our view in terms of the Fed, but let me come back to you because there are lots of different forces going on at the same time. The central bank is clearly an important one, but it's only one factor among many. So, if you think about where the dollar is likely to go over the next three months, over the next six months, maybe over the next year, what is it that you and your team are looking for? Where are the questions that you're getting from clients? James Lord: Yeah, so when we came into the start of this year, we did have a bearish view on the dollar. I would say that the drivers of it, we'd split up into two components. The first component was a lot more of the conventional stuff about growth expectations, what we see the Fed doing. And then there was another component to it where – what we defined as risk premia, I suppose. The more unconventional catalysts that can push the dollar around, as we saw, come very much to market attention during the second quarter of last year, when the Liberation Day tariffs were announced and the dollar weakened far in excess of what rate differentials would imply. And so, I would say so far this year, the majority of the dollar move that we've seen, the weakening in the dollar that we've seen, has been driven by that second component. What we've kind of called risk premia. And the conversations that, you know, investors have been having about U.S. policy towards Greenland, and then more recently, the conversations that people have been having around FX intervention following the dollar-yen rate check. These sorts of things have been really driving the currency up until , when the Kevin Warsh nomination was announced. When we look at the extent of the risk premia that we see in the dollar now, it is pretty close to the levels that we saw in the second quarter of last year, which is to say it's pretty big. Euro dollar would probably be closer to 1-10, if we were just thinking about the impact of rate differentials and none of this risk premia stuff over the past year had materialized. That's obviously a very big gap. And I think for now that gap probably isn't going to widen much further, particularly now that market attention is much more focused on the impact that Kevin Warsh will have on markets and the dollar. We also have, you know, the ECB and the Bank of England; , house call for those two central banks is for them to be cutting rates. That could also put some downward pressure on those currencies, relative to the dollar. So all of that is to say for some of the major currencies within the G10 space, like sterling, like euro against the dollar, this probably isn't the time to be pushing a weaker dollar. But I think there are some other currencies which still have some opportunity in the short term, but also over the longer run as well. And that's really in emerging markets. So all of that is to say, I think there is a strong monetary policy anchor for emerging market currencies. This is an asset class that has been under invested in for some time. And we do think that there are more gains there in the short term and over the medium term as well. Seth Carpenter: So on that topic, James, would you then agree? So if I think about some of the EM central banks, think about Banxico, think about the BCB – where the dollar falling in value, their currency gaining in value – that could actually have a couple things go on to allow the central bank, maybe to ease more than they would've otherwise. One, in terms of imported inflation, their currency strengthening on a relative basis probably helps with a bit lower inflation. And secondly, a lot of EM central banks have to worry a bit about defending their currency, especially in a volatile geopolitical time. And you were pointing to sort of lower volatility more broadly. So is this a reinforcing trend perhaps, where if the dollar is coming down a little bit, especially against DM currencies, it allows more external stability for those central banks, allowing them to just focus on their domestic mandates, which could also lead to a further reduction in their domestic rates, which might be good for investors. James Lord: Yeah, I think there's something to that. given the strength of emerging market currencies. There should be, over time, more space for them to ease if the domestic conditions warrant it. But so far we're not really seeing many EM central banks taking advantage of that opportunity. There is a sort of general pattern with a lot of EMs that they're staying pretty conservative and more hawkish than I think what markets have generally been expecting, and that's been supporting their currencies. I think it's interesting to think about what would happen if they're on the flip side. What would happen if they did start to push monetary easing at a faster pace? I'm sure on the days where that happens, the currencies would weaken a little bit. However, if the market backdrop is generally constructive on risk, and investors want to have exposure to EM – then what could ultimately happen is that asset managers will simply buy more bonds as they price in a lower path for central bank policy over time. And that causes more capital inflows. And that sort of overwhelms the knee jerk effect from the more dovish stance of monetary policy on the currency. You get more duration flows coming into the market and that helps their currency. So, yes, if EM central banks push back with more dovish policy, significantly, it could pose some short-term volatility. But assuming we remain a low-vol environment globally, I would use those as buying opportunities. Seth Carpenter: Thanks, James. It's been great being on the show with you. Thank you for inviting me, and I hope to be able to come back and join you at some point in the future if you'll have me. James Lord: Thank you, Seth, for making the time to talk. And to all you listening, thank you for lending us your ears. Let us know what you think of this podcast by leaving us a review. And if you enjoy Thoughts on the Market, tell a friend or colleague about us today.

JPMorgan Chase is in talks to provide banking services to US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, and investors have warned that loosening the UK's borrowing limits to fund more spending on defence would risk a bond market backlash and a self-defeating rise in borrowing costs. Plus, the White House says the New York Fed should be disciplined for a recent report, and a former investment banker is suing over her right to get eight hours of sleep per night. Mentioned in this podcast:JPMorgan in talks to bank for Trump's Board of PeaceGilt investors warn about ‘ruse' to fund higher UK defence spendingTrump adviser says New York Fed economists should be ‘disciplined' for publishing study on tariffsCan bankers be fired for demanding sleep? A US court will decideFT News Briefing subscription saleNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon and Victoria Craig. Our show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. Additional help from Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are excited to continue our NAPE COBT series with Scott Richardson, Global Head of Energy Investment Banking at RBC, and Craig Lande, Managing Director and Co-Head of RBC's Energy A&D practice, to explore what's driving today's asset markets. Scott is the former Co-Founder of Richardson Barr and has more than 40 years of energy investment banking experience across the sale of both public and private companies, private and public debt transactions, fairness opinions, general advisory and asset divestitures. Craig joined RBC Richardson Barr in 2005 and previously served as Vice President at Waterous & Co. He has over 25 years of broad experience in the U.S. A&D market, including the sale of assets and companies, fairness opinions, and general advisory. Mark Castiglione and Maynard were thrilled to host Scott and Craig. In our conversation, we explore the current asset market, with gas deals a much more significant share of the market amid a mix of new and returning buyers, including international capital (particularly Asia) pursuing Gulf Coast gas with LNG linkage. We discuss seller-friendly valuations driven by a scarcity premium and “four buckets” of demand (ABS-backed buyers, international buyers, strategics/publics, and private equity) competing for limited opportunities and fueling increasingly aggressive bid dynamics, including tighter bid rounds and more pre-emptive offers. We unpack ABS mechanics and their impact on PDP valuations, including the role of lower-cost capital and longer-dated hedging. We cover the disconnect between private-market asset valuations and public-market multiples, corporate M&A as a catalyst for future A&D supply, trading firms seeking physical commodity exposure, the return of commercial bank lending, and go-private considerations constrained by leverage. We examine how buyers are embedding inventory upside into valuations by assigning value to secondary and deeper zones, where pockets of new basin excitement remain (including the Rockies, Canada, and select international opportunities), how shifting regulatory dynamics have stimulated interest in New Mexico, and the evolving role of ABS financing and continuation vehicles. We also touch on whether AI is meaningfully changing transaction workflows, longer-term consolidation trends, the potential return of exploration capital domestically and abroad, and much more. It was a substantive and thought-provoking discussion. Many thanks to Scott and Craig for their time and thoughtful insights during a very busy week. Stay tuned for our final NAPE episode focused on exploration. Our best to you all!

Morgan Whyte, Senior Director, Global Head of TA and Employer Brand at Commvault, shows how early stability and unexpected family challenges forged her resilience and ownership mindset. She outlines the work ethic built through early jobs, the clarity gained from poor leadership, and the choice to pursue stretch roles that expanded her visibility and impact. The conversation reframes talent acquisition as a high-standards, high-empathy function where advocacy and proactive partnership drive results.Connect with host James Mackey on LinkedIn!  Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible! Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

Most brands think viral marketing takes months of planning and massive budgets. Nick Tran engineered it in 72 hours. In this segment from Marketing Trends, the former Global Head of Marketing at TikTok breaks down the exact reverse-engineered playbook that turned unknown creators like the Ocean Spray skateboarder into overnight viral sensations, and why the traditional 2-3 month campaign timeline is dead. From understanding why Nick tells marketing leaders to "kill your KPIs" and hire for intuition instead, to learning how he identified viral potential before it happened, this is a masterclass in speed-to-market and cultural relevance. If your team is still running 90-day campaign cycles while competitors are shipping in weeks, this framework will show you exactly what you're missing, and how to move faster without sacrificing quality. Chapters:00:00 - The Reverse-Engineered Playbook04:32 - Project Cheetah: 72 Hours to Viral09:15 - Moving Upmarket Without Losing Your Soul13:48 - Five Things Marketing Leaders Must Unlearn  This episode is brought to you by Lightricks. LTX is the all-in-one creative suite for AI-driven video production; built by Lightricks to take you from idea to final 4K render in one streamlined workspace.Powered by LTX-2, our next-generation creative engine, LTX lets you move faster, collaborate seamlessly, and deliver studio-quality results without compromise. Try it today at ltx.studio Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Meta has agreed to spend billions of dollars on millions of Nvidia's chips, and Warner Bros Discovery has reopened sale talks with Paramount. Plus, Christine Lagarde has decided to leave her post as president of the European Central Bank early, and US offshore wind companies are racing to bring projects online that can withstand Donald Trump's efforts to cripple the industry. Mentioned in this podcast:Nvidia secures multibillion-dollar Meta deal as it battles chip rivalsWarner Bros throws ownership battle open by giving Paramount a week to up its offerUS offshore wind farms try to withstand the force of Trump's wrathChristine Lagarde to leave the ECB before April 2027US restaurants downsize meals to counter anti-obesity drugs and affordability crisisNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Victoria Craig. Our show was mixed by Kent Militzer. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lashed out at Ukraine at a meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Budapest. Fund managers are betting against the US dollar. Shareholders push oil companies to accelerate growth. Plus, a new top contender in the FT's business school ranking.Mentioned in this podcast:Marco Rubio says Viktor Orbán's leadership is ‘essential' to US interestsMIT Sloan tops FT Global MBA Ranking for the first timeFund managers take most bearish stance on dollar for a decadeNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Josh Gabert Doyon, and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello and David da Silva. Executive producer Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominik Rus is the Global Head of Learning and Development Innovation and Technology at TTEC, where he sits at the intersection of learning science, AI, and business performance. In this episode of The Edge of Work, Dominik shares how his team approaches learning innovation with a clear philosophy of science first, AI second. He explains why scaling bad learning with new technology creates more problems than it solves, and how TTEC is using evidence based design, AI enabled practice, and agent driven tools to improve real world performance. The conversation also explores how learning roles are changing, what skills based and adaptive learning really mean, and what L&D leaders need to rethink as AI reshapes how work and learning get done.LinksDominik's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikrus/TTEC Case Study: https://writer.com/blog/ttec-customer-story/Article on TTEC's Learning Wizards: https://writer.com/blog/ttec-customer-story/ Dominik's Paper on Science First, AI Second: https://leonardo.institute/SPARK/September2025/ Dominik's Blog on AI and Learning Design: https://www.ttec.com/author/dominik-rus-global-head-learning-science-innovation-and-technology 

Ron Green is the partner CISO at 5OH Consulting and former cybersecurity fellow at Mastercard. In this episode, he joins host Kris Lovejoy, Global Head of Strategy at Kyndryl, to discuss his shift from an organizational role to a strategic vantage point, what CISOs today should be aware of, and more. As the global leader in IT infrastructure services, Kyndryl advances the mission-critical technology systems the world depends on every day. Collaborating with a vast network of partners and thousands of customers worldwide, Kyndryl's team of highly skilled experts develops innovative solutions that empower enterprises to achieve their digital transformation goals. Learn more about our sponsor at https://kyndryl.com.

Cross-border EU banking deals reached their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, and regulation reversals are hitting global electric-vehicle makers. Plus, soaring gold prices are affecting insurance coverage for precious metals storage, and how to make sense of recent AI-induced selloffs on Wall Street.Mentioned in this podcast:EU cross-border banking deals jump to highest since 2008 crisisEnd of EV euphoria triggers $65bn hit for carmakersSoaring gold price forces vaults to reduce insurance coverWall Street hunts next casualty from AI threat to white-collar workWall Street's anything-but-tech trade shakes up US stock marketCredit: White HouseNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig, and produced by Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Alex Higgins. Additional help from Peter Barber. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Text us your thoughts on the episode or the show!In this episode of Ops Cast, Michael Hartmann sits down with Jacqueline Freedman, CEO and Founder of Monarch Advisory Partners and Global Head of Advisory at The Martech Weekly, to discuss where modern marketing outreach has crossed the line from helpful to harmful.Jacqueline brings experience across B2B and B2C environments and challenges one of the most uncomfortable truths in marketing today: much of what we call cold outreach is still spam, just better branded. The conversation explores how incentive structures drive volume at the expense of trust, why deliverability issues are often symptoms of deeper misalignment, and what leaders need to rethink about how they show up in buyers' inboxes.They also discuss the difference between compliance and consent, how fragmented sending erodes inbox credibility, and why marketers cannot subject-line their way out of systemic problems. Along the way, Jacqueline shares what B2B can learn from B2C about respecting attention, and what B2C can learn from B2B about discipline, governance, and durability.What you will learn: • Why cold email fatigue is an incentive problem, not just a messaging problem • The behaviors that quietly damage deliverability over time • How to know when it is time to bring in specialized deliverability expertise • Why serious tone does not equal credibility in B2B • How to distinguish real thought leadership from polished noise • What responsibility operators have when narrative drifts from realityIf you care about sustainable growth, brand trust, and long-term deliverability, this episode will challenge how you think about outreach and accountability.Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review Ops Cast, and join the conversation at MarketingOps.com.Episode Brought to You By MO Pros The #1 Community for Marketing Operations Professionals We're an official media partner of B2BMX 2026 — the B2B Marketing Exchange — happening March 9-11 at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA. It's practitioner-focused with 50+ breakout sessions, keynotes, and hands-on workshops covering AI in B2B, GTM strategy, and advanced ABM. Real networking, real takeaways. And because we're a media partner, you get 20% off an All-Access Pass with code B2BMAOP at checkout. Head to b2bmarketing.exchange to grab your spot. MarketingOps.com is curating the GTM Ops Track at Demand & Expand (May 19-20, San Francisco) - the premier B2B marketing event featuring 600+ practitioners sharing real solutions to real problems. Use code MOPS20 for 20% off tickets, or get 35-50% off as a MarketingOps.com member. Learn more at demandandexpand.com.Support the show

What does a total portfolio approach look like inside an investment organization? Roger Urwin, Global Head of Investment Content at Willis Towers Watson, describes how TPA functions in practice, from new roles like the Chief Total Portfolio Officer to the governance structures, data, and decision frameworks that shape portfolio-wide thinking. Speaking with Mona Naqvi, Managing Director of Research, Advocacy, and Standards at CFA Institute, he discusses the guardrails that support disciplined decision-making, the skills and mindsets required to operate across silos, and why resilience, foresight, and systems thinking are becoming core investment competencies. Listen to the episode to understand how asset owners are applying a total portfolio lens in real-world investment organizations.

Dan Ives is the Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities and one of the most widely followed analysts covering AI and U.S. tech. This conversation was recorded live at Bitcoin Investor Week in New York. In this discussion, Dan explains why the recent selloff in software is disconnected from fundamentals, how AI CapEx is driving a fourth industrial revolution, and why U.S. tech remains structurally ahead. We also discuss the relationship between AI and bitcoin, the current risk-off environment, and why Dan believes we're still early in a multi-year tech bull cycle.======================Sign up for the Gemini Credit Card: https://gemini.com/pomp #GeminiCreditCard #CryptoRewards This video is sponsored by Gemini. All opinions expressed are my own and not influenced or endorsed by Gemini. Gemini-branded credit products are issued by WebBank. For more information regarding fees, interest, and other cost information, see Rates & Fees: https://gemini.com/legal/cardholder-agreement Some exclusions apply to instant rewards; these are deposited when the transaction posts. 4% back is available on up to $300 in spend per month for a year (then 1% on all other Gas, EV charging, and transit purchases that month). Spend cycle will refresh on the 1st of each calendar month. See Rewards Program Terms for details: https://gemini.com/legal/credit-card-rewards-agreement Checking if you're eligible will not impact your credit score. If you're eligible and choose to proceed, a hard credit inquiry will be conducted that can impact your credit score. Eligibility does not guarantee approval.======================Arch Public is an agentic trading platform that automates the buying and selling of your preferred crypto strategies. Sign up today at https://www.archpublic.com and start your automated trading strategy for free. No catch. No hidden fees. Just smarter trading.======================0:00 - Intro0:22 - Is the tech bull market over?1:55 - Why do people want U.S. software companies to fail?4:30 - If tech is up 20%, what happens to the S&P 500?6:16 - Are AI & Bitcoin actually connected?9:02 - Do power and data center constraints limit AI's upside?13:22 - How robotics will change labor & profits15:45 - Where does bitcoin go over the next few years?17:06 - Which tech companies are misunderstood or undervalued?19:30 - Are we near a market bottom?

Today's guest is Jim Reid, Global Head of Macro Research at Deutsche Bank. In today's episode, Jim walks through lessons from his annual report, The Ultimate Guide to Long-Term Investing, which covers over 200 years of market data from 56 countries. He explains why cash is one of the riskiest long-term assets, how inflation quietly destroys wealth, and why valuation is the single most reliable predictor of long-term returns. He also discusses how fiat money has reshaped bonds, gold, and equities since 1971.  To close, Jim reminds us that history consistently rewards investors who buy cheap, diversify globally, and respect long-term market cycles. (0:00) Starts (1:54) Importance of real vs nominal returns (5:36) Historical returns of gold (8:28) Global investment opportunities (18:06) Bond market performance and growth's impact on asset prices (23:11) Potential impact of AI (30:34) Valuation importance (37:03) Index weighting strategies (42:43) Predictors of bond performance and equity return distribution (47:01) Historical periods of high valuations (52:45) Global banking and stock market performance (55:12) Impact of AI on economics ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Sponsor: Visit ⁠⁠⁠Alpha Architect's 351 Education Center⁠⁠⁠ for use cases, tools, FAQs, upcoming launches, and more. Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more.  ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here!  ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration plans to roll back some tariffs, Schroders agrees to a US takeover, and Americans paid 90 per cent of the cost of US President Trump's tariffs last year. Plus, Goldman Sachs' top lawyer will depart the company over Epstein ties, and how to buy a law firm when you're not really allowed to.Mentioned in this podcast:Trump plans to roll back tariffs on metal and aluminium goodsSchroders boss reassured UK Treasury ahead of £9.9bn US takeoverAlphaville's annotated thoughts on the Schroders takeoverUS businesses and consumers pay 90% of tariff costs, New York Fed saysTop Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler to resign over Epstein linksHow to buy a law firm if you're not allowed to buy a law firmNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig, and produced by Fiona Symon and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Global Head of Fixed Income Research Andrew Sheets explains how key market indicators reflect a constructive view around the global cyclical outlook, despite a volatile start to 2026.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Andrew Sheets: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Andrew Sheets, Global Head of Fixed Income Research at Morgan Stanley. Today I'm going to talk about the unusual alignment of a number of key indicators. It's Thursday, February 12th at 2pm in London. A frustrating element of investing is that any indicator at any time can let you down. That makes sense. With so much on the line, the secret to markets probably isn't just one of a hundreds of data series that a thousand of us can access at the push of a button. But many indicators all suggesting the same? That's far more notable. And despite a volatile start to 2026 with big swings in everything from Japanese government bonds to software stocks, it is very much what we think is happening below the surface. Specifically, a variety of indicators linked to optimism around the global cyclical outlook are all stronger, all moving up and to the right. Copper, which is closely followed as an economically sensitive commodity, is up strongly. Korean equities, which have above average cyclicality and sensitivity to global trade is the best performing of any major global equity market over the last year. Financials, which lie at the heart of credit creation, have been outperforming across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. And more recently, year-to-date cyclicals and transports are outperforming. Small caps are leading, breadth is improving, and the yield curve is bear steepening. All of these are the outcomes that you'd expect, all else equal, if global growth is going to be stronger in the future than it is today. Now individually, these data points can be explained away. Maybe Copper is just part of an AI build out story. Maybe Korea is just rebounding off extreme levels of valuation. Maybe Financials are just about deregulation in a steeper yield curve. Maybe the steeper yield curve is just about the policy uncertainty. And small cap stocks have been long-term laggards – maybe every dog has its day. But collectively, well, they're exactly what investors will be looking for to confirm that the global growth backdrop is getting stronger, and we believe they form a pretty powerful, overlapping signal worthy of respect. But if things are getting better, how much is too much. In the face of easier fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policy, the market may focus on other signposts to determine whether we now have too much of a good thing. For example, is there signs of significant inflation on the horizon? Is volatility in the bond market increasing? Is the U.S. dollar deviating significantly from its fair value? Is the credit market showing weakness? And do stocks and credit now react badly when the data is good? So far, not yet. As we discussed on this program last week, long run inflation expectations in the U.S. and euro area remain pretty consistent with central bank targets. Expected volatility in U.S. interest rates has actually fallen year-to-date. The U.S. dollar's valuation is pretty close to what purchasing power parity would suggest. Credit has been very stable. And better than expected labor market data on Wednesday was treated well. Any single indicator can and eventually will let investors down. But when a broad set of economically sensitive signals all point in the same direction, we listen. Taken together, we think this alignment is still telling a story of supportive fundamental tailwinds while key measures of stress hold. Until that evidence changes, we think those signals deserve respect. Thank you as always, for your time. If you find Thoughts on the Market useful, let us know by leaving a review wherever you listen. And also tell a friend or colleague about us today.

Are smartphones and social media harming our kids—or is the truth more nuanced? In this episode of That's Total Mom Sense, journalist and mom of three Kanika Chadda Gupta sits down with Jacqueline Beauchere, Snapchat's Global Head of Platform Safety, for a thoughtful, data-driven conversation about parenting teens in a digital world. Together, they explore real online risks, how Snapchat differs from other platforms, and the tools parents can use—like Family Center and The Keys—to stay informed, involved, and proactive. This is not fear-mongering or permissiveness. It's problem-solving, empathy, and practical guidance for families navigating tech together.

Is commercial real estate setting up for a comeback in 2026? In this episode of The Real Wealth Show, Kathy Fettke sits down with Henry Chin, Global Head of Research at CBRE, to break down the latest outlook for U.S. and global property markets. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, investor demand for U.S. commercial real estate is strengthening. Henry shares why multifamily remains the top asset class, how Sunbelt oversupply compares to gateway city recovery, what "flight to quality" really means, and why office and retail could become surprising contrarian opportunities. He also explains what investors should expect from cap rates, Treasury yields, and potential Fed rate cuts in 2026. If you're underwriting deals or deciding when to buy or sell, this episode offers data-driven insights to help you invest smarter in the year ahead.

The US economy added 130,000 jobs in January, beating market expectations, and documents appear to contradict testimony Jes Staley gave about his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Plus, Bangladesh is holding its first elections since 2024's mass uprising. Mentioned in this podcast:Epstein trustee document contradicts Jes Staley testimonyUS economy far outstrips expectations to add 130,000 jobs in JanuaryAfter 17 years in exile, dynastic heir looks to lead BangladeshFind the latest season of Tech Tonic here: https://www.ft.com/tech-tonicNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said he visited Jeffrey Epstein's island with his family in late 2012, Cuba is struggling under the US fuel embargo, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning for elections in the spring. Plus, the FT's Camilla Paladino says oil major BP isn't getting enough credit for its turnaround.Mentioned in this podcast:Howard Lutnick says he visited Jeffrey Epstein's island in 2012Zelenskyy plans spring elections alongside referendum on peace dealBP isn't getting enough credit for its turnaroundBP becomes first oil major to suspend share buyback planCuba runs out of jet fuel as Donald Trump squeezes oil suppliesNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today's FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's Global Head of Audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Global Head of Thematic and Sustainability Research Stephen Byrd and U.S. Thematic and Equity Strategist Michelle Weaver lay out Morgan Stanley's four key Research themes for 2026, and how those themes could unfold across markets for the rest of the year. Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Stephen Byrd: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Stephen Byrd, Global Head of Thematic and Sustainability Research. Michelle Weaver: And I'm Michelle Weaver, U.S. Thematic and Equity Strategist. Stephen Byrd: I was recently on the show to discuss Morgan Stanley's four key themes for 2026. Today, a look at how those themes could actually play out in the real world over the course of this year. It's Tuesday, February 10th at 10am in New York. So one of the biggest challenges for investors right now is separating signal from noise. Markets are reacting to headlines by the minute, but the real drivers of long-term returns tend to move much more slowly and much more powerfully. That's why thematic analysis has been such an important part of how we think about markets, particularly during periods of high volatility. For 2026, our framework is built around four key themes: AI and tech diffusion, the future of energy, the multipolar world, and societal shifts. In other words, three familiar themes and one meaningful evolution from last year. So Michelle, let's start at the top. When investors hear four key themes, what's different about the 2026 framework versus what we laid out in 2025? Michelle Weaver: Well, like you mentioned before, three of our four key themes are the same as last year, so we're gonna continue to see important market impacts from AI and tech diffusion, the future of energy and the multipolar world.But our fourth key theme, societal shifts, is really an expansion of our prior key theme longevity from last year. And while three of the four themes are the same broad categories, the way they impact the market is going to evolve. And these themes don't exist in isolation. They collide and they intersect with one another, having other important market implications. And we'll talk about many of those intersections today as they relate to multiple themes. Let's start with AI. How does the AI and tech diffusion theme specifically evolve since last year? Stephen Byrd: Yeah. You know, you mentioned earlier the evolution of all of our themes, and that was certainly the case with AI and tech diffusion. What I think we'll see in 2026 is a few major evolutions. So, one is a concept that we think of as two worlds of LLM progress and AI adoption; and let me walk through what I mean by that. On LLM progress, we do think that the handful of American LLM developers that have 10 times the compute they had last year are going to be training and producing models of unprecedented capability. We do not think the Chinese models will be able to keep up because they simply do not have the compute required for the training. And so we will see two worlds, very different approaches. That said, the Chinese models are quite excellent in terms of providing low cost solutions to a wide range of very practical business cases. So that's one case of two worlds when we think about the world of AI and tech diffusion. Another is that essentially we could see a really big gap between what you can do with an LLM and what the average user is actually doing with LLMs. Now there're going to be outliers where really leaders will be able to fully utilize LLMs and achieve fairly substantial and breathtaking results. But on average, that won't be the case. And so you'll see a bit of a lag there. That said, I do think when investors see what those frontier capabilities are, I think that does eventually lead to bullishness. So that's one dynamic. Another really big dynamic in 2026 is the mismatch between compute demand and compute supply. We dove very deeply into this in our note, and essentially where we come out is we believe, and our analysis supports this, that the demand for compute is going to be systematically much higher than the supply. That has all kinds of implications. Compute becomes a very precious resource, both at the company level, at the national level. So those are a couple of areas of evolution.So Michelle, let's shift over to the future of energy, which does feel very different today than it did a year ago. Can you kind of walk through what's changed? Michelle Weaver: Well, we absolutely still think that power is one of the key bottlenecks for data center growth. And our power modeling work shows around a 47 gigawatt shortfall before considering innovative time to power solutions. We get down to around a 10 to 20 percent shortfall in power needed in the U.S. though, even after considering those solutions. So power is still very much a bottleneck. But the power picture is becoming even more challenged for data centers, and that's largely because of a major political overhang that's emerging. Consumers across the U.S. have seen their electricity bills rise and are increasingly pointing to data centers as the culprit behind this. I really want to emphasize though this is a nuanced issue and data center power demand is driving consumer bills higher in some areas like the Mid-Atlantic. But this isn't the case nationwide and really depends on a number of factors like data center density in the region and whether it's a regulated or unregulated utility market.But public perception has really turned against data centers and local pushback is causing planned data centers to be canceled or delayed. And you're seeing similar opinions both across political affiliations and across different regional areas. So yes, in some areas data centers have impacted consumer power bills, but in other areas that hasn't been the case. But this is good news though, for companies that offer off-grid power generation, who are able to completely insulate consumers because they're not connecting to the grid.Stephen, the multipolar theme was already strong last year. Why has it become even more central for 2026? Stephen Byrd: Yeah, you're right. It was strong in 2025. In fact, of our 21 categories of stocks, the top three performing were really driven by multipolar world dynamics. Let me walk through three areas of focus that we have for multipolar world in 2026. Number one is an aggressive U.S. policy agenda, and that's going to show up in a number of ways. But examples here would be major efforts to reshore manufacturing, a real evolution in military spending towards a wide range of newer military technologies, reducing power prices and inflation more broadly. And also really focusing on trying to eliminate dependency on China for rare earths. So that's the first big area of focus. The second is around AI technology transfer. And this is quite closely linked to rare earths. So here's the dynamic as we think about U.S. and China. China has a commanding position in rare earths. The United States has a leading position in access to computational resources. Those two are going to interplay quite a bit in 2026. So, for example, we have a view that in 2026, when those American models, these LLMs achieve these step changes up in capabilities that China cannot match, we think that it's very likely that China may exert pressure in terms of rare earths access in order to force the transfer of technology, the best AI technology to China. So that's an example of this linkage between AI and rare earths. And the last dynamic, I'd say broadly, would be the politics of energy, which you described quite well. I think that's going to be a big multipolar world dynamic everywhere around the world. A focus on how much of an impact our data centers are having – whether it's water access, price of power, et cetera. What are the impacts to jobs? And that's going to show up in a variety of policy actions in 2026. Michelle Weaver: Mm-hmm. Stephen Byrd: So Michelle, the last of our four key themes is societal shifts, and you walked through that briefly before. This expands on our prior longevity work. What does this broader framing capture? Michelle Weaver: Societal shifts will include important topics from longevity still. So, things like preparing for an aging population and AI in healthcare. But the expansion really lets us look at the full age range of the demographic spectrum, and we can also now start thinking about what younger consumers want. It also allows us to look at other income based demographics, like what's been going on with the K-economy, which has been an important theme around the world. And a really critical element, though, of this new theme is AI's impact on the labor market. Last year we did a big piece called The Future of Work. And in it we estimated that around 90 percent of jobs would be impacted by AI. I want to be clear: That's not to say that 90 percent of jobs would be lost by AI or automated by AI. But rather some task or some component of that job could be automated or augmented using AI. And so you might have, you know, the jobs of today looking very different five years from now. Workers are adaptable and, and we do expect many to reskill as part of this evolving job landscape. We've talked about the evolution of our key themes, but now let's focus a little on the results. So how have these themes actually performed from an investment standpoint? Stephen Byrd: Yeah. I was very happy with the results in 2025. When we looked across our categories of thematic stocks; we have 21 categories of thematic stocks within our four big themes. On average in 2025, our thematic stock categories outperformed MSCI World by 16 percent and the S&P 500 by 27 percent respectively. So, I was very happy with that result. When you look at the breakdown, it is interesting in terms of the categories, you did really well. As I mentioned, the top three were driven by multipolar world. That is Critical Minerals, AI Semis, and Defense. But after that you can see a lot of AI in Energy show up. Power in AI was a big winner. Nuclear Power did extremely well. So, we did see other categories, but I did find it really interesting that multipolar world really did top the charts in 2025. Michelle Weaver: Mm-hmm. Stephen Byrd: Michelle, thanks for taking the time to talk. Michelle Weaver: Great speaking with you, Steven. Stephen Byrd: And thanks for listening. If you enjoy Thoughts on the Market, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share the podcast with a friend or colleague today.

Today's guest on The Long View is Sara Devereaux. Sara is the Chief Investment Officer of Vanguard Capital Management and Global Head of Fixed Income. She oversees the investment professionals responsible for portfolio management, trading, and research for Vanguard's internally managed fixed-income funds and ETFs, including actively managed bond and money market portfolios and bond index portfolios. Before joining Vanguard in 2019, Sara was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she spent over 20 years in mortgage-backed securities and structured products trading and sales. Earlier in her career, she worked at HSBC, in risk management advisory and interest rate derivative structuring. She started her career as an actuary at AXA Equitable Life Insurance. Barron has named Sara to its annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance every year since 2022.Episode Highlights00:00:00 Vanguard's Investing Philosophy and New Innovations00:06:20 Active Fixed-Income Strategy and the Alpha Waterfall00:13:34 ETF's Explosion, Active Management, and Private Credit Risk00:23:10 How Technology Is Reshaping the Bond Market00:29:51 Bond Market Performance 2025, Bonds as Ballasts, and Term Premiums00:37:27 Bond Market Risks in 202600:42:51 Shifting Policy Crosswinds, Cracks in Credit, and AI Capex Risks00:50:18 Technical Signals to Watch in 2026Books MentionedStay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index RevolutionMore From MorningstarVanguard's Sara Devereux: Why It's a ‘Terrific Environment' for Bond IncomeSalim Ramji: The Industry Uses Complexity As a Mask to Charge MoreMorningstar's Guide to Fixed-Income InvestingIf you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine's weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.