Podcasts about MPC

===== MDJ Script/ Top Stories for January 16th Publish Date:  January 16th    Commercial: From the BG AD Group Studio, Welcome to the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast.    Today is Friday, January 16th and Happy Birthday to Albert Pujols I’m Keith Ippolito and here are the stories Cobb is talking about, presented by Times Journal 50th Annual Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival Community holds out hope for Ted's Montana Grill on Marietta Square Cobb advances 2028 SPLOST, sets community meetings Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on raw milk All of this and more is coming up on the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!  BREAK: INGLES 6 STORY 1: 50th Annual Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival  Mark your calendars—April 18 and 19 is the 50th Annual Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival, brought to you by Superior Plumbing. It’s all happening in downtown Kennesaw, with hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. What’s in store? Over 250 arts and crafts booths, fair food galore, a beer garden, kids’ activities, and live acoustic music in the food court all weekend. Don’t miss the Georgia Grown Member Village, showcasing local goods from across the state. Scott Thompson of Brother Mojo will play at the 1885 Grill food court, while the United Bankshares Amphitheater and Main Street’s entertainment stage will feature local dance groups, school choirs, and more. Admission’s free, and parking’s available at Adams Park, Kennesaw First Baptist, and Swift-Cantrell Park, with shuttles running from Swift-Cantrell. Questions? Call 770-423-1330 or email missy@jrmmanagement.com. STORY 2: Community holds out hope for Ted's Montana Grill on Marietta Square  So, Ted’s Montana Grill is out. The long-vacant lot at 77 North Park Square stays empty, and the bison burgers? Not happening—at least for now. CEO George McKerrow, a Cobb local, said the decision came after a wave of public backlash. “In 50 years in this business, I’ve never seen this kind of vitriol,” he said. But here’s the twist: the tide on social media had actually shifted. By the time Ted’s pulled out, most comments were supportive. Even Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin invited McKerrow to walk the Square and reconsider. The lot’s been an eyesore since 2010, and Councilman Johnny Walker, who’s been pushing for something—anything—to fill the space, is frustrated. “If Ted’s doesn’t come back, it could be years before anyone else steps up,” he said. The $5 million project was ready to go: a 4,311-square-foot building designed to match the Square’s historic charm. But now? It’s back to square one. STORY 3: Cobb advances 2028 SPLOST, sets community meetings  Cobb County’s 2028 SPLOST plan is officially in motion. On Tuesday, commissioners gave a unanimous thumbs-up to a preliminary list of projects, kicking off months of public input. What’s on the table? Everything from new fire stations and libraries to pedestrian safety upgrades and a $30 million aquatic center. The total? A hefty $790 million. Chair Lisa Cupid called it a balancing act: “Every dollar has a constituency. We need projects that move the county forward but also maintain the basics—roads, public safety, services.” Nine community meetings are set through March, giving residents a chance to weigh in before the final vote in April. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.799.6810 for more info.  We’ll be right back. Break: INGLES 6 STORY 4: Addison Elementary School principal charged with DUI  Addison Elementary Principal Jill Spiva was arrested Thursday for DUI after a crash near the school, according to Cobb County Police. The wreck happened around 4:45 p.m. at Ebenezer and Sandy Plains roads, just minutes from Addison. Officers said Spiva appeared intoxicated and was at fault for the crash. A half-empty bottle of Smirnoff vodka was reportedly found in her car, per WSB-TV. Spiva refused sobriety and blood tests, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for a blood draw. She’s facing charges of DUI, open container, and failure to maintain lane. The district acknowledged the incident but declined to comment on her status. STORY 5: Mount Paran Christian enter apparel agreement with Nike and BSN Sports Mount Paran Christian School just announced a big win for its athletics program—a multi-year partnership with Nike and BSN SPORTS. Translation? Top-tier gear and branded apparel for student-athletes, coaches, and the entire MPC sports community. Nike will now be the official provider of athletic apparel and equipment, while BSN SPORTS steps in as the school’s brand distributor. “This partnership is huge,” said Athletic Director Mike Walker. “It’s about giving our athletes the best—gear that matches their heart and hustle.” The deal also lowers costs for families, sharpens team branding, and fuels MPC’s mission to compete at a championship level. FALCONS: The Atlanta Falcons officially introduced Matt Ryan as their new president of football on Tuesday, and honestly, it feels like a full-circle moment. At the press conference in Flowery Branch, Ryan—who spent 14 seasons as the face of the franchise—spoke about his “unfinished business” with the team. “Since I was drafted, my mission’s been the same: help this organization win championships. We came close, had some success, but I believe we’ll get there,” he said. After retiring and working as a CBS Sports analyst, Ryan said he wasn’t looking for a new job—unless it was with the Falcons. Now, he’ll report directly to owner Arthur Blank, focusing on hiring a head coach and GM who share a unified vision. I'm Keith Ippolito and that’s your MDJ Sports Minute. And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on raw milk We’ll have closing comments after this. Break: INGLES 6 Signoff-   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Marietta Daily Journal Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at mdjonline.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milk production is up 4.5% — but somehow, milk is clearing. Something doesn't add up. In this episode of The Milk Check, the team uncovers the shifts reshaping dairy economics in 2026. Ted Jacoby III leads a classic market roundtable with the Jacoby team to unpack what they're seeing as dairy transitions out of the holiday demand season and into early-year reality. Despite 4.5% year-over-year milk production growth, milk is clearing in many regions. Cheese and butter markets are under pressure, but inventories aren't yet burdensome. Protein markets remain tight. And nonfat dry milk is showing surprising strength. So what's going on? In this episode, we cover: Why added processing capacity may be masking where supply is really long How cheese and butter are absorbing milk that would normally back up at the farm Why protein demand is tightening skim solids and whey markets Whether nonfat's recent rally is real or a phantom And which dairy market narratives the team thinks are wrong right now If you're trying to make sense of conflicting signals across milk, fat, protein and powder, this episode delivers the context behind the numbers. Listen now to The Milk Check episode 90: The Market is Lying to Us. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check Ted Jacoby III: [00:00:00] Am I just being a conspiracy theorist? Diego Carvallo: I would probably bet a little bit on that conspiracy theory. It could be. It could be possible, Ted. Who knows. Ted Jacoby III: Welcome to the Milk Check from TC Jacob and Company, your complete guide to dairy markets, from the milking parlor to the supermarket shelf. I’m Ted Jacoby. Let’s dive in. We’re on the new side of the New Year. It is January 12th. we’re gonna have a classic market discussion today. Things have started to settle down from the holidays and I thought it would be a great idea just to share with everybody what we’re seeing in the markets as we’re transitioning from the high-demand season into the low-demand season. We have our usual suspects today. We have my brother Gus who manages our fluid group. We’ve got Josh White, head of our dairy ingredients group. We have Joe Maixner, head of all of our butter sales. Mike Brown, our Vice President of Market Intelligence, and myself. So, we’ll start with milk, Gus. What’s it look like right now? Gus Jacoby: It certainly isn’t tight, but it isn’t really long either. I think the November milk production was up [00:01:00] 4.5% and that typically would be fairly significant in areas where there isn’t a lot of additional processing capacity. One would think it would be very, very long with that kind of growth, but we’re not seeing that. Areas like the upper Midwest, Mideast, those areas are not as long as we thought they would be. I don’t want to act as if it’s tight. That’s not the case. Through the holidays, there was still plenty of milk that was around. But I think here as we climbed out of the New Year holiday and into mid-January, things have gotten fairly what we would say in balance. And that’s a little bit alarming considering that type of milk production growth. Ted Jacoby III: Why do you think that is? Is it just all the new capacity from all the new plants that have been built, or what else is going on? Gus Jacoby: Well, certainly in that western, upper Midwest and Southwest region, upstate New York as well, there’s been a lot of processing capacity that’s been added. So, those areas have been able to soak up that extra milk. I think milks travling a bit but I also think folks have found a little bit more efficient avenues to place the milk after dealing with some length over the past year [00:02:00] or so. But there’s a little bit of a question mark I have in the back of my mind as to how efficient we’ve been able to do so. Typically, when we have this kind of large growth, anything north of 4% is large, and large enough to be concerned about. But nonetheless, the processing capacity is significant. We don’t wanna discount that. But one can certainly wonder why in areas like the Mideast, where you haven’t really added a lot of production capacity here recently, why we aren’t seeing a bit more milk floating around. Ted Jacoby III: You think it’s just domino effect type things? Where, as milk is tighter in New York, so none of that milk is going into the southeast or into Appalachia, therefore it’s gotta be pulled from the Mideast? Gus Jacoby: Ted, that might be a part of it. I think domino effect is certainly going on here. There’s some areas of the country that don’t have enough milk because of that additional capacity we discussed. But having said all that, I think there’s some question marks out there right now as to why it isn’t a bit longer in certain parts of the country. Ted Jacoby III: What about some, I’ll call it non-traditional demand growth, and what I mean by that is things [00:03:00] like ESL or some of the protein drinks? It looks like there have been new brands showing up on the supermarket shelf lately. Gus Jacoby: If you’re alluding to areas like UF milk or high-protein fluid products there is certainly a lot of demand in that Class I, Class II segment of our industry. Add in the fact that you have a lot of demand for fortification solids for cheese plants, skim can seem a little bit tight right now, and there’s some logic behind that, but I don’t think there’s enough ultra filtration capacity right now to satisfy demand. So, if milk is going in that direction, there isn’t enough UF units out there, I think, to fill that void. And I wouldn’t say that’s the reason why we’re tightening up milk supplies by no means. In some parts of the world, yes, that might be the case, but that’s pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Ted Jacoby III: On the fluid side, is skim solids slash dairy protein tighter than the butterfat side? Gus Jacoby: Absolutely it is. Yes. I don’t think there’s any question about that. You’ve got two things driving [00:04:00] that. Too much butterfat requires cheese plants to gather more fortification solids, and the demand for protein right now is through the roof. You’re gonna have it hit from both sides and they’re hitting pretty strong. Ted Jacoby III: Could that extra skim solid slash dairy protein demand be what’s tightening up the milk market? Are we seeing it, for example, in lower cream multiples? Gus Jacoby: There still is plenty of cream around, to answer that question directly. I just don’t think there’s enough UF processing capacity at this moment in time to say that it’s tightening milk by any means. Ted Jacoby III: Could it be cheese plants taking the milk directly off the farm but spinning off a lot more cream? Gus Jacoby: I would say some of that is gonna go on. Yeah. ’cause there’s not enough fortification solids to be had, or at least not at the price the cheese plants are gonna be happy with. Cheese plants, even though they might prefer UF at times, they’ll take different types of skim solids and that certainly will tighten up that skim side of the market. That, combined with the fact that the protein sector is short, certainly you’re gonna have that element in our [00:05:00] market right now. I just think there’s enough milk out there, Ted, and not enough protein, isolation capacity of any sort to be the main reason as to why you’re not as long on milk as you think you should be. Ted Jacoby III: You know, I’ve had a theory going for a little while that all this extra capacity we’ve added, a lot of it is cheese capacity, and I feel like this time around, we’ve just transferred where we’re feeling the length. We’re not necessarily feeling the length in milk like we usually do. Instead, there’s enough processing capacity to get all that milk and to make cheese out of it. And therefore, we’re seeing the length in cheese, and we’re seeing the length in butter. And that’s why those two markets have been under so much pressure lately, whereas the milk market seems to be in balance. We’ve just moved down the supply chain a little bit where the length is manifesting. Does that make sense? Gus Jacoby: A little bit? Yeah. Mike Brown: It Does Make sense. Where you have new plants, they wanna be full. They’re cheese plants. They’re gonna try to fill those plants with milk to the extent they can market product, which is becoming a [00:06:00] concern as we see the CME cheese price continuing to drop. We’re also reaching a point when fat is very high, you can’t afford to fortify cheese vats because your skim solids price is high relative to fat. Right now everything’s kind of low, but powder relative to cheese, is as high as it’s been in quite a while. If you have revenue from waste stream, fortifying with nonfat or skim solids makes a whole lot of sense. But if you’re paying that full price for the casein portion of that skim, it gets closer again now too. It’s a little different situation than it’s been in a while. I don’t think Gus could be any more right about the need for more ultra filtered capacity. I’m just curious where it’s gonna show. Because the demand certainly seems to be there. Ted Jacoby III: If there’s one place where I think maybe we’re underestimating demand, it’s in that ESL protein space. And I agree with Gus, there’s probably not enough capacity to really manifest all of that resting demand or untapped demand, but I bet we’re maximizing that supply chain everywhere we can, especially given what we’re seeing in the whey protein [00:07:00] market right now. And it doesn’t show up in the data really clearly. You’re up four and a half percent in milk. Some of that is, we’re still measuring against weakness and we’re measuring against the bird flu outbreak that was happening a year ago. I just think there’s also some demand there possibly in that space that isn’t really showing up in the data in a way that makes it clear to everybody we’ve got some good demand in a couple of places. Having said that, I also think we’ve got more than enough cheese right now. We’ve got more than enough butter right now. But in both cases, and I’m gonna throw this at Joe I don’t think the inventories, at least what’s showing up in the cold storage data is telling us the inventories are burdensome yet. And that might just be when we are in the calendar, but it could just be we’re finding new places for demand. Joe, what are your thoughts? Joe Maixner: Yeah, inventories are definitely not burdensome right now. We’re coming off of pretty good draw down over the holiday season. Obviously, we’re really early into the inventory build period. But demand overall, coming back from [00:08:00] the holidays here, has been pretty strong out of the gate for the New Year. Everybody’s coming back to the office. They’re seeing these very depressed prices. And there’s been a lot of interest in both spot volume, building up some inventory on some spot buys, as well as some additional contract volume for the remainder of the year. So, going back to your comment on inventories, the one thing we always have to keep in mind with looking at cold storage is that number is all types of butter sitting in warehouse inventories. When it comes to pricing, the only thing that matters is 80% CME eligible bulk. We still have a fair amount of salted bulk, especially the older production, in people’s hands, and that has been showing up in the marketplace. A lot of that’s because there was not a lot of micro fixing for the holiday season. Cream was plentiful. People were making plenty of product outta fresh cream as opposed to reformulating that older butter into the retail pack. I think that there’s not a lot of fresh production being made right now [00:09:00] in the salted variety. We could see a nice little price pop here in the coming months once that older product becomes ineligible on the CME. Ted Jacoby III: It’ll be interesting to watch. It’s funny, I think there’s some interesting similarities, not with the old crop, new crop issue, but just some similarities on the cheese side. There’s an old saying about an anticipatory bull market where people start driving up the price ’cause they’re afraid of not having product tomorrow. This just feels like an anticipatory bear market where the inventory levels in cheese aren’t saying that we’ve got a massive amount of length and oversupply of cheese. But you can’t help but wonder if the reason the price is so low is because there is no one out there, both because they’re looking at their forecasted demand for their product and they’re looking at the forecasted milk supply, there’s just no one out there who has any worry about being able to get the cheese they need tomorrow. And so there’s no reason for them to go out there and buy the cheese today and tie up their capital when they’re pretty confident they’re gonna be able to get it tomorrow, maybe even at a lower price. And I get the feeling that there’s some similarities [00:10:00] in the butter market, too. But let’s switch over to the powder side. We’ve been talking about the strength in the protein market for a while, but lately we’ve been seeing some strength in the nonfat market. Diego, is that real strength is that long-term strength? Have we found a bottom in nonfat, what’s going on there? Diego Carvallo: Ted, it’s a very, very interesting question. It’s something everybody’s discussing and commenting about, right? The nonfat market feels like it’s way tighter, the spot market, than what most people were expecting. Right. And the funny thing is everybody has a different theory on what could be happening. We’re not sure what’s gonna happen in the coming months, but there’s definitely a few theories on why this market could be tight and why we’re seeing this kind of short covering rally that we saw in the past two weeks. There’s theories about more UF capacity in areas like the Midwest, which is creating a premium for that product in that region. There’s also theories of some plants in California [00:11:00] mainly being down during the months of November and October, which could have also created a shortage of product that needed to be delivered. Some point also to Mexico or the domestic market stepping in when prices reach the $1.10 or $1.15s and buying decent volumes. But the fact of the matter is, market is a little bit tighter, way tighter than what most anticipated at this period. At the same time, most people are expecting because of ample availability of milk in regions like California, that the market is gonna have to start building inventories because we are, I don’t know, 15 cents or 20 cents higher per pound than Europe. So we’re definitely not gonna be able to export a lot of product to Asia, to the Middle East, or to even Latin America at these prices. So, yeah, the market is tight, but the medium-term outlook is still that we’re gonna [00:12:00] see plenty of pressure. Ted Jacoby III: Any difference in price right now between skim milk powder and nonfat dry milk? Diego Carvallo: That differential between the two has shrank has been smaller because if you talk to most plants in California, everybody’s running nonfat at full capacity. Their plants are almost all of them at full capacity and nobody’s making skim this time of the year. It’s a throughput matter. They try to make as much nonfat as possible when they have plenty of milk. Ted Jacoby III: Interesting. You’d think if prices were going up in the U.S. but not going up in Europe, it would widen, but it’s actually shrinking. That’s wild. Diego Carvallo: Exactly. Yep. And with the U.S. making a lot of nonfat, all of that is gonna go into NDPSR, there should be pressure. At the same time, this week we have the ONIL tender, which most of the market is expecting a result and following it closely because if Europe doesn’t sell that tender, they’re gonna have more product and more pressure on their product. Ted Jacoby III: Makes sense. [00:13:00] Well, Europe’s had some surplus milk as well. Is it possible this market in the U.S. is popping because some of the European traders want it to pop so they can make sure that they clear the excess European product? Or am I just being a conspiracy theorist? Diego Carvallo: I would probably bet a little bit on that conspiracy theory. It could be. It could be possible, Ted. Who knows. Ted Jacoby III: Got it. All right. Sounds good. Josh, what’s going on in the whey market? We just keep talking about tight. Has anything changed? Josh White: No. It remains pretty tight. I think the whey protein demand seems strong. I will say coming into the year I’ve seen more product trade on the spot market, which is interesting. But the tale or the storyline is that that spot trade is still met with good demand and those prices are all still higher than the first quarter negotiated prices to many of the large users, meaning that there’s still good demand at these high prices, and the consumer hasn’t even seen these high prices yet. So it seems like it’s the same in Europe. First quarter is pretty much locked. Second quarter maybe there’s more vulnerability, but at the moment, I think that the [00:14:00] majority of the market would bet that we remain firm through the second quarter maybe even see some higher prices. I think what’s interesting if you look at the market is on the sweet whey powder side, you’ll have Europeans even comment that the whey market is a little bit firm, but they’re quite a bit lower than our price right now. And if you look at the forward futures prices, we have a classic short market. It’s inverted. It’s significantly inverted. And it’ll be curious to see if we really have that much additional sweet whey powder to either move the prices lower or we get enough demand pushback and reformulation to result in some extra product being available. But at the moment, across most of the whey complex it’s fairly firm, which I think tells the story. I mean, we went through the northern hemisphere’s lower milk production months, albeit we’re reporting really high year-over-year numbers, as you commented, compared to bird flu of a year ago in the West. People have had every incentive to place milk in any utilization other than butter and powder over the last few [00:15:00] months, and the market seems to be doing that. In addition to all of the other little comments, it feels like consumers knew that and really ran their supply chains pretty thin. And coming out of the holiday period, there is some short covering happening. Whether that’s just a derivative, speculative position short covering, physical short covering, it’s happening. In addition to that, when we look at the U.S., you can’t paint with a broad brush. The west seems to be running a lot of powder. The Midwest is not. And so that’s created a little bit of a tight situation here. So when you add the demand in Mexico for nonfat you add Midwestern pipeline filling, it’s enough that our spot market is carrying a really big premium to the rest of the world. We’ll see if that can continue as our daily milk production increases seasonally, both here and in Europe. I think that as that continues, as milk goes up, does that directly translate to butter and powder production going up? I would argue at least on some of these products, we know that the [00:16:00] WPI dryers are full. We know the WPC 80 dryers are full. I suspect that the MPC dryers are full and all of the fluid products going into those Class II products are probably full. So we’ll see if the market can handle the seasonal ramp up in production or not. And arguably, I think that’s what most of us are expecting. We’re expecting that we’ve still got plenty of milk. Then that’s gonna have some price pressure. But I also would comment that if we look back over the past few months, demand has been quite good. Global demand has been quite good. The question is, will it continue to be quite good or did we do a lot of buying in the late third quarter and early fourth quarter to refill the global pipeline? Things like Chinese New Year buying things like Ramadan buying and others, and are we gonna be met with an air pocket in demand as we start this year? Don’t know yet. The protein demand isn’t just in dry proteins or in UF for fortified milk. Mike Brown: It’s in yogurts. It’s in cottage cheese. At the same time, ice cream’s lackluster, sour cream is no better. And so that demand for [00:17:00] protein goes beyond just ingredients. On the whey side, boy, we’re gonna have to see a real shift in whey protein prices, wouldn’t we, Josh? We all know those dynamics can shift, but we’re a long ways from that. Other thing in California has got so much milk, they’re running everything full. If you look at anyone you talked the point made earlier, they can’t make SMP right now.They can’t, they are that full to the tilt. In fact, some of them are putting in production control programs again because they’ve got so much milk. Will milk move around, particularly if you can’t find a home for cheese no matter what the price is? Ted Jacoby III: The fact that California’s already running full and it’s the middle of January, which means we probably have at least a month and a half until they hit the peak of their flush. Mike Brown: Absolutely. Ted Jacoby III: That’s a Little bit concerning to me. Mike Brown: Yep. It, it should be to everyone and their spot prices show it. Cream’s been bad, and even the Midwest Class III spots are weak, but part of that’s because the cheese market’s weak. And that lag in Class III, which isn’t picked up in that weekly CME price until next month at the earliest. There’s signs that we’re seeing some shifts in the three four spread. We keep this up, [00:18:00] Ted, it’s gonna go away. Yeah. That may change where milk ends up. Ted Jacoby III: Yep. Diego Carvallo: I have a quick question, Ted. Where do you expect this extra milk in California to end up, because it seems it’s very early. I’m already hearing a lot of milk dumping in California. It seems like we’re at capacity in California. What’s the natural spill over for that milk? Ted Jacoby III: I’ve got two thoughts, but I wanna ask Gus a question first. Gus, if there’s one place where there might be extra UF capacity, would it be in California? Gus Jacoby: Perhaps, but probably not. Relative to demand. It’s limited pretty much all over the country. Ted Jacoby III: Okay. So what I’m gonna answer, in Diego’s question, first and foremost, we’ve lost a lot of milk in the Northwest. Yes. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it heads north on Interstate 10 and ends up in one of those plants in the state of Washington. That would be my first guess. My second guess would be the reason that I asked that question of Gus is they keep the butterfat in California and make butter out of it. Then they ship the UF milk to a cheese plant in the [00:19:00] southwest to extend the cheese yields there. If I were to guess it would happen in one of those two ways. Mike Brown: Diego, what you’re describing is exactly why they’ve put some production quotas back in California because they know it’s gonna get worse. And it makes perfect sense . To me, it’s gonna end up wherever the landed price is the best. On fat capacity, if California has the room to process fat, it’s gonna be in their best interest to process it. ’cause the people that buy surplus fat, outta California, that’s some of the lowest multiples in the country. Even when markets are tight. They’re not gonna wanna send that fat to Utah, Nebraska, or Washington State, or anywhere else if they can process it locally and store it. ’cause it’ll be just moving less water, it’s gonna be mm-hmm. To their benefit. And to Joe’s point. Butter markets are reasonably sound. I mean, they’re lower, but it doesn’t sound like we’re over big supply yet. But one thing we haven’t talked about much is that I think a lot of this price is gonna depend on if we keep exports strong. And that’s one of the big questions we all have. Are they gonna stay? I mean, certainly I think, Joe, listening to you talk, that’s helped a lot in [00:20:00] butter because we’re moving more than 82 overseas and we’re making more of it. On the cheese side. I’m hearing from some of the big cheddar guys that they’re still exporting cheese and relieved to do that. Prices are of course lower, but to me that’s really key. Particularly for products that aren’t as storable as powder. What are those trade markets gonna be? That may impact, where milk goes. Because even if cheese is a buck 30, if you sell it for 30 under, ’cause you have an oversupply, you’ve lost money. So that’s not something you’re gonna wanna do. Ted Jacoby III: All right. Well if I were to summarize really quickly what we’re seeing out there, I would say on the milk side, milk is clearing, which feels a little bit surprising given that we’re up 4.5%, but it’s probably due to all the extra capacity we have out there. However, on the butterfat side cream is long. Butter is long. And while we may get a new crop, old crop pop, the length probably will never fully go away. It just may be how the butterfat’s being processed and maybe we’ll have a temporary tightness in salted 80%. On the cheese side, we’re making a lot of cheese and we’re building inventories. [00:21:00] Mozzarella is feeling longer than cheddar because you can’t store mozzarella, whereas you can park cheddar in a warehouse if you want to, and that’s probably exactly what’s going on in the beginning of this year. Yes, we’ve got some exports but exports are not greater than they were at this time last year, though they may be at comparable levels, at least right now. But there seems to be a concern that that’s not sustainable like it was last year. On the nonfat side, that’s where we have some surprising tightness and we’re watching that market and we are watching it closely because there seems to be conflicting supply and demand indicators regarding where that tightness is coming from. And so our real big question is how sustainable this current tightness is. And on the whey market, whey market is strong. It’s been strong, it continues to be strong, and we haven’t really seen anything yet to change that narrative. And that in general probably sums up our dairy markets. I’m gonna ask everybody one lightning round question. What is one widely repeated dairy market narrative that you [00:22:00] think is wrong right now? Mike, I’m gonna start with you. Mike Brown: I think if there’s anything that is wrong or uncertain is how quick the response is gonna be to really, really low prices on milk supply. I still think we’re gonna take a while to back down and the folks that have really invested in and figured out the beef market are gonna be strong, but people that haven’t done that are gonna really get pummeled. So I think that’s it. How quick will we respond to the lower milk prices? How quick will market respond? It could be quicker than we think. Ted Jacoby III: You think it’ll be quicker. Mike Brown: I think it could be quicker. And I’m a good economist. I’m not gonna say it will, I’m gonna say it could, but yes, I think it could be a little quicker. Particularly with beef, with cull prices so high, there’s incentive to liquidate herds if you don’t wanna milk cows anymore right now. I’m not talking the 10,000 cow herds. I’m talking the smaller Midwest herds. Ted Jacoby III: You got it. Gus, what about you, one widely repeated dairy market narrative that you think is wrong? Gus Jacoby: I always have contrary perspectives on things. I don’t know what to tell you except, back to what I said originally. [00:23:00] Milk is just simply even with high growth production numbers, it’s not as long as some people might think in areas of the country where we haven’t added too much pricing capacity. All right. Sounds good. Diego, how about you? Diego Carvallo: I would say a lot of people are expecting farmers to be losing money at this level, and I think that’s wrong. Ted Jacoby III: They’re still making money. Diego Carvallo: Or maybe breaking even. Ted Jacoby III: All right. I like that one. Joe, how about you? Joe Maixner: I’m gonna buck Diego’s thoughts. I’m gonna go off a nonfat trend. I think that the nonfat market’s gonna continue to trend higher this year as opposed to fall back off. Ted Jacoby III: That’s a good one. That’s a good one. I will struggle with that one, but more power to you. Josh, how about you? Josh White: “This time’s different.” I don’t think this time’s any different than the prior times. I think it’s all perspective. Prices are gonna do what prices do to demand eventually. I realize that we have nuance to our markets, particularly with whey proteins, GLP-1 inspired demand, things like that. But I don’t know that I’m a subscriber to “this time’s different.” Ted Jacoby III: All right. Well, I’ll go ahead and venture mine out there, and I’m gonna have fun with it because I’m gonna [00:24:00] take the exact opposite side of the aisle from Mike and Gus, and I’m gonna say, I actually think this particular drop in prices is gonna last longer than the traditional six months. Usually you see it takes about six months for a market to bottom out and some of dairy farmer habits to change and see the market going back up. But I’m actually on the side of Diego. I think dairy farmers at this price are even still making money because they’re getting so much money from breeding to beef and in some cases from selling their manure. And as a result, their balance sheets will remain healthy. And they’re not gonna be under pressure to exit and sell their cows. I also believe that high beef prices have the inverse effect of what you would expect. And they don’t mean people will sell more cows. It actually means they’ll sell less because dairy farming’s a way of life. And so they’re gonna sell fewer cows to stay cash flow positive rather than more. And so I actually think that this one’s gonna take a lot longer than six months to adjust, but I think what’s really healthy is the fact that we have a diversity of opinions here, which means nobody really knows what’s gonna happen next. Alright guys, I thought [00:25:00] this was a great discussion. And, as it always is in the dairy industry, may we live in interesting times and this one’s not gonna be any different, is it? So thanks everybody for listening in. Great discussion today. Guys, thanks for joining us. Mike Brown: Thank you. Josh White: Thank you guys.

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In this episode of The Milk Check, Ted Jacoby III welcomes Lloyd Metzger and TJ Jacoby of Valley Queen Cheese Company for a deep dive into the science, functionality and future of dairy proteins. The conversation starts at the molecular level – the difference between casein and whey – and builds toward the real-world implications for product developers, processors and nutrition brands. We cover: Why casein is built to carry calcium (and whey isn’t) How heat and pH change protein behavior Fast versus slow digestion and why both matter The role of whey protein in muscle maintenance, aging and GLP-1 nutrition What pro cream really is and why its value may be underestimated Why cellular agriculture is more niche than threat If you work in dairy, food formulation or nutrition, this is a protein conversation worth digesting. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check TMC-Intro-final[00:00:00]Ted Jacoby III: Hi everybody, and thank you for joining us today for this very special recording of the Milk Check Podcast. Today, our topic is: what is the future of dairy proteins? And we have two very special guests. The first is Lloyd Metzger, VP of Quality and Technical Services for Valley Queen Cheese Company, and formerly Professor of Dairy Science at South Dakota State University. And the second, particularly special to me, is my son TJ Jacoby, Whey Technologist for Valley Queen. A South Dakota State graduate. Someone who has been interested in dairy proteins since his first biology class in high school. Guys, thank you for joining us today and welcome to The Milk Check. Lloyd Metzger: Glad to be here. TJ Jacoby: Good to be on, Dad. Ted Jacoby III: It’s December 18th, 2025. Milk production in the US is up 4%. Milk production in Europe is up something similar. Milk production in New Zealand is up. Milk production in Argentina is up. We are definitely in an [00:01:00] environment today where the supply of milk and dairy is overwhelming demand, at least for the moment. Cheese prices are near historical lows. Butter prices are near historical lows. Nonfat milk, skim milk powder prices are on the low end of the range. This market is a market that feels heavy, and I think most people out there would say, it almost feels like even though we’re at lows, we may actually go lower before we go higher. And yet, on the other hand, there are whey proteins, Josh, if I’m not mistaken, whey proteins just hit historical highs. Josh White: Maybe the highest prices we’ve ever seen for whey protein isolate and WPC 80. Ted Jacoby III: So, we have an environment where the demand on the protein side is extremely strong, and the trends on protein consumption are extremely strong and really feel like they’re gonna be around for quite some time. We’ve got baby boomers retiring and whether it’s because of GLP-1s or it’s just a general knowledge and understanding of what human nutritional needs are as people age, they know that they need more protein in their [00:02:00] diet. So, it begs the question: what is going on with dairy proteins and whey proteins and how is this going to evolve in such a unique market where demand is so strong for protein right now? And so, I’m gonna ask the question first. What’s the difference at a molecular level between whey proteins and milk proteins? Because when we’re in an environment like we are now, where you’ve got the demand really, really high, you also have a market that’s gonna start looking for alternatives, simply because prices are so high. What is the difference between milk proteins in general and whey protein specifically? Lloyd Metzger: It’s important to talk about from a functional perspective how the proteins are different. I’m sure we’ll get into the nutritional differences between those proteins as well. It’s important to understand what’s driving those differences in functional characteristics. And it’s really all about calcium. The casein system is designed to carry calcium. The whey protein system is not designed to carry calcium. That differentiates the two groups of [00:03:00] proteins and makes their properties very different. TJ Jacoby: I’ll explain it like this. Milk proteins, there’s two classes of proteins, right? There’s casein and then there’s whey. The casein is used to make cheese, and then the whey protein is what comes off. So, the whey protein is everything that is not used to make cheese. So, the reason why casein proteins works so well for cheese because those proteins like to fall together in these spheres, they like to stick to one another. They like to stick to one another ’cause they have certain groups that latch onto the calcium and then they bridge with phosphate. When they do, they have multiple proteins, different types of casein proteins that bridge together with phosphate and then based on their repulsion forces, they stick together. Calcium and phosphates really help it stick when we make cheese. The outside of that casein, micelle, that ball, when we make cheese, that outside is stripped off, it becomes hydrophobic, and that causes those spheres to stick together. That’s a huge functional property of casein. Whey [00:04:00] protein is the opposite. Whey protein is really hydrophillic. It’s very polar. So, they like to float around in solution and stay floating around in solution. And they don’t like casein. It likes to stay separate from casein. And so, when you make cheese, it readily is released into the whey stream because it likes to stick with the water. In the same way, those kind of stick together with these sulfur groups. But when you heat it up, they unfold. And when they unfold, now there’s certain reactions that can take place. So, those are the two major differences between casein and whey. Lloyd, what did I miss? Lloyd Metzger: I would try to simplify it a little bit. The difference between casein and whey protein is casein is what’s trapped when we make cheese. And whey protein is the soluble protein that’s left over in the water phase of cheese. Cheese making is a dehydration process. We concentrate the fat and protein that’s in milk, the casein version of protein in milk. But you gotta look at the properties of those two [00:05:00] systems and the groups of protein. So, the casein protein is actually really stable to heat, but it is not stable to pH. So, casein will always coagulate at low pH. So, you lower the pH of milk, you get a yogurt-like product. That’s all the casein that’s coming out of the system. Whey proteins don’t mind a low pH, and they’ll stay soluble at a wide range of pH. But now, when you get to temperature, the complete opposite happens. Casein can handle super high temperatures and be very stable. Whey proteins can not handle high temperature at all, they start to gel. I think it’s important to look at the two different groups. Now you get into the functional differences between those two and the very different properties you have between those. Lloyd Metzger: That’s why you get all these products that are very different from each other. Why cheese is so much different than whey protein. And then you have these dairy products that are a combination that have the two together. So like when we make yogurt, we end up with the two products together and get this property that’s partway in between the two proteins. Ted Jacoby III: [00:06:00] Based on what you’re describing, when we’re talking about milk proteins, MPC 80, for example, there’s a higher level of calcium, I take it in milk proteins than compared to whey proteins. Is that true? Lloyd Metzger: Absolutely, but let’s remind everybody: milk protein is both casein and whey protein together at the normal ratio that’s in milk. So, of the protein, 80% is casein, 20% is whey protein. So, when you say milk protein, you’re actually meaning 80% casein and 20% whey protein. Now, when we talk about cheese or casein, we’re basically a hundred percent casein and 0% whey protein. Now, when we talk about whey protein, we’re essentially a 100% whey protein, no casein except for one fragment of casein that actually gets solubilized, as TJ described, and now actually becomes part of whey protein. Something that a lot of people don’t understand is that about 15% of what we call whey protein is actually a piece of casein that gets lost in the whey and now gets [00:07:00] captured and harvested in the whey protein manufacture process. But again, it’s important to remember milk protein is a 80 / 20 combination of casein and whey protein together. So, when you’re talking about milk protein, you’re actually talking about whey protein and casein together. Ted Jacoby III: It’s funny, I just learned something never really quite had my head around, and that’s that 80 / 20 ratio, that 80% of all the protein in milk is actually either alpha or beta casein. Correct? Lloyd Metzger: There’s actually four different casein fractions that are involved that make up that 80% of the total protein. Ted Jacoby III: Okay. The casein molecule isn’t really any bigger than most of the whey protein molecules, but they tend to clump together in those micelles. And so, they act as one big humongous mass compared to whey proteins. Correct? TJ Jacoby: Whey proteins may be collected like in pairs like two at a time, but casein proteins, there’s hundreds, right? Lloyd, that will just clump together. Thousands. TJ Jacoby: So, these spheres are absolutely massive protein complexes, but in fact there are a lot of little individual [00:08:00] proteins that make it up and they’re all bridged together with calcium and phosphate. Lloyd Metzger: It’s a packaging system that was designed to package up calcium and phosphorus. So, the whole casein system was designed by nature as a delivery vehicle for calcium and phosphorus, because calcium is not soluble by itself. Calcium phosphate is essentially rock. It’s the material that makes up eggshells. Think, think about a ground up eggshell that calcium phosphate complex is not soluble and it will sink to the bottom of your container of milk if you didn’t have the protein complex to hold it in solution. The analogy I use is it’s basically a kidney stone. Think about how much fun milking a cow would be if all the calcium and phosphorus was in the form of a kidney stone as you’re trying to milk the cow. All that calcium and phosphorus can be solubilized with the casein system and put it into solution and then make it so you can deliver that in a nutritional product. Ted Jacoby III: That makes perfect sense. That’s really cool. I think you guys also already touched on the differences in solubility as you were [00:09:00] describing the different proteins. But there’s differences in digestibility as well. What’s the source of that difference? TJ Jacoby: I’ll take this one. Returning back to the infant stage, I feel like we could set this up in light of why nature created these proteins. Dairy is the fundamental human food for infants. You have babies that can live up to a year off of just their mother’s milk. All the proteins that are found in there, those building blocks to grow an infant, can be boiled down to those two protein streams: whey protein and casein protein. The purpose of the casein protein for the infants is it’s fast acting. It’ll go right into the gut, and the gut is full of enzymes, but also really, really low pH, so low that it actually causes even those whey proteins to unfold. And It allows the stomach enzymes to break it up super, super fast and be absorbed. It’s considered one of the most bioavailable proteins known to man. It’s designed for that, that’s why nature created whey protein. Well, whey protein itself is also very nutritious. It has one of the highest concentrations of [00:10:00] essential amino acid, and the second highest known to man of branch-chain amino acids. That means it doesn’t have to be processed through the liver before it can be used by the human body. If your body’s actively using and consuming protein whey protein’s really good because it can be absorbed into your system and go right to the muscles. 33% of your muscle is branched chain amino acid. That’s what’s getting broken down while you’re working out. And then in the elderly, that’s what’s getting broken down that’s causing some muscle degeneration. Whey protein can help fortify that very quickly. However, all protein that is consumed in the body could also easily be processed through the liver with time. And so, if you have time, that’s where the casein comes into play. The casein, when it hits that acidic environment in the gut, it immediately clumps together. It actually creates cheese curds in the gut. And the reason why that’s so important is it slows down digestion so that slowly over time, that will be absorbed into the system. So it’s not [00:11:00] like a rush of energy right after the baby eats and then it goes away right away. Instead, it slows it down. The casein itself also likes to trap other nutrients. The casein in the gut will house the fat and the vitamins and the nutrients so that it’s slowly absorbed over the course of the next few hours before the baby’s next feeding. Ted Jacoby III: As a result of those digestibility differences, what are the differences in the amino acid profiles between casein and whey proteins? The body’s gonna need to break down most of that casein in order to absorb it. When the body breaks down that casein, what are the differences in the way that it absorbs some of those amino acid profiles and short-chain protein strands from the casein versus what’s readily bioavailable from the whey proteins? TJ Jacoby: Casein does not have the same percentage of those essential amino acids. It’s not as high, but it’s designed to be slow absorbing. Protein itself, it almost doesn’t matter the amino acid structure, as long as your body has enough of those vitamins and nutrients to absorb and to restructure it to [00:12:00] a different protein within the liver — that’s what your body needs. Most of us, the protein doesn’t have to be fast-acting. It’s not like our muscles are actively breaking down all the time. It can slowly be absorbed, be processed through the liver, and then used for almost any other function as long as we have all the vitamins and minerals that we need. Lloyd Metzger: Part of this huge shift we’re seeing in demand for protein, especially whey protein, this started 25, 30 years ago with bodybuilders and wanting to build muscle mass. And the realization that TJ mentioned: branch-chain amino acids are very important if you wanna rapidly put muscle mass on. It is also very important if you’re elderly or if you have sarcopenia where you’re starting to lose muscle mass. In those nutritional states, it’s really important to have high-level branch-chain amino acids, so you can put muscle on. Or if you’re on a GLP-1 medication where you’re not gonna be able to eat very much, you need a very efficient source of protein to build muscle mass. So there’s certain nutritional states where it is important to have branch-chain amino acids [00:13:00] and be able to get those from a protein like whey protein that has ’em at a very high level. But for the normal person, it’s not really all that relevant. You could get the protein you need from any protein that provides all the essential amino acids. Now, most plant proteins don’t do that. We’re talking about the difference between casein and whey protein. Both of them are an order of magnitude higher in nutritional quality than plant proteins because they have all the essential amino acids. And to TJ’s point, as long as you have the essential amino acids, the body can produce the non-essential amino acids from those essentials. Essential ones are amino acids the body can’t produce. You have to have those in the food you’re consuming to be able to produce the components you need. Josh White: We’ve got listeners from the dairy side of the equation and listeners from the utilization side that are making different products. And some of those customers are currently faced with the reality that a part of the equation for their adoption of whey proteins as an ingredient has shifted. The competition level’s very [00:14:00] high. They’re having more difficulty accessing some of it. And the price has changed quite a bit. And I think that when you’re talking about these products going into CPG applications as a lower inclusion rate ingredient, but with a lot of label power, being able to put whey protein, for instance, on that label, there’s several of them out there that are struggling to determine what the functional differences might be between the various dairy proteins. And what I’m afraid that is happening is some of these companies that are on the lower end of the value scale and can’t afford to keep up with all of the great products that are demanding whey protein or even milk protein, are gonnastart exploring alternatives outside of our space. and I think that we don’t want that, right? And what we’re seeing is this popularity of whey protein is driving a lot of customers for R&D projects to be asking us specifically for whey protein. And so help us understand what applications might make sense to use one, the other, or both. Lloyd Metzger: It completely depends on the product that [00:15:00] you’re after and the characteristics of the product that you want. Something like a beverage can go two different directions. So, if you’re gonna retort the beverage and put a lot of heat on it, you can’t do that with most whey proteins. They’re gonna gel. The most comparable protein to whey protein would be an egg protein. And everybody understands what happens when you heat eggs; they turn into a gel. So, whey proteins will happily do that. If you have a high enough concentration and you expose them to enough heat. Casein actually helps to protect whey protein from that coagulation. A lot of these high-protein beverages, they’re oftentimes a combination of casein and whey protein. They might alter the ratio a little bit from the 80 / 20. They might bump the whey protein up a little bit and have a 60 / 40 casein to whey protein. And so you’ll see ranges in that ratio of casein to whey protein, depending on the characteristics of the product that you’re actually after. The heat is a big piece of that. And then we go to pH as a big piece of what changes the functionality of casein to whey protein and makes you [00:16:00] change those ratios. Yogurt is another great example. You’ve got these super, super high-protein yogurts and a lot of cases they fortified with quite a bit of whey protein to be able to have more protein and still have the characteristics that you want in that product. In the protein bars, there’s all kinds of whey proteins there. In that application, you actually don’t even solubilize the protein. There’s hardly any water in that bar. It’s really almost a dry protein that has a plasticizer with it, some carbohydrates that actually make that edible. You’re almost eating a dry product. There’s a lot of food chemistry that goes into which product category you’re putting it in. There’s not this straight fast rule that you use whey proteins in this, you use casein and that. It depends on what food chemistry you use and how you put the blend together and then what processing you couple with that to get the characteristic that you’re actually after. Josh White: Can we spend a minute or two talking about the acidified products? They’ve gained a lot of popularity. The market potential is quite large. Can we talk a bit about the [00:17:00] differences between the clear WPIs and our traditional products? Lloyd Metzger: I wanna clarify the question. Are you talking specifically about whey protein only in the clear whey protein beverages versus the normal whey protein beverages? Ted Jacoby III: Yes. Lloyd Metzger: We really start to get into the weeds because we’ve got different whey products. So we’ve got whey protein concentrate. And then that comes in various forms. WPC 34 or WPC 80 are the most common. The 80 and the 34 correspond to how much protein on a dry basis those two products have. And they have whey proteins in the normal ratio that would be in the starting whey. Then we get into a group of products called whey protein isolates. And whey protein isolates go through an additional manufacturing process that allows you to purify the protein further and they’ll have more than 90% protein on a dry basis. And you may start to alter the ratio of the various whey proteins that were present in the starting whey. Now, when [00:18:00] we get into the clear whey protein isolates, we really start to alter the ratio of the proteins that are in there. We’ll also start to change some of the mineral profile of the components that are in that product. And then when we use those isolates in a formulation, we gotta be careful about all the other ingredients ’cause they’re gonna have an impact on whether or not the product is actually clear and whether or not it can be stable to heat. So, you can actually make whey protein stable to heat by controlling the mineral profile and controlling some of the processing conditions. You’re now taking a category of dairy ingredient and you’re starting to use technology IP to be able to provide specific functional characteristics that aren’t normally part of that ingredient. All of these may be called the same thing, and the basic consumer has absolutely no idea what the differences between all these things are. And when they’re looking at a label, they’re probably looking for the word whey protein, and that’s all they’re looking for. Josh White: As we’ve seen the market tighten up, we’ve seen [00:19:00] more inquiries and exploration about the use of pro cream,also called WPPC, also called WPC 70, so many different names. Definitely, in our experience, there’s quite a uniqueness as we originate this product from different manufacturers. Perhaps we can talk a bit more about what this product is and how it differs from the other proteins in the complex. Lloyd Metzger: I talked about WPC 80. That’s just the normal whey protein that we concentrate out of whey. And then, I mentioned whey protein isolate. To convert WPC 80 to a whey protein isolate, you use a filtration step called microfiltration. And in that microfiltration step, you remove any protein that is interacting with fat and take that out of the system. So, if you start with a normal WPC 80 and we’re gonna change it into a WPI. We are gonna go through a microfiltration process and we’re gonna lose about 25% of the protein that was there and all of the fat that was there. And [00:20:00] we’re gonna make a WPI out of that. And that WPI is gonna have about 75% of the protein we started with. The protein that we harvest out of that is actually pro cream. pro cream is just a byproduct of converting WPC 80 into WPI, and it’s gonna have about 25% of the mass of the protein that you started with, and all of the fat that was in that starting WPC 80 material. So that’s why you see it called high-fat WPC 30, and if you dry that down, it’s about a WPC 60. You can take that and blend that with WPC 34. You can do all kinds of things with that ingredient. Manufacturers are always trying to find a home for that. ’cause you’ve got a very high value product that’s easy to market in WPI. Ted Jacoby III: Lloyd, that pro cream, our hunch is there’s a lot more value in that pro cream than the market currently has its head around. Lloyd Metzger: they’re the same proteins that are in WPI, they’re just interacting with a fat. Now the fat [00:21:00] is very unique in that there’s quite a bit of phospholipid fat in there. And so there’s a lot of literature and research being done on the potential health benefits for brain development of phospholipids for infants as well as elderly to help with memory retention and actually help to prevent some Alzheimer’s effects. So, you see some companies starting to market that component that they’ve isolated. I think there is a lot of potential value there. But we’re in the early stages of where that’s gonna go. And you have some companies leading the way that are producing very specialized pro cream type products that are being used in infant nutrition or elderly nutrition. TJ Jacoby: But Lloyd, how do those phospholipids affect the shelf life of pro cream? Lloyd Metzger: They don’t help. The phospholipids are unsaturated fats or partially unsaturated and unsaturated fats are very easy to oxidize, so if they’re not handled properly, you’ll get very stale and oxidized off flavors in the product. It’s something you gotta be careful of. Ted Jacoby III: Oxidized fats, [00:22:00] another way to call that. That’s rancid, right? Yes. Lloyd Metzger: On its way to rancid. Josh White: Another selling point that people will make of the benefits of pro cream are IgGs. Can you guys explain a bit more of what that is to the layman? Lloyd Metzger: So, immunoglobulin is a protein that’s also present in milk. It’s really high in colostrum. It’s at very low levels in milk about 72 hours after the cow was started milking, the levels drop way down, but there is still a low level there. Those immunoglobulins are a very large protein. So when you go through your WPI manufacturing process, they’re gonna partition with that fat and that protein portion that you’re capturing. So they’re gonna go in that pro cream. Looking at the composition of IgG in the different waste streams, you’ll find it’s elevated in that pro cream portion. Now I’d be a little concerned about what kind of shape that IgGs in because you’ve seen a lot of heat [00:23:00] and different manufacturing conditions through that process. So you’d really have to be careful about what kind of claims you’re making based on what kind of shape that IgGs in. Mm-hmm. TJ Jacoby: For an infant, those IgGs will go right into the bloodstream. It’s whole proteins, but for us, it actually has to break up the protein entirely before it can be absorbed into our system. So what kind of functional benefits does IgG bring for an adult? I’d be curious to see what that literature entails. Mike Brown (2): Over the last couple decades, DNA technology has been used more and more to produce valuable proteins, often for medical use like insulin. Are we gonna see a point with the cost benefit of that kind of technology we’ll reach where we can actually use that to produce these whey proteins rather than using a cow? Lloyd Metzger: There’s different levels of concern depending on the particular protein. An individual protein and an individual soluble protein like beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin that are in [00:24:00] whey, those have more potential to be produced in a fermentation type process. ’cause they’re an individual protein. You can over express it, you can get a lot of that produced. But when you get to the complexities of multiple proteins that are in whey, that’s when it really becomes uneconomical to do that from a fermentation standpoint. ’cause you’ve gotta produce all of those individually, try to put ’em together, then purify ’em. What people forget is how efficient the cow is. The cow is essentially a walking fermentation tank that feeds itself, controls its own temperature, cleans itself up. All you’ve gotta do is get the milk out of it. When you look at all the steps that go into the process and what it takes to produce it, it’s really hard to beat the efficiency of a cow. Ted Jacoby III: Lloyd, am I right in assuming that the threat of cellular agriculture to dairy would come in the development of specific protein chains and amino acids, but probably not in terms of the complete [00:25:00] protein profile that is delivered in milk proteins and whey proteins. Lloyd Metzger: Correct. And it would be the very high-end, expensive. So the lactoferrin. It would be your first one or some of the IgG, anything that is at low concentration and very high value. Because even if you did everything perfectly, you’re probably still talking $25 to $30 a pound in the manufacturer and isolation process. Well, we we’re really excited about $11 whey protein isolate. Right? You know, and that’s still half the price. Ted Jacoby III: Makes sense. Lloyd, TJ, this was an absolutely fantastic discussion. This was exactly what I wanted to get out of it. I can tell you I learned quite a bit today and I’m sure our listeners will too. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Lloyd Metzger: No problem. Happy to do it. TJ Jacoby: Truly special to be on today, Dad. I grew up listening to a lot of these podcasts, right? Now we’re here, now we’re on it together with you. So, no, it was truly special.[00:26:00]

Une élection présidentielle se tient en Centrafrique le 28 décembre prochain. Le président sortant, Faustin-Archange Touadera, est candidat pour un troisième mandat, mais il va affronter notamment un poids lourd de l'opposition, l'ancien Premier ministre Anicet-Georges Dologuélé, qui l'avait mis en ballotage en décembre 2015, un expert des questions économiques et financières. Quel est son programme pour sortir les Centrafricains de la pauvreté ? En ligne de Bangui, le candidat Dologuélé, qui dirige l'Union pour le Renouveau Centrafricain, répond aux questions de Christophe Boisbouvier. RFI : Anicet-Georges Dologuélé si vous êtes élu, quelles seront vos deux priorités ? Anicet-Georges Dologuélé : La première chose, c'est qu'il faut apaiser le climat politique qui est très lourd. Redonner confiance aux Centrafricains d'abord en eux-mêmes et ensuite vis-à-vis des institutions républicaines de l'administration publique. Parce que la neutralité de l'administration et des institutions commence à devenir un lointain souvenir. Ensuite, la deuxième chose, c'est de construire une véritable économie en prenant des mesures pour inciter le secteur privé national comme étranger, parce que sans secteur privé, ça restera un pays très pauvre et nous recommencerons avec les mêmes problèmes, comme nous le faisons depuis des décennies. Je vois par exemple Monsieur Touadéra qui est au pouvoir depuis maintenant dix ans. Il y a des centaines d'hommes d'affaires qui sont venus à Bangui, aucun ne s'est installé parce que la seule chose qu'on fait, c'est qu'on les rackette. Il est grand temps de respecter les investisseurs qui viennent, à travers la justice, à travers les règles, et puis de faire en sorte qu'ils gagnent de l'argent et que le Centrafricain gagne, et que les populations aussi se retrouvent à l'aise.  Vous critiquez beaucoup le bilan du président sortant. Mais il y a cinq ans, lors de la dernière présidentielle, plus de la moitié du territoire était sous le contrôle des rebelles. Aujourd'hui, ce n'est plus le cas. Est-ce que Faustin-Archange Touadéra n'a pas ramené la paix dans votre pays ? Dans un pays où il y a 14 000 casques bleus, où il y a plus de 3 000 forces spéciales alliées, c'est normal. Et puis, en face, vous avez des groupes armés qui finalement ont des revendications très floues et qui se sont plus transformés en groupes qui s'intéressent aux ressources naturelles qu'aux questions politiques. Donc, ça n'a pas été compliqué d'en venir à bout.  Oui, mais tout de même, ces accords qui ont été signés entre le pouvoir centrafricain et les mouvements rebelles, comme les 3R, comme l'UPC et tout récemment le MPC, est-ce que ce n'est pas à mettre à l'actif du président Touadéra ?  Nous verrons pendant les élections si ces accords ont été efficaces, parce que ces groupes armés comme les 3R n'ont été que très peu démobilisés. Moi, je suis de la région du Nord-Ouest du pays. Il y a encore beaucoup d'hommes en armes qui circulent, qui effraient les populations. J'espère que les accords, c'est effectivement pour la paix et non pas pour empêcher que des candidats comme moi fassent campagne dans des régions très peuplées comme le Nord-Ouest, qui représente mon bastion électoral.  Depuis le départ des militaires français, ce sont les militaires russes qui occupent une très grande place dans votre pays. Si vous êtes élu, est-ce que vous leur demanderez de rester ou de partir ? Je ne pense pas qu'ils occupent une grande place. Nous avons des relations naturellement avec la Fédération de Russie, mais ce n'est pas une raison pour dire que Wagner est un groupe composé de soldats russes. Et donc, moi, les relations avec la Russie, je suis demandeur. Je suis preneur. La sécurité avec l'armée des pays amis, quels qu'ils soient, je suis d'accord. La sécurité avec des mercenaires, c'est à discuter.  Vous n'êtes pas satisfait de ce que font les hommes de Wagner aujourd'hui dans votre pays, c'est ça ?  Aucun Centrafricain n'est satisfait de la brutalité. Aucun Centrafricain ne se satisfait du fait que des richesses sortent du pays sans 1 centime pour le Trésor.  Et si les hommes de Wagner sont remplacés par des hommes d'Africa Corps, la nouvelle unité officielle de la Russie en Afrique, que diriez-vous ? Eh bien, je ne suis pas encore au pouvoir. Quand j'y serai, je discuterai avec la Fédération de Russie. On trouvera des solutions mieux adaptées.  Craignez-vous la fraude ? Le 28 décembre, est ce que vous êtes prêt à unir vos forces avec celles de l'ancien Premier ministre Henri-Marie Dondra pour surveiller tous les bureaux de vote du pays le jour du scrutin ? Ah oui, je suis prêt à unir mes forces avec tous les démocrates, candidats comme Henri-Marie Dondra ou non candidats, pour faire un bloc et empêcher que Monsieur Touadéra vole encore les élections pour rester sept ans à la tête du pays.  Et si Faustin-Archange Touadéra est mis en ballotage par Henri-Marie Dondra ou par vous-même, est ce que vous envisagez un accord de désistement entre Dondra et vous pour le deuxième tour ?  Il faut que Monsieur Touadéra, après dix ans de pouvoir, puisse prendre sa retraite et avoir une vie paisible d'ancien chef d'État. Et si nous conjuguons nos efforts pour y arriver, c'est une excellente chose pour tous les Centrafricains. À lire aussiCentrafrique: le président Faustin-Archange Touadéra défend son bilan   À lire aussiCentrafrique: l'opposant Henri-Marie Dondra envisage de «reconcilier le pays et lutter contre la pauvreté»

Continuing from the final mini-comic of the original vintage toyline, Tyler crafts an original story to give you an introduction to He-Ro and the Powers of Grayskull! Nathan rewatched the first three Indiana Jones movies...did have finally come around to liking Temple of Doom? Christmas movies, old school wrestling and so much more in this jam packed episode of MPC!

[Guest Name] is the [Title] of the [Company Purpose/offering] company [CompanyName]. [Pronoun] shares [short summary of the episode]. Three essential items that we dive into. 1️⃣ [Item 1] 2️⃣ [Item 2] 3️⃣ [Item 3] Also, watch the entire episode on youtube. [link here]Links:[Company Name]Website: Linkedin: Facebook: Instagram:Twitter: Youtube: Fintech Confidential YouTube: https://fintechconfidential.com/watch Podcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listen Notifications: https://fintechconfidential.com/accessLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintechconfidentialTwitter: https://twitter.com/FTconfidential Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fintechconfidential Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fintechconfidentialSupportersSupport is provided by MPC 2023, the premier event for fintech leaders. This is your chance to shake hands and rub shoulders with the world's top experts in payments, loyalty, blockchain, digital currencies, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and other emerging fintech solutions connecting you directly with the future of commerce. If you haven't already, mark your calendars for August 23rd through the 25th and join me and Fintech Confidential at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North. When you sign up for FinTech confidential notifications, you will receive a discount from $50 to 100% off.Or use this link for $50 of registration. https://mpcevent.com/FTC50Time Stamps:[insert timestamps from transcript]This is a Production of Diamond D3, Media ABOUT: [Guest Name]: [Guest Bio][Company Name] : [Company info]Tedd Huff: Tedd Huff is the Co-Founder of Voalyre, and the President & Founder of Diamond D3, a professional services consulting firm focused on global payments and marketing. He is also a video podcast host and producer of Fintech Confidential.Over the past 24 years, he has contributed to FinTech startups as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Founder, and Chief Experience Officer, providing strategic and tactical direction for Global Payments OpenEdge, Heartland Payments, Nuvei, and TSYS, among others, focusing on growth while delivering innovation, process improvements and user experience-driven value to simplify the complexity of payments.Diamond D3, Media: A media creation, management, and production company delivering engaging content globally

Today's guest is the producer behind some of the biggest songs of the last 15 years — from “Wrecking Ball,” “Timber,” and “Dark Horse” to early records with The Weeknd and Britney Spears.From teaching himself production on cracked software and vinyl turntables… to going on a run of genre-defining hits.And the writer is… Cirkut!In this episode, he opens up about his early grind, the moment Britney cut his beat, his first sessions in LA, working alongside Max Martin and Dr. Luke, and the mindset that helped him go from unknown kid with an MPC to one of the most important producers in modern pop.A special thank you to our sponsors...Our lead sponsor, NMPA aka the National Music Publisher's Association. Your support means the world to us!And @splice -- the best sample library on the market, period.00:00 — Intro: Who is Cirkut?00:04:37 — Early music influences: hip-hop, DJ culture00:05:49 — Discovering DJ gear & beat manipulation00:07:55 — First exposure to FruityLoops & early production00:10:24 — DJ'ing pep rallies with vinyl00:12:36 — Applying early skills later for Lady Gaga00:14:14 — Skipping audio classes to make beats00:16:46 — Early Drake encounter in Toronto00:18:40 — How the name “Cirkut” was born00:21:35 — How a CD of his beats got to Britney Spears00:22:10 — First big cut: Britney's “Papi”00:23:01 — Discovering electronic music & the blog era00:23:49 — Learning from Masterkraft (the MySpace era)00:33:00 — Working with The Weeknd on “High For This”00:33:57 — Recognizing Abel's early greatness00:35:06 — Moving to LA & hustling through the rat race00:38:49 — What finally got him out of the rat race00:39:33 — The call from Dr. Luke00:41:11 — The Flo Rida / Levels / Good Feeling near-miss00:42:37 — Losing a big cut overnight00:43:19 — When the hits start stacking: “Where Have You Been,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Timber”00:44:48 — The thing he brought that cut through the noise00:47:18 — What it's like creating with Max Martin00:49:36 — Winning Producer of the Year (Junos)00:50:17 — When Cirkut realized he belonged at the top00:52:04 — Why his ego is different00:53:15 — His quiet superpower in the roomHosted by Ross GolanProduced by Joe London and Jad SaadWatercolor by Michael White Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ethereum is transparent by design, and that's a problem if you don't want your entire financial life on display. Rand Hindi, co-founder of Zama, joins us to explain how fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) can turn Ethereum into an encrypted, confidential blockchain where contracts stay composable and UX feels exactly the same. We get into why blockchains were public in the first place, why “anonymous addresses” were never enough, how FHE compares to ZK and MPC, and what a world of private DeFi, encrypted stablecoins, and on-chain “digital immortality” could look like.  ------

In dieser Sonntags-Sonderfolge geht es in Tag 2 der AAA-Pitch-Folgen. Auch heute kommen sie zu uns, die Chefs der großen und kleinen deutschen Konzerne - um zu erklären, warum ihre Aktien so attraktiv sind. Doch zuerst verrät ein Freund dieses Podcasts uns und Euch die Geheimnisse solcher Treffen. Welche Fragen die Investment-Profis stellen und wie sie die Antworten der CEOs entlarven. Zuerst ist dann der Primus dran und erklärt die spektakuläre 27.000-Euro-Offerte. Danach kommt unser heimlicher Superstar, der Unternehmer mit dem perfekten Prompt. Und zum Schluss folgt der Pivot-Profi. Mal sehen, ob er Euch überzeugt. Auf ein Gespräch mit Roger Peters folgen die Pitches von Deutsche Börse, Laiqon und MPC. Neuer Instagram-Auftritt von AAA: https://www.instagram.com/alles_auf_aktien/ Die aktuelle "Alles auf Aktien"-Umfrage findet Ihr unter: https://www.umfrageonline.com/c/mh9uebwm Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter.[ Hier bei WELT.](https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html.) Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz könnt Ihr jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? [**Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte!**](https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien) Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html

SummaryThe conversation delves into the complexities of Bitcoin custody, focusing on the distinctions between cold and hot storage, the implications of multi-party computation (MPC), and the evolving landscape of corporate custody solutions. It highlights the trade-offs between security and accessibility, the importance of cryptographic controls, and the innovative potential of Bitcoin's programmability. The discussion emphasizes the need for businesses to understand these dynamics to effectively manage their Bitcoin assets.TakeawaysCold storage offers the highest level of security but comes with operational costs.MPC can be used in both cold and hot environments, providing flexibility.Corporate clients need to educate themselves on the trade-offs of custody solutions.The spectrum of custody solutions ranges from self-custody to fully managed services.Cryptographic security is becoming more accepted in corporate culture.MPC allows for proactive security measures that raise the cost for attackers.The programmability of Bitcoin enables unique security and operational strategies.Multi-sig can be enhanced with MPC for better security and privacy.The risk of internal theft decreases with multiple custodians involved.Understanding the political implications of Bitcoin custody is crucial for businesses.Chapters00:00 Bitcoin Custody and Treasury Summit00:41 Institutional Custody: Definitions and Concepts01:39 Cold vs. Hot Storage: Trade-offs04:23 Operationalizing Keys in Bitcoin Custody09:25 The Spectrum of Custody Solutions16:44 The Political Perspective of Bitcoin Custody19:29 Advanced Techniques in Bitcoin Security27:06 bp-introoutro_v2.mp4

October 2025 shook the crypto world. Bitcoin crashed harder than any October since 2015, someone accidentally minted $300 trillion in stablecoins, and traditional banks started an all-out war against crypto companies trying to get federal charters. Tedd Huff, founder of Fintech Confidential and CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre, sits down with Rob Musiala, partner at Baker Hostetler who co-leads The Blockchain Monitor, to break down what moved Web3 when it mattered most. They walk through why stablecoins just crushed major card networks with $2.6 trillion in annual volume, how Western Union suddenly decided blockchain payments make sense, and what the Genius Act really means for everyone trying to operate in this space. This isn't theory. Banks are fighting to protect their turf while crypto infrastructure gets bought up for billions. The conversation covers enforcement crackdowns, court rulings that actually matter, regulatory battles over OCC charters, and why sitting this one out stopped being an option months ago. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1️⃣ Financial institutions must evaluate make-or-buy decisions on stablecoin infrastructure before competitors capture market share as platforms offering blockchain-based payments already process volumes exceeding major card networks. 2️⃣ Developers building on Ethereum layer-2 solutions can expect 30-60% lower transaction fees after Fusaka activates December 3rd, allowing projects to adjust pricing models or capture improved margins. 3️⃣ Stablecoin issuers, custodians, payment facilitators, and exchanges face different compliance requirements based on their specific business models under the Genius Act framework. 4️⃣ Retail investors and traders experienced 60-80% losses across major meme coins during October, while newcomers like Mini U and MemeCore surged during the same downturn. 5️⃣ Businesses operating cross-border payments between Japan and international markets gain new infrastructure as institutions push toward 10 trillion yen stablecoin circulation targets. LINKS Host:Tedd Huff (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddhuff/Voalyre - https://voalyre.com CI (Confidential Informant):Rob Musiala (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmusiala/The Blockchain Monitor - https://www.theblockchainmonitor.com Company:Baker Hostetler - https://www.bakerlaw.com Fintech Confidential:YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@FintechConfidentialWebsite - https://fintechconfidential.comNewsletter - https://fintechconfidential.com/newsletterLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-confidential SUPPORTERS Dfns - Secure wallets built right. API-first, multi-chain MPC wallet infrastructure for payments platforms, custodians, and exchanges. Request demo: fintechconfidential.com/dfns Skyflow - Build fast without breaking privacy. Zero trust data privacy vault delivered as an API for PCI, GDPR, and SOC 2 compliance. Learn more: skyflowsecure.com Hawk AI - Fight fraud and financial crime with real-time payment screening, AML transaction monitoring, and dynamic customer risk rating. Sign up for demo: GetHawkAI.comAbout:GuestConfidential Informant - Robert Musiala - Partner - BakerHostetlerRobert Musiala has been working in the blockchain and digital assets market since 2012 and has led multiple digital asset investigations, including as the court appointed receiver over cryptocurrency investment funds used in a major fraud. Robert also advises on a variety of regulatory compliance issues involving digital assets and has drafted/negotiated agreements for a wide range of transactions...

Notre invité Afrique ce lundi matin est le président centrafricain Faustin-Archange Touadéra. Le 28 décembre prochain, il briguera un troisième mandat à la tête du pays, face à six autres candidats. Organisation des élections, validation des opposants par le Conseil constitutionnel, accord avec les groupes armés, situation socio-économique, relations avec les Émirats arabes unis et la Russie… Il a abordé tous ses sujets avec François Mazet à Bangui. RFI : Monsieur le président, le 28 décembre, vous allez briguer un nouveau mandat à la tête de la République centrafricaine. Pour vous, cette candidature, c'était une évidence ? Faustin-Archange Touadéra : Effectivement, j'ai fait acte de candidature à cette élection. Le peuple centrafricain et ses communautés ont organisé des marches pour solliciter le fait que je puisse faire acte de candidature. Mais voyez-vous, cela fait suite à toutes les actions que nous avons menées pendant les deux derniers mandats, durant lesquels le pays était dans une très grande difficulté. Nous avons pu avoir des accords de paix avec les 14 groupes armés. Évidemment, en face de tout ça, le peuple centrafricain pense qu'aujourd'hui, il y a la paix qui est revenue. Il y a le déploiement de l'autorité de l'État à l'intérieur du pays, des avancées notables dans le sens du bien-être du Centrafricain. Je ne dis pas que tout est parfait, mais nous avons fait un grand pas, nous relevons la tête. Alors, on va revenir sur certains points de votre bilan. Mais d'abord, c'est fort de ce bilan que vous êtes convaincu, comme le dit la chanson qui tourne déjà, que ça sera le coup KO au premier tour ? (Il rit) Ben évidemment ! Pour nos compatriotes, beaucoup pensent que ce sera au premier tour. Nous sommes conscients, évidemment, que c'est un acte, une action démocratique ! Eh bien, le jeu est ouvert et chaque camp essaie de convaincre le plus de Centrafricains à voter pour lui. Vous aurez six adversaires. Évidemment, deux noms ressortent ceux de messieurs Henri-Marie Dondra et Anicet-Georges Dologuélé qui, après des mois de conjectures, ont finalement été validés par le Conseil constitutionnel. Est-ce que c'est une bonne chose que cette élection réunisse quand même des personnalités d'importance qui peuvent venir remettre en cause votre leadership ? Je ne peux pas, en tant que candidat, émettre des avis sur la décision du Conseil constitutionnel. Je prends acte. Nous allons competir et on va demander aux Centrafricains de faire leur choix. Évidemment, les personnalités dont vous parlez ici ne sont pas inconnues. On verra bien le 28 décembre. En tout cas, messieurs Dondra et Dologuélé disent que jusqu'au bout, vous avez fait le maximum pour qu'ils ne puissent pas s'opposer à vous. Qu'est-ce que vous leur répondez ? Mais en faisant quoi ? Qu'est-ce que j'ai fait pour m'opposer à leur candidature ? Nous avons des lois, chaque individu doit se conformer à nos lois, à nos textes. Et pour ça, il y a des juridictions. Donc, en quoi puis-je interférer ou faire quoi que ce soit pour empêcher qui que ce soit de se présenter ? La preuve, c'est qu'aujourd'hui, le Conseil constitutionnel a donné un avis. Je prends acte. Alors, justement, le 28 décembre, il y aura un quadruple scrutin. C'est historique en Centrafrique. Est-ce que vous êtes confiant dans la capacité des institutions d'organiser ces élections dans les meilleures conditions possibles ? C'est un grand challenge pour le pays et c'est important. Normalement, les élections locales devaient être organisées bien avant. Malheureusement, il y a eu des difficultés techniques quant à la disponibilité du fichier électoral, puisque c'est la base même d'une élection. C'est vrai, c'est un grand défi. C'est une première, mais nous faisons confiance aux hommes et aux femmes qui travaillent dans ces institutions pour que la République centrafricaine sorte de cela vraiment grandie. Je ne dis pas que tout est rose, qu'il n'y a pas de problème, il y a des difficultés. Nous avons par exemple des difficultés financières pour soutenir un certain nombre d'actions. On a eu des promesses qui n'ont pas été tenues dans le cadre de la mobilisation des ressources. Mais l'État fait face à ça, parce que c'est un enjeu important pour la démocratie. Pour vous, la date du 28 décembre, est-elle gravée dans le marbre ? Nous avons la Constitution. La date du 28 est constitutionnelle. Au-delà, il n'y aura que du désordre. Dès qu'on va dépasser cette date, ils vont commencer par parler de transition, ils vont parler de venir partager le gâteau... Nous ne pouvons pas prendre le risque. Notre pays a connu des moments très difficiles et il nous faut tenir ce délai pour renforcer notre démocratie, respecter nos textes. Sur la question de la sécurité, vous avez commencé à l'aborder. Vous avez signé ces derniers temps des accords avec plusieurs groupes rebelles, encore cette semaine avec le MPC. Est-ce que vous êtes confiant quant au fait que, cette fois, ces accords seront respectés par toutes les parties, pas comme en 2019, 2020 ? Nous allons tout faire pour tenir nos engagements. C'est moi qui leur ai tendu la main, ce sont des fils du pays et je leur ai dit : "Votre lutte, là, je ne comprends pas les objectifs." Eh bien, ils sont d'accord. Je pense que cette fois-ci, chacun des leaders a compris que ce n'est pas la peine de continuer la guerre, la violence inutile. Qu'est-ce qu'ils y gagnent ? Et je pense que, de leur côté, ils font des efforts. Et d'ailleurs, le processus de désarmement pour les groupes UPC et 3R se déroule normalement. Il y a quelques défis, comme la prise en charge d'un certain nombre de gens désarmés. Donc, j'ai donné les instructions pour qu'on les règle. Du point de vue économique et social, la population continue de souffrir du coût de la vie. Concrètement, qu'est-ce que vous proposez pour changer la donne après déjà deux mandats ? Vous utilisez des mots, des mots très forts, mais il faut les mettre dans leur contexte. Pour le peuple centrafricain, il y a eu des avancées certaines, indéniables. Ça ne veut pas dire que tout va bien. Je n'ai pas dit que tout est pour le meilleur des mondes, ici. Non. Et c'est pour ça que nous avons proposé un plan national de développement. C'est pour ça qu'aujourd'hui, nous demandons aux Centrafricains de nous donner encore un mandat pour continuer ce que nous avons fait, parce qu'on était vraiment dans le gouffre. Et c'est sur ces progrès que nous allons tabler pour poursuivre. Nous sommes confiants. Un des points principaux pour la population, pour les entreprises, c'est la question des carburants. Les coûts des carburants qui sont extrêmement chers en Centrafrique, le plus cher du continent, la structure des prix a fait l'objet de critiques de la part de la société civile, d'ONG internationales, du FMI. Est-ce qu'il va y avoir une réforme du marché des carburants en Centrafrique ? Nous ne sommes pas un pays producteur de pétrole, nous sommes un pays continental et il nous faut de l'énergie pour faire tourner l'économie. Quand le carburant arrive dans un port, ce n'est pas le même prix que lorsqu'il arrive ici, il faut le transporter. Soit par bateau, par barge. Il y a un coût et même si c'est par la route, il y a un coût. Notre objectif, ce n'est pas d'avoir du carburant cher. Donc, pour vous, il n'y a pas de surcoût inexplicable ? En Centrafrique, ce n'est pas la volonté du gouvernement de faire surenchérir, ce sont les réalités des prix, parce que le gouvernement n'a rien à gagner en augmentant les prix, bien au contraire. Il y a cette guerre civile chez votre voisin, le Soudan. Quelle est la situation exactement dans le nord-est du pays ? Et est-ce que vous craignez qu'avec la poursuite de ce conflit, il y ait un débordement chez vous ? Nous avons connu la guerre ici, nous savons ce que c'est et ça a détruit notre pays. Une partie de notre population dans le nord s'approvisionnait au Soudan. Ça devient difficile économiquement et socialement parlant. Avec ce conflit, il y a des personnes, des Soudanais, des frères Soudanais, hommes et femmes, qui veulent la paix et viennent se réfugier en République centrafricaine, ce qui va encore perturber la situation économique et sociale de cette région. Nous sommes dans toutes les réunions, on participe, nous donnons notre contribution. Dans ce conflit, il y a quand même un acteur extérieur dont tout le monde parle, ce sont les Émirats arabes unis. Et vos adversaires disent que vous vous rapprochez d'eux et se questionnent : est-ce que la Centrafrique va servir de base arrière ? La République centrafricaine est un pays ouvert. On ne va pas dire que nous ne devions pas travailler avec un pays avec un autre. Non, vous voyez, c'est ça ces actes de désinformation. Nous avons une coopération avec les Émirats arabes unis sur des projets précis et nous continuons à travailler dans l'intérêt bien compris des deux parties. Un autre partenariat qui évidemment fait beaucoup parler depuis plusieurs années, c'est celui avec la Russie. Il a été dit et écrit que des membres du groupe Wagner allaient partir et être remplacés par une nouvelle entité, Afrika Corps, qui est directement rattachée au ministère russe de la Défense. Est-ce que vous confirmez des discussions en cours avec Moscou ? Oui, vos confrères m'ont toujours posé ce genre de questions. J'estime que j'ai toujours répondu que ce n'est pas devant votre micro que je vais m'étaler sur toutes les questions, les discussions, que nous avons avec des pays amis. Non. Si nous nous accordons, nos discussions ne vont pas être rendues publiques. Vous disiez que nous sommes en discussion ? Bien sûr, nous sommes en discussion sur beaucoup de sujets, pas seulement sécuritaires ou remplacer telle force par telle autre… Nous avons beaucoup de discussions sur le plan de la défense, sur le plan économique, sur le plan de l'éducation, de la santé. On a beaucoup de programmes ensemble. Alors, les personnes du groupe Wagner n'avaient pas seulement une activité de sécurité, ils avaient d'autres activités. Ils ont une activité économique avec des entreprises. Si les personnes de Wagner en uniforme partent, est-ce que les entreprises liées à Wagner restent ? La République centrafricaine est un pays ouvert. Il y a un code minier qui existe. Une société, n'importe laquelle, qui se constitue en République centrafricaine, qui remplit les conditions et qui fait une requête, pour avoir un permis de recherche, un permis d'exploitation, et qui remplit les conditions, eh bien ce sont des secteurs qui sont libéralisés aujourd'hui, que ce soient les mines, que ce soient les eaux et les forêts. Tout ça, c'est libéralisé. Alors, pourquoi vous voulez indexer certaines normes de sociétés comme étant des sociétés Wagner ou autres ? Ce sont des sociétés pour nous qui sont normalement constituées, légalement je veux dire, et qui exercent sur le territoire centrafricain en respectant nos lois. C'est tout. Et il n'y a pas que les Russes. Donc aucun passe-droit ici pour aucune entreprise, tout le monde est soumis aux mêmes règles. Nos textes sont clairs, il n'y a pas de passe-droit. Vous pouvez demander au ministère des Mines : telle société a rempli les conditions. Voilà, et c'est de la manière la plus transparente. À lire aussiCentrafrique: la mission d'observation électorale tente d'endiguer la désinformation avant la présidentielle

Kieran Witthuhn from Anchor unpacks Nvidia's hotly awaited results released after the US close on Wednesday. Investec's Tertia Jacobs breaks down October inflation, which hit a thirteen-month high at 3.6%, ahead of today's MPC call. And Jono Bowling from Standard Bank Group explains their new AI-driven structured product.

Jannik Sinner defended his crown in Turin! The Italian captured the ATP Finals for a second consecutive year, overcoming Carlos Alcaraz in another thrilling final. Tennis Channel's Steve Weissman joins Ben to break down the event and the epic Sincaraz rivalry, Felix Auger-Aliassime's rise to the top 5, and other players to watch in the top 10 and beyond for 2026. All of that and more on our latest episode of MPC! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Milk production is up 4.2% year over year, components are climbing and prices are falling. As holiday orders wrap up and we head into the long winter, The Milk Check team digs into whether dairy markets have already found a floor, or if there's still another leg down to go. With milk products everywhere (except for whey), the Jacoby team shares where the market is and where we're going. They churn through: Butter at $1.50 and what heavy cream and higher components mean after the holidays Why cheese feels like a calm before the storm, and how far Class III could grind lower Nonfat and skim: long milk, growing inventories and buyers shopping the cheapest origin Why whey proteins are the outlier, with tight supply, strong demand and GLP-1 tailwinds Global milk growth, clustered demand (Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Super Bowl) and who blinks first between the U.S. and Europe In this episode of The Milk Check, host Ted Jacoby III is joined by Joe Maixner, Jacob Menge, Diego Carvallo, Josh White and Mike Brown for a rapid-fire market session on butter, cheese, nonfat and proteins. Listen now for The Milk Check's latest market read on butter, cheese, nonfat and whey. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check Ted Jacoby III: Welcome back, everybody, to The Milk Check podcast. Today we’re gonna have a market discussion. It is November 10th. We are in the last couple of weeks of the quote-unquote busy season, starting to get a feel for what we think is gonna happen to dairy markets as holiday orders are filled, and we transition into the long-term period of the year. In the last few weeks, we’ve actually seen prices drop, but it feels like butter’s kind of dropped down to about a $1.50/lb and seems to find at least a brief floor. We’ll talk to Joe and find out if Joe thinks we’re gonna stick around here for a while. The cheese market was up in the $1.80s/lb. It’s dropped to a little below $1.70, starting to hit a little bit of resistance. Jake will share with us a little bit about what we think is happening with cheese going forward. Nonfat dropped a little bit down to [00:01:00], about what Diego, about a $1.10/lb and had a little bounce off its floor. Meanwhile, the whey complex just continues to go up. We’ll check in with Josh and find out what’s going on there. Well, let’s go ahead and start with milk production. We just got released today, the September milk production, and it says it’s up 4.2%, which is a very, very big number. It’s November; milk is longer than it usually is this time of year. Usually, it’s quite tight, and it’s not quite tight, but I wouldn’t call it long. However, all the signs are there that once we get past the fall holiday order season, milk could get quite long. If September milk is up 4.2%, I think it’s safe to say that if that continues, we will be quite long milk as we transition from the typical seasonal tightness of the fall into the winter and the flush of the spring. 4.2% is a big number, and that’s not even taking into account the fact that the solids in the milk are up as well. That’s not the kind of tone that a dairy farmer wants us to set as we’re talking about what supply and demand looks like, but there’s a lot of milk out there, [00:02:00] Joe, does that mean there’s a lot of butter out there, too? Joe Maixner: Well, there’s still a lot of butter out there; sounds like there’s going to be a lot more butter coming soon. If milk’s up 4%, cream was heavy all of last winter and into last Spring, extremely heavy. If we have higher components, more milk, and we’ve got a full amount of milk coming outta California as well after coming off of bird flu last year, there’s just gonna be that much more cream in the system and more getting pushed back into the churns. So, it’s a very good possibility that we’re gonna go even lower than where we currently are. Volume seems to be trading well. The cream demand has been fairly steady, going into cultured products and the shorter shelf-life products. Cream’s still long, but it’s not swimming yet. Ted Jacoby III: Will we hold this $1.50 area through Thanksgiving, you think? Joe Maixner: Yeah, it seems like we’ve hit a spot where buyers are willing to step in. So, there’s a good chance that we could hang around this $1.50 area for the next couple of weeks. Once the last little spurt of holiday demand is over, we’re gonna take another leg lower. Ted Jacoby III: Okay. Jake, what about [00:03:00] cheese? Jacob Menge: I think we had a little reprieve from some cheese bearishness with the holiday demand. It’s tough, though, especially with this wall of milk that’s headed our way. Does it seem like the bottom’s ready to drop out? Probably not yet. But it still seems like it’s a possibility. It almost seems like the call before the storm. Ted Jacoby III: What you’re saying is: we’ve already dropped quite a bit, but we’re in typical low points, but it’s possible, considering the amount of supply coming our way, that there’s still another cliff to negotiate, and we could go a lot lower when it comes to Class III milk and cheese prices. Jacob Menge: If you zoom out a ways, going back to mid-2022, we’ve really not liked to go below that $1.55 level on futures. We’re kind of at another support level at this $1.65. Those seem like our two support areas, historically, for the last 3, 4 years. So, it’s probably gonna be one of those grinds lower if we move lower from here, versus that $1.85 to $1.65 was almost an air pocket drop. [00:04:00] It seems like the market’s gonna have to earn it if it moves lower from here, but it does seem like a possibility. Ted Jacoby III: When we get down to these levels, this usually tends to form the floor, and if we have so much cheese out there and so much milk out there that we’re gonna go lower from here, it’s probably not an air pocket drop; it’s probably a grind lower from here. Jacob Menge: Yeah, I think our lows, on the futures, for the past 4 years have been that $1.55. Don’t quote me on that, gimme a couple of cents on either side of that. But that means we got a dime from here to hit those five-year lows, you know, besides COVID. There’s a lot to be said for technical trading at those levels. So, it would take a big fundamental kind of wave supply to get us to crack that. Ted Jacoby III: Got it. Thank you. Diego. What about nonfat? What’s the international market doing? We know we have a lot of milk in North America. We have a lot of milk everywhere. And what does it mean? Diego Carvallo: Customers are also seeing the data, and it seems like they’re in no rush to buy nonfat. Right. Nonfat seems to be the product that is 00:05:00 consistently available. We haven’t seen a very tight market in several years. So, it seems customers are more concerned about other products like WPCs or maybe cheese, other products besides nonfat. So, they’re staying very hand-to-mouth. They’re being very flexible when it comes to origin and just buying spot and from the origin that offers them the cheapest skim milk powder delivered price, which, in most cases, for the past few months, has been either European or New Zealand product because of the shipment time, transit time, and tariffs. Ted Jacoby III: Has the inventory in the U.S. been building as a result? Diego Carvallo: Yes, it has, Ted. Yep. Inventory has been building. I was looking into the milk production numbers for September. California was relatively stable compared to the previous year. I think we grew by 2.5% versus the previous year. But the strong impact from avian [00:06:00] influenza was actually in October. So, that’s when we might see a big jump between California production for 2024 and California production for 2025. So, I thought the Milk Report was pretty bearish for nonfat. Next month could be as bearish or even more. I still believe that we’re gonna see a lot of product going into the dryers, and that’s gonna add pressure, and that’s gonna increase inventories for U.S. products. Ted Jacoby III: What does milk production look like in Europe? Diego Carvallo: They’re actually up quite a bit. I think their September number was also stronger than expected. I can’t recall the exact number, but it was stronger than expected, even though they have cut down on the farmer price, the FrieslandCampina, which is the number one benchmark. It still seems like, with corn moving lower, there’s still a number that incentivizes more milk production. For the next few months until we see a stronger cotton price, we’re gonna see plenty of milk from the U.S. and from Europe. Ted Jacoby III: [00:07:00] Okay, thanks. Appreciate it, Diego. Josh, so what about the protein market? Josh White: Yeah, same story. I don’t know why everybody else is having so many problems with their products because whey proteins are in demand and it continues to be very strong. WPC 80, WPI demand is outpacing supply. People are trying to book forward and can’t. By all reports, the demand on the consumer level remains pretty good. It’s a bit of an outlier. It’s definitely a mystery. A lot of the discussion centers around GLP-1 adoption in the U.S. Compared to a year ago, I think I read this morning, something like 12% of Americans are allegedly using GLP-1-related drugs for weight loss. Assuming that’s an accurate statistic, that’s a noteworthy number of people. There was a lot of discussion last year that as people come on things like Wegovy and Ozempic, at what moment do we mature to the point that people beginning their cycles of taking the drugs equal those coming off of those drugs? There’s just been a lot of headlines about more affordable access to these types of products. If that continues, that shifts this curve even a little bit further up. [00:08:00] What can reverse that trend or slow down the demand for the whey protein side? I think it takes a production response. I can imagine that any manufacturer that’s making whey-related products as a byproduct of their cheese production is exploring how to access this demand, in particular, the whey protein isolate demand. I don’t have the impression that equipment is any easier to get, and there are still plenty of obstacles in terms of making production changes at the processor side. It feels to me like at least through the first half of this year, we’re gonna continue to be under-supplied relative to the demand that’s out there. And I think it’s important to note that although we’re talking about good demand for these products, the GLP-1-related impact on the dairy market isn’t all positive. It’s certainly a positive on the whey protein side. Still, I think, as it relates to consumer demand for butterfat, cheese products, and some of the other snack foods that dairy products are used in, in the CPG space, people are consuming fewer calories. Throughout the rest of the world, this health and wellness [00:09:00] trend and this appetite for quality protein are everywhere. Their demand continues to be very strong internationally. Maybe a couple of other things that are noteworthy, maybe early indicators of the price stabilizing, it looks like Europe and the U.S. might be closer to parity for the first time in a while. So, we should watch that. We will see seasonal production levels start to increase a bit. I don’t know if that will one-for-one find its way into additional whey protein availability, but it certainly should help the situation as we get into heavier production months in the Northern hemisphere markets that produce these products. But other than that, demand remains very, very strong. Prices are firm. They appear they’ll continue to be through at minimum the first quarter. And I don’t think it’s going out on a ledge to say through the first half of the year. And then we’ll see what happens on the other side of it. But yeah, definitely a firm marketplace right now, Ted. Ted Jacoby III: What about milk protein concentrate, milk protein isolate? Are we starting to see the value of those products increase and close the gap between the [00:10:00] whey protein, since the whey proteins have gotten so expensive? Josh White: I’ll jump in and say we’re starting to see some early indications of that: people looking for substitutes where they can. If you’re not in these markets every day, you don’t know what products are available. If you’re in the CPG space or using it as one of many, many SKUs that you’re buying, you’re not aware of the functional properties and some of these other things. And there’s also a decision-making timeline that people have to consider. Not only are there labeling concerns and other things, but there’s a lot of protein that’s consumed as an ingredient and maybe not the primary ingredient. And oftentimes, those decisions are not easy to formulate or change, and they’re also made over larger durations of time, like annual pricing. We’ve had such a wide gap for a long enough time now that we have customers asking questions, and customers that are on the lower end of the valorization for these products are looking for substitutes. Those substitutes come in a couple of ways. They can come from substituting away from dairy, substituting for other [00:11:00] dairy or trading down to lower dairy-related protein products. We’re seeing people investigate all of them. Diego might be able to speak more precisely about what’s happening with the MPC prices. But generally speaking, the majority of people out there are starting to ask questions. I’m not so sure it’s having a material impact or moving the needle quite yet on substitution. Ted Jacoby III: Okay, well, it feels a little bit like a broken record. Milk everywhere, product everywhere except for whey, maybe that’s exactly the loop we’re in right now. Joe Maixner: We’ve talked a lot about supply and excess and whatnot, but demand, it feels like we’re increasingly teetering towards a crumbling economic situation with higher debt, people not having much discretionary income, and just overall demand being weak. Ted Jacoby III: So, if you’re looking at the demand numbers that we track, restaurant traffic is definitely down. It is clear that the economic environment we’re in, people’s pocketbooks are being stretched thin, and they’re cutting back on how often they go to restaurants and eat at [00:12:00] restaurants. Now, usually when that happens, there’s an offset into the retail side, and the retail side numbers usually go up a little bit. You are seeing that. Speaking to some of our branded customers, what they’re telling us is their sales are down, and the private label guys are saying, well, their sales are up, but frankly, not as much as they expected. The bottom has not dropped out yet. I think everybody’s watching it pretty closely. I think the industry’s concerned. I’ll leave it at that. Mike Brown: I think food service continues to be the big stickler on overall dairy sales. Grocery sales are okay. Food service continues to be weak, and that’s gonna affect us. Mm-hmm. Particularly, I think some of the high-fat products. Josh White: When we’re looking at it from the home front, it doesn’t feel real great, but if we’re looking at just how much additional milk we have globally, including out of Oceana and out of South America, and looking at how much of that surplus milk globally is being consumed in Asia right now, I mean they’ve been buying I wonder if that points to some brightness, at least some positives? Now, I also am a little [00:13:00] concerned that we have a consolidation of demand events, with Chinese New Year buying at the same time that Ramadan continues to move earlier and earlier every year. And prices are low right now. Feels like we might have a big concentration of demand that’s meant to satisfy local needs in the early part of 2026, but there has been a lot of international trade. Ted Jacoby III: I think you’re absolutely right. Ramadan and the Chinese New Year are both in February. Diego Carvallo: The word in the street, Ted, is that most of the Ramadan and New Year’s demand is gonna be fulfilled by the middle of November. Ted Jacoby III: In other words, by the time we get to January 1st, those orders are gone. Mike Brown: Yeah. And Super Bowl is 10 days before the start of Ramadan in the Chinese New Year. So, they’re all pretty close together. Josh White: I went back to saying that, hey, we’ve got a lot of milk globally, every surplus region’s producing more milk than expected. You mentioned earlier, Ted, that doesn’t even account for the component growth that we have here. That’s been fairly impressive. [00:14:00] What’s been interesting about that is it hasn’t felt this heavy. You might believe, well, it doesn’t feel as heavy because the Northern Hemisphere is at its low milk production points. Maybe it doesn’t feel as heavy because we’ve got a concentration of additional demand, but we’re trading a lot of anticipatory supply concerns. We’re really trading the fact that tomorrow we’re worried we have a lot of incremental milk, globally, that we don’t necessarily know where we’re gonna go with it. That’s not a reason to get bullish, to be super clear, but I do think that if we’re thinking through vulnerabilities in the market, that might be one. Ted Jacoby III: I would agree with that. I think there are three things that are probably keeping this market from going straight to the bottom. One, as you said, we’re at the low point seasonally for milk production in the Northern Hemisphere. Two, we are at the high point for demand everywhere. And three, you get to a certain point, and I think we are there in all products, we may actually be passed there in butter, but we are there in cheese, I think we’re there in nonfat, where [00:15:00] in order to go lower, you need to build up supply to the point where the inventories become actually burdensome, and I don’t think they have become burdensome yet, but I would expect that sometime in the first quarter of 2026, they will. You’ll start hearing reports that warehouses are full. You’ll start hearing reports that, from a cashflow perspective, whether it’s traders, whether it’s manufacturers, you have people who just need to dump inventory because they don’t have the cash flow to continue to hold inventory. Those are the things that drive markets to their lows. And so, if you think about the old saying: the cure for high prices is high prices, and the cure for low prices is low prices, that’s when you find out what the low price is, and then you go to that place that sends the strongest supply signal possible to suppliers that they need to cut back. Mike Brown: I was at a cattle show of all things this weekend and was talking with someone about feeding palm oil to get butterfat. His rule of thumb was that a pound of palm oil costs about a dollar, and you get about a 00:16:00 three-to-five-point increase in fat test from that. So, if you say 0.4 and you’re a 90-pound Holstein herd, that’s 0.36 pounds of fat. So, you’re paying a dollar to produce, there’s roughly 50, 60 cents worth of butter fat. So, we may start to see that come into conversations on rations. Josh White: And if we’re looking for optimism, I think that formula is pretty openly discussed in Europe as well. So, you’ve got a situation now where you have the on-farm milk price that is beginning to drop, the signals there that it needs to come down. It’s moving at a decent clip, to Diego’s point, maybe not enough to make any major change yet, but for planning purposes, things like feeding for fat might be a bit more vulnerable going forward there. So yeah, if we’re looking for what could start to correct our oversupply situation or what could potentially stabilize or support the market, we need time. I think that’s the most important thing that needs to happen, is we need time, and we need a milk price that curtails any additional production growth [00:17:00] for the moment so that demand can catch up. We talked about the U.S. situation and how the consumer spending situation doesn’t feel great. But globally, per capita butterfat consumption globally is growing. Per capita protein consumption is growing. We just need to give the demand time to catch up. Inventories might be starting to build, but they’re nowhere nearcumbersome. I would actually argue, our supply chain is still very thin. I wouldn’t even argue that we’re getting to a point where we’re normal by historical standards. I think that we have a pretty thin supply chain, and that’s everything from measurable inventory and reports, like cold storage reports and manufacturing stocks here in the U.S., but all the way through the pipeline. I don’t believe that many end users are sitting on excess product or have too many days in inventory. I think they’ve been quite comfortable buying hand-to-mouth. And the only product they’re being punished on right now for that is whey proteins. Ted Jacoby III: I think you’re right, Josh. I would agree with that statement. I think butter [00:18:00] is somewhat of an exception. Joe Maixner: I don’t know. Butter, it just depends on product mix, right? It’s CME eligible salted bulk. I think overall inventories are not burdensome. But we do have too much older CME-eligible salted bulk butter out there. Ted Jacoby III: That’s actually where I’m going, Joe. What do butter manufacturers do if they’re worried about having produced too many quarters and too many solids? They’ll just produce bulk. And so bulk is the overflow because they know the worst-case scenario, they can dump it onto the CME. And so that is where we end up with excess surplus, just like we get the same with a cheddar block in the cheese market. Josh White: How is international demand for U.S. butter at the moment, Joe, compared to where you would expect it to be and compared to where we were a few months ago? Joe Maixner: It’s steady right now. New inquiries are still coming in, but inquiries have lessened compared to a month or two ago; there’s a lot being made and shipping right now. International markets are starting to open their eyes to something other than [00:19:00] 82%. They’re starting to expand into the 80% because they are finally starting to realize that the numbers that they see on the futures don’t equate to the numbers they pay for an 82% product. And so anybody that’s really just using it for solids, for processing, is starting to convert, which is helping clean up some of that 80% salted butter, but it’s still not fast enough to really move the needle yet. Josh White: So, if the outlook for butterfat really doesn’t have any material upside in the near future, and we’re currently looking at Class III and IV prices, where they’re at, when do we start to impact the U.S. producer’s decision on making incremental milk beyond just the fat component? Are we close or are we still a long way away? Jacob Menge: Look at this Milk Production Report. We are up 268,000 head since June of 2024. That just keeps going up. There was an August revision of 71,000 head higher. The answer is a pretty [00:20:00] conclusive, not yet. I’m looking at the last time, September milk production beat the prior month, so beat August, which was 2001. And it just did that; September just beat August, and the last time it did that was 2001. Josh White: We’re not even talking about adjusted for components. Jacob Menge: That is correct. Joe Maixner: I can’t imagine that $16 to $17 Class III causes any worries right now for the farmers, with $4 corn and $1,200 feeder calves. Mike Brown: As long as you’re in a Class III market, if you’re heavy Class IV, your price isn’t $17. It depends on where you’re located, Joe. But for the most part, if you’re in a cheese market, it’s still decent. You’re right because the whey is also contributing a lot to that Class III price right now with a 70¢ whey market. Ted Jacoby III: Yeah. And the cows are all increasing in the states where there is increased processing capacity as well. Jacob Menge: These guys have had time to hedge this, and they still almost can hedge this, right? Going into later next year, where I think it’s gotta be at a point where they can’t hedge at a profit, and then you’ve [00:21:00] really got issues. Josh White: If we’re in a situation where the global economic outlook isn’t great, so that means we shouldn’t expect any major demand booms to pull dairy up We’re realizing supply growth in all major dairy surplus regions; the only correction for this is supply. And who’s the first to react? The obvious answer is it’s gonna be head-to-head with Europe and the U.S. Who breaks first? These are very, very different markets with different drivers, and they’re actually experiencing growth for different reasons related to the big picture, but different reasons. Europe just went through a situation where its butterfat carried the day. And butterfat was incredibly high, much higher than the U.S. price. They were an importer of fat from New Zealand, bringing in a noteworthy amount of product. And then now going into this year, they’ve seen a really significant drop, well below the support level that most traders would’ve held for butterfat. You assume [00:22:00] that they’re not gonna import a bunch of that product, forcing that product on the rest of the market. They’re going through a pretty negative situation right now as well. One thing you can’t forget about the European producer is that if you kill cows, it’s really tough to replace them, not for the same reasons we have in the U.S., that right now it’s just difficult to compete with beef. But they don’t wanna make those changes for a lot of regulatory reasons. So, they’re gonna hang on as long as possible. The U.S. model, we’re not in pain yet, generally speaking. Some smaller producers might look at higher beef prices and lower dairy outlook as an opportunity to exit. But there is way more structural expansion in motion or down the line that I think that train’s moving down the tracks. So, it’ll be really interesting to see if and who breaks first between the North American market and the European market. Ted Jacoby III: My hunch is it’s the U.S. market. I still think we’re a minimum of six months away, maybe even 12 to 18. Now there are signs, like you look at the Milk Production Report, the state of Washington is down [00:23:00] 8.5%. So, there are places where we are losing cows. Even though the majority of the country has gained cows recently, I would argue that with the drop in the butter price and the weakness in the nonfat market, California is the next one that I think will follow. They’ll struggle to get a decent milk price given that those are the two dominant price drivers for the California market. Diego Carvallo: But if you look at Idaho’s strongly up. So, it seems like a movement between Washington and Idaho. Ted Jacoby III: I think you could be right. Joe Maixner: California, their numbers this month were slightly higher than their peak production year 22. They’re on the uptrend. That’s a large ship that takes a while to turn around. Ted Jacoby III: I don’t disagree. I also think you’re still measuring against bird flu in California. You could argue that it may be a little artificially high. Joe Maixner: I actually questioned that because of the lower increase than I had anticipated for the September number, and bird flu didn’t actually start in California until October. So, we will see even larger increases next month forward in California. They [00:24:00] have that Class I plant that they opened as well out there. Mike Brown: They’re also getting hit with a big assessment, a lot of the producers out there, because the butter market changed, there’s been a lot of inventory loss, and that’s gonna hurt some producers as well. No one I talk to in California is worried about finding milk. They’re worried about finding a place to put it right now. Ted Jacoby III: I don’t think that’s isolated to being a California problem right now. Mike Brown: I would agree. You’re right. Ted Jacoby III: On that note, I think it’s a good time to wrap. Thanks, everybody, for joining us this week. Look forward to talking to you guys again soon. Thank you.

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation, we discuss Bitcoin's “IPO moment” — why investors are feeling disappointed, what's really happening beneath the surface, and how these dynamics could reshape portfolios in the months ahead.  Jordi also shares his perspective on Tesla, artificial intelligence, and the shifting political landscape — explaining how the New York City mayor race and overall market sentiment could influence the next phase of global investing.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin, Ethereum, & SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) for a Crypto Backed Loan (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply.======================As markets shift, headlines break, and interest rates swing, one thing stays true — opportunity is everywhere. At Arch Public, we help you do more than just buy and hold. Yes, our dynamic accumulation algorithms are built for long-term investors… but where we really shine? Our arbitrage algos — designed to farm volatility and turbocharge your core positions. The best part of Arch Public's products is they are free! Yes, you heard that right, try Arch Public for free! Take advantage of wild moves in assets like $SOL, $SUI, and $DOGE, and use them to stack more Bitcoin — completely hands-free. Arch Public is already a preferred partner with Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Robinhood, and our team is here to help you build smarter in any market. Visit Arch Public today, at https://www.archpublic.com, your portfolio will thank you.======================DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) is pioneering a new category in crypto investing with the first Solana-focused Digital Asset Treasury. DFDV offers public market exposure to Solana's growth, yield, and onchain innovation, offering investors a leveraged way to participate in a trillion-dollar opportunity. Learn more about why Solana and why DFDV at SolanaTo10K.com.======================Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro2:05 – Bitcoin's “IPO moment” and illiquid markets6:51 – How stablecoins and AI will impact bitcoin12:34 – AI stocks and the next phase18:22 – Jobs report, unemployment, and inequality20:40 – NYC mayor race & rise of socialism27:35 – Will Tesla buy Uber?31:18 – Inflation, wages, and the restaurant reset40:45 – Elon's trillion-dollar Tesla bet44:06 – “Make Your AI Bed” — adapting to the new era

CTL Script/ Top Stories of November 7th Publish Date: November 7th   Pre-Roll: From the Ingles Studio Welcome to the Award-Winning Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast  Today is Friday, November 7th and Happy Birthday to Jim Kaat I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are the stories Cherokee is talking about, presented by Times Journal Cherokee County voters approve sales tax for transportation Paloma brings Mexican flavors to Woodstock’s Adair Park Here's who signed up to run for Georgia House District 23 Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on milk We’ll have all this and more coming up on the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger Podcast, and if you’re looking for Community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!  Commercial: Ingles Markets 1 STORY 1: Cherokee County voters approve sales tax for transportation Cherokee County voters just gave the green light to a 1% sales tax for transportation—T-SPLOST—set to pump $445 million into local roads over six years. The measure passed with 60.4% of the vote, according to unofficial results. That’s 25,132 “yes” votes to 16,479 “no.” Here's Cherokee County Commission Chair Harry Johnston talking about the results: VO Starting April 2026, the tax will fund road widening, bridge replacements, traffic signal upgrades—you name it. The tax bumps Cherokee’s sales tax to 7%, but here’s the kicker: about a third of that revenue comes from non-residents. STORY 2: Paloma brings Mexican flavors to Woodstock’s Adair Park “Everything here—everything—is made from scratch,” says Jason Sheetz, co-owner of Paloma Tequila & Tacos, Woodstock’s newest spot for Mexican food. Open since October in Adair Park, the restaurant even makes its chips and salsa fresh daily. The menu? Familiar favorites like tacos, enchiladas, and fajitas, but with a twist. Almost everything is gluten-free, and Executive Chef Rebeca Delgado brings her own creative flair to dishes like carne asada burritos and tacos de carne asada. Drinks are just as thoughtful. The Paloma Cantarito, served in a ceramic cup, and the jalapeño-pineapple margarita are crowd-pleasers—no premixes, just fresh juices. Paloma is open for dinner now, with lunch service starting Thanksgiving week. And yes, parking is free. STORY 3: Here's who signed up to run for Georgia House District 23 Six candidates are vying for the Georgia House District 23 seat, left vacant after the passing of longtime Representative Mandi Ballinger, who served the Cherokee County area for over a decade before losing her battle with cancer last month. The special election is set for Dec. 9, with five Republicans and one Democrat in the mix: Ann Gazell, a retired educator; Bill Fincher, a former assistant DA; Brice Futch, a firefighter; Raj Sagoo, a consultant; Scott Sanders, an engineer (and the lone Democrat); and William Ware, a retired microbiologist. Early voting starts Nov. 17, and if no one wins outright, a runoff will follow on Jan. 6. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info.    We’ll be right back. Break: Ingles Markets 1 STORY 4: Cobb/Cherokee State Football Playoff Schedule Here is the upcoming state football playoff schedule. Class AAAAAA – Nov. 14 Paulding County (4-6) heads to North Cobb (7-3) Hillgrove (8-2) takes on North Paulding (8-2) Marietta (5-5) faces Harrison (9-1) Walton (5-5) battles undefeated McEachern (10-0) Class AAAAA – Nov. 14 Lee County (7-3) visits Sprayberry (9-1) Creekview (5-5) travels to Houston County (9-1) Woodstock (6-4) meets Thomas County Central (10-0) Coffee (4-6) challenges Sequoyah (9-1) Class AAAA – Nov. 14 Hampton (7-3) at Kell (8-2) Class A-AAA Private Nov. 14: NCC (4-6) vs. King’s Ridge (7-3); MPC (5-5) at Holy Innocents (7-3) Nov. 21: Darlington/Aquinas winner heads to Whitefield (8-2) STORY 5: Woodstock Midday Optimist Club donates $500 and food to CCHVP  The Woodstock Midday Optimist Club stepped up in a big way, handing over a $500 check and a pile of food donations—worth another $500—to the Cherokee County Homeless Veterans Program. CCHVP recently launched a food pantry aimed at helping active-duty military in Cherokee County who’ve lost their SNAP benefits. It’s a lifeline for those who need it. The pantry, located at the Thomas M. Brady American Legion Post 45 (160 McClure St., Canton), is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on milk Commercial: We’ll have closing comments after this.   COMMERCIAL: Ingles Markets 1   SIGN OFF –   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.tribuneledgernews.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shehzan Maredia is the Founder of Lava, a company building financial tools for Bitcoin holders who want to enjoy life without selling their BTC. In this conversation, we discuss how wealthy Bitcoiners are using innovative lending and credit solutions to buy homes, cars, and experiences — all while keeping their Bitcoin. Shahzad shares real stories, insights, and the broader vision behind enabling financial freedom without liquidation.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (⁠⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠⁠), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin, Ethereum, & SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (⁠⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠⁠) for a Crypto Backed Loan (⁠⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠⁠) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply.======================Simple Mining makes Bitcoin mining simple and accessible for everyone. We offer a premium white glove hosting service, helping you maximize the profitability of Bitcoin mining. For more information on Simple Mining or to get started mining Bitcoin, visit https://www.simplemining.io/======================Xapo Bank, the world's first fully licensed Bitcoin-enabled bank, offers military-grade security with an unmatched blend of physical and digital security, as well as pioneering regulatory oversight, so your funds are always protected. Beyond secure storage, they enable you to grow and use your Bitcoin. Earn daily interest in Bitcoin, spend with zero FX fees using a global card, and make instant payments via the Lightning Network for unrivalled access and convenience. Visit https://www.xapobank.com/pomp to join.======================Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro2:36 - Who are high-net-worth bitcoiners?8:24 – “Buy, borrow, die” wealth strategy12:35 – How Lava's bitcoin loan products work18:22 – Lava's new bitcoin line of credit19:22 - Real examples of users borrowing for homes and cars21:36 – How Lava makes money24:30 – Why Lava focuses only on Bitcoin26:15 – New bitcoin-backed credit card launch30:05 - The simplicity of bitcoin

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation, we unpack the Fed's interest rate cuts, the U.S.–China trade dynamic, and what they signal for global markets. We also dive into the Bitcoin, AI, and tokenized assets — explaining how these forces, alongside Tesla's innovations, are shaping the next major investment cycle.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin, Ethereum, & SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠) for a Crypto Backed Loan (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply.======================In this episode, Pomp spotlights easyBitcoin.app—the app that pays you 1% extra on recurring buys, 2% annual bitcoin rewards, and 4.5% APY on USD. Download it now for iOS or Android at https://easybitcoin.onelink.me/F1zP/klc4v1p8 and start earning today. Your capital is at risk. Crypto markets are highly volatile. This content is informational and not financial advice.======================DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) is pioneering a new category in crypto investing with the first Solana-focused Digital Asset Treasury. DFDV offers public market exposure to Solana's growth, yield, and onchain innovation, offering investors a leveraged way to participate in a trillion-dollar opportunity. Learn more about why Solana and why DFDV at ⁠SolanaTo10K.com⁠.======================Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro2:08 – Fed rate cut and market reaction4:34 – US - China trade agreement and impact7:54 – How to navigate government shutdown, labor market, and AI22:03 – Generational divide, wealth gap, and rise of socialism in politics26:46 – Bitcoin sentiment and why investors are frustrated33:21 – Tokenization, stablecoins, and the future of payments38:40 – Token revolution and the merging of AI & crypto42:27 – Tesla, robo-taxis, and the future of self-driving cars

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation, we cover Tesla's robo-taxis, inflation, interest rates, and the U.S.–China trade dynamic. Jordy also shares how he's positioning his portfolio, and what Bitcoin, gold, and market psychology reveal about where investors are headed next.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin, Ethereum, & SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) for a Crypto Backed Loan (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply.======================As markets shift, headlines break, and interest rates swing, one thing stays true — opportunity is everywhere. At Arch Public, we help you do more than just buy and hold. Yes, our dynamic accumulation algorithms are built for long-term investors… but where we really shine? Our arbitrage algos — designed to farm volatility and turbocharge your core positions. The best part of Arch Public's products is they are free! Yes, you heard that right, try Arch Public for free! Take advantage of wild moves in assets like $SOL, $SUI, and $DOGE, and use them to stack more Bitcoin — completely hands-free. Arch Public is already a preferred partner with Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Robinhood, and our team is here to help you build smarter in any market. Visit Arch Public today, at https://www.archpublic.com, your portfolio will thank you.======================DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) is pioneering a new category in crypto investing with the first Solana-focused Digital Asset Treasury. DFDV offers public market exposure to Solana's growth, yield, and onchain innovation, offering investors a leveraged way to participate in a trillion-dollar opportunity. Learn more about why Solana and why DFDV at SolanaTo10K.com.======================Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro1:39 - Tesla and the rise of robotaxis15:33 - How AI, abundance, and bitcoin connect21:05 - Generational divide and government control23:14 - Why AI adoption mirrors Bitcoin adoption26:00 - Gold's parabolic run and sharp pullback29:27 - China–US trade deal impact on gold and markets37:22 - Layoffs, future of automation, and wealth effect43:06 - Who could be selling bitcoin right now?48:58 - The inevitability of AI and the next wave of innovation

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation, we discuss the banking crisis, credit contraction, and what's driving fear in today's markets, Jordi shares what he's buying, whether he's worried about a broader slowdown, and we also touch on OpenAI's breakthroughs, new AI models, and whether “the aliens are real.”======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin, Ethereum, & SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) for a Crypto Backed Loan (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply.======================⁠In this episode, Pomp spotlights easyBitcoin.app—the app that pays you 1% extra on recurring buys, 2% annual bitcoin rewards, and 4.5% APY on USD. Download it now for iOS or Android at https://easybitcoin.onelink.me/F1zP/klc4v1p8 and start earning today. Your capital is at risk. Crypto markets are highly volatile. This content is informational and not financial advice.======================Xapo Bank, the world's first fully licensed Bitcoin-enabled bank, offers military-grade security with an unmatched blend of physical and digital security, as well as pioneering regulatory oversight, so your funds are always protected. Beyond secure storage, they enable you to grow and use your Bitcoin. Earn daily interest in Bitcoin, spend with zero FX fees using a global card, and make instant payments via the Lightning Network for unrivalled access and convenience. Visit https://www.xapobank.com/pomp to join.======================Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro1:53 – Market panic and bitcoin 4-year cycle10:52 – Central banks view on gold vs bitcoin14:58 – US & China trade tensions and rare earths28:25 – Fed policy, rate cuts, and credit risks31:24 – Regional banks and financial stability35:41 – From pessimism to optimism in markets and rise of retail49:21 – AI breakthroughs and the future of technology52:58 – Have aliens come to earth?

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation, we discuss whether there's a bubble forming and where Jordi stands — bullish or bearish, we dive into the AI trade, the supply and demand imbalance driving energy and infrastructure, the growing “debasement trade” as institutions allocate to Bitcoin and gold, we explore capitalism vs. socialism, humanoid robots, and the macro forces shaping the markets today.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin or Ethereum with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠) for a Crypto Backed Loan (⁠https://figuremarkets.co/pomp⁠) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply. Visit ⁠https://figuremarkets.com/borrow⁠ for more information.======================Simple Mining makes Bitcoin mining simple and accessible for everyone. We offer a premium white glove hosting service, helping you maximize the profitability of Bitcoin mining. For more information on Simple Mining or to get started mining Bitcoin, visit https://www.simplemining.io/======================Bitwise is one of the largest and fastest-growing crypto asset managers, with more than $15 billion in client assets across an expanding suite of investment solutions—including the world's largest crypto index fund—plus products spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, and crypto equities. In addition to managing assets, Bitwise helps investors stay informed about the fast-moving crypto market. Every week, CIO Matt Hougan breaks down what's happening in crypto in five minutes or less. Read the latest at https://experts.bitwiseinvestments.com/cio-memos. Certain Bitwise investment products may be subject to the extreme risks associated with investing in crypto assets. Visit https://bitwiseinvestments.com/disclosures to learn more.======================Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro0:47 - Bubble talk is dominating the market 7:06 - The $7 Trillion AI infrastructure boom 10:03 - Impact of AI adoption 13:36 - AI job fears and market correction warnings19:18 - Credit events and private credit risks26:16 - Why the debasement trade is happening now: gold and bitcoin39:05 - The rise of humanoid robots44:06 - Outlook on compute, power, and the market 

Jordi Visser is a macro investor with over 30 years of Wall Street experience. He also writes a Substack called “VisserLabs” and puts out investing YouTube videos. In this conversation we talk about why bitcoin is the purest AI trade available in the market, energy infrastructure, what is going on with the government shutdown, how interest rates, the Fed, the economy are all intertwined, and why prediction markets and tokenization are two big themes moving forward.======================Check out my NEW show for daily bite-sized breakdowns of the biggest stories in finance, technology, and politics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://pompdesk.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠======================This episode is brought to you by Figure (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp), the platform to Earn and Borrow. Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin or Ethereum with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain. Unlock your crypto's potential today. Visit their app to apply (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) for a Crypto Backed Loan (https://figuremarkets.co/pomp) today! Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information. Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply. Visit https://figuremarkets.com/borrow for more information.======================Xapo Bank, the world's first fully licensed Bitcoin-enabled bank, offers military-grade security with an unmatched blend of physical and digital security, as well as pioneering regulatory oversight, so your funds are always protected. Beyond secure storage, they enable you to grow and use your Bitcoin. Earn daily interest in Bitcoin, spend with zero FX fees using a global card, and make instant payments via the Lightning Network for unrivalled access and convenience. Visit https://www.xapobank.com/pomp to join.======================Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro1:58 - Why bitcoin is the purest AI trade 12:37 - The impact of new energy infrastructure17:47 - How Base Power is building a decentralized grid and other opportunities for investors 24:43 - Why retail spots themes before institutions33:27 - Retail orange-pilling each other in public 38:19 - What is the impact of government shutdown on financial markets? 41:19 - The rise of prediction markets and tokenization 50:22 - Where to follow Jordi on the internet