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It's finally happened. We have our first guest and she's an expert on things coming out of holes. Join us for a delightful chat. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we were delighted to welcome Jim Murchie, Co-Founder, Co-Portfolio Manager, and CEO of Energy Income Partners (EIP). Prior to co-founding EIP, Jim's career in power and electricity included establishing Lawhill Capital, serving as a Managing Director at Tiger Management focused primarily on energy, commodities, and related equities, and working as a Principal at Sanford C. Bernstein, where he was a top-ranked energy analyst. He began his career at British Petroleum and holds an MA in Energy Planning from Harvard University. We were thrilled to connect with Jim for an insightful discussion on the power landscape. We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, starting with how EIP navigates macro and market volatility by focusing on regulated monopolies and pipelines with stable, cost-plus earnings, Jim's career path and research philosophy, and how EIP's focus on utilities and pipelines emerged from investor demand for real assets and dividends. Jim provides a history lesson on power markets and how deregulated wholesale markets evolved, Enron-era manipulation, and the early-2000s gas plant buildout that ultimately led to overcapacity and merchant distress. We dig into the three-bucket framework for customer bills (generation, transmission, and distribution/other) and why the public debate often overemphasizes generation, while the biggest driver of residential bill increases has been distribution/other costs (bucket three). Jim explains that the third bucket on power bills often acts as a catch-all for costs that are neither generation nor transmission, even when they aren't distribution in the literal last-mile sense, and that greater billing and policy transparency can clarify what's exogenous versus what's controllable. He describes how the impact of data centers can differ between vertically integrated cost-plus states and deregulated commodity-market states, and unpacks behind-the-meter realities, including how hyperscalers often prefer a grid connection for reliability but still deploy backup generation. We discuss the administration's push for hyperscalers to sign long-term contracts to enable new generation build, policymakers' heightened focus on avoiding blackouts, and why this is often a peaking problem more than a supply problem. Jim emphasizes how incentives, rather than intent, drive investment behavior in regulated versus deregulated markets, challenges the narrative that data centers are inherently driving higher power prices, and highlights the economic value of reliability investments and peak-load management in shaping long-term system costs. It was a wide-ranging discussion, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue with Jim in a future episode. As you will hear, we reference a few items in the discussion. Please find the links below: Energy Income Partners Report: “Power Struggle I – How False Political Narratives Cloud the Drivers of Higher Residential Electricity Prices” (linked here)Energy Income Partners Report: “Power Struggle II – How Market Structure Affects Wholesale Power Price Increases” (linked here)Veriten's COBT episode featuring Thomas Popik, Foundation for Resilient Societies (linked here)Mike Bradley opened the discussion by noting that the 10-year U.S. bond yield looks to be the least volatile asset class at this juncture, with the 10-year bond yield trading very rangebound (around 4.25%). The dominant market theme this week, and for much of the year, has been extreme volatility across commodities (Bitcoin, Energy, and Metals). On the crude oil market front, WTI price is trading at ~$63/bbl, with volatility elevated over t
On today's episode of The Lou Perez Podcast, I talk with clarinet player James Zimmermann about being a nine-year-old on Broadway (you may have seen him in The Will Rogers Follies back in 1991), why old people gravitate to the fine arts, the slopification of entertainment, blind auditions, and his firing from the Nashville Symphony. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network), and co-hosts Happy Hour Econ with Phil Magness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today is a glorious, violent mess. Join me. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Mike Laufer, Co-Founder and CEO of Kairos Power, for a robust nuclear-focused discussion. Kairos recently marked its nine-year anniversary and has grown to 500+ employees across its headquarters in Alameda, CA, its manufacturing development campus in Albuquerque, NM, and its Hermes Demonstration Reactor Campus in Oak Ridge, TN. Kairos is developing its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), which pairs TRISO pebble fuel with a low-pressure molten-salt coolant (“Flibe”) and is designed for modular deployment, including a two-reactor/one-turbine configuration delivering up to ~150 MWe. The company's Oak Ridge program includes Hermes 1, the first non-water-cooled reactor to receive an NRC construction permit, and Hermes 2, a commercial-scale demonstration plant intended to supply electricity to the grid. Mike earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. His research included work in reactor safety, design, licensing, and code validation for advanced non-light water reactors. We were thrilled to visit with Mike. In our conversation, Mike shares the early vision behind Kairos, the company's focus on U.S. electricity markets and building a reactor that can compete on cost, and their strategy centered on iterative hardware demonstrations and vertical integration. We discuss system-level parallelization, developing upstream/downstream “balance-of-plant” elements alongside reactor work to compress timelines and de-risk full-system integration, NRC engagement dating back to 2018, safety case fundamentals, sizing and product configuration, and how the Google partnership supports a sequence of deployments toward ~500 MW by 2035 (Google announcement linked here). Mike offers a realistic view of the nuclear learning curve and what it takes to drive down cost and schedule uncertainty over successive projects, how Kairos structured the Google deployment pathway, and the importance of setting achievable targets. We touch on how SMR winners and losers will be determined by project execution and delivery, not announcements, and Mike highlights common pitfalls in the conventional U.S. nuclear project model, including fragmented roles and misaligned incentives. We discuss Kairos's centralized “hub” model with clear decision-making authority, its approach to validating partners and execution steps at smaller scale before taking on multi-billion-dollar FOAK risk, and how the organization maintains efficiency by balancing multiple deliverables and hiring “wildly competent” people comfortable with ambiguity. We also cover how commodity inflation and supply-chain depth affect planning, Kairos's focus on strategic supplier partnerships, particularly in steel, concrete, and precast concrete, the importance of public trust and earning long-term community support, how non-nuclear test systems build real operating capability and flexible operating models, how AI may eventually improve execution and reliability, and much more. We're very grateful to Mike for sharing his time and expertise with us. Mike Bradley kicked off the show by noting that the 10-year U.S. bond yield appears to have temporarily stabilized around 4.2% and is awaiting Wednesday's FOMC rate decision. Most expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged, though volatility could ensue if they don't! On the crude oil front, WTI price has inched up to $62/bbl amid continued bearishness in financial contract length and recent severe winter weather. There's speculation that this Polar Vortex (which we've dubbed the “Polar Pig”) has reduced U.S. oil production by ~1.5mmbpd. On the natural gas front, the Polar Pig has spiked prompt U.S. natural gas price to ~$6/MM
My friend Sean Malone returns to The Lou Perez Podcast to talk about being a new (old) dad, how fatherhood radicalizes you, and why you should cover the Earth before the earth covers you. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network), and co-hosts Happy Hour Econ with Phil Magness. How'd Lou start out? He began doing improv and sketch comedy while an undergrad at New York University, where he was part of the comedy group the Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz. Lou was a writer for Fox Sports' @TheBuzzer; produced The Attendants with Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video; produced pilots for FOX Digital and MSN Games; and was a comedy producer on TruTV's Impractical Jokers. Lou hosted the stand-up show Uncle Lou's Safe Place in Los Angeles, performed at the Big Pine Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Punching Up Comedy at Freedom Fest, and co-created the political comedy podcast Unsafe Space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Geopolitical drama is back on the menu, and the futures options markets are feeling the heat. In this episode of This Week in Futures Options (TWIFO), Mark Longo breaks down a wild week where nearly every complex saw a volatility explosion. From potential trade wars to "Greenland drama," we explore how the tape is reacting at CME Group. On today's episode, we dive into: The Movers & Shakers Report The Volatility Spike: A look at the CVOL (CME Volatility Index) across the board. Why Treasury vol is roaring back to life (up 10 points) and Energy is pining the needle at 69.35. Natural Gas Mania: Nat Gas jumps a staggering 57% as the polar vortex hits. Metals & FX: Precious metals explode in both price and vol, while FX vol gains a full point on trade war chatter. The Dark Side: Bitcoin slides over 8%, leading the losers alongside Palladium and Copper. Equities: The Big Tech Rotation Nasdaq vs. Small Caps: We analyze the pronounced rotation out of large-cap tech and into small caps. Zero-DTE Action: A deep dive into the massive paper hitting the Nasdaq-100 (NQ), where 0-DTE contracts dominated 43% of the weekly flow. The March Skew: Why traders are paying a premium for March 24,000 puts in the Nasdaq and what it means for the next 60 days of market risk. Call Discounts: Is the 13.5% discount on March calls a buying opportunity or a warning sign? Market Intelligence Geopolitical Impact: How the "Greenland deal" headlines and Middle East tensions are impacting WTI and precious metals.
Geopolitical drama is back on the menu, and the futures options markets are feeling the heat. In this episode of This Week in Futures Options (TWIFO), Mark Longo breaks down a wild week where nearly every complex saw a volatility explosion. From potential trade wars to "Greenland drama," we explore how the tape is reacting at CME Group. On today's episode, we dive into: The Movers & Shakers Report The Volatility Spike: A look at the CVOL (CME Volatility Index) across the board. Why Treasury vol is roaring back to life (up 10 points) and Energy is pining the needle at 69.35. Natural Gas Mania: Nat Gas jumps a staggering 57% as the polar vortex hits. Metals & FX: Precious metals explode in both price and vol, while FX vol gains a full point on trade war chatter. The Dark Side: Bitcoin slides over 8%, leading the losers alongside Palladium and Copper. Equities: The Big Tech Rotation Nasdaq vs. Small Caps: We analyze the pronounced rotation out of large-cap tech and into small caps. Zero-DTE Action: A deep dive into the massive paper hitting the Nasdaq-100 (NQ), where 0-DTE contracts dominated 43% of the weekly flow. The March Skew: Why traders are paying a premium for March 24,000 puts in the Nasdaq and what it means for the next 60 days of market risk. Call Discounts: Is the 13.5% discount on March calls a buying opportunity or a warning sign? Market Intelligence Geopolitical Impact: How the "Greenland deal" headlines and Middle East tensions are impacting WTI and precious metals.
You won't believe your eyes. Today is full of surprises. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It was an honor to welcome David MacNaughton, Strategic Advisor at CIBC and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States. David joined CIBC earlier in January (press release linked here) and will provide insights to senior business leaders across public policy, regulatory developments, global trade, and stakeholder relations. David served as Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. from 2016 to 2019, a pivotal period that included the renegotiation of NAFTA. Earlier in his career, David served as Chairman of StrategyCorp and as a Senior Advisor to CIBC Capital Markets, and he previously served as President of Palantir Canada. He is a seasoned entrepreneur and political strategist, having founded and built multiple public affairs and advisory firms. We were thrilled to host David ahead of CIBC's Annual Institutional Investor Conference taking place this week in Whistler and to hear his perspective on the evolving dynamics shaping the U.S.-Canada relationship. In our conversation, we discuss David's experience spanning business and government, the highly dynamic geopolitical environment, the need for renewed public-private collaboration, and why politics feel increasingly interventionist today, with populist pressure pushing governments toward protectionism and isolationism. We explore the implications of AI-driven white-collar job disruption, why businesses must treat geopolitics and public policy as core risk drivers, Canada's role in AI innovation and adoption, and how Canada is rebalancing its resource economy amid global energy and trade shifts. David shares his perspective on Canada's prior reluctance to embrace LNG exports and its renewed push to be an “energy superpower,” how to interpret volatility from the Trump Administration, and how tariffs have strained, but not broken, the U.S.-Canada relationship, highlighting the importance of the integrated North American energy system and the need for Canada to diversify markets. We discuss how David's Strategic Advisor role will help clients think about using government support appropriately, his cautious optimism on recent geopolitical shifts, and why maintaining dialogue among allies matters, as misinterpretation and retreating into corners can quickly spiral into escalation. It was a broad-based discussion and we're thankful to David for sharing his time and unique insights. Mike Bradley opened the show by noting that the 10-year U.S. bond yield had spiked to ~4.3% amid concerns that Europeans could sell U.S. Treasuries in response to President Trump's Greenland overtures, as well as growing questions about what a spike in Japanese bond yields might mean for global bond yields. Consensus appears firmly in the camp that the Fed will not cut interest rates at the January 28 FOMC meeting. In the broader equity market, the S&P 500 was down modestly (~0.5%) over the last week, with cyclical sectors (Energy and Industrials) leading and Financials lagging. In energy commodities, WTI price appears to have stabilized at ~$60/bbl. U.S. natural gas price recently spiked ~$0.80/MMBtu (to ~$4.00/MMBtu) due to an Arctic blast forecast in the weeks ahead. On the energy news front, Q4 earnings season begins this week with Halliburton and SLB reporting. Discussion on those calls is likely to be dominated by 1H26 international oil spending trends. Mike also noted Mitsubishi Corp's $5.2 billion deal to acquire Aethon Energy, and his expectation for many more deals across the energy value chain in 2026. He ended by highlighting that President Trump, along with a handful of Northeast governors, are asking PJM Interconnection to hold an emergency energy auction that would allow Big Tech companies to bid on 15-year contracts to supply ~$15 billion of new power plants. IPP equities were the most negatively impacted by this proposal late last week.
New Hampshire supremacist Jeremy Kauffman joins me to talk about the psychology of libertarians, Scott Adams's legacy, and how social media is actually real life. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network), and co-hosts Happy Hour Econ with Phil Magness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What a day. Believe it or not, these are feel good stories. Join me. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we were thrilled to welcome Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma. Governor Stitt was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Before entering politics, he was a successful entrepreneur. His company, Gateway, grew into a nationwide mortgage company and, through a merger, became Gateway First Bank, now one of Oklahoma's ten largest banks. In 2018, he received more votes than any gubernatorial candidate in Oklahoma history in his first bid for elected office. As Governor, he has prioritized delivering more value for taxpayers, and his fiscally conservative approach has helped Oklahoma build its largest savings balance in state history. Governor Stitt also serves as Chair of the National Governors Association, which was founded in 1908 to advance bipartisan dialogue, policy innovation, and information-sharing among the nation's governors. It was an honor to host the Governor for an insightful conversation on permitting reform, power affordability, and the policy bottlenecks shaping the U.S. energy and infrastructure buildout. In our conversation, we explore why states, through the bipartisan work of the National Governors Association, are central to unlocking U.S. competitiveness and fixing bottlenecks that Washington has struggled to address. Governor Stitt lays out a practical, pro-business, free-market philosophy to build more of everything, remove obstacles, and let innovation and capital do the work, shaped by his background as a business leader turned governor. We discuss Oklahoma's behind-the-meter power policy that allows large users to self-supply, the broader affordability and power price debate, and the need to better educate the public on where electricity comes from. We dig into what's broken in today's policy framework, including the lack of a single accountable federal regulator, and how short-term politics and pendulum swings can stall long-term, common-sense reforms. We also touch on the added complexity of tribal sovereignty and federal involvement in energy infrastructure development. As mentioned, the National Governors Association's permitting proposal, “NGA Letter on Energy Permitting Priorities” (published in October 2025) is linked here. We greatly enjoyed the discussion and appreciate Governor Stitt for his time. Mike Bradley noted the 10-year bond yield (~4.18%) has traded sideways to start the year. December CPI printed in line with expectations, with PPI due tomorrow. If economic reports continue to print in line, bond yields will likely remain rangebound until the January 28 FOMC meeting. On the oil market front, WTI is up ~$3.50/bbl (~$61/bbl) this year despite 2026 surplus concerns. Oil markets have quickly shifted from 1H26 oversupply and Venezuelan oil production increases to rising Iran-related risk, with the potential for a sharper spike if tensions escalate, especially given that institutional investors are currently bearish (Goldman Sachs Oil Sentiment survey) and very short oil contract “financial” length. In equities, the S&P 500 is up ~2% YTD with the biggest sector winners being cyclicals (Energy, Industrials, and Materials). Materials is the best performing S&P sector this year (up ~7%) due to growing optimism that global GDP growth will be headed higher in 2026. The Russell 2000 is up ~6%, which is far outpacing the S&P 500 & Big AI/Tech stocks, and could be an early sign that market breadth is widening. Energy is up ~5% this year with Oil Services up ~12%, Refiners up ~8% and U.S. Oil Majors up ~6% on hopes that they'll all be beneficiaries of future Venezuelan infrastructure investment and a quick redirection of heavy oil barrels to Gulf Coast refiners. He closed with takeaways from the Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference last week including a real sense of optimism despite investors still being most
On this episode of The Lou Perez Podcast I'm joined by my friend Robert George: writer, comedian, and Track Star crusher. We talk about mixtapes, New York accents (without New York accents), how my mother published me during Black History Month, and Robert's claim that he is not fellow black conservative Jason L. Riley. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network), and co-hosts Happy Hour Econ with Phil Magness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keith explores two big themes shaping real estate investors' futures: Why more Americans are becoming "forever renters"—and how long-term lifestyle and demographic shifts (not just today's prices and rates) are quietly reshaping the demand for rentals. The growing conversation around eliminating property taxes—which states are making the most noise, and why the real issue isn't whether property taxes go away, but what would realistically replace them. Keith also zooms out for a quick year-end tour of major asset classes—from stocks and real estate to metals and crypto—so listeners can see where real estate fits in the broader investing landscape and what these shifts might mean for their wealth-building strategy. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/588 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments. For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text 1-937-795-8989 to speak with a freedom coach Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review" For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com or text 'GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript: Keith Weinhold 0:01 Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, the Forever renter trend keeps getting embedded deeper into American culture. What's behind it? It's more than just finances. Then there's been more talk about eliminating property taxes, if they go away, what replaces them? And we'll discuss more today on get rich education. Keith Weinhold 0:27 Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, and delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show guests include top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki. Get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast, or visit get rich education.com Corey Coates 1:12 You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education. Keith Weinhold 1:28 Welcome to GRE from Jamestown, New York to Jamestown, North Dakota and across 108 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and this is get rich education. Most investments reduce your income until you can start drawing on it and paying taxes on it in your 60s. That's a lot of decades of living below your means. Here learn how to grow your means and invest in vehicles that pay you when you're young enough to enjoy it and pay you five ways tax advantaged. Hey, there's a big misunderstanding about the housing market taking place right now. Yes, today's higher cost of home ownership contributes to Americans renting longer, for sure, but let's not make the mistake of thinking this is a new phenomenon just because home prices moved higher or mortgage rates began normalizing again a few years ago, that's not what it's about Americans renting longer. That is a trend decades in the making, and it has had and will continue to have major implications on the rental housing market decades into the future, buying your first home at 25 that was your grandparents or maybe your parents. Today, it kind of goes like this in life's journey for the wannabe homeowner, First comes the gray hair, then comes the mortgage. Last year, we learned that the average first time homebuyer age in America has moved up to 40. Back in 1981 it was age 29 per the NAR. More specifically one's real estate journey, it basically now goes like this, rent, rent, rent, have roommates again, go back to renting, chiropractor, Bank of mom and dad, then a mortgage maybe. Keith Weinhold 3:34 Yeah, the home ownership rate, it keeps falling among every age group, most sharply among 30 somethings. The translation here is that more renters are coming. For those in their 30s, the home ownership rate maxed out at 69% in 1980 it's fallen to just 47% today. Those that are older, for those in their 40s, the homeownership rate maxed out at 78% in 1982 it has fallen to just 62% today and so on. Every 10 year age group all the way to those age 80 plus, the homeownership rate has fallen for all of them over the decades too, every single age cohort. The home ownership rate has fallen over the decades, and that is all per the Census Bureau. I'll tell you why this forever renter trend just keeps strengthening in a moment. But if you don't own your home, here are your current housing options. You can live with your parents. Yes, welcome back childhood bedroom with those glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. Sadly, you can be homeless. That is really not good. Or the other option is you can rent something nice, new, modern, and energy eficient. The group in which home ownership has fallen the most are those 30 somethings. 20 somethings aren't even part of what the Census Bureau reported here. It fell most sharply in the 1980s and then again, after the great recession. And here's what I know you might be thinking because we have some of the smartest listeners around. I bet that during times that buying was cheaper than renting, the trend reversed. That's what you might be thinking. No, it didn't. Regardless of what is cheaper, over time, the home ownership rate just keeps falling despite those periods, whatever is cheaper renting or owning now the overall home ownership rate that's fallen just since 2023 from 66% down to 65% that might not sound like much, but a Full 1% drop there means 1.3 million new renters already, just since 2023 and now you might be thinking, well, this is like totally because home prices and mortgage rates have been higher since that time. They've been higher since 2023 you are, in fact, somewhat correct about the affordability on a median priced home today, which is around 420k, I mean a 10% down payment and closing costs, that means you're out of pocket, probably more than 50k and it's 100k plus for a 20% down payment. And this is often an insurmountable hurdle without financial help from the Bank of mom and dad. But this is all part of a longer, multi decade set of trends. And look, a lot of these trends don't have much of anything to do with finances. People are renting longer because Americans wait longer to marry and have kids, and this has persisted, whether economic cycles are good or bad, and certainly, regardless of what mortgage rate levels are, younger generations value flexibility. That's another reason people are renting longer. Also 30 somethings are just simply more comfortable with subscription models like renting. I mean, look at Netflix and Uber and Spotify. It's been decades since anyone actually bought DVDs or CDs. Yeah, renting is just sort of another subscription model. More. Boomers are also renting for convenience. They would rather play pickleball instead of mow a lawn. This is something that they figured out a while ago. Also higher consumer and educational debt keeps people renting. You've got buy now, pay later. Companies like Klarna that are booming and mortgage eligibility got sucked from souls when all this happened? Hey, I've got more a ton of reasons for why more and more people are renters today, and how this trend is your friend if you are a rental property investor. Keith Weinhold 8:13 Also, let's be mindful when we broke the gold standard in 1971 asset prices took off like a Blue Origin launch, and wages stagnated. That makes it tough to patch together a down payment and look, there is still an antiquated notion out there that apartments especially are like replete with paper thin walls and one in every five units is a meth lab. Have you toured apartment buildings, fourplexes, duplexes and single family rentals built in the last 10 years? Sheesh. Great amenities. Expect to see granite countertops, patios, fenced yards, gyms, sometimes even pet spas at Class A apartments, washer, dryer in unit. I mean, that has been standard for a long time, LED lighting, smart locks, increasingly office nooks for remote workers. Those are the modern amenities that you find in a rental. So the bottom line here is that as Americans age, there is an elongated renter stage of life. It's not just prices or rates, it is lifestyle. And this is why, even when affordability improves, the homeownership rate should continue to drop. More rental demand is coming. So yes, an elongated renter stage, this forever renter, if you will. That is somewhat about finances, but it is more, and this shapes the landlordtenant landscape for decades. And of course, your advantage here at GRE is even if you live in a High Cost part of the nation, we know how to buy here, say, a brand new build to rent single family property in an investor advantage place like Indiana, Missouri, Alabama or Florida, and we get it for, say, 300k or so, and you get a tenant that will pay you rent for four years or more in a lot of cases. So we've been talking about where the rental demand is coming from. It is both a lifestyle choice and a financial consideration for your tenant. Now this forever renter trend, that's something that really matters if you are providing housing to people. But some real estate trends just move so slowly, so glacier like that, you can kind of get lulled to sleep, until one day you look up and a trend has crystallized like the one that I just described. Let's compare a trend like that to something that people think matters a lot, and this does matter, but its importance is overinflated, and that is, for example, the President's nomination of a new Fed chair this year, and how that's going to move the real estate market. No, not as much as people think, as we've learned here, mortgage rates actually don't have that much to do with home prices. And yes, mortgage rates do move. They are correlated with the Fed funds rate. Yes, they are. When one is high, the other will be high. When one is low, the other will be low. They just don't move in direct lockstep. Let's listen in to the remarks of one Donald John Trump on the matter, because he talks about housing here. This is about a minute long, and then I come back to comment when Trump says him, he is apparently pointing to Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who was in the room at the time, but as you'll hear, he's not expected to be the Fed Chair selection. Speaker 1 12:06 Have you started the interviews for the Fed chair? Yes. Who have you interviewed? Ithink I already know my choice well. I like to him, but he's not going to take the job very fast. You like Treasury better, right? Much better, sir. So we are talking to various people and the I mean, frankly, I'd love to get the guy currently, and they're out right now,but people are holding me back. He's done a terrible job, hurting housing a little bit. The truth is, we've been so successful, we've blown past his interest rate. Stupidity. He's been wrong. That's why I call him too late. He's too late. Jerome, too late. Powell, he was recommended to me by a guy that made a bad, you know, bad choice, and it's too bad. But despite that, it's having very little impact, because we have, you know, we have all of these things happening, but it has an impact on housing to a certain extent. He's a fool. He's a stupid man, but we have some very good people Keith Weinhold 13:09 yeah. So this matters, but it's as much entertainment and almost comedy against a demographic trend like the Forever renter propensity, a calendar year recently ended. It's time to make a quick rundown of the overall investing landscape. Once in a while we do that. It's good to check the movement on other asset classes outside real estate. It's our asset class rundown for last year, the s, p5, 100 was up nearly 17% that's the third year in a row of double digit gains in the year that Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, there's a warning. The S and P Schiller price to earnings ratio soared above 40 for only the second time in history. That's an indicator that stocks are overvalued. The only other time that happened was during the.com bubble in real estate, single family home values were up about 2% per the NAR just over 1% per Kay Shiller, apartment building values were flat to a slight decline. There is no such thing as an official apartment building Price Index, CPI inflation, up almost 3% on the year. It now hasn't been at the Fed's target of 2% or lower for a calendar year since 2019 Yeah, it has run hot all that time. Last year, mortgage rates fell from 6.9% to 6.2% and then, as you would expect, the yield on the 10 year treasury note also fell from 4.6 to 4.2 The dollar fell hard with a thud down 9% its worst performance since 2017 WTI oil prices fell from 70 bucks to $58 that's an 18% decline, but really the story of the year among all asset. Classes is what happened with precious metals, gold up a staggering 68% over the past year, touching an all time high of about $4,500 silver, up about 155% leaving investors flabbergasted and slack jawed, touching an all time high of over $80 platinum and palladium had near triple digit gains the real price of gold. This means inflation adjusted even jumped to its all time high last year, significantly surpassing the previous peaks of 1980 2011, and 2020. Realized this. More than 80% of all the recoverable gold on earth has already been extracted. Silver has been the top performing major asset class. In fact, today, a little one ounce silver coin is worth more than a 300 pound barrel of oil. Sticking with the topic of metals, inflation finally killed a penny. The last one was minted in 2025 in Philadelphia, ending a continuous run of the US minting the penny since 1792 no more. Bitcoin was down 6% falling from 93k to 87k the NASDAQ is aiming for near round the clock trading. It currently trades 16 hours a day, five days a week. They are looking to go up to 23 hours a day, five days a week in the second half of this year. That's our year end asset class rundown Keith Weinhold 16:34 coming up in future weeks of the get rich education podcast. I am going to do an episode on overpopulation versus underpopulation? Is the world over or underpopulated, and is the United States over or underpopulated? This obviously has huge implications for the housing market. Then on another episode, we're going to discuss a real estate axis strategy we've never discussed before, called the 721 exchange. Now you might have heard of the better known 1031 tax deferred exchange, but the 731 is different. When you get older as a property owner and you realize that you don't want the hassles of landlording anymore, you can sell your properties to a partnership. The 721 exchange dictates that this is not a taxable event, and therefore no capital gains taxes or depreciation recapture are due. Property owners still get the benefits of cash flow and the appreciation across a greater number of properties and markets, and it's a great estate planning tool as well. Yes, that's the 721, exchange. We are going to cover it here. When it comes to investment real estate, I guess we cover nearly everything that's coming up on a future episode. As for today, we're talking about property taxes, if they go away, what replaces them that comes up shortly? Visit get richeducation.com to learn more about how we help you and what we do, and to get connected with real estate. Pays five ways type of properties. Visit gre marketplace.com. I'm Keith Weinhold. You're listening to get rich education. Keith Weinhold 18:23 You know, most people think they're playing it safe with their liquid money, but they're actually losing savings accounts and bonds don't keep up when true inflation eats six or 7% of your wealth. Every single year, I invest my liquidity with FFI freedom family investments in their flagship program. Why? Fixed 10 to 12% returns have been predictable and paid quarterly. There's real world security backed by needs based real estate like affordable housing, Senior Living and health care. Ask about the freedom flagship program when you speak to a freedom coach there, and that's just one part of their family of products. They've got workshops, webinars and seminars designed to educate you before you invest. Start with as little as 25k and finally, get your money working as hard as you do. Get started at Freedom family investments.com/gre, or send a text. Now it's 1-937-795-8989,yep, text their freedom coach directly. Again, 1-937-795-8989, Keith Weinhold 19:34 the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage, start your pre qual and even chat with President chailey Ridge personally while it's on your mind. Start at Ridge lending group.com that's Ridge lending group.com Jim Rickards 20:05 this is author Jim Rickards. Listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream. Keith Weinhold 20:22 Welcome back to get rich education. Episode 588 for the 12th consecutive year here, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, I look forward to perhaps meeting you in person this coming weekend, as I'll be attending the real estate guys create your future goals retreat event in Colorado Springs. You probably remember that we have had the events host and leader, Robert Helms, of the real estate guys on the show with us here several times in the past. What a class act I am spending a few extra days after the event in Colorado Springs to both look at local real estate in that market and climb the Manitou incline, that's this grueling climbing challenge up a slope of Pikes Peak. If you want to climb with me after the real estate guys event, bring your running shoes and I'll lead a group of us up there Keith Weinhold 21:13 if property taxes go away, what replaces them? Realtor.com recently had a terrific article about this that you can look up the property tax revolt is spreading, but the replacement plan isn't let's look at the probability and possibility of eliminating property tax. Think about how property tax elimination would increase the value of your property well, because now every buyer could afford to pay more, since they won't have that property tax expense. And of course, if you were to remove property tax as a line item from your income and expense statement, your cash flow could double, triple, or even five or 10x depending on your current cash, on cash return. But that cash flow part is less likely because most efforts to eliminate the property tax, they focus on homes, primary residences. Well, several states have either active legislation efforts or these sort of informal grassroots movements to significantly cut down or just totally abolish property tax, but no state has fully eliminated them yet. The most prominent efforts are in five states, most notably Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis has made the most noise about it. He proposed eliminating property taxes on homesteaded which are primary residence properties, and he aims for a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to achieve this, that is 10 months from now. And that proposal, it's still pretty early in the legislative stages, and the state is also considering property tax rebates in the meantime. Now, even if you own rental property, and property tax were only eliminated on primary residences, it would still cause the value of your property to boom pretty nicely, even if it didn't help the cash flow. The state that's made the second most noise is Ohio. A grassroots organization has called Citizens for property tax reform. They have actively campaigned to place a constitutional amendment on their ballot that would just totally abolish property taxes statewide. Third most is Kansas. They propose legislation and that aims to effectively bump up sales tax to replace property tax. The fourth out of five is North Dakota. Let's look at what they're doing following a failed 2024, ballot measure to just totally abolish the property tax outright. Well, there's a new proposal from the governor, and that seeks this phased out elimination for most homeowners over a decade. And see, North Dakota has a slightly better chance of pulling that off, because they can fund that from the state's Legacy Fund, that's their oil well fund, and then making the fifth most abolition of property tax noise is my home state of Pennsylvania. Lawmakers have introduced bills to eliminate all property tax. They also aim for a constitutional amendment to put that issue before the voters. So they are the five states that have made the most noise, and that's what their approach is. Keith Weinhold 24:43 Now, seemingly for most of my life, homeowners and landlords have griped about property tax, saying it's the most ridiculous tax of them all, because you pay it year after year after year in perpetuity. And it just never goes away. Unlike other taxes that are just a one time tax, even if your property's mortgage is paid off, you still have a house payment, and that is largely due to property tax. Understand, though, that currently a lot of states give you a reduced property tax once you reach a senior age, usually age 65 plus some start as low as 61 but when it comes to eliminating the property tax, there's a part of the conversation that's really important, and it has been notably absent, and that is a novel solution to replace the lost revenue. And it gets rather interesting to look around and see where else the money might be raised if they eliminate property tax. See, and this is really important to understand, property taxes generate 70% of local revenue, up to 90% of school funding and 25% of all state and local tax revenue in aggregate in Florida. Okay, that's just in Florida those numbers, but a lot of states have a similar scenario, and in Florida, that comes out to about $50 billion a year. That is a big hole to plug, that is a big gap to fill, and it underlines both the burden homeowners are currently shouldering and how hard it's going to be to fill that gap with anything that's more stable or equitable, that's going to last as a funding source, yes, 90% of school funding. You heard that, right? If you talk to an old timer, you know sometimes you still hear an elderly person refer to property taxes as school taxes. So see, this question of, Do you want to abolish property taxes? One reason that's become louder and louder these past few years, and why you hear more about it is due to that increased affordability strain. That's why you're hearing more about it now the question, do you want to abolish property taxes? That is the wrong question. A grassroots push to AX the property tax that's gained traction, really, among some senior homeowners facing property tax bills that are as high as their mortgage. Once was last summer, for example, in Mahoning County, Ohio, the tax delinquency rate hit 18% almost one in five people having trouble paying their property tax, and that county had more than 70 million in unpaid property taxes. In some neighborhoods in Youngstown, as many as one in three homeowners were behind. And in Cuyahoga County, which is basically Cleveland, values jumped 32% on average after reassessments that fueled a $60 million dollar increase in past due balances this whole do we want to abolish property taxes? Question? You're going to see why that's the wrong question and why it's incomplete, because that slogan that skips the only part that really matters here, and that is, what is the replacement plan, realistically, taxpayers should be asked if, in lieu of property tax, they'd rather pay higher sales taxes or higher income taxes, or for those with no state income tax, like Texas or Florida, pay one for the first time. I don't like those answers. I wish governments would spend more efficiently, but that's not the angle that we're looking at here. Property taxes are the true lifeblood of local governments. I mean, they fund everything from public safety to roads to schools, and just because property taxes disappear, well that doesn't mean that the need for firefighters goes away, that the need for police officers goes away, or the infrastructure for public school systems is going to be gone, or the roads go away. So if property taxes are cut, then another revenue generating device has to emerge to keep services funded and running. And it's a little funny. I've been talking about certain states here. But of course, property taxes are exacted and assessed at the county and local level. And look, I mean, you know how the world works, you know what the nature of society is. As soon as someone has their income stream, they quickly grow into that lifestyle and the new larger spending pattern. So taking away an existing income stream or even reducing it a little, I mean, that can almost trigger outrage and protests, for example, the outcry that we had last year about cutting snap payments. But it works this way. With anything. I mean, sheesh. For the majority of Americans, if you cut their income even 10% they would struggle to survive. They would struggle to put food in the fridge. So these repeal the property tax campaigns, they often avoid the reality of the replacement math. Keith Weinhold 30:19 Now, some states have taken a swing at replacing property tax revenue, but few, if any, have succeeded. Now, Nebraska lawmakers, what they did is they floated higher cigarette taxes as a way to fund a goal of cutting their property taxes by 40% I mean, nice try. But according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, that tax base was far too small. I mean to tell you more about what a terrible miss. This example is Nebraska cigarette taxes. They raised about $52 million in 2024 while property taxes raised $5.3 billion that is 100 times more, not even close, even if you could raise more money in the short run, excise revenues like this cigarette tax, they're pretty volatile, and they often shrink as the demand ebbs and flows. So it really makes them a poor backbone for expenses that grow over time, and they don't eliminate the cost so much as concentrated. So what they do is they sort of shift this broad civic obligation funding all this stuff, police, fire, school, from homeowners onto a much narrower group, in this case, people who smoke. That is not going to work for Nebraska, all right, well, what about a bigger deal, like replacing it with sales tax? Well, they run into a different problem. Local economies are not built the same. You might have a sales tax heavy tourist County, well, they can raise far more money than an agricultural county. And Florida is a clear illustration. They have lots of tourism and lots of agriculture replacing property taxes with sales tax. That would require eye popping sales tax rates too. According to the Tax Foundation Florida statewide, they would have to go from 7% to over 15% sales tax in Florida. But it gets even worse, because counties with a thin sales tax base would have to charge over 32% sales tax. My gosh, that is not going to work, all right. Well, how about another big one? Let's have income taxes replace property tax in a lot of states. I mean, the income tax that's large enough to raise pretty meaningful revenue. But the trade off is that income taxes come with their own sort of economic and political distortions, and once they're added, you know, they rarely stay confined to the tidy swap that voters were promised. I mean, look at New Jersey. They adopted an income tax in the 1970s to provide property tax relief, but over time, that swap proved hard to manage and hard to enforce, and now today, New Jersey has one of the highest effective property tax and state income tax rates combined in the nation. So the point is that all these property tax replacement tools are just inherently piecemeal. Each tax or fee has like this different payer base or some different vulnerability. I mean, if tourism dips, for example, revenues could drop really fast. And the same is true if a regulated industry contracts, or if consumption patterns shift. And you know that volatility, that's manageable for some narrow program, but that is dangerous as the foundation for essential services like public safety and street maintenance and police and schools and fire. Well, how about forgetting all that? Let's just have the government then totally get out of providing public safety and not have the government provide street maintenance and have the government get out of schools. I mean, we used to have more private companies provide you with some of those services. We didn't even have a federal income tax at all until 1913 other than a temporary one to fund the Civil War. But all of that is a bigger topic that we are not going to get into today. The point is, instead of asking the question, do you want to abolish property taxes? The better question is, which replacement are you choosing and who pays for it? Because local costs come on, they're just not likely to shrink anytime soon. After all, all of this schools, fire and police departments, public works, divisions, they're all subject to the same inflation and the same rising costs as the rest of the economy is so the property tax is unpopular. As it is, it does have one functional advantage. It is tied to this immovable base of properties. It's collected locally, and it's designed to fund on going services. That is not to say that some homeowners don't need relief. Some of them clearly do. But eliminating property taxes, that just does not eliminate the underlying cost of government. All it does is reallocate it, and that reallocation can get messy, that shifts a bigger burden onto a smaller share of taxpayers, whether it's smokers, like it was in Nebraska, or whether it's rural shoppers like the Florida sales tax example, or doubly on working homeowners, like it is in the New Jersey income tax example. I have studied this, and I have not seen novel approaches that really keep communities funded without creating some new distortion somewhere else. But unfortunately, one thing that I have seen is this repeal rhetoric, and it makes these political platitudes all that want to just conveniently skip the replacement plan, but it all sounds good and popular when someone stands up there and says that they want to eliminate property taxes. So really the honest question on a ballot. It's not, do you want to abolish property taxes? The honest question is, are you willing to pay higher sales taxes or higher income taxes or adopt one for the first time and accept the distortions that those choices to create to eliminate the property tax? I'm not going to get into the political side of all this, because that's not what we do here. The bottom line is, though, that you're probably going to hear more about the property tax going away. It is unlikely, of course, as income property investors here, property tax is largely built into the rent. It is passed along to your tenant, and a small reduction would help you out, probably not so much on your cash flow side, since most of these proposals are only for primary residences, but even a small property tax reduction on primary residences that would boost all property values, even rental property in the one to four unit space. But you shouldn't expect much here. If property taxes are eliminated, there is just no easy and viable replacement. That's your answer today, if you represent a company that serves real estate investors get rich. Education has over 3 million IAB certified downloads and 5.8 million total listener downloads. You can learn more about advertising on the show at getricheducation.com/ad, that's get rich education.com/ad Speaker 2 37:51 for the production team here at GRE, that's our sound engineer, bedroom jampo, who has edited every single GRE podcast episode since 2014 QC and show notes Brenda Almendariz, video lead, Binaya Gyawali, strategy Tallah Mugal, video editor, Saroza KC and producer me, we'll run it back next week for you. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, Don't Quit Your Daydream. Speaker 3 38:17 nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice, please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively Keith Weinhold 38:45 The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building, getricheducation.com
Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Josef Schachter to the show. Josef Schachter is Founder, Schachter Asset Management Inc. The discussion centers on the current and future outlook for the global energy market, with a particular focus on oil and natural gas production and investment opportunities. Schachter presents a bullish perspective on the energy sector, forecasting a significant upward trajectory for oil prices. He predicts WTI oil prices will range from $52-$66 in Q1 2026, rising to $74-$84 in Q4, potentially reaching $100 per barrel by 2028-2029. This projection is underpinned by several key factors, including normal demand growth of 1.2-1.3 million barrels per day and constrained OPEC production capabilities. A critical aspect of Schachter’s thesis is the global lack of new oil discoveries and declining production rates. He highlights that shell oil production experiences 30-50% decline rates in the first year, necessitating continuous drilling. He notes, that over a billion people worldwide lack stable electricity access, presenting a significant future demand opportunity for energy resources. The conversation explores investment strategies within the energy sector, with Schachter recommending a diversified approach based on individual risk profiles. He suggests considering natural gas, light to medium gravity oil exposure, and service industry stocks. Notably, he emphasizes the importance of companies with strong balance sheets, insider ownership, and prudent management. Schachter is particularly optimistic about Canadian energy companies, many of which are currently trading at two to three times cash flow, with potential to expand to seven or eight times during a potential energy super cycle. He points out attractive dividend yields from various energy companies, ranging from 5% to 11%. The conversation also touches on geopolitical factors, including potential developments in Venezuela and the global shift in energy production and consumption. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:23 – Oil Price Outlook 00:04:39 – Inventory Analysis 00:08:29 – Venezuela Oil Shift 00:10:21 – Rule of Law 00:14:53 – Canadian Stock Impacts 00:17:11 – Investment Opportunities 00:19:00 – Dividend Yields 00:21:30 – Energy Super Cycle 00:22:49 – M&A Activity 00:35:32 – Discovery Shortages 00:40:38 – Global Demand Growth 00:48:16 – Energy Report Details Guest Links: Website: https://schachterenergyreport.ca Josef Schachter is a 40+ year veteran of the Canadian Investment Management Industry, Josef Schachter has experienced several exceptional and turbulent global economic and stock market cycles. With his primary focus in the stock market and the energy sector, Josef is able to weave global political, economic and monetary issues with current energy data into a compelling story of what's going on, what is to come, and why. Josef is a frequent guest on Michael Campbell's Podcast ‘Mikes Money Talks' and other podcast and radio shows and is often quoted in the media. He is a regular Guest Speaker at the annual World Outlook Financial Conference in Vancouver and he delivers presentations to various companies and organizations. For several years, he was a frequent and notably colourful commentator on BNN Bloomberg's Market Call. Josef provided Oil and Gas research to Maison Placements Canada geared to their institutional clients for 15 years ending April 2017, and was acknowledged as the first analyst in Canada to predict the Oil Price Plunge of 2014. Prior to establishing his firm Schachter Asset Management Inc. in 1996, Josef was the Chief Market Strategist at Richardson Greenshields, a Director of RGCL and a member of its Investment Policy Committee. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a past Chairman of the Canadian Council of Financial Analysts.
Is the energy market preparing for a $20 crude oil "washout"? In this episode, we tackle the geopolitical chaos in Venezuela and why the energy tape isn't reacting the way the headlines suggested it would. Join host Mark Longo along with Dan Gramza (Gramza Capital Management) and Carley Garner (DeCarley Trading) for a deep dive into the energy complex. We break down the reality of Venezuela's deteriorating infrastructure, the "capitulation" patterns in WTI crude oil, and Dan Gramza's incredible victory in our 2025 VIX Crystal Ball contest. The Venezuela "Oil Spigot" Myth: Why Dan Gramza believes it will take 5–7 years to rebuild Venezuela's energy infrastructure despite the current political shift. Crude Oil Capitulation: Carley Garner explains why WTI crude never bottoms out quietly and why the $55 support level is the "danger zone" for a potential plunge into the $40s or $20s. WTI Options Analysis: Tracking the massive flow in the Feb contract—specifically the 55-strike "double puts" and the disappearance of the geopolitical call skew. Energy Skew & Volatility: Why the initial "tariff tantrum" and supply headlines have left the energy market in a state of neutral indecision.
The first "January Lion" of 2026 has arrived. Join Mark Longo and Carley Garner of DeCarley Trading as they kick off the new year with a high-octane look at the futures options landscape. From the aftermath of a historic 2025 to the geopolitical shocks of the first week of January, this episode breaks down why the "old rules" of the commodity markets are being rewritten. In This Episode: The 2025 Retrospective: A look back at a "once-in-50-year" event in the metals complex. Carley provides a candid "humbling" on the massive surge in gold and silver, and why 2025 was the year of the devoted trend follower. The Silver Beast: Silver dominated last year with a 140%+ gain. Carley and Mark discuss the "Reverse 2020" effect, the impact of triple-leveraged ETFs, and why trading Silver options right now requires nerves of steel and a massive margin account. Movers & Shakers: * The Light Side: A continuation of the metals rally (Silver, Platinum, Palladium) and a surprising 5% YTD surge in the Russell 2000 ($RUT). The Dark Side: Energy struggles as WTI and Brent lead the losers, while Natural Gas faces a "trap door" at the $3.60 pivot. Equity Index Analysis: Why the "Mag 7" dominance is yielding to a Small-Cap catch-up play in the Russell. Plus, a strategy for "tail-risk nibbling" using deep out-of-the-money March and June puts. Energy & Geopolitics: The team breaks down the "Maduro effect" and why Venezuela's supply won't be a quick fix for the crude markets. Carley explores the possibility of a capitulation move in oil toward the low $40s. Viewer Q&A: The blurring lines between "trading" and "betting" as CME and FanDuel move closer together. Market Volatility Snapshot (CVOL) Treasury Yield Vol: Pinning the needle at 78.9 (High for the week). Energy CVOL: Popping to 60.6 as geopolitical tensions rise. Metals CVOL: Easing slightly to 31.0 despite massive moves in the underlying.
The first "January Lion" of 2026 has arrived. Join Mark Longo and Carley Garner of DeCarley Trading as they kick off the new year with a high-octane look at the futures options landscape. From the aftermath of a historic 2025 to the geopolitical shocks of the first week of January, this episode breaks down why the "old rules" of the commodity markets are being rewritten. In This Episode: The 2025 Retrospective: A look back at a "once-in-50-year" event in the metals complex. Carley provides a candid "humbling" on the massive surge in gold and silver, and why 2025 was the year of the devoted trend follower. The Silver Beast: Silver dominated last year with a 140%+ gain. Carley and Mark discuss the "Reverse 2020" effect, the impact of triple-leveraged ETFs, and why trading Silver options right now requires nerves of steel and a massive margin account. Movers & Shakers: * The Light Side: A continuation of the metals rally (Silver, Platinum, Palladium) and a surprising 5% YTD surge in the Russell 2000 ($RUT). The Dark Side: Energy struggles as WTI and Brent lead the losers, while Natural Gas faces a "trap door" at the $3.60 pivot. Equity Index Analysis: Why the "Mag 7" dominance is yielding to a Small-Cap catch-up play in the Russell. Plus, a strategy for "tail-risk nibbling" using deep out-of-the-money March and June puts. Energy & Geopolitics: The team breaks down the "Maduro effect" and why Venezuela's supply won't be a quick fix for the crude markets. Carley explores the possibility of a capitulation move in oil toward the low $40s. Viewer Q&A: The blurring lines between "trading" and "betting" as CME and FanDuel move closer together. Market Volatility Snapshot (CVOL) Treasury Yield Vol: Pinning the needle at 78.9 (High for the week). Energy CVOL: Popping to 60.6 as geopolitical tensions rise. Metals CVOL: Easing slightly to 31.0 despite massive moves in the underlying.
We're kicking 2026 off with the biggest hole yet and a star that spins over 35,000 times a minute. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Happy New Year! We are kicking off 2026 on The Futures Rundown by giving the "Big Adios" to the wild, untamed year that was 2025. Mark Longo and Dan Gramza of Gramza Capital Management reunite to break down the final ledger of a year that was anything but boring in the pits. From the absolute explosion in Silver (+140%) and Platinum to the brutal sell-off in Orange Juice and Rough Rice, we count down the Top 10 movers of the year. We also dive into the recent geopolitical shifts in Venezuela and why the crude oil market isn't reacting the way many expected. In this episode, we explore: The Precious Metals Clean Sweep: Why Silver was the late-bloomer that ended the year up a staggering 140%. The 2025 Leaderboard: Deep dives into the winners like Lithium, Copper, and the surprising strength of the Brazilian Real. The "Big Adios" Losers: Breaking down the 50% drop in OJ and the continued struggles for the Widowmaker (Natural Gas). Energy Outlook 2026: Dan Gramza explains the infrastructure and political hurdles facing Venezuela's oil production and what it means for WTI and Brent prices. The Crypto Futures Flip: Analyzing the volatile year for Bitcoin and Ether futures and why spot vs. futures performance varied so widely. Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Dan Gramza's Daily Videos: DanGramza.com Join the Pro Community: TheOptionsInsider.com/Pro Episode Sponsor: Tastytrade.com/podcasts
Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links —Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.
Markets are hitting all-time highs, earnings expectations are rising, and investors are navigating everything from oil prices to Roth conversions. Lance Roberts & Danny Ratliff take live viewer questions and explore the themes investors are most focused on right now. Topics discussed include why earnings may be the primary market driver this year, what recent all-time highs signal for forward returns, and how capital flows are shifting across sectors and asset classes. We also examine oil markets—WTI pricing, energy stocks, Venezuela supply dynamics—and what the “sweet spot” for oil prices means for the broader economy. On the planning side, we address Roth IRA advantages and drawbacks, Roth conversions, RMD considerations, and asset allocation questions across different life stages, including retirement-focused portfolios. Additional discussion covers the growing disconnect between GDP and unemployment data, hidden consumer leverage through buy-now-pay-later programs, and how diversification differs from simply owning non-correlated assets. We also touch on factor rotation, bond ETF structure, metals like gold and silver, and whether certain defensive or out-of-favor sectors may eventually regain investor interest. 0:00 - INTRO 0:18 - Earnings to be The Big Driver this Year 5:45 - Markets Hit All-time Highs 9:23 - Economic Summit Preview & Danny's Holiday Recap 12:25 - WTI, XLE, and Venezuela Oil 17:51 - What is the "Sweet Spot" for Oil Pricing? 21:23 - Tax Advantages - Disadvantages of Roth IRA 24:38 - Where to Look for Capital Flows 27:08 - Roth Conversions & RMD's 28:27 - Commentary - Divergence Between Unemployment & GDP 31:10 - Unrecognized Debt - Buy Now - Pay Later is a Black Box 31:53 - Recommendations for 60-40 Allocations 35:03 - Example of Bond ETF's in SimpleVisor 38:57 - Factor Rotation Portfolio 41:54 - Diversification vs Non-Correlated Assets 44:46 - Silver, Gold, & Other Metals 45:51 - Back Door Roth Conversions 47:30 - Asset Allocations for Septuagenarians 50:18 - Are Packaged Food stocks Ever Coming Back? Hosted by RIA Advisors Chief Investment Strategist, Lance Roberts, CIO, w Senior Investment Advisor, Danny Ratliff, CFP Produced by Brent Clanton, Executive Producer ------- Watch Today's Full Video on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGgxAtaZIOI&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1 ------- The latest installment of our new feature, Before the Bell, "Sector Rotation Signals Improving Market Breadth," is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8z27km9G1M&list=PLwNgo56zE4RAbkqxgdj-8GOvjZTp9_Zlz&index=1 ------- REGISTER for our 2026 Economic Summit, "The Future of Digital Assets, Artificial Intelligence, and Investing:" https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-ria-economic-summit-tickets-1765951641899?aff=oddtdtcreator ------- Watch our previous show, "Financial Nihilism vs. Financial Planning," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1qXRp9gLoc&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1 -------- Get more info & commentary: https://realinvestm entadvice.com/newsletter/ -------- SUBSCRIBE to The Real Investment Show here: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealInvestmentShow -------- Visit our Site: https://www.realinvestmentadvice.com Contact Us: 1-855-RIA-PLAN -------- Subscribe to SimpleVisor: https://www.simplevisor.com/register-new -------- Connect with us on social: https://twitter.com/RealInvAdvice https://twitter.com/LanceRoberts https://www.facebook.com/RealInvestmentAdvice/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/realinvestmentadvice/ #MarketUpdate #StockMarketToday #MarketRisk #VIX #PortfolioManagement
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming back Rob West, Founder and Lead Analyst at Thunder Said Energy, continuing our tradition of kicking off the year with his perspectives. Rob has joined us on COBT six times in our history and has earned the honor of holding the lead-off spot in 2022, 2024, 2025, and now 2026. He is a long-time energy analyst and provides unique, thought-provoking, and economic-driven insights into energy research and technologies. Rob launched Thunder Said in 2019 and previously served at Sanford C. Bernstein and Partners Capital. Based in Estonia, he brings a valuable global lens to the energy landscape. One of Veriten's highlights from 2025 was having Rob join the firm as a Senior Advisor. We were delighted to visit with Rob to reflect on 2025 and explore what the future might hold for energy in 2026. In our conversation, Rob reflects on the shift in the dominant energy-market narrative from net zero and the energy transition (2021 – 2023), to geopolitical security post Russia-Ukraine, and now overwhelmingly toward AI and power demand. We discuss the outlook for sharply higher global defense spending by 2030 and its potential benefits to infrastructure, industry, AI, smart grids, and competitiveness. Rob outlines a broader recalibration of energy “truths” entering 2026 including solar growth potentially flattening, EV growth slowing or declining, the LNG glut narrative being questioned, and oil demand continuing to grow at roughly ~+1 MMbbl/d per year. Rob shares his outlook on global LNG, highlighting a wave of new supply that is frequently delayed, Russian LNG logistics constraints, Australia's domestic market interventions, and how policy changes in the U.S. and China are contributing to slower EV sales. We explore whether rising marginal coal mining costs in China could translate into higher Chinese power prices, China's energy strategy and diversification, and the copper outlook, including potential demand headwinds if solar and EV growth slows in 2026, alongside the importance of “primary analysis.” Rob highlights why flexible grids and better utilization are the biggest levers to reducing power system costs and explains his rationale for a more cautious U.S. shale outlook, remarking that oil markets are now influenced less by OPEC policy and more by U.S. foreign policy pressure. We closed by asking Rob for his biggest wildcard for 2026, which he identified as a collapse/fracturing of Russia as a state, with major implications for resource markets and control of assets. It was an insightful discussion and we can't thank Rob enough for sharing his time and thoughts with us. Mike Bradley and Arjun Murti both joined from the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami. Mike opened by emphasizing that two of the major market themes in 2025 were AI/data center and electricity demand growth. He noted that most investors still believe these two themes will continue to resonate in 2026, and will probably need to, especially at current valuations. On the energy commodity front, WTI oil price is up ~2% so far this year, while U.S. natural gas price is down ~8% on a warmer weather outlook. Across broader equities, the S&P 500 is up ~1% this year while the DJIA is up ~2%. The best performing sectors so far this year have been energy, financial, industrial, and materials, while the underperformers have been technology and telecom. On the energy equity front, he noted that last weekend's events in Venezuela have lifted (materially in some cases) shares of U.S. oil majors, large-cap international oil services and Gulf Coast refiners, while E&Ps have been the underperformers. The wide divergence in energy equity performance this week is mostly due to optimism of an infrastructure/oil services/oil production revival in Venezuela which may be premature. He added that hedge funds could be a culprit for these outsized moves mostly because they weren't positi
Markets are hitting all-time highs, earnings expectations are rising, and investors are navigating everything from oil prices to Roth conversions. Lance Roberts & Danny Ratliff take live viewer questions and explore the themes investors are most focused on right now. Topics discussed include why earnings may be the primary market driver this year, what recent all-time highs signal for forward returns, and how capital flows are shifting across sectors and asset classes. We also examine oil markets—WTI pricing, energy stocks, Venezuela supply dynamics—and what the "sweet spot" for oil prices means for the broader economy. On the planning side, we address Roth IRA advantages and drawbacks, Roth conversions, RMD considerations, and asset allocation questions across different life stages, including retirement-focused portfolios. Additional discussion covers the growing disconnect between GDP and unemployment data, hidden consumer leverage through buy-now-pay-later programs, and how diversification differs from simply owning non-correlated assets. We also touch on factor rotation, bond ETF structure, metals like gold and silver, and whether certain defensive or out-of-favor sectors may eventually regain investor interest. 0:00 - INTRO 0:18 - Earnings to be The Big Driver this Year 5:45 - Markets Hit All-time Highs 9:23 - Economic Summit Preview & Danny's Holiday Recap 12:25 - WTI, XLE, and Venezuela Oil 17:51 - What is the "Sweet Spot" for Oil Pricing? 21:23 - Tax Advantages - Disadvantages of Roth IRA 24:38 - Where to Look for Capital Flows 27:08 - Roth Conversions & RMD's 28:27 - Commentary - Divergence Between Unemployment & GDP 31:10 - Unrecognized Debt - Buy Now - Pay Later is a Black Box 31:53 - Recommendations for 60-40 Allocations 35:03 - Example of Bond ETF's in SimpleVisor 38:57 - Factor Rotation Portfolio 41:54 - Diversification vs Non-Correlated Assets 44:46 - Silver, Gold, & Other Metals 45:51 - Back Door Roth Conversions 47:30 - Asset Allocations for Septuagenarians 50:18 - Are Packaged Food stocks Ever Coming Back? Hosted by RIA Advisors Chief Investment Strategist, Lance Roberts, CIO, w Senior Investment Advisor, Danny Ratliff, CFP Produced by Brent Clanton, Executive Producer ------- Watch Today's Full Video on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGgxAtaZIOI&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1 ------- The latest installment of our new feature, Before the Bell, "Sector Rotation Signals Improving Market Breadth," is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8z27km9G1M&list=PLwNgo56zE4RAbkqxgdj-8GOvjZTp9_Zlz&index=1 ------- REGISTER for our 2026 Economic Summit, "The Future of Digital Assets, Artificial Intelligence, and Investing:" https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-ria-economic-summit-tickets-1765951641899?aff=oddtdtcreator ------- Watch our previous show, "Financial Nihilism vs. Financial Planning," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1qXRp9gLoc&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1 -------- Get more info & commentary: https://realinvestm entadvice.com/newsletter/ -------- SUBSCRIBE to The Real Investment Show here: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealInvestmentShow -------- Visit our Site: https://www.realinvestmentadvice.com Contact Us: 1-855-RIA-PLAN -------- Subscribe to SimpleVisor: https://www.simplevisor.com/register-new -------- Connect with us on social: https://twitter.com/RealInvAdvice https://twitter.com/LanceRoberts https://www.facebook.com/RealInvestmentAdvice/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/realinvestmentadvice/ #MarketUpdate #StockMarketToday #MarketRisk #VIX #PortfolioManagement
I'm kicking off the new year with Justin Kramm, Global Shit Stirrer of Shitshow Creative. We talk about his work in advertising, adopting manatees, The George A. Romero Foundation, and doing mushrooms with gold. I hope you enjoy the episode and be sure to join Justin Kramm's Shit List. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network), and co-hosts Happy Hour Econ with Phil Magness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Girl, I'm cheering you on this year and we're starting with an awesome pep talk. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The perfect gift DOES exist. It's the vulture. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
US Coast Guard officials over the weekend tracked two oil tankers in international waters close to Venezuela, marking three tankers within the past week.Russia's Kremlin said changes made by Ukrainians and Europeans to peace proposals did not bring agreements closer or add anything positive, IFAX reported.Israeli PM Netanyahu reportedly plans to brief US President Trump on possible new Iran strikes, according to NBC News.European bourses are broadly unchanged in quiet trade; US equity futures are firmer, with mild outperformance in the NQ.USD is slightly lower vs G10 peers; Antipodeans outperform on strength in metals prices.USTs are slightly lower but with price action contained, awaiting a 2yr auction.WTI and Brent are boosted by rising geopolitical tensions, spot gold surges to ATHs above USD 4.4k/oz.Looking ahead, highlights include Canadian Producer Prices (Nov), and supply from the US.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk
We are thrilled to share this Special Edition COBT as our final episode of 2025. Like many of you, we have been closely watching the escalating situation in Venezuela, and we had the honor of hosting former Attorney General Bill Barr to hear his unique perspectives. Bill served twice as Attorney General, first under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020. He is the author of “One Damn Thing After Another” and has held senior roles at Kirkland & Ellis and Verizon. He earned his law degree from George Washington University and studied Government and Chinese Studies at Columbia. Bill is currently a Partner at Torridon Group. It was our pleasure to visit with Bill and hear his insights on the latest developments in Venezuela. In our conversation, we explore the current Venezuela crisis and U.S. military buildup, why Bill welcomes the Trump Administration's response, and why he sees Venezuela as both a national security threat and humanitarian crisis. Bill outlines narco-terrorism versus traditional organized crime, how cartels use drugs as a weapon against the U.S., and why he views Venezuela as a strategic adversary with deep ties to Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, and Hezbollah. He explains why domestic-style law enforcement doesn't work inside hostile foreign territory and walks through the long-standing U.S. doctrine of acting when foreign states are “unable or unwilling” to deal with threats to the U.S. in their territory. We discuss lessons from U.S. action in Panama, stopping short in Iraq after Gulf War I, what “if you break it, you own it” means for Venezuela, why Venezuela is the focus now, versus Mexico and others, the role of Russia and China in Venezuela, and how renewed enforcement pressure on sanctioned tankers and oil flows can further squeeze the regime. We cover the effectiveness and limits of sanctions and the emerging quasi-blockade, how the President should think about escalation from a legal and constitutional perspective, Maduro's options and potential off-ramps, the case for swift, decisive action, how failed regimes drive refugee crises that put pressure on U.S. borders, the potential collateral benefits for Venezuela and the broader region if things go well, and much more. As always, we appreciate hearing Bill's perspectives. It was a fascinating conversation. Mike Bradley kicked us off by noting that Thursday's November CPI report printed much lower than expected, which lifted bonds and equities. On the electricity market front, he highlighted that the PJM Capacity Auction for 2027-2028 resulted in a record price ($333 per megawatt day). The more concerning takeaway, however, was that PJM did not obtain enough capacity to meet future reliability requirements. In energy news, Mike noted that Meg O'Neill, current CEO of Woodside Energy, has accepted the CEO role at BP PLC. On the oil market front, he observed that WTI price appears to have temporarily stabilized in the $56-$57/bbl range. Oil markets continue to be overly concerned with a “perceived” oil supply price glut in 2026, and at the current WTI strip price (mid-$50s/bbl), 2026 E&P budgets will be negatively impacted when they report in the coming months. He wrapped by walking through Venezuela's past/present oil production (under both the Chávez and Maduro administrations) and the severe economic damage that's been inflicted under the Maduro presidency. Arjun Murti built on Mike's comments and reflected on Venezuela's oil industry in the 1990s, when international oil companies partnered with PDVSA to develop the country's vast heavy-oil resources under favorable fiscal terms and strong technical collaboration. He contrasted that period with the deterioration that followed under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, as contract terms were tightened and assets were eventually nationalized, contributing to the collapse of Venezuela's oil sector and the country's
TRADING DAY: 5 formas de identificar Señales de Trading y Oportunidades 1T2026 (12 de Enero 2026) Regístrate Gratis Aquí!
Today is all about adding another hole to your belt or forgoing pants altogether. Hope you're hungry.— Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links —Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming back our good friend Les Csorba, Partner in Charge of the Houston office and a member of the CEO and Board of Directors Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. Les has over 30 years of experience in executive search, leadership consulting, and executive coaching, and he has long been a thoughtful, balanced voice within the energy community. Earlier this fall, he published “Aware: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly” (linked here). It's a fascinating exploration of how confronting blind spots, deepening both internal and external self-awareness, and cultivating environments where candid feedback is encouraged can transform leaders and organizations. As always, we appreciate hearing Les's perspective and were thrilled to visit with him. In our conversation, we cover why 2026 will test leaders, with fast-changing macro and geopolitical dynamics putting pressure on executives to lead with clarity, agility, and foresight. We explore how to create cultures where people speak candidly, including giving trusted team members permission to call out blind spots, as well as the difference between chain of command and chain of communication, and the importance of leaders being visible, accessible, and in direct contact with all levels of the organization. Les shares what led him to write “Aware” and the research Heidrick conducted showing that across 75,000 assessments, only ~13% of people demonstrated true self-awareness, inspiring Les to conclude that meaningfully raising that percentage could dramatically enhance organizational performance. We discuss internal versus external awareness, how leaders must treat macro/geopolitical chaos as primary inputs rather than background noise, how AI can boost efficiency but may dull self-awareness, and how to build feedback cultures and measure awareness. Les reflects on the early reception to the book and why self-awareness matters not just for leaders but for teams, boards, and personal relationships, why self-awareness is at historic lows, the importance of hiring and building around weaknesses, and how leaders can optimize and fully leverage their strengths. Les emphasizes the need to get outside of your information bubble, seek diverse perspectives, and cultivate the blend of confidence and humility that characterizes the most effective leaders. We close by discussing what's next for Les, the four forces for energy leaders in 2026 (agility, internal activism, strategic awareness, and foresight vs. forecast), and the most common board weakness, lacking someone who can push back thoughtfully and respectfully. Mike Bradley kicked us off by noting the 10-year bond yield was holding steady (~4.15%) following last week's FOMC meeting. He flagged the dissenting votes for an interest rate cut and suggested the split could foreshadow dynamics under the next Fed Chairman. On the broader equity market front, he observed that markets appear to be losing trading momentum and that 2026 could be a “year of reckoning” for 2025's market leaders (AI/Tech) as investors begin scrutinizing data center spending and associated returns more closely. In the oil market, he highlighted that WTI fell to a four-year low (~$55-bbl) on continued 2026 global oil surplus concerns rather than any specific event. He also noted that at the current 12-month strip ($55/bbl), 2026 upstream budgets, which will be announced in the next 1-2 months, will likely be negatively affected. On the natural gas front, he pointed out that over the past seven trading days, prompt U.S. natural gas price has plunged ~$1.50/MMBtu (to $3.85/MMBtu) due to a warmer short-term winter outlook. On the electricity front, he noted that 2027+ PJM capacity market auction results will be released Wednesday afternoon. Most investors are expecting prices to again hit the ceiling (~$335/mw), which might serve a
On this episode of The Lou Perez Podcast I'm joined by the publisher of Current Revolt, Tony Ortiz. Current Revolt is a Texas-based newsletter, the TMZ of the Lone Star State. We talked about late Texas Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee berating her staff, a former exotic dancer alleging an affair with a Texas state rep, #Grubgate, and the democrat judge who put on blackface for a panty raid (decades before he was a BLM-supporting judge, of course). Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Crude continuing its crumble as WTI dips below $55 a barrel. The next move for the energy sector as it struggles to see any gains this year. Plus Why Jefferies' David Zervos still sees a goldilocks scenario in play for the market as we head into year end.Fast Money Disclaimer Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Episode 407 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Seth Rosen, Founder & CEO of CustomMade. A common theme that you'll hear throughout this interview is the importance of resiliency. Sure - the media loves the story of the latest company that has achieved $100M ARR in a month (I'm obviously kidding), but the overwhelming majority of businesses are a grind. It's about taking a bunch of punches, getting back up and figuring it all out. It's not all rainbows and butterflies, which is why I was excited to interview Seth. The story of CustomMade has lots of twists and turns… from rapid growth… to later salvaging the company by structuring a deal with Wayfair to acqui-hire their employee base… to the insanely successful reboot! Today, CustomMade is a leading online custom jeweler that specializes in creating personalized, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, such as engagement rings, wedding bands, and more. The platform simplifies the entire custom process, helping buyers create their vision and working with master jewelers to bring it to life. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:11 Importance of Resiliency 01:20 The Right Business Model: Subscription vs Marketplace 02:52 Seth's Background 06:24 Meeting Mike Salguero While Working in Real Estate 12:51 Background Story of CustomMade 20:55 Raising Venture Capital for CustomMade 24:58 Building & Running an Online Marketplace 27:30 The Challenges of Running an Online Marketplace 29:24 Making a Deal with Wayfair 31:33 CustomMade Reboot 36:38 CustomMade Today - The World's Largest Online Custom Jeweler 40:10 What are Lab Grown Diamonds 44:24 SEO & GEO 49:20 Seth's Other Initiatives in the Gem Industry 50:46 Seth's Role as a Venture Partner at WTI
REGISTER HERE for the live VictorAI demonstration.On today's show we are talking about something that has happened in the macro economy that is not getting much attention. But first, I'd like to invite you to a live demonstration of our new custom language model which we are affectionately calling VictorAI. This is our own custom language model which is built on top of ChatGPT. We trained VictorAI with the contents of the Real Estate Espresso podcast and my book Magnetic Capital. It's the difference between going to a family doctor versus going to a specialist. The specialist is always going to give you a more precise answer. Click on the link in the show notes and we will talk to you on December 16. On today's show we are talking about something that has happened in the macro economy that is not getting much attention. You have probably noticed that prices at the gasoline pump have been falling. That is usually welcome news for consumers. Politicians will probably be quick to take credit for this. Prices in the oil futures market are set by a combination of supply and demand. The futures price for crude oil is what gets the most attention. Today the WTI intermediate price for January delivery is $57.44 per barrel compared with $72 at the start of this year. Whenever something happens you have ask yourself whether you are looking at the cause or the effect. Falling prices at the pump are effect and not cause. The cause is further upstream in the economy. Falling gasoline consumption reflects falling demand which reflects economic weakness. You're not going to get any politician to come out an use the word recession. That's going to guarantee a loss during the midterm elections which are now only a year away. Instead, they will trumpet a victory of lower gasoline prices at the pump which are helping ordinary households. The American consumer has suffered very real loss of purchasing power since the pandemic. Most of this has been the result of the handling of the pandemic and the government response to the pandemic. Labor shortages in the wake of the pandemic did not translate into greater purchasing power for the average consumer. -------------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1) iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613) Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com) LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce) YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734) Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso) Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com) **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com) Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital) Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)
Let's talk about gifts you really want this holiday season: old shoes, leg bones and nearly 400 million year old trees that ushered in giant millipedes. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My friend and jazzman Steve Salerno returns to show me his major-league wood and talk about the gift of baseball, Chet Baker, getting canceled over Charlie Kirk, and my thoughts on John Leguizamo's new play The Other Americans. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We're kicking off this holiday season with tiny hats and an origin story from 14 billion years ago. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Kruti Lehenbauer, Founder of Analytics TX. Kruti is a longtime statistician and economic consultant who has held leadership roles across analytics, data, and research. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Economy and helps organizations audit business data, uncover hidden efficiencies, and navigate strategic planning, AI adoption, and more. She regularly shares thought-provoking insights and translates complex analysis into clear, actionable takeaways. We were delighted to hear her perspectives on interest rates, inflation, tariffs, and more ahead of next week's Fed meeting. In our conversation, we explore the “panic narrative” around the economy and why the past five years may feel worse than what the long-run trends suggest. We discuss the health of the U.S. economy, whether we're truly in a unique moment, how rapid interest rate hikes have worsened the debt picture, and why Kruti believes rates should already be moving back toward ~3%. She shares why the expectation that “everything must rise exponentially” is misguided, invoking Joan Robinson's reminder that “in the long run we are all dead, but not all at once.” We cover what data Kruti thinks the Fed should focus on (employment, GDP, true inflation) versus short-term headlines and political noise, the interplay between aggregate demand and aggregate supply, and why productivity and technology matter most for long-run growth. Kruti also explains how tariffs effectively raise real interest rates, how consumers adapt, and the flaws she sees in how we measure inflation today. We touch on why she believes fears of mass job loss from AI are overblown, the importance of adaptation, and her concerns about declining quality in higher education and its impact on high-skill labor and future productivity. We address fiscal versus monetary policy, why overreliance on the Fed is risky, and long-run structural issues including savings behavior, financial literacy, and long-dated household debt. We also discuss India's role as a rising economic partner and end with the “magic-wand” reforms Kruti would prioritize including leaner government, updated inflation metrics, and policies that expand the economy's productive frontier rather than over-managing it. It was a thought-provoking discussion. Mike Bradley kicked us off by noting that broader equity markets rallied on a rebound in Bitcoin, bond yields have been inching higher, crude oil remains under pressure, U.S. natural gas price continues to surge, and copper prices are hitting all-time highs. The 10-year bond yield inched higher this week to ~4.1%, after trading near 4% last week, on rumors that Kevin Hassett is the front-runner for Federal Reserve Chairman. Bond volatility will likely continue into the December 10th FOMC meeting. The DJIA and S&P 500 were both up on the day but remain flattish to slightly lower for the week, with Technology leading and Energy lagging. On the oil market front, WTI price continues to be under pressure (trading just under $59/bbl) due to continuing concern around an early 2026 global oil surplus (~2-4mmbpd). This bearish oil thesis/trade is very-very-very consensus. OPEC+ convened over the weekend and agreed, as expected, to pause oil output hikes through Q126 and to call for third-party verification of OPEC+ members Maximum Sustainable Capacity for 2027 production baselines. He closed by highlighting that cold weather has finally arrived, spiking prompt U.S. natural gas price to ~$5/MMBtu (while the 12-month strip holds steady at ~$4.15/MMBtu). He noted the remarkable surge in Lower-48 dry gas production, from 108-109bcfpd a month ago to a weekend peak of ~114bcfpd, now settling in at 112-113bcfpd. Jeff Tillery shared a few themes he's watching heading into the next few quarters. In traditional energy, oilfield services stocks are jumping even as oil prices fall, raising the question of whether the market is signali
Today on The Lou Perez Podcast I am joined by Ibrahim Pataudi, the co-founder and chief revenue officer of Armanet. We talk about gun censorship, James Bond censorship, the prevalence of doom, hunting in Pakistan, and drones for personal defense. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
US equity futures trending lower with S&P 500 down a little. Asia equities ended mixed while Europe opened with declines. Treasury yields higher. Gilts add 3 bps to 4.5%. Bund 3 bps firmer at 2.7%. Dollar softer versus yen and euro, firmer elsewhere. Oil gains, with WTI crude around 2% higher. Gold firmer. Industrial metals higher. China official manufacturing PMI inched up to 49.2 in November from 49.0 in prior month, in-line with consensus. Underlying components showed improvement with output swinging back to neutral. New orders and new export order declines narrowed amid stabilization in domestic and external demand. Pricing measures indicative of ongoing margin pressures with raw material costs quickening. Non-manufacturing PMI fell to 49.5 from 50.1 and below consensus 50.0, marking first contractionary read since China came out of Covid lockdowns in late 2022.Companies Mentioned: UnitedHealth Group, Netflix, Warner Bros, BlackRock, Brookfield, Apollo
Grab a plate and a microscope, we're about to slice into million dollar artworks that are self destructing. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this episode of The Lou Perez Podcast I talk to the old man at the end of the bar, The Cowboy Libertarian: Patrick Dorinson. We talk cowboy-hat etiquette, the global reach of cowboy culture, the rugged history of California (with a nod to Joan Didion's The White Album), and his new book, The Common Sense Cowboy's Guide to Life: Stories from the Old Guy at the End of the Bar. Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I'm serving up some favorites! Grab a plate for ancient ceremonies and a medical case for the ages. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My friend Rob Montz of Good Kid Productions stopped by to talk to me about his latest documentary, Paradise Abandoned: Inside the Pacific Palisades Fire, in which Rob tells the tale of losing his childhood home in the fires. The doc is screening on November 23, 2025 at Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theater in Los Angeles. (RSVP here) Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My friend Rob Montz of Good Kid Productions stopped by to talk to me about his latest documentary, Paradise Abandoned: Inside the Pacific Palisades Fire, in which Rob tells the tale of losing his childhood home in the fires. The doc is screening on November 23, 2025 at Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theater in Los Angeles. (RSVP here) Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r Watch my sketch comedy streaming on Red Coral Universe: https://redcoraluniverse.com/en/series/the-lou-perez-comedy-68501a2fd369683d0f2a2a88?loopData=true&ccId=675bc891f78f658f73eaa46d Rock XX-XY Athletics. You can get 20% off your purchase with promo code LOU20. https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/?sca_ref=7113152.ifIMaKpCG3ZfUHH4 Support me at www.substack.com/@louperez Join my newsletter www.TheLouPerez.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-lou-perez.../id1535032081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/.../2b7d4d.../the-lou-perez-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and the author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY. You may have seen him on Gutfeld! , FOX News Primetime, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, Lou made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.'” As a stand-up comedian, Lou has opened for Rob Schneider, Rich Vos, Jimmy Dore, Dave Smith, and toured the US and Canada with Scott Thompson. Lou has also produced live shows with Colin Quinn, the Icarus Festival, and the Rutherford Comedy Festival. For years, Lou performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and his comedy duo, Greg and Lou. Greg and Lou is best known for its sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views on YouTube alone. In addition to producing sketch comedy like Comedy Is Murder, performing stand-up across the country, and writing for The Blaze's Align, Lou is on the advisory board of Heresy Press, a FAIR-in-the-arts fellow, and host of the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast (which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast Network). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pull up a chair and strap in. We're about to get up and personal with creatures who prove Nature will do whatever it damn well wants. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: @wellthatsinterestingpod Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: @wti_pod Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices