CFA Society Chicago

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA, Blaine Reed CFA, AFM and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back talking about the latest macro that is moving the markets.  CPI, PPI, inflation expectations, AI, productivity, overcapacity and Jackson Hole are just a few of the topics covered.  Please like/share/subscribe as it helps us a lot to get the word out  

Blaine Reed, Tony Zhang and Rich Excell get together to discuss what the FOMC did and should do. The FOMC has a dual mandate of price stability and full employment. Do measures of either suggest the Fed should cut? What does argue for the Fed to cut, housing? But the Fed controls short and not long term rates? Lots covered, lots to discuss

It is July 14 and this is CPI and PPI week. What will we hear on the inflation front? More importantly, what could tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill mean for inflation. Finally, what is the Fed to do with all of this information. Tony Zhang, Blaine Reed and Rich Excell are back to discuss these topics and more!

Its mid-June so it is all about the FOMC.  However, there are a lot of cross-currents out there from a fiscal and regulatory standpoint that may have differing effects on Treasury demand. What are we to do? Hard to say because even the FOMC doesn't know what to do!   Have a listen and let us know what you think

CFA Society Chicago member Dan Grana, CFA speaks with Greg Brown, the Van and Kay Weatherspoon Distinguished Professor of Finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler. They discuss the latest academic research in private asset performance, including results and applicability to practitioners in these asset classes.

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA, Blaine Reed CFA, AFM and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back talking markets after a bit of a break. Do Blaine and Rich think global investors are sick of the US? With 10 year yield at 4.5%, will it hit 4.2% or 4.8% first?  What will the Fed do given the data we have seen?  Have a listen to find out

With Europe on Easter Monday holiday, and many in the US starting their Spring Break this week, the markets are starting on a weak, but quiet note. Rich Excell CFA is joined again by Tony Zhang CFA and Blaine Reed CFA for a discussion of tariffs, inflation expectations, credit market liquidity and dislocations in FX. We covered the gamut, so you don't have to. Have a listen!

Rich Excell CFA, CMT is joined by the CEO of the CFA Society Chicago Chris Vincent CFA to recap the 2025 Investment Themese series that just completed. Chris then tells us what to expect in the upcoming CFA Institute Live event from May 4-7 in Chicago

Any volatility in the market these days?   We couldn't have gone through investment themes for 2025 without discussing volatility and the options markets   Very lucky to have Zed Francis CIO of Convexitas join our host Rich Excell, CFA on this last installment of the CFA Society Chicago Investment Exchange Forum - Investment Themes for 2025 series

In this episode, hosts Tony Zhang and Rich Excell are joined by fellow CFA Society Chicago member Blaine Reed to discuss the market reaction to the tariff news and how investors should try to think through the scenarios going forward

We continue to explore the themes that are driving markets in 2025. The impact of changing policies in the US and elsewhere is clearly causing investors to reconsider how they will forecast the economy and markets going forward. We are lucky to be joined by Brian Wesbury of First Trust, consistently one of the top forecasters on Wall Street, to discuss the important issues facing investors today

If anything has characterized 2025 it has been the influence of geopolitics on the markets. In this episode, Rich Excell, CFA, CMT is joined by Reva Goujon, a geopolitical strategist and the Director of Corporate Advisory at Rhodium Group. Reva has two decades of experience working with C-suites and government agencies on how to deconstruct risks, assess future scenarios, and make informed decisio...

In the CFASC Investment Exchange Forum podcast, we continue on with our unpacking of the investment themes for 2025. This week, we speak with Dave Sekera, the US market Strategist for Morningstar Research Services. Dave and Rich start with a discussion of economic and interest rate forecasts and lead into what impact these views have on the different sectors, styles and factors in the US equity ma...

Continuing on our with our 2025 investment themes, Rich Excell CFA, CMT digs into the fixed income market with two excellent guests: Elizabeth Henderson, CFA the Head of Fixed Income for AAM and Anthony Woodside, CFA, FRM, the Head of Investment Strategy & Head of Multisector Fixed Income at LGIM America

But we do cover a range of other interesting topics! Tony Zhang, PhD and CFA joins me to discuss falling US Treasury yields, money rotating overseas (particularly China and Europe), money rotating within the US market, the overvalued Dollar and crypto. We will get to NVDA next time!

The first of a multiple part series, we are exploring the investment themes of 2025. With so much concern on inflation, we thought the best place to start is in commodities. We were lucky to be joined by Bloomberg Intelligence Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone, a fellow CFA charterholder and friend of the program. We covered the gamut from soybeans to Solana, gold to gas. 

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back for the first Macro Matters of 2025.  The story of the early part of the year is 10 year Treasury yields but that means we are talking yield curves, FOMC expectations, large cap vs. small cap and growth vs. value. We even got into the $7 trillion of Treasury issuance and Chinese 10 year yields at all-time lows!  A  full episode because we haven...

Rich Excell, CFA, CMT is joined by Institutional Investor's #1 Strategist Michael Kantrowitz, CFA from Piper Sandler to discuss the US equity market backdrop. What does the factor performance of the market tell us? Are expensive valuations a problem? What about tight credit spreads? Can small caps finally outperform?  All of this and more

Rich Excell CFA, CMT is joined by Barry Knapp, Managing Partner of Ironsides Macro to discuss what is being priced into the bond market and the stock market, where they agree and where the discuss agree. Barry covered TGA, RRP, Active Treasury Issuance, Negative Swaps Spreads, Inverted Yield Curves and QT. Most importantly, he made all of those terms understandable for those that don't follow the...

Tony Zhang Phd, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT get together to recap the events of the week. We hardly discussed the CFASC Annual Dinner because there was so much else going on!

Fred Goodwin aka Mr. Risk, a senior macro strategist at State Street, is a guest of Rich Excell CFA, CMT.  They have a wide-ranging discussion from leptokurtotic distributions to Chinese stimulus policy to the Rule of 100. When it is all said and done, does it all come down to TINA (There Is No Alternative) again?  Have a listen to find out

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back to discuss a range of issues.  Is China stimulus enough? Will it lead to China finally outperforming the US?  What about the US? How is the housing market doing? What does this mean for the US economy? Have a listen to find out

Maybe you noticed, or maybe you didn't, but a month ago, the PJM auction results were announced and the cost for energy capacity in the largest region in the US saw prices up 800% yay!  This was enough of a shock that we reached out to the Electirc Power Supply Association (EPSA) to ask them to explain what is going on. Rich Excell CFA, CMT was joined by Todd Snitchler, the President and CEO of EP...

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT go live right after the FOMC news comes out to discuss what the Fed might be seeing, the reaction we are seeing in markets and what we might expect going forward

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back to discuss the data-filled week post Labor Day and what this might mean for markets going forward. What should we expect? How will the market react? What do investors need to focus on? Have a listen to find out