The Derivative

Have you ever wondered how successful traders make their fortunes in the markets? In this episode of The Derivative Podcast, we explore the world of trend following with a master in the field, Andrew Strasman. Here first-hand about his journey as a trend follower, from his early days in the trading pit to his experience in the real estate market and the birth of high-frequency trading. Throughout...

Today’s episode we are passengers on Bryce Emo’s rig, as we ride along and chat about how his company Sidecar Financial assists in providing private company shareholders the knowledge and network to find what can be life-changing liquidity. Bryce explains why stock option-based employees at big tech companies need the “lending hand”, and covers all the avenues available in helping navigate their j...

What was the short-lived SVB baking crisis all about?  Has it forced the Fed’s hand?  Are we done tightening? Lots of Macro questions so who better to dig into it with than the appropriately nicknamed Macro Alf. In this episode of The Derivative, we sit down with Alfonso Peccatiello, founder of The Macro Compass and owner of the wonderful Twitter handle @MacroAlf to discuss the challenges of gener...

As investors and traders, we all strive for success in the markets. But what sets the best apart from the rest? According to Kapil Rastogi, the President and co-founder of PlusPlus Capital Management, it's all about having the right culture. Ranking among the best in the industry in RCM’s semi-annual rankings report for best risk control certainly doesn’t hurt either.   In this episode of The...

When it comes to investing, there are countless strategies to choose from, each with its own set of pros and cons. One strategy that has stood the test of time is trend following, a technique that involves analyzing market trends and making trades based on those trends. Despite its proven track record, some investors remain skeptical about trend following, perhaps because they don't fully understa...

WTF is “Gammageddon”?  What do 0DTE options have to do with it?  Should I be fearful? Should I be greedy? We’re getting into all of it in this episode where we dig into just what zero days to expiry (0DTE) options are, who’s trading these things, who’s on the other side, and why (and why not) any of it could matter to investors… to option traders…..to the VIX.  On the latest episode...

Grab your favorite trucker hat/baseball cap, and settle in for this episode where Jeff picks Meb Faber’s brain on everything from skiing to picking an investment advisor because they can get you on at Riviera Country Club.  We’ve got Meb Faber back on the show to nominally talk about trend following – but as often happens with Meb – we get into a bunch from global equity exposure, to market c...

We’re back this week bringing you the second half of our Miami event - sharing the open discussion and panel portion that focused on volatility as an asset class. The panel was quite the collective of talent, with Luke Rahbari, CEO of Equity Armor Investments, Zed Francis, CIO and co-founder of Convexitas, Rodrigo Gordillo, president of Resolve Asset Management and Jason Buck, CIO and co-founder o...

We're back with a new episode of The Derivative, and this time we're talking all things trend-following, Miami, and volatility with Kevin Davitt from Nasdaq. This episode starts by clarifying some questions about trend-following strategies and sharing some quick thoughts on volatility in 2022. It was a unique year for trend following, with different sectors showing up at different times and overla...

Despite the market being down substantially this year, bouncing around inside of bear market territory, it's been a bit of a challenging year for long-vol traders. Simply put, the Vol spikes we’ve become accustomed to getting with a down market haven’t materialized as much.  While the retracement of vol on bounces higher in stocks has remained. it's hard not to think, "What is going on?!'&nbs...

This week on the Derivative we're doing it a little differently sharing our platforms with RCM's Agriculture podcast, The Hedged Edge. The Hedged Edge is back online with a guest who could be it's podcast's most important guest of all time. At a time when inflation is running rampant through the world economy, drought conditions are drying up our rivers, and the global supply of grain is scarce. W...

Jeff loves it when he sits across from someone who, like him, has been in the niche-managed futures part of the investment world for their entire career. There’s not all that many of them, and today's guest, Michael Harris( @mikeharris410) fits the bill. Michael's unique backstory began within the Sales and Product Development group at Morgan Stanley Managed Futures in 1997, continued as European...

How do all these smart people end up in the crypto space? Versus the hedge fund world or traditional finance, or doctor/lawyer, etc.  And how do investors separate the signal from the noise amongst all the meme stock pumps, Web 3 scams, and crypto deep dives? And is Winter coming, to borrow the Game of Thrones line… We're sitting down with GenZ'er and FinTwit staple Caitlin Cook of the @deadc...

Cover the kid’s ears… because we’re going back to our WTF format to ask what the actual Fingazi is going over in the UK with the bank of England raising rates, then buying a bunch of Gilts to save their pensions. The headlines say it’s some new-fangled LDI concept which led these pensions into trouble. But our guest this week, Zed Francis of Convexitas, says not so fast… the LDI actually is fine –...

How do you create a new futures contract?  You need an exchange. And you need something that changes in price, like a commodity market – or a financial index. This week we're diving deep into crafting an index with T3 Index's founder and CEO, Simon Ho. Simon is no stranger to the vol space, and he has worked in the options industry for over 20 years in trading, product innovation, and risk ma...

Otherworldly forces can affect the market and hurt it just as much. Hurricane Ian continues to bring surges, winds, and flooding to Florida, and we have our own hurricane swirling around the set. That's right, we're bringing two forces together this week in a mashup of two previous pods with Hurricane Hunter Dr. Jeff Masters and Re-Insurance pro Chris Mckeown. We're revisiting what Dr. Jeff has to...

We have a little saying over here on The Derivative,  The More, The Merrier,  and on this week's episode of The Derivative, we're not chatting with one guest, but THREE! Class may no longer be in session, but we are taking a trip down the SIG/Susquehanna memory lane and having our own class reunion with Kris Abdelmessih, Michael Steiner, and Tina Lindstrom. If you're interested in learni...

In the chaotic world we’ve endured since 2020, it turns out all you needed was an outlier-loving strategy to get you through the storm. We’re talking managed futures and trend following in particular, which tend to thrive in periods of turmoil. But how can you effectively prepare for a wide range of market environments while still producing returns that allow for the investor to stick with the inv...

It's not every day you get to sit down with a Volatility veteran with over 30 years of experience…..Well, maybe it’s a bit more common here on the Derivative than elsewhere, but we’ve got a special treat with Ari Bergmann( @AriBergmann ) joining Jeff on this week's Derivative episode. Listen in as they dive into where to find convexity, why that’s not the same thing as buying lottery tickets, how...

For those lucky few who’ve sold a business, inherited wealth, or otherwise find themselves in the enviable position of staying wealthy, not getting wealthy – the investment game can be more about playing defense than going on offense. But how do you go about that, who do you partner with to figure out complex tax and estate issues. This week, Jeff is sitting down with Homer Smith( @HomerSmith_KWP...

Summer’s nearly over and class is definitely back in session for this episode, as we're about to get schooled on options and trying to separate the scams from the science. This week we're delivering the long-awaited episode with Dr. Benn Eifert, a Derivative appointed Jedi of Volatility from QVR Advisors, and Dr. David Rhoiney, who overcame being homeless to become a robotic surgeon who is learnin...

We’re breaking the law...the laws of trading, that is! On this episode of the Derivative, we're joined by Agustin Lebron, who started his career as an engineer and turned prop trader (you'd be surprised how common of a story and skill set that is) before writing his book The Laws of Trading: A Trader's Guide to Better Decision-Making for Everyone Today, Agustin is the co-founder and manager of Ess...

This week we're adding a different twist to our typical episode, and we're diving into WHY Commodities can be accretive in your portfolio with Tim Pickering ( @AuspiceTim ). Tim is the Founder, President, and CIO of Auspice Capital Advisors and leads the strategic decision-making and the vision for Auspice's diverse suite of award-winning rules-based quantitative investment strategies. In this wee...

Will the real Portnoy please stand up? This week's guest may not be rating pizzas worldwide in one bite, but he is an expert at simplifying the complex world of money — we're sitting down with the one and only Brian Portnoy, Ph. D., CFA. Brian( @brianportnoy ) is the founder of Shaping Wealth, a coaching and content platform inspiring financial well-being globally. He also has multiple bestselling...

It's not every day you get to talk about investing and food in the same conversation, and this week, refinancing, restructuring, and investing in niche businesses is on the menu with Adam Tkaczuk( @Adam_Tkaczuk ). Adam is a tax consultant, project CFO, and private equity investor. He raises debt, equity, and government subsidies for projects and helps business owners reduce the tax liability on th...