Making Markets

My guest today is Nir Kaissar . Nir is the founder and portfolio manager at Unison Advisors and one of my favorite economic commentators/columnists at Bloomberg. Today, he joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on the US economy. We start with the disconnect between the strong economic numbers and the sentiment amongst the population. We then cover indicators of recessions, the potential for a sys...

My guest today is Aaron Edelheit , the CEO and Portfolio Manager at Mindset Capital. Aaron has spent his career practicing value investing in overlooked industries, like housing after the 2008 recession or Cannabis today. But we start the conversation by talking about another overlooked topic- burnout and the importance of disengaging from work. We then talk about the Cannabis industry, the myths...

Matt turns the mic on Eric for the quarterly recap where they reflect on a strong first quarter for 2024, the secular trends in market and investment structures, navigating the IPO market, and the next generation of investors. Please enjoy this episode of Making Markets. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE. ----- Making...

My guest this week is Brutus Clay . Brutus is the Chairman and CEO of Runnymede Farms, the oldest operating thoroughbred farm in Kentucky. He takes us through the fascinating world of breeding and racing thoroughbreds. We talk about the buy side in this industry and the similarity to Venture Capital and Private Equity. We end by talking about the horse racing industry and the beautiful story of th...

Today we are revisiting this great episode with Jim Bianco , the founder and President of Bianco Research. Jim is well-known on Wall Street for providing macro analysis since the nineties. He takes us through his unique perspective on the economy. We start with his contrarian view on interest rates. We then cover the changes to the economy since COVID, such as remote work and the new consumer. We...

My guest today is Yossi Levi , better known as Car Dealership Guy, who has quickly become one of the most popular voices in the auto industry. Last year, I spoke to CDG about the US Car Market and the business model of car dealerships. Today's conversation covers Yossi's personal story and media business. We start with a quick overview of his fascinating backstory, from a used car dealer to tech e...

My guest this week is Bored , the pseudonymous Twitter personality who shot to prominence as Bored Elon. Bored spent over a decade in the video games industry, supporting the launch of 100+ game titles, and today, he takes us on a deep dive through the industry. We start by talking about Crypto Gaming, why it’s failed to deliver on its promise, and why Bored is still bullish on the category. We al...

My guest this week is Jannick Malling . At 13, Jannick was getting paid to make websites. 5 years later, he was an early employee at the high growth broker, Saxo Bank. Today, he’s a serial fintech entrepreneur and the co-founder and co-CEO of Public.com, an investing platform. In this episode, we dive into the brokerage industry. We talk about how new-age brokerages compete against giants like Fid...

My guest today is Paul Goodrich . Paul has spent his career organizing labor unions and fighting for labor rights. Today, he is the Vice President of Laborers' Union Local 151, a Massachusetts-based labor union for construction workers. In this episode, he makes a persuasive case for why we need labor unions and shows us the nuts and bolts of how they operate. Coming from Wall Street, which doesn'...

My guest this week is the Anthony Pompliano , better known as Pomp. Pomp is an investor, entrepreneur and one of the biggest media personalities in the world of crypto. In today's conversation, we talk about Pomp’s early career, his evolution as a capital allocator, and how he views public and private investing today. We also talk about his early career at Facebook, his media business, and of cour...

My guest this week is Jim Bianco , the founder and President of Bianco Research. Jim is well-known on Wall Street for providing macro analysis since the nineties. Today, he takes us through his unique perspective on the economy. We start with his contrarian view on interest rates. We then cover the changes to the economy since COVID, such as remote work and the new consumer. We also talk about his...

My guest this week is Haseeb Qureshi , managing partner at Dragonfly Capital. From making millions through poker before the age of 21, to going viral for an article on negotiation, to being hired personally by Naval Ravikant to be a crypto VC, Haseeb’s life could be a Netflix movie. We dive into that backstory and all he’s learned about the relationship between work, money, and happiness. We also...

My guest today is Edward Woodford , the CEO and Co-Founder of Zero Hash. Zero Hash builds software that allows businesses to launch crypto products quickly, simply, and compliantly. This is Edward’s second startup, and we start with his backstory before exploring crypto's major use cases like payments, tokenization, remittances, and payroll. We also cover the US regulatory landscape, his take on t...

My guest today is George Robertson . George is a highly interesting and contrarian investor who started on Wall Street way back in 1981. We start this conversation with a few incredible stories from his colorful career. George then makes a compelling case for why the Fed no longer has any power and what’s really happening with the economy. We end the conversation with another provocative claim on...

My guest today is David Kalk . David used to run Peter Thiel’s Macro Fund and is currently the CIO of Reflexive Capital where he spends most of his time managing the Crypto-focussed Liquid Trading fund. We start the conversation by asking where we are in the new regime. We then talk about reflexivity and how it applies in crypto. We also cover his trading process, how he evaluates new tokens, Sola...

Today Matt turns the mic on Eric for the quarterly recap where they talk all things Bitcoin ETF, a strong fourth quarter for 2023, an interesting kick-off to 2024, and Eric's current outlook on the market (anxiety). Please enjoy this episode of Making Markets. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Markets is...

My guest this week is Mark Dow . Mark started his career as an economist with the US Treasury and the IMF before he joined Wall Street. Today, he is the founder of behavourialmacro.com and runs a fund that combines his skillsets as a trader and an economist. In this discussion, we get into why economists are usually bad investors and how Mark approaches markets. We also cover some provocative idea...

My guest today is Howard Lindzon . It’s impossible to summarize Howard’s resume, but he’s best known for founding StockTwits and as a private and public market investor. We start this conversation with a hilarious story of his early career at CBS. We then talk about a variety of other topics, like saying no when Fred Wilson brought him the Twitter deal, his investing philosophy, the degen economy,...

My guest today is Eric Jorgenson - the author of two books that I really enjoyed- "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant" and "The Anthology of Balaji." In this conversation, he tells us what he learned from studying these great minds and the experience of writing the two books. We also talk about the spread of anti-capitalistic ideas, techno-optimism the economics of publishing and more. Please enjoy th...

My guest this week is Caroline Taylor . An art valuation expert, Caroline founded the Appraisal Bureau to bring data and analytics to the highly subjective world of art appraisals. We start the conversation with Caroline’s backstory before talking about the appraisal process for both fine art and NFTs and the problem that the Appraisal Bureau is solving in this space. We also cover several unique...

My guest today is Michael Lee. Michael is a dealer in rare photographs and the director of Lee Gallery. Today, he takes us on a tour across this under-the-radar market. We talk about the difference between the primary and the secondary market, the buy side, and tastemakers. We also cover his process for finding buyers, pricing inventory and his view on NFTs. This is exactly the kind of esoteric ma...

My guest today is Pierce Crosby , the general manager of TradingView. TradingView has become the largest finance website in the world with 50 million users across 180 countries and Pierce takes us through this journey today. We talk about TradingView’s business model and their role in the brokerage industry, which is facing declining margins. We also cover how consumers use the platform today acro...

Today's guest is Brandon Zick , the CIO of Ceres Partners. Brandon grew up on a farm and then worked in finance for a decade. In 2010, he returned to his agrarian roots at Ceres, where he manages a $1.4 Billion fund that invests in farmland. In this episode, Brandon gives us an in-depth look at this unusual asset class, including the supply and demand dynamics, the economics of farming, and how Ce...

My guest today is Will Peck . Will is the Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree, where he oversees the firm’s digital assets, crypto, and blockchain initiatives. After speaking with WisdomTree’s CIO, Jeremy Schwartz, a few weeks ago it was great to explore their digital strategy with Will. We discuss the firm’s digital roots, the complexity around launching a bitcoin ETF, and their innovative app –...

Today's guest is the anonymous Twitter account CarDealershipGuy , also known as CDG. I was excited for this episode because it combined two of my biggest interests - markets and cars- and CDG did not disappoint. We cover a lot of ground, starting with why car dealerships are such a great business. We then talk about the state of the car market in 2023, the auto worker's strike, discounting and len...