Is U.S. Debt Problem Imploding? Lyn Alden On 'Fiscal Spiral', 2024's Best Assets

David Lin
2 Apr 202447:40

Summary

TLDRIn this insightful discussion, Lyn Alden, founder of Linn Alden Investment Strategy, shares her views on the current market trends and asset classes for 2024. Alden expresses bullish sentiments on Bitcoin, gold, and energy, citing fiscal dominance and its impact on asset valuations. She also discusses the potential for inflation, the role of the Federal Reserve, and the structural shifts in the financial system brought about by cryptocurrencies. Alden's perspectives offer a nuanced understanding of the economic landscape and strategic investment insights.

Takeaways

  • ๐Ÿ“ˆ The guest, Lyn Alden, is bullish on bitcoin, gold, and energy for the remainder of 2024 due to the fiscal backdrop and its impact on asset classes.
  • ๐Ÿ’น Large cap growth equities may have valuation concerns, while energy, gold, and bitcoin do not seem overvalued and present attractive opportunities.
  • ๐ŸŒ The rise in cryptocurrency hacking incidents highlights the importance of digital privacy and security, which is a key theme in the episode's sponsor segment on NordVPN.
  • ๐Ÿ“‰ Current market action shows stocks, gold, and Bitcoin moving up, but there are concerns about overextension of prices and potential economic slowdowns.
  • ๐Ÿ”„ The guest expects sector-specific rotations within the market, with some areas showing weakness while others recover, influenced by the purchasing managers' index (PMI).
  • ๐Ÿฆ Commercial real estate is considered a risky sector to invest in due to the ongoing challenges and potential losses in the market.
  • ๐ŸŒŠ The concept of 'fiscal dominance' is introduced, where fiscal policies have a larger impact on the economy than monetary policies, affecting inflation and investment strategies.
  • ๐Ÿ”„ The Federal Reserve's response to inflation is expected to be limited due to high public debt, potentially leading to a focus on curve steepening rather than aggressive rate hikes.
  • ๐Ÿ’ก The guest's book, 'Broken Money', discusses the structural changes in the monetary system, the impact of technology on finance, and the concept of fiscal dominance.
  • ๐ŸŒ The guest's website, Linn Alden Investment Strategy, offers resources and research for investors looking to understand and navigate the current financial landscape.

Q & A

  • What is the primary reason for assets continuing to surprise to the upside according to Lyn Alden?

    -The primary reason for assets continuing to surprise to the upside is the fiscal backdrop. In an environment with uncontrolled fiscal spending, assets denominated in a weakening currency perform well in local currency terms, even if they may not be doing great in real terms.

  • Which asset classes is Lyn Alden most bullish on for the remainder of 2024?

    -Lyn Alden is most bullish on Bitcoin, gold, and energy for the remainder of 2024. These assets provide a good focus area due to their potential for growth and their role as alternatives to other investments like tech stocks and treasury bonds.

  • What are Lyn Alden's thoughts on the future of gold, Bitcoin, and stocks for the remainder of 2024 and into next year?

    -Lyn Alden expects gold, Bitcoin, and certain stocks, particularly in the energy sector, to perform well for the remainder of 2024 and into the next year. She believes these assets will continue to be attractive due to their potential for growth and their ability to act as alternatives to more crowded or overvalued assets.

  • Why does Lyn Alden believe inflation may not come down to the Fed's 2% target anytime soon?

    -Lyn Alden believes inflation may not come down to the Fed's 2% target anytime soon due to the current environment of fiscal dominance, where fiscal policies have a more significant impact on the economy than monetary policies. This dynamic makes it difficult for the Fed to control inflation effectively, especially when fiscal deficits are contributing to the inflationary pressure.

  • How does Lyn Alden think the Fed will respond to the new inflationary dynamic?

    -Lyn Alden thinks the Fed might focus on managing expectations and maintaining relatively high interest rates rather than aggressively raising them further. She suggests that the Fed may also try to target curve steepening as a way to moderate government borrowing costs while keeping higher interest rate pressures on the private sector.

  • What does Lyn Alden mean by 'fiscal dominance' and why is it important?

    -Fiscal dominance refers to a situation where fiscal policies, such as taxation and government spending, have a more significant impact on the economy than monetary policies like interest rates. It is important because it changes the effectiveness of central bank tools in controlling inflation and can lead to a new era of economic dynamics, where traditional monetary responses may not be as effective.

  • What is Lyn Alden's view on the current market action for stocks, gold, and Bitcoin?

    -Lyn Alden has observed that stocks, gold, and Bitcoin have all moved up and she believes that this is largely due to the fiscal backdrop and improving liquidity. She also notes that while these assets have shown resilience, they may still experience periods of overbought conditions and subsequent consolidation.

  • How does Lyn Alden perceive the valuation concerns for various assets?

    -Lyn Alden expresses valuation concerns for large-cap growth equities, as they are highly priced relative to their fundamentals. However, she does not have valuation concerns for energy, gold, and Bitcoin, although she advises watching out for periods of euphorically overbought conditions.

  • What are the implications of the fiscal spending as discussed by Lyn Alden?

    -According to Lyn Alden, the implications of the fiscal spending include a continued increase in fiscal deficits, a potential slow-motion train wreck in commercial real estate, and an environment where certain investments become less attractive due to the dominance of fiscal policies. This also impacts the overall investment strategy and the attractiveness of various asset classes.

  • What does Lyn Alden suggest about the sector-specific nature of the market?

    -Lyn Alden suggests that the market's performance is very sector-specific. While some sectors like tech and services have been recovering, others like commercial real estate have been in a depression-like state. She expects a rotation where some of the assets that have been doing well may show weakness, while those that have already gone through a down cycle could recover.

  • How does Lyn Alden view the role of energy in the future economy?

    -Lyn Alden views energy as a critical component of the future economy. She anticipates increasing demand for energy due to technological advancements and the development of data centers. Additionally, she believes that energy supply will remain relatively constrained, leading to a potential rise in energy prices and making energy stocks an attractive investment.

Outlines

00:00

๐Ÿ“ˆ Market Analysis and Asset Outlook

The paragraph discusses the reasons behind the surprising upside performance of certain assets in the context of a weak fiscal backdrop. It highlights the challenges of shorting assets in an emerging market with a weak local currency, which is rapidly increasing in supply. The speaker, Lyn Alden, shares her bullish views on various asset classes for the remainder of 2024 and beyond, including gold, Bitcoin, and energy stocks. She also delves into the potential for inflation to remain above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and how the Fed might respond to new inflationary dynamics. The importance of fiscal dominance in the current economic climate is emphasized, along with the implications of substantial government spending.

05:00

๐ŸŒ Global Economic Sectors and Fiscal Policies

This paragraph examines the purchasing managers' index (PMI) and its implications for various industries, noting that certain sectors have experienced recession-like conditions. Lyn Alden discusses the contrasting performance of different business areas, such as commercial real estate and tech sectors, and predicts a sector-specific rotation in the market. She also addresses the concept of risk-on sentiment and fiscal dominance, suggesting that the perception of investable areas may broaden, leading to shifts in market focus.

10:01

๐Ÿ“Š Inflation Trends and Central Bank Policies

The discussion in this paragraph centers around the stabilization of inflation and the potential for it to re-accelerate, with a focus on the role of energy markets. Lyn Alden shares her view that the decade will be more inflationary than the previous one, with inflation coming in waves. She also talks about the Federal Reserve's challenge in managing inflation in the context of fiscal dominance, where fiscal policies have a more significant impact on the economy than monetary policies. The conversation touches on the Fed's likely response to inflation stabilization and the implications for interest rates and bond markets.

15:01

๐Ÿ’ฐ Fiscal Spending and its Macroeconomic Effects

This paragraph explores the concept of fiscal dominance in depth, explaining its impact on the economy and the limitations it places on central banks' ability to control inflation. Lyn Alden discusses the structural shift in the economy due to high public debt and fiscal deficits, and how this has led to a new era of fiscal influence. The conversation also covers the potential consequences of continued fiscal spending and the challenges of managing fiscal policy in a financialized economy with high public debt.

20:03

๐Ÿ“ˆ The Impact of Deficits on Asset Classes

The paragraph examines the relationship between government spending, deficits, and their effects on various asset classes. Lyn Alden argues that while large deficits have historically boosted stock markets, the sustainability of this trend is questioned due to the increasing interest expenses associated with high public debt. She also discusses the potential for inflation to manifest in asset prices and the importance of investing in assets that can provide a positive carry, such as energy stocks, in the face of uncertain inflation outcomes.

25:05

๐ŸŒŸ Energy Sector Outlook and AI's Role

In this paragraph, the focus is on the energy sector, with Lyn Alden expressing a bullish outlook due to increasing demand and constrained supply. She highlights the lack of investment in new production and the potential for energy prices to rise. The discussion also touches on the energy-intensive nature of technological advancements like AI and data centers, and the need for increased electrical grid capacity. Lyn Alden sees energy stocks as attractive investments, given their strong balance sheets and shareholder-friendly policies.

30:05

๐Ÿ’ก Bitcoin's Role in the Energy Market

This paragraph explores the role of Bitcoin mining in the energy market, particularly its ability to absorb stranded energy and provide flexibility in times of supply and demand fluctuations. Lyn Alden discusses the potential for Bitcoin to become an embedded part of the grid, utilizing excess energy that would otherwise be wasted. The conversation also touches on the World Bank's estimates of natural gas flaring and methane leaks, highlighting the significant amount of untapped energy that could be used for Bitcoin mining.

35:05

๐Ÿ“ˆ Performance of Bitcoin, Gold, and Stocks

The paragraph discusses the performance of Bitcoin, gold, and stocks in relation to fiscal policies and liquidity. Lyn Alden explains that while these assets have been rising, the reasons for their performance are not identical but are influenced by fiscal issues and liquidity. She notes that gold has historically been negatively correlated with real interest rates, but the recent divergence suggests a change in this dynamic. The conversation also includes the impact of Bitcoin ETFs on the price of Bitcoin and the anticipation of the having on the market.

40:05

๐Ÿ“– Lyn Alden's Book: Broken Money

In this final paragraph, Lyn Alden discusses her book, 'Broken Money,' which focuses on the themes of fiscal dominance and the structural changes brought by Bitcoin and stablecoins to the monetary system. The book examines the historical context of money and the evolution of financial systems, particularly the shift from slow transactions and settlements to a modern era of fast transactions and settlements. Lyn Alden emphasizes the long-term implications of these technologies on the global financial landscape and the potential for reduced reliance on middlemen in finance.

Mindmap

Keywords

๐Ÿ’กFiscal Backdrop

The fiscal backdrop refers to the government's financial policies and their impact on the economy. In the video, it is mentioned as a significant factor influencing asset performance, particularly in emerging markets where currency weakness can lead to headwinds for shorting assets.

๐Ÿ’กAsset Classes

Asset classes are categories of investments that are grouped based on their characteristics, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and real estate. In the video, the guest, Lyn Alden, shares which asset classes she is most bullish on for the remainder of 2024, including Bitcoin, gold, and energy stocks.

๐Ÿ’กInflation

Inflation refers to the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and subsequently, purchasing power is falling. In the video, the discussion around inflation centers on whether it will come down to the Federal Reserve's 2% target and how it impacts various asset classes.

๐Ÿ’กFED Response

The FED response refers to the actions taken by the Federal Reserve in reaction to changes in the economy, particularly focusing on monetary policy tools like interest rates and quantitative easing. In the video, the guest discusses the FED's potential reactions to inflationary dynamics and fiscal dominance.

๐Ÿ’กValuation Concerns

Valuation concerns refer to worries about the current price levels of assets relative to their fundamentals, such as earnings or cash flow. In the video, the guest expresses valuation concerns for certain types of stocks, like large-cap growth equities, but not for assets like energy, gold, and Bitcoin.

๐Ÿ’กBitcoin ETF

A Bitcoin ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a financial product that tracks the value of Bitcoin and allows investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without having to buy and hold the actual digital currency. In the video, the approval of a Bitcoin ETF is discussed as a factor that could influence Bitcoin's price and liquidity.

๐Ÿ’กCommercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate refers to buildings or land used for business purposes, such as offices, retail spaces, or industrial properties. In the video, the guest advises staying away from commercial real estate investments due to an ongoing 'slow-motion train wreck' in the sector.

๐Ÿ’กSector-Specific

Sector-specific refers to particular industries or segments of the economy that are being discussed or analyzed. In the video, the guest emphasizes the importance of being sector-specific when discussing market outlooks, as different sectors can experience varying levels of success or challenges.

๐Ÿ’กRisk-On Sentiment

Risk-on sentiment refers to the attitude of investors who are willing to take on higher levels of risk in the pursuit of higher returns. It is often associated with a bullish market environment. In the video, the guest discusses how the current market sentiment may not be as risk-on as it appears and could change over the course of the year.

๐Ÿ’กYield Curve

The yield curve is a graph that plots the interest rates of bonds across different maturities. It is used to analyze the relationship between interest rates and bond terms, and it can provide insights into the health of the economy. In the video, the guest expresses her views on the potential steepening of the yield curve and its implications for fixed income markets.

๐Ÿ’กFiscal Dominance

Fiscal dominance is a situation where government fiscal policy, particularly spending and taxation decisions, has a more significant impact on the economy than monetary policy. It often occurs when public debt levels are high, and the central bank's ability to control inflation is limited. In the video, the concept is discussed in the context of its implications for investment strategies and the economy.

Highlights

The fiscal backdrop is a key factor in the surprising upside performance of certain assets.

Inๆ–ฐๅ…ดๅธ‚ๅœบ, local currency weakness creates headwinds for shorting assets.

Lyn Alden, founder of Linn Alden investment, shares her views on asset classes for the remainder of 2024.

Bitcoin, gold, and energy are the assets Lyn Alden is most bullish on for the near future.

Inflation may not decrease to the Fed's 2% target anytime soon due to fiscal dominance.

The Fed's response to new inflationary dynamics may be limited due to fiscal policies.

Government spending has significant consequences on the economy and asset classes.

Large cap growth equities have valuation concerns, but energy and smaller value spectrum companies do not.

Earnings results have been disappointing, leading to a drop in the stock market indices.

Sector-specific analysis is crucial for understanding market trends and potential slowdowns.

Risk-on sentiment may reverse over the course of the year, affecting market performance.

Fiscal dominance is a key factor in the current investment environment, affecting asset classes and market outlook.

Bitcoin and gold have moved up due to improving liquidity, which is fiscally driven.

The anticipation of Bitcoin ETF and the actual having can impact Bitcoin's price and demand.

Gold's rally is influenced by real interest rates and fiscal dominance, potentially signaling a higher trend in the coming years.

Lyn Alden's book, Broken Money, discusses the failure of the financial system and ways to improve it, focusing on fiscal dominance and the impact of Bitcoin and stablecoins.

Transcripts

play00:00

overall the reason that those assets

play00:02

continue to surprise to the upside is

play00:04

because of that fiscal backdrop you know

play00:06

if you were trying to short Assets in an

play00:09

Emerging Market in the local currency

play00:11

you're going to continually get

play00:12

headwinds from the fact that that

play00:13

currency is so weak right it's just it's

play00:15

just that currency is going up in Supply

play00:17

so quickly that the assets that you're

play00:20

denominating them in might not be doing

play00:22

great in real terms but they're

play00:24

certainly doing fine in that local

play00:25

currency term fan favor Lyn Alden

play00:28

founder of Linn Alden investment

play00:30

strategy returns to the show to share

play00:32

with us the asset classes that she's

play00:34

most bullish on for the remainder of

play00:36

2024 what she thinks will happen to Gold

play00:38

Bitcoin and stocks for the remainder of

play00:40

the year and into next year why she

play00:42

thinks inflation may not come down to

play00:45

the fed's 2% Target anytime soon how the

play00:47

FED will likely respond to this new

play00:49

inflationary Dynamic and why fiscal

play00:52

dominance is so important right now and

play00:54

we'll discuss exactly what this means

play00:55

and why the government is spending so

play00:57

much money and the consequences of all

play00:59

this fiscal spending first a from our

play01:02

sponsor nordvpn you don't want to miss

play01:05

this episode on this show we regularly

play01:07

cover how to grow and protect your

play01:09

assets but one of your most important

play01:11

assets is your privacy every investor

play01:14

needs to protect their digital privacy

play01:16

and footprint against hackers and

play01:18

potential viruses according to chain

play01:20

analysis 2022 was the biggest year ever

play01:24

for crypto hacking with hackers stealing

play01:26

$3.8 billion in cryptocurrency and

play01:30

according to Duke University more than

play01:32

80% of us companies claim to have been

play01:35

successfully hacked one of the best ways

play01:37

to protect yourself and your privacy

play01:39

online is with nordvpn not only does

play01:42

nordvpn hide your identity online from

play01:45

malicious actors and criminals but it

play01:47

also comes equipped with malware

play01:49

protection nordvpn also prevents you

play01:51

from accessing dangerous websites

play01:54

allowing you to enjoy your favorite

play01:56

Financial content securely and the best

play01:58

part is that it is easy to use just

play02:01

download and click nordvpn is available

play02:04

for your phone or computer and they're

play02:06

currently offering 65% off on a two-year

play02:10

plan plus four extra months simply click

play02:13

on nordvpn.com David Lin in the

play02:16

description down below to learn more Lyn

play02:19

welcome back to the show always good to

play02:20

see you always happy to be back on

play02:22

thanks for having me felt like yesterday

play02:24

when we last spoke but really it was

play02:25

November so lots has happened since 4

play02:28

months ago I like to start with current

play02:30

market action stocks gold and Bitcoin

play02:33

have all moved up I think investors

play02:35

would first and foremost like to ask you

play02:37

which assets you think would be um

play02:40

something that should be overweighted

play02:42

for the remainder of the year um so for

play02:45

this year I mean I I'm bullish on

play02:47

bitcoin gold energy uh that's kind of

play02:50

the big areas of focus uh for me at this

play02:52

time uh you know a lot bitcoin's already

play02:54

had a lot of powerful price action

play02:56

obviously earlier this year um so I

play02:58

think now it's consolidating a little

play03:00

bit but you know over this year and next

play03:02

year I I'm bullish on all those assets

play03:04

that I mentioned uh and of course it

play03:05

depends on what their Capital mandate is

play03:08

so you know energy is cheap and

play03:11

profitable and has good balance sheets

play03:13

generally um gold and Bitcoin are kind

play03:15

of um alternatives to treasury bonds or

play03:19

alternatives to tech stocks for example

play03:21

they can they can fit in a portfolio in

play03:23

that context um and so those are kind of

play03:25

the assets that I I find attractive at

play03:27

the current time would you say that

play03:29

valuation are a concern for you at

play03:31

current levels for all these

play03:33

assets uh so I think that um large cap

play03:37

uh growth equities have valuation

play03:39

concerns so for example large profitable

play03:42

tech companies even companies like

play03:44

Costco for example they're very highly

play03:46

priced relative to their fundamentals

play03:48

relative to their growth um basically

play03:50

it's not a problem necessarily with the

play03:51

companies themselves I mean Costco is

play03:53

doing amazing it's just that investors

play03:55

are are really crowded and really kind

play03:56

of piling into them so I do have

play03:58

valuations concerns uh for those um I

play04:01

don't really have valuation concerns for

play04:03

energy uh for certain ends of the value

play04:06

Spectrum for some of these smaller

play04:07

companies um nor do I have valuation

play04:09

concerns for gold and Bitcoin inste it's

play04:12

just a matter of that sometimes they can

play04:13

get um euphorically overbought in the

play04:16

intermediate sense um so that that's

play04:18

something I look out for um but other

play04:21

than that I think that those errors are

play04:22

still not very crowded in terms of

play04:24

overall investor portfolio positioning

play04:27

just today as we're speaking on Tuesday

play04:29

uh this week earnings are starting to

play04:31

come in um some of the results have been

play04:33

disappointing indeed the Dow is dropping

play04:36

uh stocks are dropping today as we speak

play04:38

uh the S&P is down 1% the nasdaq's down

play04:41

1.3% the Dow's down 400 points um some

play04:45

have told me that weak earnings are to

play04:47

be expected as we head into what may be

play04:50

an economic slowdown or some sort of

play04:52

contraction do you agree with that view

play04:55

so I think you have to be sector

play04:56

specific I think that's been the

play04:58

challenge so over the past

play05:00

call it 18 months you know we've had a

play05:02

we've had a PMI a purchasing managers

play05:04

index below 50 for like a year and a

play05:07

half um and so that's already been

play05:10

recession like conditions for certain

play05:11

industries and of course commercial real

play05:13

estate's been in a depression like um uh

play05:16

context whereas uh some of the more

play05:18

service oriented um business out there

play05:21

Tech there's other areas that have been

play05:23

in recovery mode um and so I I think

play05:26

that some of that could rotate in the

play05:28

sense that some of the things that have

play05:30

been doing really really well um could

play05:32

increasingly show some weakness uh ahead

play05:35

whereas some of the things that have

play05:36

already gone through that down cycle and

play05:39

if anything I I think some of them are

play05:41

recovering I expect probably Higher pmis

play05:43

by the end of this year than than we

play05:46

started the year at um and I think some

play05:48

of those more cyclical things could

play05:50

follow that so I think that that that

play05:52

question of slowdown versus not slow

play05:54

down is is very sector specific I think

play05:56

instead it's more of a rotation a re

play05:59

acceleration some of those things even

play06:00

as some of those those bigger Tech

play06:02

things um you know do slow down I think

play06:05

the slow down may or may not affect

play06:07

sentiment what do you think do you think

play06:09

risk on sentiment which has obviously

play06:11

been the case for the last 6 months

play06:13

could reverse over the course of the

play06:14

year uh so I I do but I think that even

play06:18

some of the action we've seen is

play06:19

indicative of not super bullish

play06:22

sentiment you know people don't pile

play06:24

into cost 50 times earnings necessarily

play06:27

purely out of bullishness some of that

play06:29

is because it's it's actually a form of

play06:31

defensiveness it's saying you know I

play06:33

don't really want to own bonds per se I

play06:36

want to buy a really Blue Chip company

play06:38

and I'll crowd into that rather than

play06:40

owning any of the things that are more

play06:41

cyclical the energy names the banks uh

play06:44

you know that's the the the capital

play06:46

flight out of there I think has been

play06:47

indicative of riskof behavior um and so

play06:51

I don't I don't view that the current

play06:52

period we've been in as super risk on um

play06:56

and instead it's more indicative of

play06:58

fiscal dominance

play07:00

um indicative of how many other areas

play07:02

are perceived as not investable um and I

play07:05

I think what we could see is a

play07:06

broadening out of what is perceived as

play07:08

investable right so some some of those

play07:10

some of the risk uh sentiment could

play07:12

actually increase for some of the things

play07:13

that have been considered too risky

play07:15

whereas some of those things that people

play07:17

crowded into um I think people could get

play07:19

quite concerned with the level of

play07:21

valuation there relative to the growth

play07:23

numbers that are coming in um you know

play07:25

if you've seen for example apple and

play07:26

Tesla just not putting up amazing

play07:28

numbers and the problem is that

play07:30

investors had

play07:31

overpaid uh for relatively spectacular

play07:34

results that they're not they're not

play07:35

getting in the fundamental data yeah so

play07:37

sector specific then well the obvious

play07:39

followup question is which sectors are

play07:41

you most bullish on and least bullish on

play07:44

uh so I generally like um Industrials I

play07:47

like um energy energy I think is the the

play07:50

more attractive risk reward and I think

play07:52

with financials um as long as you kind

play07:54

of avoid the commercial real estate

play07:57

concentration I think most of that is is

play07:59

at the current time um I I think those

play08:02

are I think even like for example the

play08:03

Midstream energy sector for example

play08:05

that's been showing signs of breaking

play08:07

out it's it's it's kind of new uh post-

play08:09

pandemic highs let's call it uh and they

play08:12

pay you very high yields while you own

play08:14

them as well um and so I I think that

play08:17

there are a bunch of investable areas um

play08:19

and that the market has largely not

play08:21

wanted to touch those and that those are

play08:24

even at the current time presenting

play08:26

opportunity now when you get kind of

play08:28

overall riskof sentiment bad days you

play08:30

can get Capital pulling out of those as

play08:32

well um but basically by being cheap and

play08:34

having good fundamentals they they

play08:36

somewhat limit the downside um and then

play08:39

they pay to own them so even if the

play08:40

upside takes longer to come to fruition

play08:43

it's still a positive carry asset for

play08:44

many of these while while you own it uh

play08:47

you mentioned commercial real estate

play08:48

something we should stay away from uh

play08:50

even today in April 2024 why is that

play08:54

well so it's I think it if if someone is

play08:57

a professional commercial real estate

play08:59

investor I think that there are going to

play09:00

be opportunities right there's obviously

play09:02

going to be bargain hunting like super

play09:04

cheap opportunities um but in general I

play09:07

think we're seeing just an ongoing slow

play09:09

motion train wreck in commercial real

play09:11

estate um I think there are more losses

play09:13

coming I think that lenders that are

play09:15

heavily Expos their commercial real

play09:16

estate or likely continue having problem

play09:18

um I would say a lot of that's already

play09:19

priced in a lot of that you know a lot

play09:22

of those things are already super cheap

play09:24

Capital it's a it's a it's a very

play09:26

wellknown theme at this point that

play09:28

commercial real estates in trouble um

play09:30

and I think that you know a theme I've

play09:32

been making is that so many people keep

play09:34

saying that commercial real estate is

play09:36

going to drive the next recession

play09:37

whereas what I've been pointing out is

play09:39

even even the bearish assumptions are

play09:41

looking at say like 1.5 trillion in

play09:44

equity wiped out of commercial real

play09:45

estate um whereas if you look at fiscal

play09:48

deficits you know they're over one and a

play09:50

half trillion per year um and overall

play09:53

household net worth is something like

play09:55

like 140 trillion and and rising at

play09:58

all-time highs right so there are these

play10:00

Pockets that can do really badly and

play10:03

that you know if you're if you're

play10:05

exposed to a bank that has a

play10:06

disproportion amount of lending to

play10:08

commercial real estate for example there

play10:10

still could be more shoes to drop there

play10:12

but that if you're in areas that are not

play10:14

really in that area if you're in energy

play10:16

if you're in other types of Finance if

play10:19

you're in um you know other Assets in

play10:22

general even certain Emerging Markets um

play10:24

those can can I think continue to re

play10:26

accelerate out of their kind of pandemic

play10:29

lows uh while these other things

play10:31

continue to suffer because we're in this

play10:33

environment of kind of structural fiscal

play10:35

dominance you know it's very hard to

play10:38

have a uh recession when you're pre-

play10:41

stimulating to the tune of you know one

play10:43

and a half or two trillion dollars a

play10:45

year in fiscal deficits and it doesn't

play10:46

mean that's not necessarily a good thing

play10:48

um but that's just it's a different

play10:50

reality on the ground a lot of it is

play10:53

kind of like an Emerging Market where

play10:55

you have to separate nominal

play10:57

expectations from real expectations

play10:59

because you have that underlying kind of

play11:01

fiscal unsustainable backdrop and that

play11:03

just changes what investments make sense

play11:06

uh in a nominal sense I do want to come

play11:09

uh come back to your fiscal um dominance

play11:11

Theory uh as well as some of the asset

play11:13

classes that you mentioned in particular

play11:15

uh specifically uh but first let's sum

play11:17

up your overall Market Outlook before we

play11:19

move on to that so bottom line are you

play11:22

expecting some form of a broad Market in

play11:25

equities at least correction later on

play11:27

this year whether it be a result of an

play11:30

overextension of prices or a result of

play11:33

um some sort of

play11:34

recession uh so I I'm not the answer is

play11:37

I'm not sure but I would say that I

play11:39

would expect some rotation which is to

play11:41

say that to to the extent that I want to

play11:42

protect myself from that risk I would

play11:44

not want to own the over owned things or

play11:47

at least I would not want to be

play11:48

overweight the things that other people

play11:49

are overweight I would either want to

play11:51

avoid them or downweight them compared

play11:53

to other things that people have already

play11:55

written off that that people are not

play11:56

crowded into because even if we do get

play11:59

that correction I'm not sure that it

play12:01

would impact those other assets I'm I'm

play12:02

referring to okay and uh speaking of

play12:06

rotation are you expecting any more

play12:08

Capital to rotate into the fixed income

play12:10

Market in other words um how do you

play12:12

think interest rates uh will affect uh

play12:16

the broad fixed income or Bond um

play12:18

portfolio so I'm I'm neutral on those I

play12:20

I do eventually expect to see curve

play12:22

steepening either because the front

play12:24

end's cut or because the long end Rises

play12:26

a little bit or a mix of both and so the

play12:29

overall risk reward of the long end is

play12:32

is still not super attractive to me um

play12:34

to the extent that I like bonds I either

play12:36

like t- bills or I like intermediate

play12:38

term tips for example um I don't

play12:41

particularly like the long duration

play12:42

bonds which is not to say that I don't

play12:44

think that they will you know it's not

play12:46

that I even if they squeak out gains for

play12:49

the year for example there are much

play12:51

other there much better other assets

play12:53

that I'd prefer to own from a risk

play12:54

reward standpoint I refer I prefer to

play12:56

own things that I view as asymmetric

play12:59

meaning that the downside is relatively

play13:01

contained um whereas the upside has a

play13:03

lot of room to go where and I don't view

play13:05

the bond market in that situation I

play13:07

wouldn't be surprised if we see yields

play13:09

higher or lower um by the end of this

play13:11

year but it it doesn't feel like it's

play13:13

weighted toward a a kind of a strong

play13:16

long outcome so it's just an era that I

play13:19

kind of put into the too hard pile and

play13:21

say that it's just it's not a lot of

play13:23

opportunity for the amount of risk I

play13:24

take on so if you expect the yield curve

play13:27

to steepen I'm assuming then you expect

play13:28

the long end of the curve to continue

play13:30

going up even if the FED cuts which

play13:32

would bring down the uh short end of the

play13:33

curve is that correct yeah or or it

play13:36

stays sideways while while the FED cuts

play13:38

the short end there's a couple different

play13:40

yeah ways and magnitudes that could

play13:41

happen and to the extent that long end

play13:43

yields stay higher than expected that

play13:45

could put pressure on some of those

play13:47

highly valued equities that we just

play13:48

talked about right so I think the Bond

play13:50

markets already um a little worried

play13:52

about re accelerating inflation but we

play13:54

haven't really seen that in the large

play13:56

cap equities yet um I think that they've

play13:59

still discounted the possibility of

play14:00

reaccelerating inflation and so some of

play14:02

that's potentially not priced in um and

play14:05

so th those crowded areas might not they

play14:07

might be they might correct or at least

play14:09

stagnate for a period of time if they

play14:12

come to fully realize that that the long

play14:14

end yields are maybe not going down as

play14:16

quickly as some investors expect are we

play14:18

having reaccelerating inflation Lynn uh

play14:20

I mean the latest CPI numbers have not

play14:22

Fallen at all since the previous months

play14:25

um however they haven't um substantially

play14:29

re accelerated at least on paper yet so

play14:31

please elaborate on what you mean by

play14:32

that so I I think we're seeing

play14:34

stabilization of inflation and the and

play14:36

the the step before re acceleration is

play14:38

stabilization so if it if it's not going

play14:40

down that's that's a sign of a potential

play14:43

bottom um and you know one of my themes

play14:46

for a while is that this decade will be

play14:48

more inflationary than the past decade

play14:50

but it won't be a straight line it'll

play14:52

come in waves as most inflationary

play14:53

decades do and that those ways will

play14:56

generally be correlated with um economic

play14:59

acceleration or deceleration especially

play15:01

some of the more energy intensive areas

play15:03

and so for example uh you know pmis like

play15:06

we just talked about have been falling

play15:07

in for a while they they then have been

play15:10

stabilizing for a while and they're

play15:11

they're actually showing earlier signs

play15:13

of of recovery and reacceleration and I

play15:16

I think inflation could follow that with

play15:18

somewhat of a lag I do think if we see a

play15:19

continued PMI Up Cycle um that could

play15:22

come with a little bit of inflation so

play15:24

it's not like I'm forecasting inflation

play15:25

to quickly retest the highs we saw you

play15:28

know a couple years ago but I do think

play15:30

that the fed's it's going to be sticky

play15:32

it's going to be basically inflation's

play15:33

not going to go down to the fed's Target

play15:36

as quickly as they'd want it to um and

play15:38

that inflation I think is going to hover

play15:40

3% or higher most likely um and and I

play15:44

think the key thing to watch to see if

play15:46

it can go much higher than that is

play15:47

energy um you know I I expect rent

play15:50

inflation to kind of stabilize not

play15:52

really Trend lower but not necessarily

play15:54

explode higher either because there's a

play15:55

lot of Supply coming online but it's

play15:57

really the energy markets that I think

play15:59

um are worth watching to see if we end

play16:01

up having above like inflation that's

play16:03

even above kind of current levels that

play16:05

are already elevated relative to targets

play16:08

so the FED how would they respond to

play16:11

this stabilization of inflation you

play16:13

think I think neutrally I I think that

play16:16

they they already kind of realized that

play16:18

um their tools are not

play16:20

necessarily um well positioned to deal

play16:22

with this so when I talk about fiscal

play16:23

dominance what I refer to is when we

play16:26

look over the let's call it I did charts

play16:28

on this

play16:29

like for example the past 70 years if

play16:31

you look at where most um credit

play16:34

creation happens right mostly it's in

play16:37

the private sector so for example if you

play16:39

sum up net new bank loans and net new

play16:42

corporate bond issuance in a given year

play16:44

that sum is usually bigger than annual

play16:47

fiscal deficits um so that that's kind

play16:49

of private sector Main Street um credit

play16:53

financing um and for the most part

play16:55

that's bigger than annual fiscal

play16:57

deficits but one thing we've seen in in

play16:59

recent years is that fiscal deficits are

play17:01

bigger than those combined right so

play17:03

there there's more kind of you know

play17:06

nominal power coming from the public

play17:08

sector than the private sector and that

play17:10

has a couple implications basically the

play17:12

fed's main tools are around modulating

play17:15

the speed of things like bank loans and

play17:18

and credit issuance if they want to try

play17:19

to slow down inflation they try to raise

play17:21

rates or do quantitative tightening to

play17:23

try to slow down that private sector

play17:25

activity until they get you know either

play17:27

recession or a near recession

play17:29

and the problem is that in the current

play17:31

ERA because the the deficits are mainly

play17:34

you know it's mainly a fiscal driven

play17:35

large deficit phenomenon that's where

play17:37

the inflation's coming from there's only

play17:39

so much that they can slow down that

play17:41

private sector and a problem is that you

play17:43

know back in the 70s for example or the

play17:46

early 80s when they wanted to try to

play17:47

control inflation they had very low

play17:49

public debt and so if they raised rates

play17:52

they could slow down that private sector

play17:54

credit creation and that would have a

play17:57

bigger negative impact than any sort

play17:58

sort of increased public interest

play18:00

expense they would have from those

play18:01

policies but if you fast forward to the

play18:03

current time instead of 30% at the GDP

play18:05

there's 120% at the GDP and so when they

play18:08

raise rates Super High um it does slow

play18:11

down that private sector credit creation

play18:14

moderately but then it completely blows

play18:16

out the public um interest expense and

play18:19

overall fiscal deficits by an even

play18:21

larger number and so they're they're not

play18:23

really able to slow it down to the

play18:25

extent that they would be able to if

play18:27

they were in a lower public debt

play18:29

environment and where most of this was

play18:31

coming from that private sector so it's

play18:33

really about not having the right tools

play18:34

to to address it directly and I think

play18:37

that you know they're they've been kind

play18:39

of been acknowledging that um even just

play18:42

not directly so I think what you would

play18:43

generally see is they'd probably stick

play18:45

at relatively High indust rate levels

play18:48

they probably would not aggressively

play18:49

raise them more um they might focus more

play18:52

on curve steepening because that's a

play18:55

that's a way to you know moderate cost

play18:57

for the government uh while keeping

play19:00

higher industry pressures on the private

play19:02

sector you know mortgage rates and and

play19:03

corporate bond rates and things like

play19:05

that so I do think that they might start

play19:07

start targeting curve steepening um but

play19:10

I think it's mostly about just

play19:11

expectation management I think they're

play19:12

going to be relatively

play19:14

neutral even if inflation re accelerates

play19:16

and I think it's going to be an ongoing

play19:18

kind of narrative issue for them suppose

play19:20

energy moves up um and accelerates there

play19:25

and brings inflation up with it do you

play19:27

think the Fed May respond by raising

play19:30

rates again so it's possible um my base

play19:34

case is they would first focus on higher

play19:36

for longer rather than raising rates um

play19:40

because I actually think that the

play19:41

raising rates Beyond a certain point can

play19:44

actually be stimulatory that's that's

play19:45

the challenge you face in a fiscal

play19:47

dominant environment so if if most of

play19:49

the if most of the money creation was

play19:52

happening because of the private sector

play19:53

then higher rates would generally be uh

play19:56

not stimulatory the opposite it would be

play19:58

depression

play19:59

but because a lot of this is fiscal

play20:01

driven and that's interest rate it's not

play20:03

sensitive to interest rate the spending

play20:04

the taxation it's largely not sensitive

play20:06

to interest rates and so by raising

play20:08

rates they actually just increase the

play20:09

deficit more and that's where a lot of

play20:11

the stimulus is is coming from um and so

play20:14

you know they might turn to Rising rates

play20:17

but I think it would be ineffective if

play20:18

they did uh instead they probably will

play20:20

just kind of keep it high and we'll see

play20:22

if they try to rotate the yield curve to

play20:24

be steeper that that might be one of the

play20:26

one of the more optimal approaches um

play20:28

but really it's it's I'm less concerned

play20:31

with what the fed's going to do because

play20:32

I don't think they're in the driver's

play20:33

seat um I think the fiscal side's more

play20:35

in the driver's seat and I think that

play20:37

the fed's going to kind of move around

play20:39

whatever the fiscal side's doing let's

play20:41

talk about uh this fiscal dominance that

play20:44

you're referencing so uh first of all

play20:47

what do you mean by that exactly and why

play20:49

do you think there's so much fiscal

play20:50

spending or just spending overall from

play20:52

Congress right now so for the first one

play20:55

fiscal dominance is basically when you

play20:57

know B like so monetary policies things

play21:00

like indust rates or central bank

play21:02

balance sheet fiscal policy is like

play21:03

taxing and spending Decisions by the

play21:05

government and fiscal dominance is when

play21:07

that latter has a much bigger impact on

play21:10

the economy than the former and more

play21:12

specifically it's when the former whose

play21:15

tools are meant to control inflation are

play21:17

no longer able to control inflation

play21:19

because most of their tools are geared

play21:21

toward the private sector whereas much

play21:23

of this is happening from that fiscal

play21:25

side from the public sector and Central

play21:27

Bank tools don't really address the

play21:29

fiscal side um another way of putting it

play21:32

is that in in an era where there's no

play21:34

fiscal dominance higher indust rates

play21:36

should lower inflation because you're

play21:39

you're you're softening private sector

play21:41

credit creation and you're strengthening

play21:43

the currency from the perspective of

play21:45

forign investors um but in a in a a a

play21:49

high public debt fiscal dominance regime

play21:51

higher indust rates are not always

play21:54

negative for inflation because although

play21:56

they do put downward pressure on some of

play21:58

the those private sector things they put

play22:00

upward pressure on the fiscal deficit

play22:02

due to higher interest expense and

play22:04

that's that's partially what's fueling

play22:06

inflation in the first place that

play22:07

interest expense by the government is

play22:08

someone else's income right so for

play22:10

example if I use myself as example I

play22:12

have I have a fixed lockin mortgage and

play22:14

I have money markets if they increase

play22:16

interest rates they increase my income

play22:18

which I can spend right and I'm not the

play22:19

only one like that there's many

play22:21

corporations in that position there are

play22:22

many um uh households in that position

play22:25

ironically um and so if the private

play22:28

sector termed out their debt and the

play22:29

government has

play22:31

not and specifically that those levels

play22:33

are very high that's where it start to

play22:35

get a a feedback loop that is not in

play22:38

line with what the past 40 years have

play22:39

been and to answer your second question

play22:41

why why are they spending so much I

play22:43

would say I mean a lot of it's locked in

play22:45

it's demographics it's it's polit it's

play22:48

it's a gridlocked congress it's it's

play22:50

military spending it's geopolitical it's

play22:52

all the above but I think the broader

play22:54

more structural thing is that over the

play22:57

past 4 years there's been constant

play23:01

deficits uh for the most part um Rising

play23:04

debt to GDP but that's been offs set by

play23:06

40 Years of declining interest rates and

play23:09

so interest expense was never really a

play23:11

problem if you double your debt but you

play23:13

cut your your interest rate in half then

play23:15

your debt servicing costs are not really

play23:17

a problem right and so it's been 40

play23:19

Years of that math happening and the

play23:21

problem is that if you um are are

play23:23

continuing to rise public debts and

play23:26

deficits but your interest rates go all

play23:27

the way to zero and bounce off zero and

play23:29

then start going sideways to up you no

play23:31

longer have that offset anymore and so I

play23:34

think that's the that's the bigger

play23:35

factor for what's happening is that that

play23:38

the the kind of the natural conclusion

play23:39

of Decades of you know deficits and and

play23:43

debt accumulation is that we kind of

play23:45

enter this new period where interest

play23:47

expense starts to actually matter and

play23:49

they start to enter this kind of

play23:50

long-term fiscal spiral which again

play23:53

doesn't mean anything major happens this

play23:55

year but it means that this this overall

play23:57

kind of f schoal train is just is not

play23:59

going to stop anytime soon and it's it's

play24:02

this new background structure that as

play24:05

investors uh or any of us operating in

play24:07

the economy have to contend with that

play24:09

it's a it's a different background

play24:11

structure than than the prior decade

play24:13

I've noticed just by looking at the

play24:15

chart that uh the federal Surplus or

play24:17

deficit in this case the deficit as a

play24:20

percentage of GDP has continuously widen

play24:23

over the last 40 years like you've like

play24:25

you've mentioned Lynn but has

play24:27

accelerated in its widen since 2008 and

play24:30

so if you just look at the charts well

play24:32

you would say to yourself since 2008 the

play24:35

American Stock Market um has seen the

play24:37

longest bull Rally or Market in history

play24:41

correlation causation who knows but

play24:44

certainly a deficit doesn't hurt the

play24:46

stock markets in fact a whing deficit

play24:48

has boosted the stock markets so just on

play24:51

the surface and I may make the argument

play24:53

that as an investor I may want the

play24:55

government to spend more money money

play24:57

stimulate more widen the deficit because

play25:00

that's good for assets and nominal

play25:02

values of assets would you agree or

play25:04

disagree I mean from an investor

play25:06

standpoint probably especially in

play25:08

nominal terms I mean in Emerging Markets

play25:10

when they go through issues usually

play25:11

things go up in their local currency

play25:13

term even if they do poorly in dollar or

play25:15

gold terms and I think what we're

play25:17

generally seeing is the some of these

play25:19

developed markets especially the US have

play25:21

certain Emerging Market characteristics

play25:23

just to a less extreme degree um and so

play25:27

the the you know if if I I had a view

play25:29

that they were going to dramatically cut

play25:31

the deficit tomorrow um then I would

play25:33

invest differently I would own things

play25:35

like I would own more uh bonds for

play25:38

example um I would own more of those

play25:40

types of assets and I would own less

play25:43

equities and less of these other real

play25:45

assets um so but because I don't expect

play25:48

them to do that um I invest the way that

play25:50

I do so yeah you could say it's it's

play25:52

bullish on the assets that I want to own

play25:53

if those deficits continue but that's

play25:55

why I'm invested them in the first place

play25:57

it's a high it's a higher nominal regime

play26:00

overall um and it it can sometimes lead

play26:03

to a higher real regime if if you know

play26:06

you're kind of sucking monetary Capital

play26:08

out of other countries like you know

play26:10

places in Europe or places in Asia for

play26:13

example if the US is running this

play26:14

Playbook but investors are still fueling

play26:17

it because they don't they don't they

play26:18

don't know where else to invest the the

play26:20

risk comes when they do feel like they

play26:22

have Alternatives and this spending

play26:23

still locked in and so if you get a

play26:25

repudiation of the bonds while this is

play26:28

still happening they don't really have a

play26:29

way to slow it down that's where you

play26:31

could get more obvious inflation risks

play26:34

or things like that so it's one of those

play26:36

things where in the early stages it does

play26:39

feel pretty good and it's the later

play26:41

stages where yeah you really get the

play26:43

consequences from doing that um but yeah

play26:46

I do think that overall um you know

play26:49

investment dists have to take into

play26:50

account the deficit and and part of why

play26:52

I'm long certain assets is because of

play26:54

that and the last point I would make is

play26:55

that the challenge when they get to

play26:57

these high debt levels in this

play26:58

financialized of an economy is that even

play27:01

if they try to do austerity even if they

play27:03

try to say raise taxes and cut spending

play27:06

um that would be be for a period of time

play27:09

but then the problem is that tax

play27:11

receipts are so heavily correlated to

play27:14

asset prices now because you become so

play27:16

financialized that by by cutting that

play27:18

You' likely depress asset prices for a

play27:21

period of time which would then

play27:22

ironically increase the deficit again um

play27:25

and so it's actually a very hard tail

play27:27

spin get out of fiscally when you have

play27:30

the combination of this High public debt

play27:32

built on this financialized of an

play27:34

economy if you had one of the other it's

play27:36

easier to do if you have a financialized

play27:37

economy but not highly indebted one you

play27:39

can start to Def financialized gradually

play27:42

um if you have a highly inded public

play27:45

sector but it's built on a non-f

play27:46

financialized economy then then

play27:48

austerity might give you options to deal

play27:50

with that um but if you have that

play27:52

combination uh that's super hard to work

play27:55

with especially when you you're you're

play27:56

trying to work with it with a with a

play27:57

gridlock Congress um there's really not

play28:01

that many outcomes I see that that

play28:03

change that which is which is why I

play28:04

invest structurally the way that I do

play28:07

okay uh is there a goldilock scenario in

play28:09

which the government spends money and

play28:11

perhaps widens the deficit but we don't

play28:13

get inflation to run out of control in

play28:15

other words mmt um in a scenario in

play28:19

which we have stimulus which would be

play28:20

good for Equity markets in nominal terms

play28:24

but we don't get runaway inflation could

play28:26

that happen so that would happen in in

play28:29

the context where energy is abundant

play28:31

right so a lot of new energy Supply is

play28:33

coming online uh to kind of keep up with

play28:35

that uh and two you have um deflationary

play28:39

offsets from things like AI or other

play28:41

Tech so for example if you ran very very

play28:43

large deficits um but those uh for

play28:46

example if you're if you ran very large

play28:47

deficits but you used it to you know go

play28:50

get copper mines and and build nuclear

play28:52

plants and and data centers and and

play28:54

things that were highly productive um

play28:56

you know it might or might not be as I

play28:58

as the private sector but at least would

play29:00

it would you You' bring new Supply

play29:01

online at the same time as you're

play29:03

debasing your currency so you can you

play29:04

can minimize how much uh on on a you

play29:07

know kind of a per currency basis these

play29:09

things are getting more expensive if at

play29:10

all um the problem comes in when you

play29:12

when you run this big fiscal deficit but

play29:14

it doesn't go toward increasing the

play29:16

supply of goods and services it goes

play29:18

more toward consumption or more toward

play29:20

locked in demographics or towards war or

play29:22

things like that they're not really kind

play29:23

of fueling that real GDP growth um and

play29:27

so it it to the extent that AI or energy

play29:32

abundance helps keep CPI down then it

play29:36

but you're still running these big

play29:37

deficits then that inflation will

play29:38

generally show up in asset prices it'll

play29:40

show up in things like gold and Bitcoin

play29:42

and high quality equities and high

play29:44

quality real estate that's that's where

play29:46

that inflation will show up whereas if

play29:48

it's if you do get energy bottlenecks or

play29:51

AI does not um offset things as quickly

play29:55

as some people expect then it's then

play29:57

more of that would show up in CPI uh and

play30:00

you'd be a little bit more careful of

play30:01

some of those um you know High multiple

play30:05

growth equities for example so if you're

play30:06

if you're not sure about the two this

play30:09

kind of the ratio of where that

play30:10

inflation will end up then one thing you

play30:12

can do is kind of invest in the middle

play30:15

which is to say own things like gold and

play30:17

Bitcoin and you know energy stocks for

play30:20

example and and and kind of high quality

play30:22

assets like that but still still be

play30:23

cautious around the most highly valued

play30:26

growth equities that that might get

play30:28

punished if some of that inflation does

play30:30

show up in in the CPI so let's talk

play30:33

about energy first because you've

play30:34

mentioned that several times throughout

play30:36

the interview why is that you think

play30:38

energy will um will uh will go up well

play30:41

in other words why are you bullish on

play30:42

energy this year so I I think that

play30:46

overall we've got increasing demand for

play30:49

energy um Supply is not terrible but

play30:52

it's still relatively tight uh companies

play30:54

are not heavily incentivized to invest

play30:56

in new production

play30:58

um and so um I think that overall Supply

play31:02

is going to be kind of relatively con

play31:05

constrained I think that um Shale oil is

play31:07

going to grow more slowly in the coming

play31:10

years than it did over the past decade

play31:12

um and that there's be there's going to

play31:14

be a price increase to bring in more

play31:16

cacks to kind of bring in new Supply and

play31:18

kind of incentivize that longer term

play31:20

development of these energy resources I

play31:22

also think that um you know over the

play31:25

past o over the past 15 years the type

play31:28

of tech we've had has been relatively

play31:30

disinflationary so for example mobile

play31:32

devices um social media these are not

play31:35

particularly energy intensive things if

play31:37

anything they they dematerialize a lot

play31:39

of the other things we have to use

play31:41

whereas Outsourcing a lot of high

play31:43

computation thinking so making making

play31:46

art making videos uh you know making

play31:49

complex decisions that's actually pretty

play31:51

energy intensive when we kind of put

play31:53

that into the tech sphere uh it's more

play31:55

of a combined software and Hardware

play31:58

situation so I do think that we're going

play32:00

to see more energy demand out of things

play32:02

like data centers um and then that's

play32:04

going to be challenging to meet and then

play32:05

you need to do things like you need to

play32:07

increase the electrical grid capacity

play32:09

which is ironically an energy intensive

play32:11

thing to do uh a materially intensive

play32:13

thing to do um and so I think that the

play32:16

overall long-term demand is still up

play32:19

Supply is mixed um and you know we've

play32:22

generally seen energy kind of diff oil

play32:24

prices and gasoline prices kind of

play32:26

bounced off their lows a couple times

play32:28

and head it up I think you know my guess

play32:30

is that the lows are in maybe we retest

play32:32

them again but overall I think there's

play32:33

more upside potential than downside

play32:35

potential but then the second part of

play32:37

the investment thesis is that even if

play32:39

Energy prices don't go up as quickly as

play32:41

I think they will in the years ahead and

play32:43

they're on the the more bare side of

play32:45

kind of like sideways Trend a lot of

play32:47

those companies are cheaply priced even

play32:50

for current Energy prices and have good

play32:53

balance sheets and spend most of their

play32:57

capital on returning it to shareholders

play32:59

um so they kind of keep keep their

play33:01

current situation but they're not

play33:02

aggressively trying to expand and

play33:04

instead they you know they buy back

play33:06

shares they pay dividends they they

play33:07

improve their balance sheet you know

play33:09

they they decrease their net debt um and

play33:12

so that's basically a positive carry

play33:16

Outlook which is to say that even in a

play33:17

middle of the road scenario I think

play33:19

those Investments are still attractive

play33:21

compared to things like t- bills

play33:22

basically compared to um you know mon

play33:25

monetary Alternatives which which forms

play33:28

of energy will likely benefit the most

play33:30

from the rise of AI and the KN for more

play33:33

energy so I would say across the board

play33:36

oil gas and and uranium um basically um

play33:39

I think that um with those types of

play33:42

things variable energy sources don't

play33:45

necessarily cut it uh you need

play33:47

consistent energy sources and you need

play33:49

an uh an uptick in overall grid capacity

play33:52

which uses a lot of materials and is

play33:54

built by machines using hydrocarbons um

play33:57

and so I I think it's I think it's an

play33:59

all the above situation I think we'll

play34:00

see we will see you know more solar and

play34:03

wind coming online but I think it's

play34:05

those more um uh in control or base loow

play34:08

types of energy sources that will also

play34:10

continue to be in demand so I I think

play34:12

across the board higher energy across

play34:14

the board I I've heard the possibility

play34:17

of Bitcoin mining producing energy that

play34:20

could be sold to the grid is that

play34:22

something that you're looking for well

play34:24

so what what Bitcoin mining does is it

play34:26

soaks up stranded energy so um when we

play34:29

you know the supply of the grid is

play34:32

fluctuating right it's some some if it's

play34:33

solar and wind it's obviously

play34:35

fluctuating based on on those conditions

play34:37

if it's Hydro it's fluctuating based on

play34:39

on rain uh if it's nuclear it's always

play34:42

on so either way you have this kind of

play34:43

always on or or fluctuating supply of

play34:46

electricity and then on the demand side

play34:48

you also have fluctuating demand so

play34:50

during the day there different Cycles um

play34:53

and then during the seasons there

play34:54

different levels of temperature and

play34:55

things like that and the problem is that

play34:57

grids have to be designed for like the

play34:59

hottest day of the year like when

play35:01

everybody has their air conditions on

play35:02

when everybody's using Peak electricity

play35:05

they have to designed for that day to

play35:07

hopefully not have brown outs which

play35:08

means they have to overbuild for every

play35:10

other day and so you have this kind of

play35:12

you have these kind of two side waves of

play35:14

supply and demand electricity and

play35:17

they're always dealing with like a

play35:18

potential mismatch and so sometimes

play35:20

they're shutting off energy sources

play35:22

sometimes they're you know they're

play35:23

sometimes they're having brown outs it

play35:25

depends on the grid we're talking about

play35:26

and one thing that coin mining is is

play35:28

it's a very flexible demand source so

play35:32

you know they you know when energy

play35:34

pricing is cheap they can be operating

play35:35

at full speed but then as soon as energy

play35:38

pricing gets expensive either because

play35:40

some Supply went offline or because

play35:42

there's been a surge in demand they can

play35:44

throttle back their demand because

play35:46

they're in the the most flexible

play35:47

position to do that obviously if you're

play35:49

a hospital you can't just you can't you

play35:51

know change electricity based on pricing

play35:53

and even if you're even if you're doing

play35:55

something like you're a manufacturer or

play35:56

you're running an office you know you

play35:57

can't it's it's it's it's much more

play35:59

disruptive to change your electricity

play36:02

consumption based on grid pricing or

play36:03

grid shortages compared to if you're a

play36:05

Bitcoin minor and you structure your

play36:07

contract to say look we're going to get

play36:09

the lowest cost but we're going to be

play36:11

the first in line to turn off whenever

play36:13

there's a issue and that's how they

play36:14

structure that or they sell it back to

play36:16

the grid there's also things like you

play36:18

know the World Bank estimates um you

play36:20

know if look at their estimates for how

play36:21

much natural gas is just flared into the

play36:23

atmosphere every year uh it's something

play36:26

like an amount of energy that can power

play36:28

the Bitcoin Network eight times over um

play36:31

or or how much methane leaks out from

play36:33

landfills into the atmosphere right so

play36:36

basically there's just there's a a

play36:38

unfathomable amount of of distrained

play36:40

energy out there and over time Bitcoin

play36:44

kind of fills in those gaps it takes a

play36:45

couple Cycles to do so but we've already

play36:47

been seeing it do that and I think that

play36:49

trend is going to continue I think it

play36:50

just becomes an embedded part of the

play36:53

grid and that anytime you have any sort

play36:55

of variable power or fluctuating demand

play36:58

relative to steady power um you're

play37:01

leaving money in the table if you're not

play37:03

if if you're you know if you're not

play37:05

using some of that to mine Bitcoin

play37:07

because if you're getting zero zero or

play37:09

negative cost NE I mean negative revenue

play37:11

for your energy then you're leaving

play37:13

money on the table on that note let's

play37:16

finish up on the Bitcoin and gold price

play37:18

uh first of all do you think Bitcoin and

play37:19

gold moved up for more or less the same

play37:21

reason this year I generally think so I

play37:24

think we've generally seen improving

play37:26

liquidity a lot of its fiscal driven um

play37:29

and and so I do think that they you know

play37:31

they've resisted the fact that yields

play37:33

are higher right so normally when you

play37:35

see yields and especially real yields

play37:37

this High you should see gold a lot

play37:39

lower than it is um and so I think that

play37:42

gold investors have been sniffing out

play37:43

some of those fiscal problems that I've

play37:45

been talking about uh and in addition

play37:47

because of you know kind of uh Decisions

play37:50

by central banks to diversify their

play37:52

Reserve Holdings and have more gold in

play37:54

their portfolios that's been another

play37:55

huge Factor as well so especially from

play37:58

that foreign component um there's been a

play38:00

lot of demand and so you know bitcoin's

play38:02

obviously had somewhat similar Catalyst

play38:05

it's heavily tied to liquidity it's had

play38:06

Catalyst from the ETFs and things like

play38:08

that as well so the two the reasons that

play38:11

both of them are rising I don't think

play38:12

are perfectly um overlapping but I do

play38:15

think that they are following liquidity

play38:17

and which is large a fiscal driven

play38:19

phenomenon if you were to add stocks to

play38:23

that equation so stocks Bitcoin and gold

play38:25

have all been rising to new highs this

play38:27

year here uh would you look at that and

play38:30

actually be concerned at the current

play38:32

economic environment and say well maybe

play38:35

this is not sustainable uh because this

play38:37

is not something we see very often to

play38:39

have you know counter assets rising in

play38:41

tandem does that thought ever occur to

play38:44

you yes but that's that's generally what

play38:46

you see in Emerging Markets when they

play38:48

have fiscal problems or currency

play38:50

problems it's just it's just not to the

play38:51

same magnitude you see in those

play38:53

environments so it's a it's a byproduct

play38:55

of fiscal problems not yeah I think what

play38:58

we're seeing is the denominators going

play39:00

down more so than some of those assets

play39:02

are going up outside of the big bubble

play39:04

ones um and you know I would be

play39:06

concerned about some of the major stock

play39:08

indices because of how concentrated they

play39:10

are into some of the most expensive

play39:12

growth names um and so I expect the

play39:14

fundamentals of a lot of those growth

play39:16

names that probably do pretty well it's

play39:17

just the the question of how much you

play39:19

pay for them and how much of of us

play39:21

household net worth is already stuffed

play39:23

into equities um so I do have concerns

play39:26

about them all to rise together um but I

play39:29

think that overall the reason that those

play39:32

assets continue to surprise to the

play39:34

upside is because of that fiscal

play39:36

backdrop you know if you were trying to

play39:38

short Assets in an Emerging Market in

play39:40

the local currency you're going to

play39:42

continually get headwinds from the fact

play39:43

that that currency is so weak right it's

play39:45

just it's just that currency is going up

play39:47

at Supply so quickly that the assets

play39:50

you're denominating them in might not be

play39:52

doing great in real terms but they're

play39:54

certainly doing fine in that local

play39:56

currency terms and you know we're not

play39:58

anywhere near that level but it's

play40:01

directionally a similar problem when you

play40:02

have this kind of un unrestrained fiscal

play40:05

spiral that's kind of just slow motion

play40:07

background situation that just changes

play40:09

how some of these assets are priced and

play40:11

it doesn't mean you can buy things at

play40:13

any price but it means that when in

play40:15

doubt the the answer is that scarce

play40:18

assets will go up in price relative to

play40:20

currency units the Bitcoin having that

play40:22

was not something you brought up was

play40:23

that an part of the equation at all the

play40:25

anticipation of the having or even

play40:28

uh going back to early January when the

play40:30

Bitcoin ETF was approved how much of uh

play40:33

how much of a factor did those um did

play40:36

those events play I think those are both

play40:38

factors I think the ETF unlocks there's

play40:41

there's pools of capital that are very

play40:43

big that have not been able to access

play40:44

Bitcoin um and and so those pools of

play40:47

capital can increasingly access Bitcoin

play40:49

and so that's kind of pan up demand for

play40:52

exposure to the network uh that they now

play40:54

have exposure to or at least and they

play40:56

don't even all have yet sometimes it

play40:58

takes months for those things to still

play40:59

get approval to start moving in and

play41:01

start to become normalized in those

play41:03

environments so I think I think that is

play41:04

a a a contributor to price um the having

play41:09

uh certainly in a sentiment sense can

play41:10

raise expectations um I think that

play41:13

overall liquidity is a much bigger

play41:15

impact on bitcoin price during bull

play41:17

market than the having itself um because

play41:20

you know if you if you do the math for

play41:22

how much Supply the having takes off the

play41:24

market per day it's relatively small

play41:27

compared to what you can get from ETF

play41:29

inflows or relatively small compared to

play41:31

what you can get in one way kind of net

play41:33

exchange volume in a given day um and so

play41:36

the overall changes in external demand

play41:39

for Bitcoin play a bigger role than just

play41:41

the havs during bull markets I think

play41:43

where the havs really matter the most is

play41:46

during bare markets they play a pivotal

play41:48

role in why each cycle gets higher highs

play41:51

and higher lows than the one before it

play41:53

but in terms of the timing of bull

play41:54

market specifically I generally Point

play41:57

more more toward liquidity and less so

play41:59

toward the having even though the having

play42:01

is a very relevant kind of longer term

play42:03

factor and so putting everything

play42:05

together do you anticipate Bitcoin to

play42:06

continue to outperform the other assets

play42:09

this year so for this year I'm less I'm

play42:12

less certain I prefer a two-year view on

play42:14

bitcoin so I think that bitcoin's likely

play42:16

going to do well over the next call it

play42:18

two years um it get it can get through

play42:21

periods where it's overbought right

play42:23

where where you could you could have a

play42:25

pretty poor three-month period with

play42:27

Bitcoin and it could underperform almost

play42:29

everything um and then it could have

play42:30

another 3 to six months of just of

play42:32

spectacular gains um and so um my view

play42:36

is generally looking back from late 2025

play42:39

I'd be surprised if Bitcoin was not

play42:41

higher than it is now notably uh and and

play42:44

that probably outperformed other kind of

play42:46

large large cap things you can own um

play42:49

but you have to account for the

play42:50

volatility and you have to kind of be

play42:52

prepared for that really uneven path to

play42:55

get there okay and on gold um similar

play42:58

question on gold we've seen that gold

play43:01

and the real interest rates have been

play43:03

negatively correlated throughout history

play43:05

obviously recently in recent months

play43:07

there's been a huge Divergence and so

play43:09

how how sustainable do you think this

play43:11

gold rally given this historical

play43:13

correlation has broken down so I I think

play43:16

that because we're now in this kind of

play43:18

fiscal dominance regime higher interest

play43:20

rates fuel the deficit even more um

play43:24

which which potentially fuels gold um I

play43:26

think you know you could get liquidity

play43:29

like temporary liquidity shocks if for

play43:31

example um you run these big deficits

play43:33

the FED tries not to monetize them uh

play43:36

and you get kind of um like a temporary

play43:38

liquidity problem in Treasure markets

play43:41

that could certainly contribute to a

play43:42

gold selloff uh temporarily um but I do

play43:45

think the the the breakout has likes to

play43:47

it um I think that the breakout is is

play43:50

real I think that it's it's based on

play43:52

fundamentals I think that there's a a

play43:54

good reason that a lot of foreign

play43:55

investors want to own gold more so than

play43:58

treasuries um and that they want to

play44:00

basically have a better ratio of gold to

play44:02

treasuries um and I think that that's

play44:05

that's probably going to be a longer

play44:06

term story uh and I have no view on what

play44:09

gold does and say a three-month period

play44:12

um but I do think it it's it's now that

play44:14

it's broken out I think that's a very

play44:16

strong sign that I think it's probably

play44:17

headed higher in the next few years okay

play44:20

and before we go tell us about your book

play44:22

a little bit um broken money came out um

play44:25

late last year congratulations um which

play44:28

theme or themes of the book would you

play44:30

say are most relevant u in today's

play44:34

economic

play44:35

environment I would say two I would say

play44:37

one of them does focus on this fiscal

play44:39

dominance uh topic that I I've talked a

play44:41

lot about here uh if you're confused by

play44:44

by about some of the things I said as it

play44:46

relates to fiscal dominance some of the

play44:47

chapters in the book for example lay out

play44:49

specifically what I mean and how those

play44:52

um situations materialize over time um

play44:55

so kind of that that long-term cycle of

play44:58

of how fiia currencies work is a big

play45:00

theme I think the other big theme um

play45:03

touches on bitcoin and stable coins in

play45:06

the sense that they show the structural

play45:08

change that they brought to the monetary

play45:09

system so what the book does is it

play45:11

focuses on the past present and future

play45:12

money through the lens of technology and

play45:16

a a common theme you see in the book is

play45:18

that almost every friction in money for

play45:20

centuries has been solved by another

play45:22

layer of centralization so when people

play45:24

wanted to send money to each other

play45:25

faster they would they would tie into a

play45:27

bank and use that as the middleman if

play45:28

banks wanted to send money to each other

play45:30

they would tie into a central bank if

play45:32

central banks want to tie into each

play45:33

other they tie into even bigger Central

play45:35

Bank like you know back in in 1800s it

play45:37

would have been the UK now it's the US

play45:40

um and and so you kind of have like just

play45:42

centralization all the way down and what

play45:44

basically the way to describe that is

play45:46

ever since the telegraph was widely

play45:48

deployed in called the 1860s you've had

play45:51

this environment where before then

play45:53

transactions were slow and settlements

play45:56

were slow and so middlemen could only

play45:58

really do so much whereas in the post

play46:00

Telegraph environment you can send

play46:02

information around the world and now you

play46:05

have fast transactions but you're still

play46:07

an environment of slow settlements you

play46:09

know things like gold um you know that

play46:11

that's like a slow form of settlement in

play46:13

a in a telecom era and what Bitcoin and

play46:16

stable coins do is now you have fast

play46:19

settlement and fast transactions and so

play46:22

the the power of middlemen potentially

play46:25

diminishes back down to where was

play46:27

ironically before the telegraph except

play46:30

now the whole thing's faster um and so I

play46:32

think that that's a that's a macro theme

play46:35

that's relevant as we see the current

play46:37

environment of 160 different currency

play46:40

monopolies all trying to compete with

play46:42

each other they've all been riant on

play46:44

having pretty closed Capital borders and

play46:46

these Technologies just break those

play46:48

borders open allow people to bypass them

play46:51

allow people to do Global settlements

play46:53

and rely Less on middlemen and I think

play46:55

that has long-term macro implications

play46:57

for the structure of the financial

play46:59

system uh and the strength of of some of

play47:02

these currencies excellent well thank

play47:04

you very much Lindberg else can we learn

play47:05

about you and your work uh people can

play47:08

check out linen.com uh that's why I have

play47:10

a lot of free articles free newsletters

play47:12

and a lowcost research service okay and

play47:14

your book once again is called broken

play47:15

money why our financial system is

play47:17

failing Us and how we can make it better

play47:19

we'll put a link um to the book and uh

play47:22

and your website in the description down

play47:24

below thank you very much for joining us

play47:26

today Lyn we'll see you again soon thank

play47:28

you thank you thank you for watching

play47:29

don't forget to like And

play47:34

[Applause]

play47:38

subscribe

Rate This
โ˜…
โ˜…
โ˜…
โ˜…
โ˜…

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

Related Tags
Fiscal DominanceAsset AllocationGold OutlookBitcoin TrendsInflation ConcernsMarket AnalysisInvestment StrategyEmerging MarketsMonetary PolicyEnergy Sector