Monetary Matters with Jack Farley

Milton Berg, technical market analyst and founder of Milton Berg Edge, returns to discuss rare volume-and-price turning-point signals. He covers a troubling December volatility signal, a one-day island reversal in the Russell 2000, bearish calls on gold and silver from a suspected climax top, and a skeptical take on Bitcoin after failed technical support tests.

Carson Block, founder of Muddy Waters Capital and a forensic short-seller turned diversified allocator. He explains why he won’t rush to short flashy AI names until an IPO flood creates supply. He also discusses Muddy Waters’ shift into metals and mining, Vietnam and India opportunities, and a momentum-driven S&P 500 strategy. Topics cover timing, hype versus supply, and expanding long strategies.

Alexander Campbell, founder of Rose AI and ex-Bridgewater commodities lead, explains why silver is moving East and why solar made it industrially vital. He outlines Shanghai-West price gaps, physical flow frictions, and how speculative flows amplify moves. He also warns of an AI-driven shakeup in software, predicting shifts to local compute, open models, and value accruing to data and hardware.

Raghav Khanna, Managing Director at Oaktree specializing in private debt and structured credit, breaks down modern lending risks. He discusses how Oaktree spotted First Brands' red flags. Short takes cover underwriting beyond KPIs, pitfalls of adjusted EBITDA, PIKs masking stress, risks in software/SaaS, and how private credit vintages and liquidity dynamics are evolving.

Joseph Wang, macro commentator and author of FedGuy.com who analyzes central banking and GSEs. He explores how the White House could lower mortgage rates using Fannie, Freddie, and Federal Home Loan Banks. He discusses Trump’s influence on the Fed, possible Fed leadership changes, dollar hedging and capital flows. He flags US economic tailwinds and cautions about an AI stock bubble.

A fast-paced look at the rally in gold and silver, debating whether supply shortages and industrial demand or speculation are behind the surge. A breakdown of the Fed’s hawkish tone and its implications for rate cut timing. Big tech and auto earnings get dissected, from heavy AI capex at Microsoft and Meta to Tesla’s pivot toward physical AI. A heated debate on whether AI will commoditize SaaS or leave sticky franchises intact.

Deiya Pernas, co-founder of Pernas Research and a real-money investor who’s compounded capital >30% since 2017. He tackles SaaS spending and which software niches survive AI disruption. He discusses white-collar hiring, shifting consumer and ad behavior, housing activity in a lower-rate world, and where consumer and cybersecurity dollars may flow next.

Maredith Hannon, Head of Business Development at WisdomTree Digital Assets, leads product and distribution for on-chain funds. She discusses rapid tokenization growth, WisdomTree’s suite of tokenized funds from money market to private credit, and how on-chain funds change UX, settlement speed, transparency, secondary markets, and KYC/identity for retail and institutional access.

Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern valuation expert, offers a clear, skeptical take on markets and AI. He says U.S. stocks look richly priced without a bubble. He separates AI architecture winners from speculative LLM bets, explains trimming long-held winners like Nvidia, and warns that broad AI adoption may boost consumers while squeezing corporate margins.

They dig into the precious metals bull run, focusing on silver’s surge, industrial demand, and royalty-company exposure. Natural gas’s big price spike and the challenges of getting pure public exposure come up. Intel’s earnings misstep and semiconductor production struggles are unpacked. They also cover the surprising strength in small caps and how macro forces and political moves could shape markets.