Markets Happy Hour Podcast with Aoifinn Devitt

In today's slightly more compressed markets happy hour podcast it is all about tariffs again, and not only are tariffs (whether on copper imports or Brazil - both at 50%) at records again, but US policy is starting to change the course of international politics and not just foreign relations - for this, see Brazil.

Other news was a little lighter as the US press gave considerable coverage to the tragic flooding in central Texas....

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are joined by frequent macro commentator Stephen Isaacs, who frequently appears on Bloomberg and other channels. He is an experienced Asian investor and former trader. He asks the question for the ages: Is US exceptionalism over or simply over-priced?

We cycle through our usual themes of inflation, economic indicators, interest rates, equity markets (and the sectors that are in focus...

Today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast comes to you from France, where I am attending my 25th year business school reunion. It would be fascinating to reflect on where the world economy was 25 year ago - I'll do that next week.

This week reflects on the fascinating chapter now being written after the storm (or after this storm), in which markets are rallying once more to all time highs, the dollar is at a 44 month low and bonds see...

In this special bonus podcast we bring you a timely discussion with a Middle East strategist and expert reporting on the situation in the region, as of today, June 25, when a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran continues to hold and narratives shift as to the effect of the US bombing on Iran nuclear's ambitions - whether obliteration or a set-back had been achieved.

Kawa Hassan is a Fellow at The Stimson Center in Brussels...

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast, we note how, as we approach mid-summer, the Heat is on, both literally, and at a geopolitical level.

Our special guest this week is Robert Morier, a Professor at Drexel University, with a particular focus on venture and entrepreneurship, as well as the host of the Dakota Live podcast, advisor and surf life guard. His insights the job market for graduates, the use of AI among his studen...

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we look at the state of affairs in markets as we approach mid-summer and marvel at the fact that all assets seem relatively subdued in terms of activity - with the exception of the US dollar.

US inflation has been modest (2.4%), which is leading to a siren call for more rate cuts, although the US Fed has still resisted pressure - despite the fact that other central banks around the world are...

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we examine a week that has been a little lack luster for equities as tariff U-turns continue, the geopolitical picture remains murky and as divergence on inflation and interest rates create unexpected openings for non-US assets.

We look to the potential penalties for non-US investors holding US investments that are buried in the Big Beautiful Bill and ask whether we can take non-US inv...

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we ponder whether the prevailing narrative in the new market era is less a long-form narrative, and more a series of Youtube shorts - short vignettes which can literally capture the mood of a day, and then fizzle out entirely.

A case in point was the changing of the narrative around the judicial ruling that seemed to "void" the tariffs of the Trump administration (the US Court of Internatio...

This week's podcast is coming to you a day late due to a typical May milestone - a high school graduation. It was fortuitous though as it enabled us to capture the latest development in tariffs, a new threat against the EU in the form of 50% tariffs, a move that send EU stocks into a late week tailspin.

Other developments include the Big Beautiful Tax Bill passing the house, and we analyze what this means for the fiscal deficit...

In this week's podcast we reflect on what some commentators have described as a "fever dream" - the essential round trip of US markets since the beginning of the year, whereby they have recently made up lost ground - despite tremendous month to month and intra-week volatility. So should we proceed as if the past few months - including the post Liberation day crisis - never happened?

We first look at the hard data - inflation is ...

In today's slightly shorter podcast - due to a pending Bloomberg appearance - we discuss the transition from the tariff setting stage to the deal-making stage and markets have responded with enthusiasm.

The deals to date - when probed - may have over-promised and under-delivered though, and there may be little "there" there, upon examination. For example in the US/UK deal it seems to have been restricted to cars and metal on the...

In today's markets happy hour podcast we ask whether the swing from American Exceptionalism to Sell USA is another swing of the pendulum which has gone too far too fast.

The podcast was recorded with a mixed audience of European investors and US investors in Europe at a conference, so we had a unique opportunity to discuss macro conditions on the ground in Europe and the reason for the relatively resilient bounce back in econom...

It has been a slightly less eventful week this week than last week, but it has still been characterized by a flooding of the zone from court disputes, immigration disputes, defunding of Ivy League institutions, unresolved trade negotiations, to interest rate cuts and pauses. The atmosphere has been charged as the rhetoric has increased, particularly between the president and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Recession chatte...

In this LIVE Markets Happy Hour Podcast, which we hosted at Towson University in Baltimore, we hosted a group of industry professionals and finance students from Towson University and Loyola University. It has been a tumultuous week, and we reflected on the fact that this was the third podcast of the week, each one responding to a new twist in news flow.

As of the markets close on Thursday April 10, we discussed the reprieve i...

We are back with another Markets Happy Hour Podcast today to discuss the recent movements in the prevailing trade war as both sides up the ante. And now the US Treasury as well as other long term government bonds around the world have entered the chat . . they are selling off, undermining the previous good news that lower rates suggested and leading to conspiracy theories as to why.

We examine the status of the US dollar and US ...

Tune in for today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast in which we discuss the dramatic developments since the tariff announcement on April 2, as we parse market reaction - separate the pre-existing conditions from the new ailment facing markets, and the medicine which the markets just received.

We argue that the medicine is more akin to an amputation - a limb - or that of international trade as we knew it, sourcing goods from countries...

What a day we chose to hold our once rescheduled Markets Happy Hour Podcast in Dallas. We were hosted in the glorious surroundings of Old Parkland in the Executive Board Room and enjoyed a dialogue with a broad audience of family office investors, real estate, oil and gas and private credit experts.

We naturally talked about tariffs - a lot, and showed slides that show that the recent tariffs will lead to the highest effective ...

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast - which comes to you from over the Canadian Border and Banff, Alberta - we discuss the brewing uncertainty as the market quarter nears. In what has been the worst quarter for the S&P since 2023 we have wrestled with an unprecedented volume of news flow, noise - some of which even contains some "Signal".

We look at the inflation numbers within the US which are not quite as reassuring...