ET Pro Regulation Monitor

The Zeitgeist | 3.4.2019

By Ben Hunt | March 4, 2019 | 1 Comment

The new Zeitgeist is here! Now with all the snippets and twice the snark.

Every morning, we run The Narrative Machine on the past 24 hours worth of financial media to find the articles that are representative of some sort of chord that has been struck in Narrative-world. They’re not the best articles – often far from it – but they will arm you for the Narrative wars of the day ahead.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

By Ben Hunt | March 3, 2019 | 12 Comments

Why are institutional investors in trouble with the new Zeitgeist of capital markets transformed into a political utility?

Because everything you think you know about portfolio diversification will fail. Because emerging markets are going to be crushed before this is over. Because everyone’s inflation-investing muscles have atrophied to the point of helplessness. Because you think long-vol and crisis-alpha are things.

The Zeitgeist | 3.1.2019

By Rusty Guinn | March 1, 2019 | 0 Comments

BATs vs. FAANGs, trading against institutions, trading with institutions, why Americans buy cars and a shocking J.C. Penney news bulletin.

In Praise of Work

By Rusty Guinn | March 1, 2019 | 19 Comments

The problem isn’t that we derive too much of our worth and value from work. The problem is that our jobs are becoming increasingly abstracted from work. Friends: Your work is holy.

The Zeitgeist | 2.28.2019

By Rusty Guinn | February 28, 2019 | 0 Comments

Lots of Blockchain, UK house prices subdued, trade talks weigh, idol worship perilous, a rich kid buys gold and why Nintendo goes back to Pokemon.

They’re Not Even Pretending Anymore

By Ben Hunt | February 27, 2019 | 5 Comments

Now that Jay Powell’s semi-annual Congressional testimony has finished up, it’s time for a brief walk down Memory Lane.

As with everything else in our Washington clown show, nothing really changes. This has all happened before.

The Zeitgeist | 2.27.2019

By Rusty Guinn | February 27, 2019 | 0 Comments

A World Full of Elons, the unrevolutionary foldable era, the fastest strike in history and more arbitrary causal links in financial media.

The Zeitgeist | 2.26.2019

By Rusty Guinn | February 26, 2019 | 0 Comments

Markets ‘seek clarity’ on China/US trade, fire engine manufacturers, drug price hearings, and lowball hostile bids.

The Seed Delusion

By Rusty Guinn | February 26, 2019 | 4 Comments

The hobbyist farmer can afford to spread wildflower seeds to the wind and the elements. The professional farmer, on the other hand, doesn’t have this luxury. Neither do any of us as investors.

In the Flow – It’s the Multiple, Stupid

By Ben Hunt | February 25, 2019 | Comments Off on In the Flow – It’s the Multiple, Stupid

Whether it’s ITT and Hal Geneen, or Teledyne and Henry Singleton, or GE and Jeff Immelt, or Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett … at some point these companies get too big to continue growing through acquisition. There’s no more step-function P/E growth to be had on the E side of the equation. So they ALWAYS start focusing on the P side – the multiple – which is entirely a creature of narrative.