Unhedged

The nasty Taco question

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our co-host Rob Armstrong has been talking about the “Taco trade” (Trump Always Chickens Out) for a few weeks, and on Wednesday a journalist asked...

The ‘big beautiful’ budget vs the bond market

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful’ bill was passed by the House of Representatives last week. It adds yet more deficit spending to the US ...

When Spacs attack

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Special purpose acquisition companies are basically bags of money looking for businesses to acquire. They boomed in 2021 and then went into hidin...

The microcap explosion

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Microcaps of every sort have been rushing to list on US exchanges. Many are from China and represent shares in tiny companies, such as a chain of hot ...

The UK’s trade deal

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recent announcements about trade deals with the UK and China have cheered markets. But what exactly did the UK agree, and why? Today on the show, the ...

Not-so-bad news is the new good news

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lower-than-expected inflation and the start of negotiations with China seemed to help stocks on Monday. But the dollar remained uncharacteristically w...

Berkshire after Buffett

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett announced his retirement from day-to-day management. Today on the show, Katie Martin and R...

Will the real money pivot to Europe?

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There is fast money and there is real money. Fast money means day traders and hedge funds, who jump in and out on the day's news. But the real money —...

GDP goes negative

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The GDP contracted this past quarter – a turnaround from two years of surprisingly steady growth. Baked into that negative number are imports, as se...

Bad shipping news

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Air and sea freight bookings for international cargo are plunging. As the reality of empty shelves starts to hit consumers, will Donald Trump blink? T...

Wall Street vs the White House

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The current administration rode in on a wave of support from America’s traders, lenders and money managers. But that might be changing. Today on the...

Sell America?

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With the continuing decline in the price of US Treasuries, Katie, Rob and Aiden take up the debate about the future of America’s status as a truly e...

Nvidia’s bad day

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia shares, along with many others in the tech sector, plunged on Wednesday on news that the Trump administration will be blocking sales of certain...

Will China back down?

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The White House has announced dizzyingly high — and hard-to-follow — tariffs on goods from China. And Beijing has responded. But the real trade wa...

The real cost of a trade war

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Trump folded on Wednesday, reducing his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs across the board, with the notable exception of massive taxes on goods from...

Surveying the wreckage

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the markets try to absorb and value the announced US tariffs, China has responded with its own levies. Today on the show, Katie Martin and Rob...

Tariffs up. Markets down

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On April 2, in the Rose Garden of the White House, President Donald Trump announced taxes on almost every kind of imported finished goods. Markets plu...

Vibes vs data

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 Markets, investors and companies are all feeling a little bit jumpy about the state of the economy. Surveys of managers, consumers and investors ar...

What does CoreWeave’s IPO say about the market?

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

CoreWeave’s IPO is one of the odder tech plays to come along in a few years. It buys chips from Nvidia, and rents them out, mainly to Microsoft, but...

Can Trump drive down bond yields?

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump has been clear he wants lower interest rates. Cheaper money would goose the market and give the government room to spend. But i...

Dour Fed, cheery market

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Wednesday Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell announced that US interest rates would remain unchanged. But the monetary policy committee is clearly wo...

How will Europe pay for its new weapons?

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the US retreats from global commitments, Europe is re-arming. That will change the maths for companies and debt loads, in countries as different as...

Make America Gyrate Again

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Donald Trump continues to upend the US economy with a bizarre series of tariff announcements and reversals, Katie Martin and Rob Armstrong head to ...

The case for China

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investors have long been wary of China, piling into US markets, no matter what the climate. But is that changing? Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and...

Trump dump?

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The president proposes and the markets dispose … of recent gains. Tariffs, deportations, budget cuts, political isolation and other “exciting” n...

Can the Fed stay independent?

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump has loudly proclaimed his desire for lower interest rates. Jay Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, responding to persistent i...

The beatings will continue until markets improve

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump’s abandonment of Ukraine has been a great success … for European defence companies. Meanwhile, traders are selling American...

Vibrational movements in the market

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have the vibes shifted? Slowing growth and stubborn inflation seem to be putting a chill on a once exuberant market. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong ...

Is the IPO market broken?

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The markets are booming but there are fewer and fewer new entrants. And they don’t seem to be exciting to investors. Today on the show, Katie Martin...

Pros and cons of a US sovereign wealth fund

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump and his Treasury secretary have signaled their support for a sovereign wealth fund. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris also discussed it. But is...

The other side of trade

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Coverage of President Donald Trump’s tariffs tends to focus on their effect on American consumers. That’s important, but it’s only half the stor...

Why is gold buggin’?

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gold is traditionally a hedge against instability. And it’s reaching record highs. Today on the show, Katie Martin and Rob Armstrong look at the dem...

Will Trump’s tariffs make Europe great again?

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European stock indices have outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year. The FT’s Aiden Reiter joins Katie Martin to discuss why investors are fin...

What’s next for Trump’s tariffs?

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The tariffs have arrived. Canada and Mexico have negotiated delays, China is retaliating, and investors are trying to figure out what comes next. The ...

Picking stocks for 2025

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for the FT’s annual stockpicking contest, where the money is fake but the glory is real. The FT’s Alan Livsey joins Rob Armstrong and ...

DeepSeek, AI and the markets

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

DeepSeek’s announcement that it has built competitive AI using many fewer resources than big US rivals stunned the markets this week. Chipmakers and...

Decoding Trumponomics

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s first week in office has produced a barrage of policies and power moves. But which of them will happen? Today on the show, Katie Mart...

Our 2024 stock picks

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each year the Financial Times hosts a stock-picking contest for its journalists and readers. Today on the show, Katie Martin and Rob Armstrong explain...

Will US inflation ever go below 3%?

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reports of the demise of US inflation have been greatly exaggerated. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Aiden Reiter discuss the continuing high num...

What are UK bonds thinking?

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US bonds and UK gilts are tracking each other, and heading down. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Katie Martin try to figure out whether to blame ...

Why so many bankruptcies?

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Corporate bankruptcies are on the rise. In recent months, Party City, Big Lots, Spirit Airlines, and other discount providers have declared bankruptcy...

The year ahead: tariffs, taxes and Trump

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tariffs. Tax cuts. Geopolitics. Artificial intelligence. Inflation. Mass deportations. Rate cuts or rises. The year ahead is filled with question mark...

The listeners have questions

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy new year, Unhedged listeners! Today on the show, Rob Armstrong, Katie Martin and Aiden Reiter answer questions from the listeners on everything ...

The Bitcoin National Strategic wha?

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US government owns many billions of dollars worth of bitcoin, confiscated from bad actors such as the Silk Road marketplace. Donald Trump said on ...

Rate drop, market drop

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve announced a small cut yesterday. Normally, that heartens markets. But we are not in normal times, and somewhat measured comments a...

Will IPOs ever come back?

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The road to riches used to be paved with juicy IPOs. But that does not seem to be the case anymore. Today on the show, Katie Martin is joined by Craig...

Is M&A back?

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There have been very few mergers and acquisitions in the past four years, but many dealmakers say that’s about to change. At least that’s accordin...

Geopolitics? What geopolitics?

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine, Syria, Moldova, France, Israel, South Korea, the US…. Power is being challenged and redistributed around the world. But how are markets rea...

What can Trump do about the price of oil?

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Among his many promises, president-elect Donald Trump is promising to drive down the price of energy in the US. But how realistic a plan is that? What...

Are US stocks too expensive?

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ruchir Sharma, an investor and frequent contributor to the FT, came out and said it the other day: The US stock market is in a bubble. But is it a bub...

Best of: the world’s greatest stocks

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How would you like a 265,528,900 per cent return on your investment? Would you be interested in that? If so, join us as Rob Armstrong and FT Alphavill...

How inflationary are tariffs, really?

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

President-elect Donald Trump has just announced “Day 1” tariffs on Mexico and Canada, in addition to previously promised tariffs on China. Tariffs...

Looking at 2025

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It is the season for giving and banks are giving us a lot of year-ahead reports. Katie, Robert and Aiden actually read these things, and today on the ...

Disinflation, demographics, Doge

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Opinions are cheap so we’re making it up in volume, with three takes on the future of the economy. Today on the show, the entire staff of the Unhedg...

Live from Kilkenomics: anger and economics

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Angry eruptions in elections around the world are changing leaders. And many of those leaders are coming in with radical offers to the voters. But can...

Live from Kilkenomics: financial mistakes

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each year economists gather in Kilkenny, Ireland for the annual Kilkenomics festival. The guests share stories in pubs and make dark jokes about econo...

The Trump economy. How big? How beautiful?

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If Donald Trump’s campaign promises about things such as immigration, the dollar, trade and tax policy are realised, the US will start an economic e...

Do the markets even care about the US election?

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s election day. Everyone is freaking out. But the prices of some major commodities and indices remain stoically calm. We investigate. Also, we go...

Magnificent 7 report

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Magnificent 7 make up seven of the eight largest stocks on the S&P 500 and they are reporting earnings this week and last. Today on the show, ...

Can Boeing come back?

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a tough year for Boeing. It started with a door panel falling off of a plane in mid-flight. Then machinists at the company went on strike....

What do bond markets know about the election?

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As betting markets and polls begin tentatively to suggest a Donald Trump election win, yields in 10-year Treasuries have risen. Some on Wall Street th...

The titans of Wall Street

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Citadel, XTX and Jane Street have come to dominate trading on Wall Street, and not just in equities. They now run a huge proportion of trading in curr...

The $2tn man

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nicolai Tangen oversees Norges Bank Investment Management, also known as Norway’s oil fund. It contains about $2tn in assets, based on money earned ...

Are emerging markets back?

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Grouping the majority of the world’s economies into a basket labelled “emerging markets” and trying to generalise about them is a fool’s erran...

Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and the GLP-1 economy

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eli Lilly’s shares have surged 750 per cent over five years. Novo Nordisk’s are up about 360 per cent in the same period. It's been an awesome run...

Markets send mixed signals

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stocks are flying, rates are plunging, jobs are surging, but everyone says they’re anxious. What is going on? Today on the show, Katie Martin and Ro...

Markets and the Middle East

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the conflict in the Middle East expands to include Lebanon and Iran, markets are responding with surprising nonchalance. Why? And will that last? T...

Is the China stimulus package enough?

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week China announced it would be providing low-cost funds to investors in both equities and the property market. The nominal effects were immedia...

Immigration and unemployment

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When discussing the economy after the interest rate cuts last week, chair of the US Federal Reserve Jay Powell made an interesting comment about jobs ...

The case for small and mid caps

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the Federal Reserve starts to lower interest rates, a perennial theory has returned: that small and mid caps will, for a time, grow more quickly th...

Federal Reserve puts on enormous party hat

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a massive surprise on Wednesday, one of Rob Armstrong’s predictions turned out to be right. The Fed did indeed cut interest rates by half a perce...

What is Apollo, anyway?

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apollo Global Management is publicly traded and one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world. But what does it really do? Today on the s...

How Ireland got too much money

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Forty years ago Ireland had a high number of emigrants and very few multinational corporations. Then it became a tax haven. Today, the country is the ...

The Fed: will it be 25 or 50?

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Will the US central bank lower interest rates by 25 or 50 basis points? Fed chair Jay Powell has hinted rates are coming down, but not by how much. To...

How to fix the housing market

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By many measures, the US housing market is broken. High demand is causing high prices, and yet, year after year, new supply fails to arrive. What’s ...

Boring but sexy (stocks)

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The run-up in the markets over the past year or so has been largely driven by tech companies with outsized returns. But that seems to be changing. Nam...

The ethics of investing for dictators

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Toby Nangle is a regular contributor to the FT. Before he was a journalist, he was an asset manager for more than 25 years, and many of his clients we...

The gold rally

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The price of gold reached a record high this week, passing $2,500 an ounce. Market watchers often ascribe a rise like this to inflation, fears about p...

What will Jay Powell say at Jackson Hole?

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do central bankers gather in the middle of nowhere every summer? And what will this week's meeting in the middle of nowhere mean for markets? Kati...

Markets resume previously scheduled exuberance

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two weeks ago, investors seemed headed for the exits. Now they’re back in and cash is flooding the markets again. Today on the show, Katie Martin an...

The world’s greatest stocks

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How would you like a 265,528,900 per cent return on your investment? Would you be interested in that? If so, join us as Rob Armstrong and FT Alphavill...

30 years of bond investment

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Leaviss started his career in fixed income at the Bank of England, and is ending it 30 years later as the outgoing chief investment officer f...

What’s up with Bill Ackman?

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ackman is one of most well-known investors in the US, and one of the loudest. He has more than a million followers on X and isn’t afraid to argue wi...

Anatomy of a rout

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, markets around the world agreed to go into a tailspin. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and guest Nick Megaw try to figure out what drove i...

The case for Tesla

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s earnings slightly disappointed last week, but its stock is still valued at nearly 100 times earnings. Does this make sense? And what exactly...

Why Wall Street picked Kamala Harris

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wall Street withheld tens of millions of dollars in campaign financing to pressure US President Joe Biden to withdraw from November’s election and e...

How to manipulate the US dollar

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Presidential candidate Donald Trump has argued for a weaker dollar in recent interviews. That makes some sense. A weaker currency can increase exports...

The Trump trade

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the election nears, Wall Street is starting to talk more about what a bet on a second Trump presidency might look like. Today on the show, we cover...

Will a major revision of listing rules in the UK work?

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority just released rule revisions that are meant to attract new listings on the country’s exchanges. These include...

Investing in green tech

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week the FT’s Moral Money writer Simon Mundy spoke with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla about 20 years of making big, long bets on renewable en...

Paramount, Skydance and the streaming wars

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Paramount and Skydance are merging. That’s a win for David Ellison, whose small studio will join a legendary one with a huge back catalogue and a na...

What elections in France and the UK mean for markets

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Recent elections have changed politics in Europe, delivering a centre-left Labour government in the UK and shifting seats to a left alliance in the Fr...

Can Morgan Stanley's CEO build a better bank?

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ted Pick became chief executive of Morgan Stanley earlier this year. In a recent letter to shareholders, he touted “the integrated firm” as a mode...

Are we all protectionists now?

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Thursday, two candidates for US president will debate each other. They are both protectionists. This is a huge change in US economic policy, and on...

Distressed IPOs

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Golden Goose had a simple plan. Mass produce worn out sneakers, get stars to wear them, and sell them to the public. It was going great until the owne...

Elon Musk’s big payday

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Thursday, shareholders of Tesla voted to re-approve a deal to reward Elon Musk with more than $50 billion worth of shares in Tesla, thus making one...

Central bankers do nothing. Markets respond

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve held rates steady on Wednesday, and markets went whooshing upwards, as if they thought no-move was a clear signal about the next m...

Trade like a bot

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers at the University of Chicago took a fairly standard large language model of AI and fed it a bunch of balance sheets and income statements ...

The gamma squeeze

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia continues its rocket-like rise: Investors have piled in, as have day traders who play the stock with options. This is causing banks and market ...

What elections mean for markets this year

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a big year for democracy. Voters in Mexico and India just went to the polls. Elections in the UK and US are still to come. On today’s show, R...