Two Quants and a Financial Planner

Hosted by Excess Returns

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150

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Aug 2026

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Two Quants and a Financial Planner bridges the worlds of investing and financial planning to help investors achieve their long-term goals. Join Matt Zeigler, Jack Forehand and Justin Carbonneau as they cover a wide range of investing and financial planning topics that impact all of us and discuss how we can apply them in the real world to achieve the best outcomes in our financial lives.

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September 7, 2026Episode 15549 min

AI Demand Is Real. The Accounting Games Are Growing. How Long Can Both Be True?

Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler explore the AI investment boom, Federal Reserve credibility, accounting risks and the dangers of buying stocks to hold forever. Featuring clips from Dan Niles, Ben Hunt, Cameron Dawson and Dave Nadig, this Excess Returns Weekly Wrap connects rising AI adoption with questions about earnings quality, market narratives and the slow financial damage caused by gambling and overtrading. Topics covered: Why even the smartest technology companies can overinvest and misread demand How agentic AI could drive another wave of adoption, computing demand and business returns Ben Hunt's broken teacup analogy for reputation and Federal Reserve credibility Why central bank actions matter more when investors stop believing the rhetoric Cameron Dawson's concerns about Nvidia receivables, hyperscaler cash flow and AI accounting How leases, special purpose vehicles and one-time investment gains complicate earnings analysis Dan Niles on survivorship bias and the risks of assuming today's market leaders will win forever How Ben Hunt measures narrative life cycles, bursts and shifts in common knowledge The connection between declining trust in central banks and gold prices Why sports betting, overtrading and repeated small losses can quietly undermine long-term wealth Timestamps: 00:00 This week's lineup and Jack's unexpected action hero moment 04:09 Dan Niles on smart companies, AI bubbles and agentic demand 11:55 Ben Hunt on credibility and the Fed's broken teacup 19:46 Cameron Dawson on AI accounting and hidden cash flow pressures 28:13 Dan Niles challenges the buy-and-hold-forever mindset 32:51 Ben Hunt explains how to measure narrative life cycles 37:01 Connecting Fed credibility narratives to gold prices 41:04 Dave Nadig on the slow financial drain of sports betting 45:09 Gambling from income versus spending down your savings Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

September 1, 2026Episode 15443 min

Bond Panic. Software Pileup. Borrowed AI Earnings. Are Investors Pricing the Wrong Risk?

In this Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down why rising long-term bond yields may be justified by stronger nominal growth, large fiscal deficits and AI-driven capital spending, and why the bigger market risk may be an AI earnings bubble rather than a valuation bubble. Featuring Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel, the episode also explores private equity’s huge software bet, the traits of elite stock pickers, and how the worldview of AI leaders could be driving unusually aggressive capital spending and risk-taking. Topics covered: Why long-term bond yields may be more rational than alarming given stronger nominal GDP, inflation, deficits and heavy Treasury and corporate issuance How global fiscal expansion and the AI infrastructure build-out are adding to bond supply and upward pressure on rates Why suppressing market interest rates can distort an important economic signal and create unintended consequences How private equity became a lagged momentum investor and built massive exposure to software and healthcare technology Why recurring revenue does not make a business bulletproof, and how AI could challenge software economics that once looked untouchable Ian Cassel’s benchmarks for good, great and GOAT stock pickers, from 10-year outperformance to 20% annualized returns The five or six core investing skills elite stock pickers need, and why world-class investors become exceptional at one or two How AI CapEx can boost current supplier earnings while the buyer’s expense is spread over years through depreciation Why an AI earnings bubble could exist even if headline valuation multiples do not look extreme How futurism, expected-value thinking and confidence in AGI may be encouraging AI leaders to take enormous capital spending risks Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: Kevin Muir, Dan Rasmussen and Ian Cassel 05:09 Why suppressing bond yields could create new risks 09:54 Private equity as a lagged momentum investor 14:15 Why investment committees chase three- and five-year returns 19:00 The skills that separate good investors from great ones 23:11 Why elite stock picking takes a decade or more to judge 27:18 How AI CapEx is changing cash flow, buybacks and earnings 31:47 Price bubbles vs earnings bubbles 36:00 Why AI leaders may be taking massive CapEx risk 40:49 AI adoption bottlenecks and the need for skepticism Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

August 24, 2026Episode 15331 min

Rates Keep Climbing. Stocks Refuse to Break. What If They're Saying the Same Thing?

This week on the Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down key investing lessons from recent conversations with Andy Constan, Liz Ann Sonders and Bob Robotti. They examine why rising long-term interest rates can coexist with a strong stock market, how rolling recessions and the shift from labor income to corporate profits are shaping the economy, why AI's biggest beneficiaries may be in energy and old-economy materials, and whether the bond market can really lose control of long-term yields. Topics covered: Why higher long-term interest rates can be consistent with stronger economic growth and rising stock prices How productivity growth, Treasury issuance and corporate bond supply can push real yields higher Why the post-pandemic economy has experienced rolling sector recessions instead of a traditional synchronized business cycle How stock market optimism can coexist with pessimism about unemployment, wages and the broader economy Why labor compensation has fallen as a share of GDP while corporate profits have increased What the labor-versus-capital shift may mean for inflation, investor sentiment and future policy Why the AI capital spending boom creates demand for cement, aluminum, copper, natural gas and other physical inputs How low-cost North American natural gas could support reindustrialization and give the U.S. a structural energy advantage Why renewables and electrification still depend on traditional energy, commodities and industrial materials How decades of underinvestment in energy and materials could create a long-duration capital cycle for value investors Why deep natural demand for Treasuries makes a disorderly loss of control over the long end of the yield curve less likely Timestamps: 02:15 Why rising rates and record-high stocks can coexist07:30 Rolling recessions and why the economy isn't moving in sync11:57 Labor vs. capital and the rise in corporate profit share17:39 Why the biggest AI beneficiaries may be cement, copper and natural gas25:26 Could the bond market really lose control of the long end?30:22 Where to find episode notes, transcripts and more Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

August 17, 2026Episode 15231 min

Falling Rates. Rising Productivity. Are Good Things Bearish?

In this week's Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down Jim Paulsen's warning that falling Treasury yields could become bad news for stocks if markets shift from inflation fears to growth fears, and Dom Rizzo's bullish case for AI productivity and frontier models. They also examine whether today's productivity boom is real, how AI coding tools like Claude Code and Codex could reshape white-collar work, and why recessions can create misleading spikes in measured productivity. Topics covered Why falling Treasury yields can be bullish when inflation is cooling but bearish when growth is weakening Jim Paulsen's case that economic surprise data could be pointing toward lower 10-year Treasury yields What the stock-bond correlation says about whether investors are more worried about inflation or recession Dom Rizzo's bullish case for AI-driven coding productivity and the rapid growth of frontier AI models How large the AI coding market could become and where OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies may capture value Why open-source and lower-cost AI models could dominate token volume while frontier models capture most of the economics Whether enterprise AI spending is evidence that companies are already seeing meaningful returns The challenge of translating more code and faster knowledge work into measurable revenue, cost savings and economic productivity Jim Paulsen's argument that recessions often create temporary spikes in measured productivity Whether today's productivity gains reflect a genuine AI boom, economic weakness, or some combination of both Timestamps 00:00 Why hearing the AI case you disagree with matters 04:47 When falling Treasury yields could become bad news for stocks 10:54 Dom Rizzo on AI coding productivity and who captures the value 16:49 Can we actually measure the economic payoff from AI? 22:52 Jim Paulsen on why recessions can create false productivity booms 27:00 What today's productivity data may be saying about the economy Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

August 10, 2026Episode 15132 min

We Reunited David Rosenberg and Rich Bernstein After 20 Years | The Misallocation They Both See

This week on the Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down the AI capital spending boom, the risk that data center investment is crowding out housing and other parts of the economy, and what that means for markets. Featuring Richard Bernstein, David Rosenberg, Tian Yang, and Brent Donnelly, the episode covers AI CapEx, GDP growth, inflation, the K-shaped economy, AI ROI, and why rationality and Bayesian thinking matter more than raw intelligence for investors and traders. Topics covered Why the AI and data center boom may be misallocating capital away from housing and infrastructure What the dot-com bubble taught Richard Bernstein about investing where capital is scarce Why AI related spending is approaching half of business CapEx while ex-AI investment is shrinking How today's K-shaped economy differs from the broad economic boom of the late 1990s The difference between AI's contribution to GDP growth and its share of total GDP Tian Yang's Kalecki-Levy framework for understanding spending, savings, income, and economic resilience Why a pullback in hyperscaler CapEx could weaken the spending and income loop Why AI return on investment is so difficult to measure and how the profit pool could broaden beyond hardware Brent Donnelly on why rationality and flexibility matter more than credentials or raw intelligence Why persistent bearishness can become a major investing mistake How Bayesian thinking, position sizing, and changing your mind help investors stay in the game Timestamps 00:02 Rich Bernstein and David Rosenberg reunite and this week's lineup 04:10 The dot-com lesson: what happens when capital floods one sector 08:15 AI CapEx, inflation, and why today's economy is different from the 1990s 13:58 Kalecki-Levy: how spending and savings are keeping growth resilient 18:03 AI CapEx concentration, productivity, and the uncertainty around ROI 22:21 Brent Donnelly on why rationality beats intelligence 26:21 Strong opinions, flexibility, and Bayesian thinking 30:33 What traders and market makers can teach long-term investors Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

August 3, 2026Episode 15035 min

A War-Sized AI Bet. The Fed Goes Dark. Is One More Hike the Death Shot? | The Weekly Wrap

On this episode of the Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler examine how the AI capital spending boom, an unpredictable Federal Reserve, reduced corporate reporting and factor investing are reshaping markets. They break down Ben Hunt's warning about private credit and AI infrastructure, Cameron Dawson and Dave Nadig on the loss of Fed forward guidance, Wes Gray on why value may matter more than company size, and Rupert Mitchell on the rate hike that could end the cycle. Topics covered: Why the AI capital spending boom is forcing hyperscalers to borrow money and issue equity How private credit and private equity are financing the AI infrastructure buildout Why a slowdown in AI CapEx could create broader financial system risk How government borrowing and AI investment are crowding out capital and pushing interest rates higher The impact of data center electricity demand on consumers and the broader economy How Kevin Warsh's no-forward-guidance policy changes Federal Reserve expectations Why greater front-end interest rate volatility matters for floating-rate debt and private credit The debate over replacing quarterly corporate reports with six-month reporting Wes Gray's argument that value, not small-company size, is the real source of higher expected returns Rupert Mitchell's death shot framework for how a final central bank rate hike can end a market cycle Timestamps: 00:00 AI spending, Fed uncertainty and this week's market themes 05:07 How the AI buildout crowds out capital across the economy 10:44 No Fed forward guidance and a new era of policy uncertainty 15:48 Why six-month corporate reporting could hurt investors 20:30 Wes Gray on the small-cap premium 24:42 Why value matters more than company size 28:57 How a surprise rate hike could break risk assets 34:05 Global value investing and pairing different investor perspectives Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

July 26, 2026Episode 14930 min

No ROI Yet. Fewer Recessions. Are You Making More Money? | 4 Things We Learned This Week

This week's Excess Returns Weekly Wrap examines when AI spending will translate into measurable end-user ROI, why the U.S. business cycle may now produce fewer recessions, and how Federal Reserve policy could combine lower short-term rates with a smaller balance sheet. Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down insights from Andy Constan, Azeem Azhar and Aahan Menon on AI productivity, business-cycle shifts, asset prices and the tradeoffs between Wall Street and Main Street. Topics covered Why subsidized AI tokens may be masking the true economics of end-user ROI The difference between personal productivity gains, cost savings and measurable business profits How the transition from electric light bulbs to assembly lines explains AI process redesign Why adding more copilots cannot turn a legacy company into an AI-native enterprise The productivity J-curve and why promising AI investments may initially look unprofitable How the shift from manufacturing toward services and technology changed the business cycle Why housing and industrial indicators may be less reliable signals for the broader economy How consumer conditions, equity wealth and technology investment increasingly drive growth Why stronger balance sheets and policy intervention may be reducing recession frequency How lower short-term rates and a smaller Fed balance sheet could affect asset prices and inequality Timestamps 00:00 Intro and this week's triple-A lineup 04:00 AI's long-term promise and medium-term transition risk 08:18 Azeem Azhar on electricity as a model for AI adoption 12:28 Why more copilots cannot create an AI-native company 16:39 How services and technology changed the business cycle 21:20 Why policy intervention may be smoothing recessions 26:00 How Fed policy could rebalance Wall Street and Main Street 30:05 Closing thoughts and where to follow Excess Returns Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

July 20, 2026Episode 14832 min

Strong Jobs. Vanishing Workers. Are You Watching the Wrong Number? | 4 Things We Learned This Week

In this episode of the Excess Returns Weekly Wrap, Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down lessons from their conversations with Market Wizards author Jack Schwager and Data 4 the People founder Eric Pachman. They explore why the unemployment rate can hide labor market weakness, how aging and care jobs are reshaping employment, why elite traders survive by following strict risk management rules and whether artificial intelligence can ever solve financial markets. Topics covered: Why the headline unemployment rate can miss a deteriorating labor market How falling labor force participation changes the meaning of jobs data Why prime-age workers leaving the labor force matters for economic growth and consumption The limitations of relying on long-standing BLS and Federal Reserve benchmarks How an anonymous trader turned a small account into roughly half a billion dollars Why trading discipline, stop losses and risk management matter more than being right What the Carvana short squeeze reveals about the danger of breaking your own rules How aging demographics are concentrating job growth in healthcare and social assistance Why home healthcare and elder care workers are essential but often poorly paid Whether AI can generate market alpha or simply raise the baseline quality of investment tools Timestamps: 00:00 Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler become market wizards 04:24 What falling labor force participation hides 08:55 Simon Russo chooses trading over music 13:00 How ignoring stops could wipe out a fortune 17:05 Messi and the rule sets behind elite performance 21:05 Aging America and the rise of low-paid care jobs 25:05 Why financial markets are uniquely difficult for AI 29:07 How AI raises the floor without creating super-investors Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

July 13, 2026Episode 14732 min

Tech Down 10%. Earnings at Record Highs. Which One Is Lying? | 5 Things We Learned This Week

This week's Weekly Wrap examines whether weakening mega-cap leadership, massive AI capital spending, and record earnings expectations are creating hidden risks beneath the market. Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler compare Jim Paulsen's correction case, Katie Stockton's technical analysis, Jeff Klingelhofer's fixed-income view of AI debt, and Matt Zenz's evidence-based analysis of corporate investment. They discuss why semiconductors have replaced the Magnificent Seven as the market's narrowest leadership group, why healthy breadth can coexist with fading momentum, how roughly $600 billion in AI CapEx is influencing U.S. economic growth, and why excellent earnings momentum does not eliminate correction risk. Main topics covered • Jim Paulsen's case for a 10% to 20% correction without a recession or long-term bear market • Why S&P 500 technology was already 10% below its June high • How broader market leadership could outperform mega-cap technology • Katie Stockton on weakening Magnificent Seven momentum and narrow semiconductor leadership • The difference between market breadth, participation, and leadership • How roughly $600 billion of AI CapEx from four companies is supporting economic growth • Why heavy AI-related debt issuance may create attractive opportunities in high-quality bonds • How fixed-income investors evaluate AI spending differently from equity investors • Matt Zenz on asset growth, corporate investment, and the factor evidence around future returns • Why current mega-cap AI spending may not be extreme relative to company size • Why strong earnings momentum and optimistic analyst estimates can still precede market trouble Timestamps 00:00 Four perspectives on technology, AI spending, and market leadership 05:00 Technology is already down 10% and Paulsen's long-term bull case 09:21 Katie Stockton on Magnificent Seven weakness and semiconductor leadership 15:36 Jeff Klingelhofer on $600 billion of AI CapEx and the bond market 20:13 Why high-quality AI debt may offer attractive yields 24:25 Why mega-cap AI spending may not be extreme by factor standards 29:09 Earnings momentum, earnings bubbles, and why strong fundamentals can precede trouble Learn more about the Excess Returns podcast network: https://excessreturns.co No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms, or their clients.

July 5, 2026Episode 14639 min

Expensive Market. AI Backlash. Are Investors Pricing the Wrong Risk? | 6 Things We Learned This Week

Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler break down the biggest investing ideas from the week, including the AI bull market, data center backlash, semiconductor cyclicality, US stock market dominance and long-term market history. The episode features clips from Warren Pies, Meb Faber, Kai Wu and Ritavan on how investors should think about model progress, valuation, bear markets, moats, strategy and global diversification. Main topics covered Why political backlash against AI data centers may become a bigger risk than open source competition How Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and AI lab leaders are shaping the public narrative around artificial intelligence Why model progress, enterprise AI adoption and compute demand remain central to the AI bull market Meb Faber on 250 years of US market history and the power of long-term compounding Why expensive US stock valuations can coexist with long-term optimism about America How bear markets reset speculative excess and why younger investors may benefit from future declines Warren Pies on whether semiconductors are being priced like a less cyclical industry Why peak margins and low valuation multiples can be misleading in cyclical businesses Kai Wu and Ritavan on how AI changes moats, code, proprietary data and corporate strategy The System Gambit framework and why old checklists can fail when the game changes How investors should think about US versus international markets across decades and centuries Why future diversification may depend on where the next great innovation sandbox emerges Timestamps 00:00 Intro and weekly lineup 04:00 AI data centers, politics and the PR problem 09:18 Meb Faber on US market history and bear markets 14:44 Are semiconductors still cyclical? 20:56 Kai Wu on code, AI and changing moats 25:57 Ritavan on the System Gambit and the Ottoman Empire 30:28 Meb Faber on US versus international stocks 36:00 America as an innovation sandbox 38:06 Closing thoughts and where to follow Excess Returns