Excess Returns

Jack Raines turned $6,000 into roughly $400,000 trading SPACs, then lost $157,000 in three minutes after taking a very different bet. The author of Young Money joins Matt Zeigler to discuss what that experience taught him about investing risk, the urge to chase more, and the time a growing portfolio can cost you.
The conversation follows Jack Raines from SPAC warrants and market narratives to a broader question: how do you allocate money, time, and risk to build a life you actually want? They explore the limits of a trading edge, why cheap stocks can get cheaper, and how debt, career choices, and status shape the decisions investors make beyond their portfolios.
Young Money: A Field Guide to Wealth and Purpose in Your Twenties
https://amzn.to/4AtUsDoJack Raines' Young Money newsletter
https://www.youngmoney.co/
Jack Raines on X
https://twitter.com/Jack_Raines
Topics covered:
How Jack Raines grew his Roth IRA through SPAC warrants and pre-merger common shares, and why those positions carried different risks.
Why an edge in one corner of the market did not translate into a successful concentrated earnings bet.
How a million-dollar target and constant account checking changed Jack Raines' relationship with money and time.
What SEC filings, Discord research, and market narratives contributed to his trading process.
Why Jack Raines bought Figma after questioning the market's AI narrative and speaking with designers.
Applying portfolio thinking to careers, creative projects, and opportunities that change with each stage of life.
Weighing retirement saving against other opportunities, and why Jack Raines treats expensive debt as a constraint on taking risks.
Escaping the "someday" trap while giving long-term venture investments time to develop.
Combining steady income and index funds with independent bets, while treating status as a tool rather than a goal.
Why Jack Raines believes investors learn about risk through experience, with stakes they can afford to recover from.
Timestamps:
00:00 Jack Raines on the lessons of losing money
04:57 Inside the SPAC trades and the $157,000 loss
15:16 Separating market hype from downside math
22:18 Building a life with portfolio principles
29:45 Retirement saving, trading obsession, and the cost of time
36:56 Debt, freedom, and the trap of waiting for someday
44:33 Venture investing: acting quickly and waiting patiently
51:03 Using status without making it the goal
56:08 The investing lesson experience has to teach
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.

Jason Hsu, founder and CIO of Rayliant Global Advisors and co-founder of Research Affiliates, joins Excess Returns to discuss the US-China AI race, the economics of AI spending, and what market concentration means for investors. We explore China's energy and open source advantages, opportunities in Chinese stocks, and how factor investing and machine learning can help build more diversified portfolios.
Rayliant Global Advisors
https://rayliant.com
Rayliant on X
https://twitter.com/rayliant
Topics covered:
Why Jason believes AI safety requires cooperation between the US and China

How Chinese AI models are closing the gap with US developers

China's electricity infrastructure and the competitive threat from open source AI

Where AI profits could accrue across hardware, energy, models and applications

How chip restrictions are encouraging China to develop domestic capabilities

Why retail trading creates opportunities and challenges for factor investors in China

Chinese technology companies, dividend-paying state enterprises and US-China trade

The AI spending arms race and the concentration risk facing S&P 500 investors

Momentum crashes, value cycles and how Rayliant uses machine learning to combine factors

Why advisors' greatest contribution may be helping clients find meaning in their wealth

Timestamps:
00:00 Jason Hsu on AI competition and safety
04:00 How close are Chinese AI models to the US?
08:25 China's energy advantage and open source economics
14:12 Who captures AI profits, and can China catch up in chips?
18:41 Chinese stocks, retail trading and speculation
24:01 China's overlooked opportunities and dividend stocks
28:05 US-China interdependence and the AI spending arms race
33:24 The AI concentration hiding in the S&P 500
37:25 Momentum crashes, value cycles and factor performance
41:54 Machine learning and building multifactor portfolios
48:46 Financial advisors, Jack Bogle and having enough
53:23 Why inefficient markets do not make alpha easy
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.

David Rosenberg returns to Excess Returns to explain his bullish case for Treasury bonds, why he expects inflation and economic growth to slow, and the risks he sees in an AI-driven stock market. The Rosenberg Research founder joins Matt Zeigler to discuss consumer spending, Federal Reserve policy, gold, international stocks, and how he translates his economic outlook into a diversified portfolio.
Recorded September 16, 2026, before the Federal Reserve's policy announcement.
David Rosenberg on Twitter
https://twitter.com/EconguyRosie
Rosenberg Research
https://www.rosenbergresearch.com/
Topics covered:
Why Rosenberg believes markets have priced in too much Fed tightening and Treasury bonds offer an opportunity

Why he views higher oil prices as a tax on consumers rather than evidence of sustained, broad-based inflation

How slowing wage growth, falling savings, and the stock market wealth effect shape consumer spending

How Treasury issuance changes and potential post-election fiscal gridlock could support bonds

Why AI exposure extends beyond technology stocks into utilities, industrials, and other sectors

Where he sees opportunities in healthcare, consumer staples, pipelines, European stocks, and Asia

His model portfolio's allocation to equities, bonds, cash, and commodities

How gold, central bank buying, and a bearish dollar outlook fit his investment thesis

Why he is positioning for slower growth without making recession his base case

What working with portfolio managers taught him about cutting losses and separating conviction from stubbornness

Timestamps:
00:00 Rosenberg's portfolio approach and the Treasury opportunity
05:58 Why an oil shock can weaken consumer spending
10:52 Jobs, wages, and the stock market wealth effect
17:35 Fiscal stimulus, Treasury issuance, and the bond outlook
22:53 AI concentration risk beyond technology stocks
27:10 Why he owns European and Asian equities
31:16 Inside his 50% stocks, 30% bonds model portfolio
36:43 Betting against the inflation consensus
42:41 Gold, central bank reserves, and a weaker dollar
48:56 Recession watch and bear market risks for 2027
53:10 AI correlations and the risks of being fully invested
58:27 Cutting losses and knowing when conviction becomes stubbornness
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.

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson joins Matt Zeigler to explore how AI, blockchain tokenization, and private markets are reshaping investing and asset management. They discuss what these changes mean for individual investors, from personalized portfolios and access to private companies to the concentration risks hiding in passive index funds. Jenny also shares lessons from her journey from intern to CEO, why financial advisors still matter, and why starting early remains her most important investing lesson.
Franklin Templeton
https://www.franklintempleton.com
Topics covered:
Why AI could create new industries and why learning to use it matters for young professionals

How Franklin Templeton uses AI agents and why investment decisions still require human judgment

Building personalized portfolios around retirement, college savings, and other financial goals

How blockchain, smart contracts, and instant settlement could reduce financial transaction costs

Tokenized money market funds, digital wallets, and the obstacles to bringing ETFs on-chain

Why companies stay private longer and what investors miss when they only own public stocks

Private credit, illiquidity, and the trade-offs involved in expanding access to private markets

How mega IPOs, AI spending, and changing index composition can increase portfolio concentration

Balancing shareholders, employees, and clients while investing in a company's long-term future

The value of financial advisors, staying invested, and giving compounding time to work

Timestamps:
00:00 Jenny Johnson's leadership lessons and path from intern to CEO
06:41 AI job disruption and lessons from earlier technology revolutions
10:42 How young analysts use AI and where personalized investing is heading
15:44 Human judgment, AI agents, and the future of asset management
20:17 How tokenization could lower costs and expand financial access
24:39 Why blockchain adoption is slow and how tokenized ETFs work
29:58 Private company growth, investor access, and liquidity trade-offs
35:20 Mega IPOs, index concentration, and the risks of AI spending
41:23 Franklin Templeton's family legacy and investing for the next generation
46:18 Why financial advisors matter and why investors should start early
51:32 Jenny's hands-on experiments with AI tools
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.

Jim Paulsen joins Jack Forehand and Matt Zeigler on the latest Jim Paulsen Show to explore why booming AI earnings may be masking a weakening U.S. economy, and what that means for stocks, bonds, and Federal Reserve policy. Using 27 charts, he examines stalled job creation, rising oil prices, growing reliance on debt to finance AI investment, and why he expects a sharper correction in technology than in the broader S&P 500.

⁠Subscribe to the Jim Paulsen Show on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Topics covered:
Why strong S&P 500 earnings hide a widening divide between technology, energy, and the remaining seven sectors.

Why low unemployment claims may offer false comfort when job creation has stalled.

Jim's job market misery index and what it suggests about the case for Fed easing.

How business investment and employment have broken their historical relationship.

Why weak real disposable income, low savings, and higher oil prices threaten consumer spending.

How fading economic momentum could push Treasury yields lower despite renewed inflation fears.

Why a shrinking wall of worry could remove an important source of support for stocks.

What growth stock leadership, household purchasing power, and ISM services data reveal about market risk.

How debt-funded AI spending and widening credit spreads change the risks facing technology companies.

Why extreme stock outperformance versus bonds could matter for portfolio allocation.

The difference between rising profits per worker and sustainable economic productivity.

Why Jim expects a tech bear market but a more moderate correction in the broader S&P 500.

Timestamps:
00:00 Why oil, rates, and tight policy worry Jim
05:43 The three-way split hiding beneath strong earnings
09:58 Why low jobless claims may be misleading
16:18 When business investment stops creating jobs
20:48 Can consumer spending outrun real income?
26:01 How the wall of worry has supported stocks
31:44 Investor complacency and a shift toward growth fears
36:58 The disconnect between Main Street and Wall Street
41:35 AI debt financing, credit spreads, and the case for bonds
47:25 Investment per worker and the yield curve's earnings warning
51:52 Profit productivity versus real economic productivity
58:08 Why Jim expects a tech bear market and a broader correction
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.