Trading Perspectives: An Economic Podcast

The holidays have always been a time for massive blockbuster movies. However, changing consumer behavior seems to be threatening this tradition.

After all, a lot of people wonder why they should pay no small sum of money in order to watch a movie that will be on a streaming service in a few weeks.

Still, others love the whole ceremony of going to the theater, getting a soda and popcorn, and enjoying the entertainment with others. Which side will win? The new consumer or the old traditionalist?

In this week’s Trading Perspectives, Sam, Courtney and John discuss the movies and whether they plan on going to the theater over the holidays. Will it be a surprise who is planning on doing so or not?

This week, the Fitch Rating organization downgraded U.S. Treasury debt from its highest rating of AAA to AA+. But what did it accomplish? Is the U.S. Treasury market no longer the world’s most liquid? Is the U.S. dollar no longer the world’s primary reserve currency? Did the U.S. financial system suddenly become more opaque? Is the U.S. Treasury in danger of defaulting on its debt? Or is the bigger issue Washington’s inefficiency in spending money that it will eventually have to repay? Further, does anyone really want the Congress to tighten the purse strings in a meaningful way?

In this week’s Trading Perspectives, Sam and John discuss the probable outcomes of Fitch’s downgrade and what it really means for the US. Perhaps Sam really isn’t as cynical as everyone says. Or maybe he is.

This week, Ford announced plans to pause production on an electric vehicle battery assembly plant in Michigan. This was due to political pushback stemming from the realization that Ford was going to license the necessary technology from the Chinese firm CATL. However, given how far behind the US is in EV battery technology and supply-chain sourcing, is it realistic to imagine the Big Three expanding its EV production without technical assistance from China?

In this week’s Trading Perspectives, Sam and John discuss the current state of the EV market in the United States and what changes the Big Three have to make in order to compete without help from the Chinese.

The recent Initial Public Offering (IPO) market has been red hot, with valuations stretching the imagination. Are the good times here to stay? Can companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, and Snowflake grow fast enough to command these prices? Or is it déjà vu all over again, as in the dot.com bubble?

With available homes few and far between and mortgage rates on the rise, fears of the demise of the housing market are increasing. This naturally begs the question, how long can this go on? Will the housing market crash again? Will a decline in housing lead to a financial crisis like it did in 2008? In this week’s Trading Perspectives, Sam, Courtney, and John discuss the differences between then and now, and what a downturn could mean.