Today Jason Buck is joined by Noel Smith in the second of our series on Volatility. Topics discussed include: the benefits of ensemble investing, the predictability of market volatility, how certain market environments fool investors into thinking they are better than they really are, allocating between different strategies during different market environments, why nothing beats having ‘skin in the game’, balancing judgement calls versus algorithmic calls, pairs-trading VIX & bonds, determining when an asset is cheap or overpriced,   and some thoughts on what might happen if markets enter a ‘stagflationary’ environment.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: http://bit.ly/36bzny2

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels, Jason & Noel on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive, @jasonmutiny, & @NoelConvex

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

02 Volatility Series ft Noel Smith — November 3rd, 2021

Hari Krishnan is joined today by Co-Founder & Chairman of Capital Fund Management (CFM) Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, to discuss how news drive price action, and some of the science behind the large price movements, how we should think about adapting to changing dynamics such as correlations, Jean-Phillipe’s background in physics and journey into finance, the effectiveness of the Bloomberg terminal, using dimensional analysis for research purposes, the inelastic market hypothesis, differentiating yourself as a Trend Follower, and the connection between volatility strategies and high frequency data.

In this episode, we discuss:

•How to improve on the traditional 60/40 portfolio
•Dave’s concept of ‘participate and protect’
•The importance of compounding
•Dave’s ‘always good weather’ portfolio
•Long-volatility Bitcoin strategies
•Value investing in the volatility space
•Methods for taking profits
•Sizing portfolio allocations

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Hari on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @HariPKrishnan2

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

08 Volatility Series: Adaptation To Change ft. Jean-Philippe Bouchaud — January 19th, 2022

In this episode, Niels and Cem are joined by Peter Zeihan, author and Geopolitical strategist, to discuss the New World Order and World War III, how the Globalization has become a new battleground rather than a barrier to conflict, the role of technology in modern warfare, how the US were able to read Putin's emails and the impact of war on a national and global scale, the military and political power of China, America and Russia and the relationship between them and the rest of the world, how democracy is affected by the “age of emergency”, the financial aspects of war and crises, crypto as a potential economic asset and much more.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM12: WW3 is just the beginning ft. Peter Zeihan

Today, Grant Williams, creator of The Grant Williams Podcast, joins us to discuss the direction that the world is heading from a global macro perspective, the role of the Federal Reserve and how it has corrupted the price of money. We also touch on how the loss of faith in institutions is a key feature of the Fourth Turning, how inflation impacts inequality and how confidence in the Federal Reserve correlates with the level of interest rates, crypto currencies and the underlying problems of the technology, Central Banking 2.0 and what happens if a Central Bank buys all the bonds in a market, real estate and the potential dangers of the housing sector, the commodity super cycle and how it causes rising interest rates, and the fate and fortune of Elon Musk plus much more.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM17: Elon Musk...From Showman to Charlatan ft. Grant Williams

Best-selling author and renowned historian Neil Howe joins the show to talk about his New York Times’ bestselling book The Fourth Turning Is Here. Neil believes history moves in generational cycles that last about the length of one long human life. Each cycle has four eras - Turnings - that always arrive in the same order and last about twenty years. We are now midway through a Fourth Turning which is a time of exceptional upheaval and conflict. Previous Fourth Turnings happened during the Great Depression and WWII, the American Civil War and the American Revolution. The good news is a society that successfully navigates a Fourth Turning emerges reborn - more equal, more optimistic and more united. We discuss the implications of this era for financial markets, why it will be the Millennial generation that leads us through the coming conflict and what will characterize the world that emerges afterwards.

﻿﻿IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Kevin on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @kcold1

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

IL20: How to Survive the Current Fourth Turning ft. Neil Howe

Maia Mathieson and Faheem Osman, both Managing Directors at Macquarie Bank in London speak with Moritz Seibert about the bank’s growing Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) business and how their rules-based indices can help investors to efficiently access various risk premium strategies across asset classes. Maia and Faheem explain the key return drivers behind their commodity-focused strategies, for example curve carry and congestion, and explain why they believe these to be structurally sustainable. We also discuss their client base and how the Macquarie QIS team focuses on designing robust indices that are not curve-fit to historical data. 

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Moritz on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @MoritzSeibert

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

OI02: Are QI Strategies Sustainable? ft. Maia Mathieson & Faheem Osman

Join us for an eye-opening discussion on global power dynamics with  geopolitics expert Marko Papic, alongside Cem Karsan and myself, where  we dive deep into the ongoing tug-of-war between the West, Russia, China, and the rest of the world. Marko sheds light on the United States' push for a clear bipolar world order. He shares his insights on whether the world as we know it is coming to an end and why a Trump presidency may pave the way for trade deals and foreign policy agreements, particularly with rivals like China. Looking ahead, Marko discusses Europe's industrial sector and explains why investing in European industrials could be a smart move. Finally, we explore the complexities of the relationship between Russia and China. Are they as close as we think? And is China's dream of becoming the next superpower within reach? We also delve into the possibility of China's move to invade Taiwan and what it would entail.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM59: The Geopolitical Tug-of-War: Russia, China & the West ft. Marko Papic

Join Alan Dunne in conversation with Gary Gerstle, Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge and author of "The Rise and Fall of The Neoliberal Order", as they delve into the shifting landscape of the global political order. From the decline of the New Deal Order to the ramifications of the Global Financial Crisis, Gary traces the trajectory of the Neoliberal Order and its impact on contemporary society. Exploring the nuances of Bidenomics, they analyse the sustainability of current fiscal and industrial policies amidst rising inequality and geopolitical tensions. Gary shares insights on the potential rise of authoritarianism worldwide, the implications of protectionism, and the prospect of increased antitrust activism in the US. Finally, they turn their attention to the upcoming US presidential elections, examining the contenders and the pivotal factors that could shape the outcome.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @AlanJDunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

GM61: The New Politics: Neoliberal Decline and Authoritarian Rise ft. Gary Gerstle

Why are markets still priced as if the old world is coming back? Alan Dunne and Niels Kaastrup-Larsen examine the case for structurally higher yields — not as a risk, but as the regime. Drawing from Alan’s recent writing, they trace how debt levels, policy incentives, and investor complacency have converged into a feedback loop that central banks may no longer control. From Japan’s bond signals to the quiet retreat of fiscal discipline in the U.S., this episode maps a shift that’s already underway. For investors still relying on yesterday’s models, the risk isn’t missing the turn...it’s not seeing that we’ve already made it.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @AlanJDunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

SI350: Why All Roads Lead to Higher Yields ft. Alan Dunne

Corey Hoffstein and Adam Butler joins to unpack the mechanics of stacking returns inside an ETF — not as a branding exercise, but as a way to navigate the hard constraints of scale, structure, and investor behavior. They break down how Return Stacked blends top-down replication with a bottom-up trend engine, why most investors misunderstand what replication actually captures, and where the fault lines lie between mutual funds and ETFs. From margin management and bid-offer spreads to the limits of liquidity in a product built for growth, this conversation surfaces what it really means to package active strategies for a public wrapper — and what gets lost, or found, in the process.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Moritz on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @MoritzSeibert

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

OI16: Return Stacking: Form, Function & Friction ft. Corey Hoffstein and Adam Butler

As trend followers push through one of the toughest environments in years, Rich and Niels unpack what’s actually driving the pain. They draw a sharp line between two camps in the industry - those who focus on standalone market behavior and those who manage trend as a portfolio-level phenomenon, and explain why that distinction now matters more than ever. From the ripple effects of tariff policy to the quiet fragility in institutional positioning, this episode traces how structural shifts are colliding with legacy assumptions. Also on the table: AI’s growing role in model development, the hidden costs of bad data, and what it really takes to build a resilient, scalable process in a world where noise is cheap and conviction is rare.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Richard on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @RichB118

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI351: The Two Tribes of Trend ft. Richard Brennan

Back on the Cboe floor, Cem Karsan sits down with Benn Eifert to trace the fault lines shaping today’s volatility regime. They dig into why market structure, not just macro, is driving outcomes... from the reflexive cycles of implied vol to the growing influence of structured product flows and zero-day options. With correlations breaking down and dispersion rising, Benn makes the case that path matters more than magnitude. It’s a conversation about what happens when liquidity fragments, when the Fed can’t step in, and when legacy playbooks stop working. Quietly technical, deeply contextual, this one rewards a careful listen.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

UGO03: This Isn’t 2008. That’s the Problem ft. Benn Eifert

Nick Baltas is back with Niels for a conversation that sits at the intersection of technology, uncertainty, and discipline. As AI-generated data floods the system and market reversals grow sharper, the challenge isn’t just strategy design — it’s deciding what still counts as signal. They explore how systematic managers are rethinking volatility targets, why certain constraints persist in institutional portfolios, and what recent underperformance may actually be revealing. This episode is less about solutions than about orientation: how to stay aligned when the tools evolve faster than the terrain, and when conviction must coexist with doubt.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Nick on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @nbaltas

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI352: Trend Systems Under Strain ft. Nick Baltas

ElevatorPitch | Alexander Griffin of Alltus Capital

Barry Eichengreen joins Alan Dunne for a clear-eyed look at a system losing its anchors. The dollar’s standing, long insulated by trust and habit, now faces a different kind of test... one shaped less by challengers abroad than by fractures at home. They explore how rising debt, political entropy, and institutional strain are converging in ways that markets are only beginning to price. From the quiet retreat of safe haven flows to the uneasy future of central bank independence, this is a conversation about slow shifts with fast consequences, and what happens when credibility, not currency, becomes the liability.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @alanjdunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM83: The Risk We Forgot to Price ft. Barry Eichengreen

Some of the most effective portfolio components may generate little or no return on their own. In this episode, Niels Kaastrup-Larsen and Yoav Git explore that discomfort - why allocators often overlook strategies that offer the most structural value. Through a series of new research papers, they examine how negative correlation, volatility, and capital efficiency can outweigh standalone performance, and why trend following continues to challenge conventional assumptions. It’s a conversation about construction over conviction, contribution over headline returns, and the gap between what improves a portfolio and what investors are willing to own.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels on Twitter and Yoav on LinkedIn:
@TopTradersLive & https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoavgit/

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI353: You Don’t Buy It for Returns. You Buy It Because It Works! ft. Yoav Git

Bob Elliott joins Cem Karsan and Niels Kaastrup-Larsen for a conversation about what happens when strong economic data masks a deeper structural shift. The income engine still runs, but tariffs, labor scarcity, and immigration limits are quietly rewiring the system. Inflation may not fall the way people expect. Profit margins may not hold. And capital may start flowing away from the US for the first time in a generation. This isn’t a cycle call. It’s a question of what kind of economy we are becoming—and whether portfolios built for the past can survive what’s coming.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM84: What Everyone Saw, but No One Priced ft. Bob Elliott

With markets drifting and conviction thinning, Rob Carver joins Niels to take stock of a moment that feels suspended... not quite crisis, not quite calm. They discuss why recent rule changes around bank capital and crypto assets may carry more weight than headlines suggest, and what falling shipping volumes might be whispering about global demand. Rob breaks down the math of drawdowns, the tension between Kelly sizing and real-world volatility, and how systematic managers can fool themselves into thinking they’re diversified. It’s a conversation about structure, discipline, and why most edges today come from avoiding mistakes rather than discovering secrets.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Rob on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @investingidiocy

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.


SI354: Everyone’s Different. Until They’re Not ft. Rob Carver

In this episode, Moritz Seibert speaks with Asim Ghaffar, the founder and CIO of AG Capital, a Boston-based macro hedge fund. Asim explains why he believes insourcing rather than outsourcing the organizational processes of running a hedge fund business is critical and how it can add long-term value to the business. He also describes why sales and branding are key components to a successful investment management business, and how AG Capital connects with clients and prospective investors. In the second part of the conversation, Asam and Moritz speak about AG Capital’s style of trading, how they position size, why they take concentrated positions, how their methods differ from those of systematic trend following funds, and what their current long-term and short-term investment themes are, touching on gold, Bitcoin, copper, natural gas, and some other markets.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Moritz on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @MoritzSeibert

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

OI17: The End of the Bull Market: What’s Next for Equities? ft. Asim Ghaffar

Markets have recovered fast - maybe too fast. Alan and Niels unpack what sits beneath the surface: a bond market brushing off record deficits, volatility draining from asset prices, and trend followers caught between sharp reversals and shrinking conviction. They explore how sentiment, structure, and speed are shaping today’s trading environment, and what most investors still underestimate about liquidity, macro policy, and risk. With fresh research in hand, they ask whether drawdowns are misunderstood, if diversification has become an illusion, and why clarity often emerges only after the pain. We do recognize that we had some technical issues with this recording and appreciate you for sticking with us.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @AlanJDunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

SI355: Drawdowns Don’t Lie, But They May Mislead ft. Alan Dunne

﻿Cian Walsh, Head of Hedge Funds and Private Debt at Formue, joins Alan Dunne to explore what it means to allocate capital when the macro regime, client expectations, and the structure of markets are all in flux. He explains why the 60/40 model obscures more than it reveals, how he is adapting institutional frameworks for thousands of private clients, and what changes when you view hedge funds not as a bucket, but as a function. From the discipline of sizing trend in a sideways regime to the slow shift from vintage private credit to evergreen, this is a conversation about building portfolios that can hold together when the ground moves.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @alanjdunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

ALO30: The Quiet Rewire of Portfolio Construction ft. Cian Walsh

Katy Kaminski returns to examine a moment in trend following that feels familiar... but isn’t. Drawing on new research, she and Niels explore how drawdowns resolve, why recovery is faster when markets break, and slower when they don’t, and what that asymmetry reveals about the current cycle. They unpack copper’s historic 1-day move, the role of China in CTA return dispersion, and what slower, replication-based strategies might be capturing that others aren’t. This episode isn’t about defending trend - it’s about understanding what environments it needs, and what signals suggest we’re getting closer.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Katy on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @katykam

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI356: The Anatomy of a CTA Recovery ft. Katy Kaminski

Rick Santelli joins Cem Karsan for a conversation that cuts through the noise. From the floor of the Cboe to the era of central bank primacy, Santelli reflects on how markets have been reshaped... not just by technology or policy, but by the loss of honest signals. They cover the Fed’s shift from restraint to control, the unintended consequences of zero rates, and why housing, credit, and the long bond may be nearing a breaking point. This isn’t a retrospective. It’s a clear warning from someone who’s seen what happens when incentives go unchecked.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

UGO04: CNBC Legend on the Price of Losing Price ft. Rick Santelli

As summer sets in, Cem Karsan joins Niels Kaastrup-Larsen to trace the contours of a market that feels calm but isn’t. What looks like low vol masks a crowded hedge fund ecosystem and a structural vol compression regime few understand. From a VIX spike driven by unexpected Call activity to the slow-motion political pressure on Powell, the signals are subtle but mounting. They cover China’s resource diplomacy, AI’s quiet dislocation of white-collar work, and the rising fragility from concentration across assets, brokers, and narratives. This is a conversation about setup, not outcome... and the traps hiding in plain sight.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.


SI357: Liquidity, Leverage, and the Lie of Calm ft. Cem Karsan

What happens when an overlooked asset becomes essential? Artem Milinchuk returns to share how farmland, long seen as niche... is quietly stepping into the center of long-term portfolios. He and Niels discuss what’s changed since 2020: rising inflation, tighter capital, a demographic handoff reshaping land ownership, and how tech is altering both the economics and culture of agriculture. This isn’t about chasing yield. It’s about owning what endures. From almonds to avocados, tariffs to treasuries, and legacy to liquidity, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at an asset class rooted in necessity, and poised for relevance.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels on X:
@TopTradersLive

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.


TTU150: Scarcity, Security, and the Shift to Soil ft. Artem Milinchuk

Andrew Beer and Tom Wroble return to join Niels Kaastrup-Larsen for a timely examination of how trend following is adapting, and why some say it may be losing its edge. Tom unpacks new research showing a quiet drift toward slower models, raising the question of whether CTAs are evolving or converging. Andrew pushes back on the prevailing wisdom around diversification, suggesting that complexity often obscures cost rather than delivering true value. From shifting model speeds to the incentives shaping manager behavior, this is a conversation about what trend following is becoming... and what investors risk overlooking as some strategies grow more complex in pursuit of outperformance.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Andrew on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @andrewdbeer1

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI358: Why the Best Trend Models Might Be the Simplest Ones ft. Tom Wrobel & Andrew Beer

Steven Bell has seen the macro machine from every angle - Treasury insider, hedge fund manager, and chief economist. In this wide-ranging conversation with Alan Dunne, he traces the quiet erosion of economic orthodoxy and why AI, not tariffs, may prove the more destabilizing force. Bell explains how Fed independence is fraying, why wage dynamics matter more than headline inflation, and what investors miss when they over-index on models. With stories from trading floors and policy rooms alike, this episode captures a rare perspective: someone who’s watched markets evolve, not just from charts, but from inside the decisions that moved them.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @alanjdunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM85: What If the Real Risk Isn’t Recession — But Reinvention? ft. Steven Bell

Mark Rzepczynski joins Niels Kaastrup-Larsen for a conversation shaped by tension between surface calm and deeper dislocation. From copper’s sudden collapse to signs of stress in liquidity and leverage, they explore how market behavior is increasingly defined by fragility, not fundamentals. With Fed policy boxed in, equity optimism rising, and stablecoins quietly redrawing the contours of the monetary system, the challenge for investors isn’t prediction - it’s positioning. They also confront the limits of complexity in models and why, in uncertain regimes, the discipline of doing less may offer the most resilience. This is trend following in context.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Mark on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @MRzepczynski

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.


SI359: Trend Following in a World That Loves Bubbles ft. Mark Rzepczynski

What if our most trusted economic statistic is pointing us in the wrong direction? Diane Coyle joins Kevin Coldiron to explore why GDP - long treated as a proxy for progress - now obscures more than it reveals. As economies shift toward services, intangibles, and unpaid digital labor, much of today’s value creation falls outside the frame. Drawing on her new book, The Measure of Progress, Coyle makes the case for a new way of seeing - one that captures time, trust, and the real foundations of growth. The question isn’t how fast we’re moving. It’s whether we’re measuring the right road.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Kevin on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @kcold1

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

IL40: Why the Economy Feels Broken... Even When It’s Growing ft. Diane Coyle

When official data starts serving politics, markets lose their anchor. Alan Dunne and Niels examine the quiet shift unfolding as the U.S. edges closer to emerging market behavior - firing statisticians, sidelining inconvenient numbers, and pressuring the Fed ahead of a consequential leadership reshuffle. With labor supply falling, growth stalling, and tariffs acting as stealth taxes, the Fed’s playbook no longer fits the moment. Behind the scenes, hedge fund power brokers position themselves to shape what comes next. Plus, an unvarnished look at trend following’s drawdown, the lazy critiques making the rounds, and why so many allocators still miss the point.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @AlanJDunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

SI360: The Fed, the Fiction, and the Fight for Control ft. Alan Dunne

From the first futures in 1848 to today’s zero-day options, Cem Karsan, Mandy Xu, and Ed Tom chart how derivatives have moved from the market’s periphery to its center of gravity. At the core is Cboe’s new VIX decomposition tool, which disentangles moves driven by downside hedging, upside speculation, and shifts in the volatility surface. Through episodes like the yuan shock, Volmageddon, and 2024’s “Liberation Day,” they show how positioning can amplify or mute risk, and why vol sometimes rises into rallies. This is a guided tour of volatility’s inner workings, and how reading its structure can reveal the market’s next move before price does.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "The Many Flavors of Trend Following" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/book

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Cem on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @jam_croissant

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

UGO05: Volatility’s Blueprint: How Markets Really Move ft. Mandy Xu & Ed Tom

Richard Brennan joins Niels for a conversation that redefines how trend following is understood. Behind the shared language lie four distinct archetypes - each built around a different purpose. Richard walks through them with clarity, then unpacks the trade-offs: static sizing vs. vol targeting, symmetry vs. asymmetry, speed vs. patience. A real-world portfolio test drives the point home... some strategies don’t just prefer diversification, they depend on it. This episode is about design, but more than that, it’s about alignment. Because in a field crowded with performance metrics, the most important question often goes unasked: what exactly is this built to do?

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Richard on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @RichB118

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI361: The Four Faces of Trend Following ft. Richard Brennan

Louis-Vincent Gave returns with a blunt assessment of a global order fraying at key seams. Construction is stalling. Trade policy is adrift. Capital is retreating from the U.S. And yet, markets hum along... propped up by AI euphoria and the illusion of fiscal permanence. In this conversation with Alan Dunne, Louis questions whether investors grasp the shifting ground beneath their feet: from rising tariff walls to energy fragility, from the quiet restructuring of China’s financial system to the early signals of capital rotation into emerging markets. If this is a transition phase, most portfolios aren’t built for what comes next.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Alan on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @alanjdunne

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

GM86: Everyone’s Watching the Fed. The Real Story’s Somewhere Else. ft. Louis Vincent-Gave

Yoav Git and Alan Dunne sits down for a conversation that challenges familiar assumptions about curve trading, market structure, and the role of CTAs. They explore why dislocations across time horizons create pockets of alpha most models miss, and how breakout behavior in commodity spreads signals more than noise. Drawing on a recent Bank of England study, Yoav explains how different participants leave distinct footprints on the FX curve, and why CTAs, far from being passive allocators, can act as dynamic responders to changing regimes. This is systematic trading, without the shorthand.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels on Twitter and Yoav on LinkedIn:
@TopTradersLive & https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoavgit/

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes and Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

SI362: The Alpha Most Systems Miss ft. Yoav Git

Mike Azlen joins Moritz Seibert for a frank look at carbon markets, and why much of what passes for climate action may be making things worse. While offsets dominate headlines, it's the regulated markets that deliver real emissions cuts by design, not intention. They unpack how cap-and-trade channels profit into abatement, why moral hazard plagues the voluntary space, and where long-only investors can find a real risk premium. From structural inefficiencies to measurable impact, this is a conversation about aligning incentives with outcomes - in a market where price isn’t just a signal, but a lever.

IT's TRUE 👀 - most CIO's read 50+ books each year - get your copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate

And you can get a free copy of my latest book "Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio" here: www.toptradersunplugged.com/10-reasons-optin

Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com

Follow Niels & Moritz on Twitter:
@TopTradersLive & @MoritzSeibert

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon so more people can discover the podcast.

OI18: The Carbon Trade, Without the Illusion ft. Mike Azlen

“We're in an environment where we observe a real nice type of dispersion that we can capture through that multi-directional approach via the model.” - Jean Jacques Duhot.

TopTradersUnplugged.com/107

Top Traders Unplugged

107 The Bright Future of Trend Following with Jean Jacques Duhot of Arctic Blue Capital - 2of2

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen | Trend Following Expert | 10-Year+ Podcast with 10M+ Downloads | Talks about Alternative Investments, Hedge Funds, Global Macro, Geo-Politics, Commodities, Quant Investing, Crypto, and Volatility. Join the conversation!

TopTradersUnplugged.com

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