Re-run: Gappy Paleologo

In an episode from July, Katie and Matt talk with Gappy Paleologo of Balyasny Asset Management about gardening leave, what makes a good quant researcher, factor models, the social function of hedge funds, AI and journalists as portfolio managers.

Bat Tat: Labubu, OBDC, Frank

Katie and Matt discuss Batman, Labubu binary options, sneaker manipulation, publicly traded private credit, OBDC, OBDC II, private credit marks, Frank's email list, indemnification and cellulite butter.

Mouth Noises: 50y, ISS, HF

Katie and Matt discuss ASMR, 50-year mortgages, Fannie and Freddie, housing as a positional good, indentured servitude, assumable and/or portable mortgages, Matt’s mortgage rate, optimal exercise of prepayment options, proxy adviser competition, shareholder proposals, good governance, index fund vo…

Fat Wallet: Tariffs, Mergers, Brands

Katie and Matt discuss tariffs, skeptical questions, nondelegation, major questions, reimbursement, the Metsera deal, amylin targeting, Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal, alleged fraud at First Brands, factoring due diligence, the blockchain and short memories in the credit market.

Kinda Spooky: META, AI, TSLA

Katie and Matt discuss Halloween costumes, AI capital spending, hybrid financing, K-cup JVs, investment grade private credit, the metaverse (?!?), the OpenAI reorganization, OpenAI capital needs and governance, Elon Musk’s pay package, Tesla succession and getting cut off at the JPMorgan office pub.

Indoor Cat: JPM, AI, 777

Katie and Matt discuss JPMorgan’s new headquarters, in-office pubs, in-office gyms, the JPMorgan District, specialist fine-tuning of AI models, pls fix memes, crushing investment banking analysts’ hopes and dreams, the craft of building LBO models, credit cockroaches and indirect lending.

No Nap Rooms: Credit, Peace, 24X

Katie and Matt discuss late-cycle credit accidents, dancing while the music plays, banks vs. private credit, the Nobel Peace Prize, institutional-grade prediction markets, 23-hour-a-day stock trading, picking off drunks at 3 a.m., digesting news outside of market hours, windows of liquidity and the…

How the Snake Dies: ICE, AMD, ARKK

Katie and Matt discuss finance book parties, the ICE/Polymarket deal, understanding and pricing the future, the Grossman-Stiglitz paradox, prediction-market spillovers, sports quants, tokenization, the OpenAI/AMD deal, discounting the AI future, AI pricing power, Cathie Wood’s emotional maturity, t…

Loads of Vultures: Funds, Agents, Bets

Matt and Katie discuss multistrategy hedge funds, talent sieves, agents vs. headhunters, hedge fund managers' sense of their market value, agents for AI researchers, same-game parlays, sportsbook market structure and football betting ETFs.

This Is Weird: A Mailbag Episode

Matt and Katie discuss reader mail about tungsten cubes, monthly financial reporting, long-term levered ETFs, the shrinking public markets, betting on onion prices, betting on stock prices, limiting sharp bets, missing expectations and bonds being stupid.