Joel, Eric and Athanasios Psarofagis crack open the mailbag to answer some listener questions about ETFs.

Joel, Eric and Athanasios Psarofagis crack open the mailbag to answer some listener questions about ETFs.

Money goes where it’s treated best. That simple truth is a big reason why more and more money (trillions, in fact) flows into a powerful, low-cost tool that’s quietly transformed investing. Exchange-traded funds let you invest in everything from the stock market to gold like never before. This biweekly podcast will demystify them—and hopefully delight you in the process.

Money goes where it&rsquo;s treated best. That simple truth is a big reason why more and more money (trillions, in fact) flows into a powerful, low-cost tool that&rsquo;s quietly transformed investing. Exchange-traded funds let you invest in everything from the stock market to gold like never before. This biweekly podcast will demystify them&mdash;and hopefully delight you in the process.

Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas demystify the world of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.

Trillions

The 2025 ETF Mailbag

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/afd17638-de8d-4536-b044-b318002bd76c/transcript

As the US and Israel's attack of Iran has reminded the world, oil remains as integral as ever to the global economy. But the ETFs for investing in crude come with some caveats—and are a big reason why Bloomberg Intelligence introduced its traffic-light system.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart, an ETF analyst, and Vincent Piazza, a senior energy analyst. They discuss Piazza's "delay, disruption and destruction" outlook; how the United States Oil Fund (USO) came back from the dead; and what to know about other noteworthy energy ETFs such as XLE, CRAK and even BWET.

As the US and Israel's attack of Iran has reminded the world, oil remains as integral as ever to the global economy. But the ETFs for investing in crude come with some caveats&mdash;and are a big reason why Bloomberg Intelligence introduced its traffic-light system.
On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart, an ETF analyst, and Vincent Piazza, a senior energy analyst. They discuss Piazza's "delay, disruption and destruction" outlook; how the United States Oil Fund (USO) came back from the dead; and what to know about other noteworthy energy ETFs such as XLE, CRAK and even BWET.

The Complexity of the Oil Trade

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/915df537-c86c-4280-b56d-b40a00fe3f41/transcript

The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM) is having a moment. Launched seven years ago as a way to filter out autocratic emerging market countries and invest more in ones that have more freedom, it took a while to get going but it hasn't recently caught fire with a five year return of over 100%, which is 5x better than the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and even more than the Nasdaq 100.

On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric speak with Perth Tolle, founder at Life + Liberty Indexes and the creator of FRDM, about the ETF's methodology, her experience growing up in China, how her life has changed with all the recent success and comparing and contrasting the US' freedom score with other developed countries.

The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM) is having a moment. Launched seven years ago as a way to filter out autocratic emerging market countries and invest more in ones that have more freedom, it took a while to get going but it hasn't recently caught fire with a five year return of over 100%, which is 5x better than the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and even more than the Nasdaq 100.
On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric speak with Perth Tolle, founder at Life + Liberty Indexes and the creator of FRDM, about the ETF's methodology, her experience growing up in China, how her life has changed with all the recent success and comparing and contrasting the US' freedom score with other developed countries.

Freedom Has Paid Off For this Indie ETF 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/cc40fe8b-697b-4fc9-b11a-b3fb016a5e6d/transcript

Gold and silver exchange-traded funds just experienced eye-popping trading volumes, with sharp price swings that drew in speculators chasing the momentum. The frenzy has cooled a bit, but the underlying forces haven’t disappeared. So what’s really behind the surge in precious metals—and is this just a tactical trade, or something more durable?

On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with John Ciampaglia, chief executive of Sprott Asset Management, which manages gold, silver and uranium ETFs among other metals strategies. They discuss the debasement trade, what else is fueling gold’s rally, how gold compares with Bitcoin, what’s driving moves in silver and other metals and how Sprott’s uranium miners ETF generated a 450% return over the past six years.

Gold and silver exchange-traded funds just experienced eye-popping trading volumes, with sharp price swings that drew in speculators chasing the momentum. The frenzy has cooled a bit, but the underlying forces haven&rsquo;t disappeared. So what&rsquo;s really behind the surge in precious metals&mdash;and is this just a tactical trade, or something more durable?
On this episode of&nbsp;Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with John Ciampaglia, chief executive of Sprott Asset Management, which manages gold, silver and uranium ETFs among other metals strategies. They discuss the debasement trade, what else is fueling gold&rsquo;s rally, how gold compares with Bitcoin, what&rsquo;s driving moves in silver and other metals and how Sprott&rsquo;s uranium miners ETF generated a 450% return over the past six years.

Metal Mania

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/eee642df-2b33-4e6c-851c-b3ee01560e7f/transcript

The 2025 ETF Mailbag

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