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Animal Spirits: Wall Street Strikes Back

Animal Spirits: Wall Street Strikes Back

Michael Batnick
August 06, 2025

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This episode is sponsored by YCharts and Vanguard.

Learn more about Vanguard's strategies at: https://vgi.vg/3GbOsYM

See here for YCharts 2025 Halftime Report

On today’s show, we discuss:

Animal Spirits:

Animal Spirits Podcast

Investing Podcast · Updated Weekly · Animal Spirits is a show about markets, life, and investing. Join Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson as they talk about what they're reading, writing, listening to and watching. Look for new episodes eve…

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/animal-spirits-podcast/id1310192007

Tweets:

Private research & development spending has been declining for four out of the last five quarters. Not great.
— RenMac: Renaissance Macro Research (@RenMacLLC)
12:38 PM • Jul 30, 2025

Biggest $SPY volume day since April's Tariff Tantrum, $86b is good size freak out, double any other ETF or stock = people tweaking portfolios. Market felt due. Bad timing tho on a Fri, traders' stress prob build over wknd. On flip tho, long term who cares? VOO & Chill in effect.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas)
8:21 PM • Aug 1, 2025

Robinhood generated $265 million in Options Revenue this quarter.
That's a quarterly record for the online brokerage platform.
$HOOD
— Fiscal.ai (formerly FinChat) (@fiscal_ai)
8:55 PM • Jul 30, 2025

Two dif YieldMax ETFs in the Top 10 in 1D flows, never saw that before. Indie issuer on fire, +$12.5b in YTD flows (they only had like 4b aum to start yr) with 48 of their 50 ETFs taking in cash. This is all organic too. A bit surprised but then again ppl freakin love income.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas)
12:30 PM • Jul 31, 2025

Per the Financial Times chart below, US wage growth for the lowest-paid has now slumped below that for the highest-paid, widening the considerable inequalities in total pay and wealth.
#economy#inequality#wages@FT
— Mohamed A. El-Erian (@elerianm)
10:05 PM • Aug 3, 2025

Redfin: U.S. housing market now 508,715 more home sellers than homebuyers
That’s the most home sellers have outmatched homebuyers in over a decade, according to Redfin
— Lance Lambert (@NewsLambert)
4:08 AM • Aug 4, 2025

Me: sign up to buy 3000 $FIG shares on IPO
@RobinhoodApp: Here’s 1.
Pretty ridiculous
— Wiz (@nadavwiz)
2:18 PM • Jul 31, 2025

As predicted, FUBAR has been canceled after two seasons.
Why did it get canceled? Viewership fell 76% from seasons 1 to 2.
(more analysis: bit.ly/4lsX8Zr)
— What's on Netflix (@whatonnetflix)
4:27 PM • Aug 2, 2025