Trends with Benefits #143: The Future Hard Asset Supercycle: Inflation, Credit & Geopolitics

Key Takeaways

• Stress in private credit and tertiary financials signals a potential 2007-style credit event.
• Commodities like copper and coal are outperforming as inflation, AI energy needs, and geopolitics drive demand.
• Market concentration in mega-cap tech and aging demographics is undermining the 60/40 model.

In this episode of Trends with Benefits, Ed Lopez sits down with Larry McDonald, Founder of the Bear Traps Report, to discuss the current state of financial markets. Larry dives into signals pointing to potential economic turbulence, from mounting consumer credit pressures to persistent inflation. He shares insights on the growing investor shift toward hard assets amid de-dollarization and global tensions and weighs in on how demographics are reshaping asset allocation. The conversation also touches on the future of AI, energy infrastructure, and the changing dynamics of passive investing, highlighting why reading market signals is more critical than ever.

Watch Video
The Future Hard Asset Supercycle: Inflation, Credit & Geopolitics

Show Notes:

01:21 Market Signals and Financial Health

10:27 The Impact of Globalization and De-dollarization

12:48 Hard Assets vs. Financial Assets

24:07 AI's Energy Needs and Infrastructure Challenges

31:16 Political Cycles and Energy Investments

39:27 Inflationary Pressures and Commodity Demand

46:12 The Future of Active Management in ETFs

50:00 Emerging Technologies and Commodity Trends

52:26 Trend or Fad

Trend or Fad

Listen for Larry’s take on Bitcoin in portfolios, living to 100, AI generated actors, and corporate sabbaticals for burnout recovery.

Follow Ed Lopez @thatEdLopez on X (Twitter).

You can listen and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.