1 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to What Goes Up, a weekly markets podcast. 2 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: My name is Mike Reagan. I'm a senior editor at Bloomberg, 3 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: and I'm Danna Higher across Acid reporter at Bloomberg. And 4 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: this week on the show, well did you ever get 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: to New Year's Eve and wish you could go back 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: in time and place all the trades that turned out 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: to be the winners that year? We'll talk to a 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: Bloomberg columnist who moonlights as the manager of a hedge fund. Well, 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: and I lusory hedge fund is what we'll call it. 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: It's called Hindsight Capital, and his strategy is exactly that, 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about all the trades, all the wonderful 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: trades that he made this year. But first of all, Donna, 13 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, I was a columnist for a 14 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,639 Speaker 1: long time at Bloomberg, and I think every columnist dreams 15 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: of one day being a hedge fund manager as well. 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: And I actually wrote a column one time about an 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: imaginary edge fund that I made up to try to 18 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: explain all the goings on in the markets. And I 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: gotta say, my bosses looked at me like they thought 20 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: I needed a psychiatric evaluation. It didn't go over so well, yeah, 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: are you sure that's the only reason they thought that? Well, yeah, 22 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: it might, There might be others. It's a thick file. 23 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: It's a thick file. A couple others. But our guest 24 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: this week gets away with it somehow. So why don't 25 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: you tell us who's joining us this week? He does so. 26 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: Our guest is John Author's he's the senior editor with 27 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Markets and he's the chief investment officer of Hindsight Capital. John, 28 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. It's sitting sitting in London at 29 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: this moment, which is very very pleasantive now rather a 30 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: bit of a ghostly place with the pandemic again, Jed, 31 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: I was going through Hindsights Capitals trades of the Are 32 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: you guys knocked it out of the park once again? 33 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: What can I say? Hindsight is a very powerful investment strategy, 34 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: but I think my favorite is used cars. You got 35 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: into the used cars business. Tell us about that a 36 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: little bit, right, But this is this is obviously I 37 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: only have practical data on the on the trades that 38 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: have been placed in public markets. But in the run 39 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: up to the the New year was buy up every 40 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: fleet of rental cars, it could possibly lay its hands 41 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: on cornered whole lots of used cars. Uh. And as 42 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: we know, the great boom in inflation this year was 43 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: quite something most you know, the prices of rental cars 44 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: and of used cars went up far more than for 45 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: much of the year. That was one heck of an investment. 46 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: So I forgot to mention we also there was also 47 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: the chartering some Chinese container ships during the Pacific route. 48 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: There there there their rates at one point quadrupled. Really 49 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 1: thinking out outside the box there, John, You know, I 50 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: I gotta say, I've met a lot of hedge fund 51 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: managers who remind me of used car salesman. But this 52 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: has taken it to another level. Yeah, this is this 53 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: is but this is the kind of innovative way that 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: that you need to think these days because private markets 55 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: in general are so efficient these days, it's hard to 56 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: beat them, hard to make real money unless you're armed 57 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: with hindsight. Well, John, speaking of China, you just mentioned 58 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: some of the shipping boxes that we've seen basically all year. 59 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: Can you talk about what we saw with China? Because 60 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: I was working on a story about some of the 61 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: things that people would like to leave behind from and 62 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: one of them was just Chinese equities. One portfolio manager's 63 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: book with said I really wish to leave that behind. 64 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: So can you tell us what you what you found 65 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: with China. You could see for a number of years 66 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: that there there was a confluence of factors coming together. 67 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: One was that China, obviously last year really had a 68 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: very nice boomlet in equities because for a while China 69 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: was doing better than anybody else coming out of the pandemic, 70 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: appeared to exit the pandemic before any announce You also 71 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: had the fact that we have all been all been 72 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: very well aware of the credit problems built up or 73 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: China by the way it had over expanded to to 74 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: deal with the GFC back in two nine. There was 75 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: plainly a come upance coming for that. And by the 76 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: by the beginning of this year it was really clear 77 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: who c Jing Ping was, what his attitude to the 78 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: private sector was. This was the year when he finally 79 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: really clamped down on that the what is he saw 80 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: as the overmighty private sector. So there are a couple 81 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: of trades that hindsight put on First, obviously, there's no 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: money to be made in China on the on the 83 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: long side. But if you went along in the market 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: that is doing best out of the decline of China 85 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: as a big exporter, which is Vietnam, which that's what 86 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: I still think is the world's best named index, the 87 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: ho Chi Minh Index, very unsporting of the Chinese, not 88 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: to rename the Shanghai composite, the mout say Tongue Index. 89 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: But there you go, so long hotel in index. And 90 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: then the best way to really get bank in the 91 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: bucket of shorting China was through a d R s. 92 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: There was American investors who really got fed up with 93 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: Chinese equities. So if you short the Bank of New 94 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: York Chinese a d R index, put those two traces 95 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: together and you make a hundred and that's not bad. 96 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: Hundred thirty will take that as future investors of Hindsight Capital. John, 97 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: that's not bad. Yeah, I'm curious about China, John, Um, 98 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: you know, and maybe we'll have to wait till New 99 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: Year's Eve of next year to find out how Hindsight 100 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: played this. But yeah, there's this, Yes, there's the sense 101 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: that you know, she Jun Pink kind of ripped the 102 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: band aid off all at once. When it comes to regulation. 103 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: That got it all over with that the worst is 104 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: behind us, and now you can kind of it's maybe 105 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: safe to go back into the water in China a 106 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: little bit that you know, they're sort of turning the 107 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: other way and we'll sort of stabilize prop up the economy. 108 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: Is it. What do you think is a two yearly 109 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: to sort of reverse that trade? Well, it's too early 110 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: for hindsight to let you know about. I think. I 111 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: think what's most what's most concerning there is is what 112 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: happens with the property market. China has decided whatever happens, 113 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: China is not going to have its own GFC, its 114 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: own Lehman crisis, and so there is a determination to 115 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: mop up the real estate center, which has obviously been 116 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: very badly over extended. If necessary, China is going to 117 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: you know that that's going to involve losing some money, 118 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: some more money next year. It's involved losing a lots 119 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: of money this year, which was actually another hindsight trade. 120 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: In fact, if you this this is a classic of 121 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: seeing what is cheap, remembering that the biggest determinant of 122 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: how how any investment is going to do is how 123 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: cheaply you buy it. So they went along the Bloomberg 124 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: US Office Reat Index, which was seriously bombed out at 125 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: the end of last year, and shorten the Footsie Abbas 126 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: Chinese High Yield real Estate Index. And that made you 127 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: exactly which isn't bad in a year hindsight only deals 128 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: in triple digit returns that it seems like, well, unless 129 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: unless it's army is really twisted. It's it just it 130 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: prefers not to bother with anything that's that's only in 131 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: double digits. Just to stick with international markets. I know 132 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: you were looking at Turkey and the collapse of the 133 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: Turkish lira. I love reading stories about the lira because 134 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: there's always the clause that Turkey's president ur Twan has 135 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: this sort of counter to what you what regular economists 136 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: believe about interest rates, and what how cutting or raising 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: interest rates ties in with the economy. So can you 138 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: tell us what you found about the Turkish lira? Well, 139 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: he is indeed, in my day job of writing about 140 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: macro and cross assets and stuff, he is God's gift 141 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: to columnists because everybody else is having an argument about 142 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: when and how much to raise rates, and he is 143 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: the only person on the planet who actually seriously thinks 144 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: it's a good idea to cut them at this moment. 145 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: The currency market definitely doesn't agree. So you had a 146 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:52,079 Speaker 1: series of four rate cuts by Turkey for a while. Amazingly, 147 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: Turkish real rates, if you subtracted the rate of inflation 148 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: from there from the bank rut, were actually not as 149 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: as they were in the States. American rates are stunning 150 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: lee accommodative, stunning lee easy at present. But by the 151 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: end of the year they had managed to cut even 152 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: lower in real terms. And what Hindsight does every year 153 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 1: is that it moves its office. One of the greatest 154 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: deliverers of returns in markets is money illusion. To denominate 155 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: yourself in a weak currency, you're going to make yourself 156 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: look much better. So they moved to a standbol which 157 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: is I've only been there once. It's a wonderful city. 158 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: The S and P was up twenty four in dollar terms, 159 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: but in lera terms it was up two when I 160 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: last checked. Another brilliant trade. And I know you're dabbling 161 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: in your You're dabbling in the h the digital asset markets. 162 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: John Long Ethereum shortsilver. Is this as simple as it seems, 163 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: is crypto of the new precious metal for those worried 164 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: about inflation and money supply and everything else. Given the 165 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: kind of desperation, you could see that the you know, 166 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: the the techno bros, of the crypto bros, the excitement 167 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: that was brewing over meme stocks at the beginning of 168 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: the year, whether you know, the Hindsight's macro people haven't, 169 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: unfortunately told me whether whether the crypto crazy is here 170 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: to here to stay, But it was obvious that there 171 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: was a lot more juice to squeeze out of crypto. 172 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: And that's a lot of people really do see it 173 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: as a substitute for precious metals. You you can't actually 174 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: wear the necklace made out of ethereum or bitcoin, or 175 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,959 Speaker 1: you have a wedding ring made out of it. Still 176 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: people see it as some kind of a of a substitute. 177 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: So just to juice up the kind of money you 178 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: made in ethereum a little bit more, Hindsight financed it 179 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: by shorting silver, which is the world's which actually fell 180 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: quite a bit while the etherorum went up fifold. So 181 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: that the latest figure I have in front of me, 182 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,439 Speaker 1: which may well be out of date by the time 183 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,439 Speaker 1: we broadcast this, is that that that trade made six 184 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: shorting silver and putting it into a theory. Six. Hindsight 185 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: is a powerful investing strategy. It really the growth value 186 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: you know, you name it risk parity. None of these 187 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: strategies are going to do as well as hindsight period guaranteed. 188 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: So John, I know one big thing with cryptocurrencies this 189 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: year was their energy use. So I'm hoping you can 190 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: tell us about the clean energy sector and what you 191 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: found there. Okay, this this was fascinating. You had a 192 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 1: global economy that was still really being hit by all 193 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: the reverberations from the southern stop in the pandemic, particularly 194 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: in Europe. You also had the cross currents coming from 195 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin in the way that he was trying to 196 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: assert his country roll over Europe or assertin his power 197 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: by air by limiting supplies of natural gas. And there 198 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: is this discovery that it really was important to have 199 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: greater supplies of of traditional energy in stock while the 200 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: transition to newer, alternative, cleaner energy was underway. So the 201 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: one really successful trade was to go long natural gas features, 202 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: particularly gas natural gas features for the British and Netherlands markets, 203 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: while shorting the selective solar power index and index of 204 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: stocks that invest inlar power, which actually fell quite a 205 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: bit last year. The last time I checked that trade, 206 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: long natural gas short solar had made just slightly less 207 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: than seven for the year, which again is better than 208 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: a poke in the eye. The other big investment that 209 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: you could see coming a long way away was that 210 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,719 Speaker 1: oil was asked officially depressed by all the fallout there 211 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: had been among OPEC plus last year, and that there 212 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: were now supply problems as demand was for for oil 213 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: was beginning to take off. And the way you make 214 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,839 Speaker 1: a really good geared play on oil is through the 215 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: expiration section that the drillers. Meanwhile, clean energy as a whole, 216 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: people were so excited about it entering this year. Again 217 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: it was just a straightforward Benjamin Graham trade. Really just 218 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:46,199 Speaker 1: buy oiled it. There's long oil, expiration stocks, short b SMP, 219 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: global clean energy, and that trade made about a hundred 220 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: and thirty not bad, not bad, not one of the best, 221 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: but that's they they all count John, you know, almost 222 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: a sucker for a good old man movie reference. So 223 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: I was I caught my eye. The I'm not dead 224 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: yet Monty Python trade also notes the at least we 225 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: reopened a little bit trade talk to us a little 226 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: bit about that. One another good re trade for the year. 227 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 1: This this is one of this, This was one of 228 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: my one of my favorites. I'm not yet is equote 229 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: from Monty Placing and the Holy Rail. Yes, and I 230 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: regarded he is going past yelling bring out your dead 231 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: and one of the eat Yes that did really badly 232 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: this year. It was the ticker symbol empty, which was 233 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: which is the decline of the retail stock trade, a 234 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: decline of the retail brist and more retail, which was 235 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: designed to short the companies that you that you go 236 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: to your mall. But by the end of last year 237 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: that had been taken to an extreme. People were expecting 238 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: malls to be going bankrupt, left, right and center. Meanwhile, 239 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: there was a belief that internet entertainment was here forever 240 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: and people have got over excited. There was a classic 241 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: pandemic trade. So all you needed to do was bet 242 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: that we would at least that that there was at 243 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: least some life left in the old concept of the 244 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: retail mall and that we would at least reopen a bit. 245 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: So if you go along the Bloomberg Regional Mall reat 246 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: Index and short the s and p five under at 247 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: home Entertainment Index. When I last check, that had made 248 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirty three for the year. And at 249 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: the same time we had exactly what happening with our 250 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: US office property reets office property is it's another classic story. 251 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: Everybody desperately got out of office property reets last year 252 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: because but we all know why, we thought that everybody 253 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: was going to be working from home forever in a day. 254 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: It's still not clear exactly how much we are going 255 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: to a long term swards working from home, but it's 256 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: plain certainly we know Bloomberg there are a lot of 257 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: advantages still too to working in an office. So you know, 258 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: office routes are still not back to where they were 259 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: pre pandemic. But if you bought them at the beginning 260 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: of this year and coupled them with a short in 261 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: Chinese high yield real estate, which finally had its great 262 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: moment of destiny this year with the ever grand incident, 263 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: then that made just under one when I last checked. 264 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: There was money to be had, even in contrarians really need, 265 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: really can make a lot of money if you've got 266 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: the the interestinal fortune, fortitude to do it, or of course, 267 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: if you know the future that helps to Jed. I 268 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: was prized when I heard that Hindsight's portfolio managers were 269 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: not allowed to buy game Stop, I gotta wonder about 270 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: your chief risk officer. Did I assume you fired that 271 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: cheap chief risk officer over that? But talk to us 272 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: about that? Well, then basically this is just a standard 273 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: rule that if hind State is allowed to invest in 274 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: single stocks, then forget it that the kind of money 275 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: they're going to make is just infinite. So you know, 276 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: the regulator just won't let them play that. However, the 277 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: c I O DIDs want me to say it, even 278 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 1: though as we know, game Stop has come off a 279 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: lot down by more than from the top. How do 280 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: you bought James Stop on January one in lira and 281 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: held one Turkish lira would now be worth seventeen hundred 282 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 1: Turkish lira. So you know, there was a lot of 283 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:58,120 Speaker 1: real irritation about not being allowed to to dive into 284 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: game Stop. But there you go. And how happy were 285 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 1: you to not own Cathy Woods arc et F Can 286 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: you talk about that because that one was a big 287 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: name in but it hasn't done as well. No, not 288 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: necessarily because there's anything wrong with Cathy Wood strategy. It 289 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: was just there was something wrong with piling into her 290 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: her fund in the way that people did. It's a 291 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: classic issue that has long been there in the mutual 292 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: fund world as well. If lots of people give you 293 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: more money, you have to deploy that money somehow, and 294 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: generally speaking much harder for you to to make the 295 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: underlying portfolio work really well. There had been so much 296 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: of a excitement around Kathy Woods. The amount of Kathy 297 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,880 Speaker 1: would merch that was available at the end of last 298 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: year was just such an obvious scientist short arc. You 299 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: don't hindsights. Managers don't quite understand how people didn't didn't 300 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: get that, so all you needed to do. You know, 301 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,719 Speaker 1: it's like if the CEO has just opened a brand new, 302 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 1: gorgeous new headquarters, you short the stock. If if you 303 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: can get the c I O S face on a 304 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: T shirt, you probably don't want to be in that 305 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: funds just at the moment. So if you go long spy, 306 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: it's not the greatest trade. But if you go long spy, 307 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: just boring, straightforward, just go with the market. Short arc 308 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: sixty when I last checked, which is you know, respectable 309 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: small potatoes behindside capital. But it's again, it's a lot 310 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,439 Speaker 1: better than a boken the eye. Yeah. For the mirrormortal 311 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: uh fund managers who do not employ the power of 312 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: fine site that that's nothing. I thought when Cathy, when 313 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: the ARC site offered a backpack a bag, I thought 314 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: that was a signed to for the bag holders. You 315 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: know that that you don't want an ARC theme bag. 316 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: You could almost directly say you are going to be 317 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: left holding the bag one more. Before we get to 318 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: the craziest things of the errors. V Donna calls them 319 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: the weirdest thing, or is Down calls them the madest thing, 320 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: which might be my favorite pressures of pandemic life. Long 321 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: coffee short beer stacks. I usually go long beer post 322 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,359 Speaker 1: market and then long coffee in the pre market the 323 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: next morning. But talk to us about this trade. Uh. 324 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: This this is a trade that is quite something. Basically, 325 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 1: coffee is benefiting from supply chain problems. You have to 326 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: bring it in from all kinds of interesting, faraway places 327 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: and there is a lot of demand for it. Meanwhile, basically, 328 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: because drinking together is still not back in full swing, 329 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 1: people tend not to drink so much beer. They tend 330 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: to drink other things if they're not if they're not 331 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: socializing in big groups. So, given that things were not 332 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: getting back to normal as many had hope this year, 333 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: if you went long coffee futures and shorts s and 334 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,360 Speaker 1: P five hundred brewery sick to that made you an 335 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: amazing hundred and fifty. It was. It's an extraordinary thing. 336 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: But we we are all at this moment desperate for 337 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: caffeine and less desperate for alcohol. Very interesting, very it's 338 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: it all. It all plays out in the narrative of 339 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:23,359 Speaker 1: the year end letter. And if you haven't picked up 340 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: on it by now, hindsight capital exists basically only in 341 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: John's imagination and UH and in the year end and 342 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: the but real, the real thing is the year end 343 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,239 Speaker 1: Letter to Investors that we all look forward to UH 344 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: as one of John's final columns columns of the year, 345 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: and it's just a great way to recap the year. 346 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: John has been doing it for years, and some way 347 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: John will figure out to really employ hindsight in the 348 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: capital markets and then we can finally retire. I think 349 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: exactly exactly I'm looking forward to that. Tieden up your 350 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: straight jackets. It's time for the craziest things we saw 351 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: in markets this week. Well, Dona, let's get to those 352 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: crazy things. It was a crazy year, a lot of 353 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: mad things, weird things in the market. What's what's your 354 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,119 Speaker 1: pick for the craziest thing all year? Well, obviously it 355 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: has There's just so many things to choose from this. 356 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: I think the staying power of Game Stop investors, AMC investors, 357 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: and me still getting text messages from friends asking about 358 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: game Stop and all these other things, that really is. 359 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,639 Speaker 1: It's amazing. But I'm going to go with Facebook's name change. 360 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: So if you remember a couple of months ago, Facebook 361 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: changed its name to Meta. They're also in the process, 362 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: I believe, of changing their ticker, so there was some confusion, 363 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: even with investors putting some money towards an e t 364 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 1: F that had the metaverse ticker and and theme on it. 365 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: So I think that's one of the most strangest, weirdest, 366 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: maddest things that we've seen, just because everything that the 367 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: company has been going through, and we'll see how well 368 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: it sticks. I think even still in stories people say 369 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: Facebook parent Meta Yeah, so it's not really working yet 370 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: in Google parent alphabet. We we can't give up those 371 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,360 Speaker 1: all that is a good one. I'm gonna pile onto 372 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: your meme stock thing a little bit to me, John, 373 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: It's it's funny how often professional fund managers such as 374 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: yourself are compared to are compared to monkeys. You know, 375 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 1: it goes back to the Grandam Walk on Wall Street. 376 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: Bert Bert mart Peel, who I believe you correct me 377 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, was the first to say that, uh, 378 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: you know, a monkey throwing darts at a newspaper stock 379 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: listening page could probably equal the performance of um, your 380 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: average fund manager. Shure enough. This year, not so much monkeys, 381 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: but they're Simeon cousins. The apes really took over the markets. 382 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: You had the word Apiacht Club, you had the amc 383 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:00,200 Speaker 1: uh long crowd calling themselves the Ape Army, and that 384 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: that a bunch of other APE n f T projects. 385 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: So year of the Ape, I think Planet of the Apes, 386 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: and I wonder if it goes back to Bird's monkeys 387 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: throwing the darts. Maybe there's a connection there. I don't know. 388 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: But what's the beddest thing you saw this year? John? 389 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: I'll give you to one meme related and one non 390 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: meme related, and the meme related one is obviously the 391 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,959 Speaker 1: greatest meme stock of all is tes La. Obviously has 392 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: lots of wonderful things about it, but it does behave 393 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: like a meme stock. I think the fact that Elon 394 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: Musk has now become the world's richest man, when he 395 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time on Twitter advertising that he 396 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: was going to set up in a new university called 397 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: Texas Institute of Technology and Science, and he was really 398 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: looking forward to selling people the merch with that on 399 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: his shirt. The fact that somebody with a sense of 400 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: humor that's still stuck at the age of about twelve 401 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: can become the world's richest man, and that so many 402 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: people can follow him in such logical ways, such a 403 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: passionate way is mad, and it's my opinion it's truly mad. 404 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: And not only that, but also to start a Twitter 405 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: we're with you, know, Elizabeth Warren. Imagine if you know, 406 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: if if I told you a few years ago that 407 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: the richest man in the world would be fighting on 408 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: Twitter with one of the most powerful senators in the US, 409 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: I don't think anyone would believe it. I think it 410 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: sounds like something out of hindsight Capital's letter. But let's 411 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: figure out a way to play that trade. My final 412 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 1: other mad thing, which is instant with the benefit of 413 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: hindsights and does come with it with some frustration, is 414 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: that this year, I please doesn't always happen. But I 415 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: did get one really big macro coal really right, which 416 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,120 Speaker 1: is that if you can see that those right, januine pepparty. 417 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: I did think there was a very serious chance that 418 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: inflation was going to take off this year. Clever, clever me. 419 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: And therefore, of course, as I could see that inflation 420 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: was likely to take off, I therefore thought that bond 421 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: deals were going to shoot up through the they had 422 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: to do if inflation is gone. So I got the 423 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: macro call right and the market call. Even though I 424 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: got the Macro call right completely wrong. I would like 425 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: to think that was crazy. It's probably more something else. 426 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: But yeah, well I don't think you're the only one 427 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,160 Speaker 1: who got those those one thing right and the other 428 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: thing wrong. I was that was a tough one. I 429 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: think that was a pain trade for a lot of people, Yeah, 430 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: including me. But with that, what what a year? John 431 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: Author's privilege and a pleasure to have you come recap 432 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: the year for us and can't wait to see all 433 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: the great trades that hindsight places for two. Of course 434 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: we'll figure out what those are at the end of 435 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,360 Speaker 1: the naship. They're not that's not going to be known 436 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: until the end of next year. That hindsight always really 437 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: really let's see about not letting it not see anybody 438 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: know it's trades in real time with it all makes sense. 439 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: That all makes sense. Thank you John for joining us 440 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: What Goes Up. We'll be back next week until the 441 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: You can find us on the Bloomberg Terminal, website and 442 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: app or wherever you get your podcasts. We'd love it 443 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: if you took the time to rate and review the 444 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: show on Apple Podcasts so more listeners can find us. 445 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: And you can find us on Twitter, follow me at Reaganonymous. 446 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: The Dotta Hirich is that theill Dotta Hirich. You can 447 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: also follow Bloomberg Podcasts at podcast and Thank you to 448 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 1: Charlie Pelletta Bloomberg Radio. What Goes Up is produced by 449 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: Laura Carlson. The head of Bloomberg Podcast is Francesco Levy. 450 00:27:45,000 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. See you next time. U