This month on Last Call, Kevin Muir, Aahan Menon, Ben Hunt and Brent Kochuba break down the market through four lenses: macro, inflation data, narrative and options positioning. They examine whether midterm election volatility is underpriced, why inflation may be more demand-driven and persistent than headline data suggests, how the Fed's credibility has shifted under Kevin Warsh, and why options markets still look remarkably complacent.

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Topics covered

Why ending Fed forward guidance could create more uncertainty around interest rate decisions
Kevin Muir's case that midterm election volatility is unusually cheap
Why seasonal volatility, low implied correlation and election risk may favor owning protection
Aahan Menon on inflation breadth and why 70 to 80 percent of PCE components are above the Fed's 2 percent target
Why demand-driven inflation may be stickier than supply-driven inflation
How oil shocks can feed into core inflation and increase pressure on the Fed to hike
Ben Hunt on the sudden collapse in the Fed credibility narrative and why gold has responded
The four risks facing the Fed and Treasury: oil, fading fiscal stimulus, insurance and private credit stress, and the long end of the Treasury curve
Brent Kochuba on why implied volatility and put positioning show a market with very little fear
Nvidia options positioning, potential resistance near 250 to 275, and what dealer gamma says about the stock
Stanley Druckenmiller's AI-written Wall Street Journal op-ed and what AI-assisted writing means for investment thinking

Timestamps

00:00 Midterms, inflation, Fed credibility and options complacency

07:45 Kevin Muir on why midterm volatility may be underpriced

11:55 Why this midterm could be more volatile than the options market expects

16:36 Cheap volatility and how election risk could get repriced

20:39 Inflation breadth and why the headline numbers miss the bigger problem

25:43 Why cooling inflation data may hide persistent demand-driven pressure

33:31 Ben Hunt on why the Fed credibility narrative suddenly reversed

40:01 Four risks the Fed and Treasury cannot afford to ignore

44:43 What the options market says after Jackson Hole

49:10 Why Fed events can become an expensive options tax

53:14 Why falling volatility could help stocks push toward new highs

57:34 Druckenmiller, AI-written investment commentary and authenticity

01:01:53 Why writing is part of thinking in an AI world

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No information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

Sticky Inflation. Cheap Volatility. A Less Predictable Fed. Why Aren’t Markets More Worried?

Excess Returns

Sticky Inflation. Cheap Volatility. A Less Predictable Fed. Why Aren’t Markets More Worried?