Claim OwnershipSKEPTIC’S GUIDE TO INVESTING
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© 2026 SKEPTIC’S GUIDE TO INVESTING
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Straight Talk for All, Nonsense for None
About - Our podcast looks to help improve investing IQ. We share 15-30 minutes on finance, market and investment ideas. We bring experience and empathy to the complex process of financial wellness. Every journey is unique, so we look for ways our insights can help listeners. Also, we want to have fun😎
Your Hosts - Meet Steve Davenport, CFA and Clem Miller, CFA as they discus the latest in news, markets and investments. They each bring over 25 years in the investment industry to their discussions. Steve brings a domestic stock and quantitative emphasis, Clem has a more fundamental and international perspective. They hope to bring experience, honesty and humility to these podcasts. There are a lot of acronyms and financial terms which confuse more than they help. There are many entertainers versus analysts promoting get rich quick ideas. Let’s cut through the nonsense with straight talk!
Disclaimer - These podcasts are not intended as investment advice. Individuals please consult your own investment, tax and legal advisors. They provide these insights for educational purposes only.
127 Episodes
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Please text and tell us what you like We dig into why talk of controlling Greenland jolts markets, how NATO and EU cohesion factor into risk, and why mineral and oil narratives run headlong into cost and time. We weigh realistic outcomes—from free association to sovereign base rights—and what they mean for European equities, oil, and defense plays. • NATO and EU cohesion risk shaping market sentiment • Russia’s hybrid tactics raising European vulnerability • Arctic minerals and hydrocarbons ...
Please text and tell us what you like What if the retirement “crisis” isn’t universal—and the real squeeze is in the middle? We sit down with Robert Powell (aka “Mr. Retirement”) to unpack who’s truly at risk and how to build a plan that survives markets and real life. We start with simple, strong foundations for early savers—why target date funds work when life is straightforward—and when to graduate to a personalized allocation that accounts for human capital, taxable assets, and Social Sec...
Please text and tell us what you like We unpack the fight over Fed independence, the DOJ subpoena, and why politics is pushing into central banking while markets pretend not to care. Then we tie Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran risk back to rates, sectors, and the case for cash, gold, and selective equities. • DOJ subpoena and Powell’s rare response as signals of pressure on the Fed • Supreme Court decision on Cook’s tenure and implications for Board control • Markets’ mixed message: equities ...
Please text and tell us what you like We weigh the lure of Venezuelan oil against hard realities: weak legal protections, heavy crude economics, and tangled geopolitics with Cuba, Russia, and China. The takeaway is prudence—favor diversified proxies over direct country risk and let facts, not headlines, drive allocation. • investment case framed around rule of law and contract security • heavy oil cost structure versus current WTI and breakevens • prospects for subsidies or military support ...
Please text and tell us what you like We unpack why Venezuela became the target, how “narco-terrorism” frames public consent, and why oil, sanctions, and heavy crude realities complicate every simple story. We weigh competing motives, from regional dominance to distraction at home, and set up part two on investability. • origins and misuse of the term narco-terrorism • Venezuela as transit hub rather than producer • law enforcement pretext versus military reality • sanctions, heavy oil, and ...
Please text and tell us what you like We question whether AI hype has outrun fundamentals while mapping a practical plan to stay invested. We dig into energy limits, data center pushback, circular demand, debt signals, selective stock picking, and tax-smart ways to lock in gains. • froth signals across AI leaders and suppliers • circular demand and debt-funded capex risks • grid and energy constraints shaping data center buildouts • local approvals, community impact, and siting choices • sel...
Please text and tell us what you like Markets don’t fear tariffs because they’re ideological. They fear tariffs because they’re unpredictable, blunt, and expensive at the point where businesses actually pay: the border. We dig into 2025’s tariff surge, why the legal footing always looked shaky, and how the market learned to translate political slogans into real cash costs for U.S. importers and consumers. We start by untangling a common mistake: treating trade deficits like federal budget ga...
Please text and tell us what you like Headlines promised breakthroughs; markets priced stalemates. We step onto the so‑called international merry-go-round and examine how Ukraine, Gaza, and Taiwan shaped 2025’s volatility—then we connect the dots to where risk and return may actually meet in 2026. Rather than reheating talking points, we look at what moved capital: elusive ceasefires, frayed Middle East ties, and a supply chain reality where rare earths and energy intensity dictate who has le...
Please text and tell us what you like Power peaks when attention outpaces achievement. That’s the lens we bring to a brisk year-end audit of 2025, asking whether the “big beautiful bill,” tariff bursts, and a flurry of executive actions represented durable progress or a loud crest without foundation. We weigh health optics, the slowdown in rallies, and how those signals affected confidence among GOP insiders, donors, and primary challengers. When allies start testing distance and new contende...
Please text and tell us what you like Markets don’t move on speeches alone; they move on credibility. We take you inside a fast-moving 2025 where Jerome Powell faced political heat, weighed softening labor data, and used Jackson Hole to set a disciplined path toward rate cuts without surrendering the Fed’s independence. From there, we chart the trade-offs every investor cares about: do cuts cushion a slowdown or risk re-igniting inflation that’s still biting in housing, food, and utilities? ...
Please text and tell us what you like We pull apart the hype around Russia–US talks, question the assumption that business deals can buy peace, and map what a credible ceasefire and security guarantee would require. We also test oil-price myths and outline where investors might actually find durable opportunity in Europe. • why freezing current lines needs real deterrence behind it • how expropriation risk turns investments into leverage • lessons from Nord Stream on dependence and policy • ...
Please text and tell us what you like We trace Jooliana’s path from a childhood lesson about money and opportunity to a career helping advisors grow, exit well, and serve families with integrity. Along the way we unpack long-term investing, women-led leadership, client succession, and how to reach the next generation with clarity. • Money as opportunity and motivation • Choosing finance to translate complex ideas • AI, crypto and disciplined long-term strategy • Why 60-40 still works for man...
Please text and tell us what you like Gratitude can be a powerful investing edge. We open with what matters most—health, family, and the gift of time—and show how a calmer life widens the gap between impulse and action. That space lets us think in seasons, not seconds: read more deeply, travel for perspective, and build portfolios that can withstand surprise. From there, we pivot to the markets we’re thankful for, spotlighting a technology arc that’s reshaping the real economy. Custom chips, ...
Please text and tell us what you like Markets don’t break because of a single headline—they bend under the weight of what we choose to trust. We dig into where confidence belongs right now, from focused bets on innovation to the steady ballast of cash and gold. Along the way, we spotlight an underrated growth engine: America’s university system, where research, endowments, and relentless training keep producing the people and ideas that power AI, advanced chips, health tech, and the next wave...
Please text and tell us what you like A courtroom showdown over tariffs just forced the biggest question in trade policy: who gets to tax Americans in the name of national interest? We sat down to parse a marathon Supreme Court argument and why the Justices sounded skeptical of using emergency powers as a back door for sweeping tariffs. From first principles to practical fallout, we translate the legal jargon into plain English and outline what it could mean for markets, supply chains, and th...
Please text and tell us what you like We unpack what Mamdani's win signals for New York’s markets and whether capitalism is shifting toward protectionism and cronyism rather than socialism. We weigh crime, taxes, housing, and transit funding against ratings risk, capital mobility, and the city’s tech-and-finance future. • election results as the context for market sentiment • is capitalism evolving or declining in practice • Mamdani's platform and business community reaction • crime and poli...
Please text and tell us what you like A surprise rate cut without fresh data sounds bold on the surface, but the real story lives in the yield curve the Fed doesn’t control. We unpack why trimming the short end won’t guarantee cheaper mortgages or easier financing, how long-term yields respond to inflation expectations and Treasury supply, and where tariff rulings at the Supreme Court could tilt the outlook. Rather than chasing a tidy headline—“rates down, stocks up”—we map the messy mechanic...
Please text and tell us what you like Five trillion is a headline; the harder story is what comes next. We dig into NVIDIA’s historic market cap, the AI hardware and software flywheel behind it, and the reality that scale turns leaders into targets. From Blackwell-class GPUs to ecosystem partnerships like Palantir, we map how compute, tooling, and customers reinforce each other—and where fragility hides when growth expectations run ahead of execution. We get candid about market structure. Li...
Please text and tell us what you like If the world’s most powerful magnets can move turbines and EVs, what might happen when their supply chain starts to seize up? We take you inside the rare earths story—why these elements are abundant in the ground yet scarce in your portfolio—and connect the dots to AI infrastructure, defense systems, and the global energy transition. We break down China’s processing dominance and the environmental trade-offs that shaped it, then look at how non-Chinese s...
Please text and tell us what you like We unpack gold’s surge, why central banks—especially China—are buying, and how to balance conviction with risk. We share how we trimmed, built a cash buffer, and considered collars to cut downside while staying in the trade. • Central bank demand as a structural tailwind • China’s reserve ambitions and gold accumulation • Dollar and U.S. policy risk shaping safe‑haven flows • Rate cuts, inflation hedges, and market plateau • Trimming exposure after parab...
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