The latest episode of DH Unplugged, titled 'I Am the House,' arrives amid a turbulent week for markets, with the Dow dropping over 600 points and Treasury yields climbing. Hosts Andrew Horowitz and JC Dvorak focus on a controversial statement by Treasury Secretary Bessent, who boasted of having inside information on the Japanese yen. Horowitz, recounting the remarks, said: 'His way of putting this is, I have an edge. And he even said, because I have the information, I have the inside information about what Japan is doing, therefore when I say something, it's not going to be speculative. It's going to be absolute.' Dvorak placed the comment in historical context, arguing that since 2008, the government has increasingly behaved like the Roman Senate before Caesar, and the Trump era made the dynamic impossible to ignore.
The episode, available at dhunplugged.com, delves into the implications of Bessent's admission, which the hosts frame as a watershed moment revealing policymakers now play the market as 'the house.' They tie this to the 'dollar milkshake' conspiracy theory circulating online, suggesting that the dollar's strength is intentionally orchestrated to benefit insiders. The discussion comes ahead of a crucial CPI print on Friday, which many strategists call the ultimate credibility test for the Federal Reserve.
Beyond the political intrigue, the podcast examines several market-moving stories. The hosts note a dead-quiet Strait of Hormuz on AIS trackers, contrasting it with Goldman Sachs' $120 per barrel oil target, and discuss rising 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields against a $40 trillion debt backdrop. They also cover Meta's roughly $18 billion multi-state settlement over youth safety, NVIDIA's reported $13 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, which Dvorak called a week early, and Shein's downsized Hong Kong IPO.
Horowitz explains why his firm is buying only short-duration Treasuries, citing the crush of new issuance from Washington and from data center operators tapping capital markets globally. This ties into the strength seen in Bloom Energy, which was added to the S&P 500, and sympathy rallies in Oklo and SMR, as well as gains in Intel, AMD, and SK Hynix ahead of Broadcom earnings. The hosts also touch on Nike's exit from the S&P 500, Argentina beef imports, and a 162,000 payrolls print, among other topics.
The episode, which runs about an hour, is available via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music/Podcasts. It maintains the show's signature skeptical and unfiltered tone, offering listeners a deep dive into the week's most consequential stories and their potential impact on markets and policy.
