Fantasy vs Fundamentals: Seth Cogswell on Bubbles, Passive Flows, and What Breaks Next

In this episode of Lead-Lag Live, I sit down with Seth Cogswell, Managing Partner at Running Oak Capital, to unpack the strange market dynamic where low-quality, high-debt companies are outperforming — and why that may be setting up one of the biggest long-term buying opportunities in years. From zombie stocks to the passive investing paradox, Seth breaks down why common-sense investing has vanished from today’s markets — and how his “buy low, sell high” discipline at Running Oak is bringing it back. In this episode: – Why profitable, high-quality companies are lagging speculative names – What the “buying a Lexus for the price of a Camry” moment means for investors – How passive flows have hollowed out the core of the market – Why most portfolios no longer follow the buy-low, sell-high principle – The mission behind Seth’s new educational series Not So Passively Aggressive Lead-Lag Live brings you inside conversations with the financial thinkers who shape markets. Subscribe for interviews that go deeper than the noise. Sign up to The Lead-Lag Report on Substack and get 30% off the annual subscription today by visiting http://theleadlag.report/leadlaglive. Support the show