Gold, Market Flows, AI & the Next Investing Regime | Protect the Pile Episode 24

On this episode of Protect the Pile, R. Patrick Kent, Sam Rahman, Brooks Cutright and their guest Jerry Jordan unpack a market increasingly driven by flows, leverage, momentum and corporate buybacks—and what that means for investors trying to separate underlying fundamentals from price action. They discuss the hidden weakness beneath top-heavy indices, record valuations and margins, and the danger of putting peak multiples on peak earnings.The group also debates the outlook for energy and commodities, inflation, Treasury intervention and a weaker U.S. dollar before diving into the economics of the AI boom: hyperscaler CapEx, Anthropic and OpenAI, model commoditization, and whether the enormous investment cycle can generate sustainable returns.Finally, Jerry lays out the contrarian theme he believes the market is still underpricing: hard assets. His central call is that continued dollar weakness and eventual policy support for the bond market could create an environment where gold outperforms the stock market over the next three to five years.Timecode Markers00:00 – Introducing Jerry Jordan05:17 – Why Market Flows Matter More Than Ever10:01 – “Price Is 99 of 100 Factors”13:24 – The Hidden Carnage Beneath a Top-Heavy Market16:05 – When Cutting Equity Exposure Makes Sense20:02 – The Danger of Peak Multiples on Peak Earnings21:54 – The Bull Case for Energy & Commodities25:49 – A Different Way to Think About Inflation27:49 – Treasury Intervention, the Dollar & Hard Assets29:44 – Could AI Economics Prick the Equity Bubble?31:19 – The Bull Case for Anthropic & AI Profitability35:02 – Is AI Becoming a Utility Business?37:48 – Why AI Models Could Become Commodities45:59 – What the Market Is Mispricing47:03 – Why Gold Could Outperform Stocks50:30 – What Breaks With a 7% 10-Year Yield?51:30 – Private Equity, Insurance & Hidden Systemic RiskGet an investing edge on the enormous amount of money flowing into options every day, what they’re signaling, and the structural and behavioral trends driving markets higher or lower. The Market Situation Report™ includes access to a daily newsletter and weekly webcast featuring analysis of the Tier 1 Alpha team's proprietary models. CLICK HERE to check out our product page. Turn off that tired “Old Wall” TV and tune into The Macro Show, Hedgeye’s live daily broadcast featuring key market and economic insights, investing implications and interactive viewer Q&A. See for yourself why more and more investors in the U.S. and abroad have made this “must-see” market TV. We are live online every weekday morning at 9:00am ET. CLICK HERE to check out our product page.