Blog Posts

Rare earth metals are a group of 17 chemically similar elements that are critical to modern technology and industries.  Despite their name, they’re not truly “rare,” but their extraction and processing are complex, making them valuable and sometimes difficult to obtain.  This article goes into their properties, uses, and importance, along with the challenges they […]

Industrial metals power industries from construction to technology.  These commodities, extracted from the earth, refined, and traded globally, form the foundation of infrastructure, transportation, energy, and consumer goods.  Here we look at industrial metals, including their types, uses, market dynamics, and future trends.   Key Takeaways – Industrial Metals Global Demand Drivers – Industrial metals […]

Poker and financial markets have a number of similarities. Both require an understanding of risk and reward, and the ability to make decisions based on incomplete information (and often quickly and under pressure). You have a certain set of knowns (often small relative to the range of unknowns) and are looking for situations where you […]

Grains serve as a primary food source and a key input for livestock feed, biofuels, and industrial applications.  These soft commodities include wheat, corn, rice, barley, oats, and soybeans, among others.  Traders and investors in the grain markets have to take into account complex supply chains, weather volatility and climate events, as well as shifting […]

Soft commodities are the agricultural products that nourish and clothe populations globally, and represent a unique and often volatile segment of the commodities market. Unlike hard commodities, which are extracted from the earth, softs are grown, harvested, and influenced by a variety of natural factors. This connection to the rhythms of nature, coupled with their […]

Bond yield decomposition is an analytical framework for understanding the underlying forces driving changes in interest rates. Dissecting nominal yields into their constituent components, we can understand market expectations regarding economic growth, inflation, and risk premia. This analysis is important because these macroeconomic factors drive a significant amount of financial asset prices.   Key Takeaways […]

Ole Andreas Halvorsen has built Viking Global Investors into one of the world’s top hedge funds. Known for his low profile and precise strategies, Halvorsen and his firm manage approximately $48 billion, balancing between public equity investments and a significant private equity portfolio, a similar hybrid approach to other Tiger Cubs like Chase Coleman. With […]

Stephen Mandel is the founder of Lone Pine Capital, and is known for his exceptional analytical skills and impressive track record. Often hailed as the “best industry analyst” by peers like Seth Klarman, Mandel’s path from a retail analyst at Goldman Sachs and Tiger Management to a top-performing hedge fund manager is a function of […]

​​Julian Robertson’s influence on Chase Coleman laid the groundwork for Tiger Global’s distinctive hybrid financial strategies. Fusing traditional hedge fund techniques with venture capital agility, Coleman positioned Tiger Global to excel in identifying transformative companies. We look at Coleman’s early years, market philosophy, and the impact of Tiger Global’s approach on the industry. What can […]

Arbitrage, at its core, is the art of exploiting price differences for the same asset across different markets. Cash-futures basis arbitrage is a specific type of arbitrage that leverages the relationship between the cash (or spot) market and the futures market for a given underlying asset.   Key Takeaways – Cash-Futures Basis Arbitrage Understand the […]