Markets Unscripted

Markets Unscripted

2 Traders, 1 Goal - Honest Conversations Markets Unscripted brings together two traders who approach the same world from opposite sides — and still end up finding truth in the same place. Each episode cuts through noise, narrative, and prediction to uncover what’s actually moving markets — the behaviour, psychology, and structure underneath price.

  1. 19 hr ago

    Decades in the Markets: What Separates Great Traders From Everyone Else | PaxTrader

    What do you do when your experience tells you the market could be topping—but prices keep moving higher?Veteran futures trader Matt “Pax” Kenah joins Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro for a candid episode of Markets Unscripted about the gap between what you believe and what you actually trade.Pax explains why this market reminds him of the dot-com era—and why he’ll still buy if his process gives him the signal. Jason challenges the idea that the market is broadly resilient, while Matt discusses why stalled breakouts in leading stocks have made him more defensive.Then the conversation gets personal: making money, giving it back, the danger of ego, and why being consumed by trading can hurt both your account and your life.In this episode:• Is strength in a handful of stocks masking weakness elsewhere?• Why Pax trades his process rather than his market opinion.• When to increase size, pull back, or sit in cash.• Why Pax adds to winning trades and cuts losing ones quickly.• How early trading success can create the habits behind later losses.• The difficult transition from the trading pits to screens.• Pax’s approach to bonds, price levels, and managing risk.Three different approaches. A shared emphasis on process, discipline, and knowing when to step aside.Explore the hosts and guest:Matt Caruso — https://www.carusoinsights.comJason Shapiro — https://www.crowdedmarketreport.comMatt “Pax” Kenah — https://thepaxgroup.orgPax on X — https://x.com/paxtrader777Subscribe for more Markets Unscripted conversations.

    Decades in the Markets: What Separates Great Traders From Everyone Else | PaxTrader
  2. 28 Sept

    Matt's Long AI. Jason’s Short the Dow. Both Are Making Money.

    Matt is long leading AI stocks. Jason is short the Dow. Both trades are working. How can that happen in the same market?In this episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro examine the divide between a small group of strong stocks and weakness across much of the broader market. They discuss rising bond yields, stubborn oil prices, and why Jason is growing wary of the widespread claim that stocks are “resilient.”Matt looks back at the late 1990s, when weak market breadth appeared well before the technology rally ended. He also shares what he is watching in AI-related stocks. Jason explains why he remains short the Dow and what he would need to see before considering a long trade in the Russell 2000.They may hold opposite positions, but both return to the same lesson: follow your process, manage risk, and let the market confirm your view.Learn more about Matt: https://www.carusoinsights.com/Learn more about Jason: https://www.crowdedmarketreport.com/Subscribe to Markets Unscripted for more conversations with Matt and Jason. What are you seeing right now: strength that can spread, or a rally getting too narrow?00:00 A resilient market with weakness underneath00:58 Bonds, yields, and the stock market disconnect01:50 Why the resilience consensus worries Jason08:52 The trap of repeatedly buying the bond dip12:41 The Russell 2000 signal Jason is watching14:29 Is the whole market resilient—or just AI?15:50 What the late 1990s can teach us25:03 Why weak breadth isn’t a timing signal27:10 Long leading stocks, short the Dow33:33 The danger of trusting one indicator38:11 Conflicting signals and knowing when to wait40:26 Missing big trends: Tesla, Apple, and investor bias45:05 Risk management and letting the market confirm47:11 What Matt and Jason are watching next

    Matt's Long AI. Jason’s Short the Dow. Both Are Making Money.
  3. 21 Sept

    Bad News, Bearish Sentiment… and a Market Breaking Out

    Join Matt’s FREE live AMA tomorrow, Tuesday! Bring your stock and trading questions. Register here:https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1917900177069/WN_jeYuoQGdTxGh-N4_4Hbfaw Can’t attend live? Register to receive the recording.Connect with the hosts:• Matt Caruso — Caruso Insights• Jason Shapiro — Crowded Market ReportThe bears got the headlines they wanted. Stocks rallied anyway.In this episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro break down a market that keeps absorbing bad news—and explain why the reaction can tell you more than the headline itself.Matt highlights strength across AI hardware, cybersecurity, software, and healthcare, while Jason explains why crowded positioning alone isn’t enough to make a contrarian trade. They also debate whether bonds need to recover for stocks to keep climbing, challenge the AI bubble narrative, and discuss the evidence they want before increasing exposure.Plus: why following the tape means being willing to change your mind, why a bullish outlook doesn’t justify going all in, and how to build a trading process you can stick with through months of frustrating price action.In this episode:• The bond market debate: positioning, sentiment, and confirmation• What the semiconductor rebound says about bad-news failure• AI leadership beyond hardware• Bearish sentiment near market highs• Matt’s up/down volume and high-yield bond indicators• Position sizing, risk management, and staying flexible• Building a trading process that fits your lifeSubscribe to Markets Unscripted for weekly conversations with Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro.00:00 Stocks rally as bad news fails to break the market01:59 Jason’s bond warning: crowded positioning isn’t enough04:32 The three ingredients of a contrarian trade06:04 Semiconductors rebound after the AI scare07:39 Matt’s approach to finding relative strength09:23 Do higher interest rates threaten the AI trade?11:14 AI funding, regulation, and the IPO narrative14:07 Why Jason challenges the AI bubble comparison17:49 AI leadership expands beyond hardware21:49 How traders think about participating in bubbles24:02 Bearish sentiment near market highs25:31 Matt’s indicators: volume and high-yield bonds29:00 Why this breakout may look different from April’s rally32:00 Following the tape without going all in36:02 Compounding, drawdowns, and thinking beyond one trade39:18 Lessons from trading through uncertainty40:29 Predictions, confirmation bias, and financial media42:47 Accepting uncertainty and managing risk44:25 Building a process that fits your life45:54 Closing thoughts

    Bad News, Bearish Sentiment… and a Market Breaking Out
  4. 14 Sept

    Oil Above $100. Yields at 5%. Stocks Won’t Break.

    Oil is above $100. The 10-year yield has touched 5%. Rate hikes are being priced in, and new concerns are building around the future of AI.On paper, it looks like the perfect environment for stocks to break down—but the market continues to hold near its highs.In this episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro examine what the market’s resilience may be telling investors. They discuss whether a Fed rate hike could unexpectedly become a bullish catalyst, why trading the headlines can be so dangerous, and what the market’s reaction to bad news reveals beneath the surface.They also explore the motives behind calls to slow AI development, the enormous capital still flowing into the industry, and why returning to the market with leveraged call options could be a classic case of revenge trading.In this episode:Why the market refuses to break despite mounting risksWhether a rate hike could actually help stocks and bondsWhat oil above $100 and the 10-year yield at 5% meanWhy the reaction to news matters more than the headlineThe contradiction inside the latest AI warningsThe hidden risks of leverage and optionsWhy discipline and process ultimately separate successful tradersFollow Matt Caruso and Caruso Insights:https://www.carusoinsights.comFollow Jason Shapiro and Crowded Market Report:https://crowdedmarketreport.comThis content is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.

    Oil Above $100. Yields at 5%. Stocks Won’t Break.
  5. 8 Sept

    Market’s Most Important Turning Point of 2026?

    The market has spent months stuck in neutral—but beneath the surface, something may be changing.Bond yields remain one of the biggest pressures facing stocks, particularly the AI companies spending heavily to build out infrastructure. Yet several former market leaders are beginning to show strength again, even while the major indexes remain below their recent highs.In this episode, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro examine what could finally move the market out of its sideways range—and why the reaction to the next inflation report may matter far more than the number itself.They discuss:• The signal that would show stocks are beginning to look beyond inflation• Why a market that refuses to fall on bad news deserves attention• Renewed strength across AI, semiconductor, power and infrastructure stocks• How to separate a temporary squeeze from the start of a sustainable move• Why betting on the end of the financial system has historically been a losing strategy• Crowded positioning in bonds, wheat, corn, cotton and other agricultural markets• What weakness in defense stocks may already be signaling• Why patience is essential when markets are trapped in a sideways environmentThe goal is not to predict CPI, interest rates or the Federal Reserve’s next decision. It is to watch how the market responds—and wait for the evidence before increasing risk.Learn more from Matt Caruso:https://www.carusoinsights.comRead Jason Shapiro’s Crowded Market Report:https://www.crowdedmarketreport.comThis content is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.

    Market’s Most Important Turning Point of 2026?
  6. 31 Aug

    Stocks, Bonds & the Dollar Are ALL Falling — Only Bitcoin Is Left

    The S&P is 2% off all-time highs — so why are Meta, Oracle, Broadcom, Micron and most of the AI leaders ALREADY in bear markets?Matt Caruso and Jason break down what's really going on beneath a "calm" market: a bond market under pressure in every major country at once, credit spreads priced for perfection, a Treasury Secretary who suddenly won't stay off TV, and a tape that's telling you exactly when NOT to press. Plus a rare COT flip in the NASDAQ, the El Niño trades (sugar, cotton, corn) getting dangerously crowded, why Bitcoin is the only thing working, and what Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole message means for the Fed.⏱ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Late-summer chop — markets biased to the downside02:49 The crowded 30-year bond trade (why COT alone isn't enough)05:00 It's global: Japan, Germany, UK, Canada yields all breaking out06:26 AI capex is now DEBT-fueled — why bonds ARE the AI trade09:29 "It'll make '08 look like a day in the park"11:42 Is Bessent panicking? The election-year parallel to 200813:15 High beta must lead — and the leaders are in bear markets15:06 Bitcoin: the only thing rallying15:35 Market internals: highs vs. lows show a stalled, defensive tape21:15 The blown-up hedge fund's stocks — 25% now at new lows24:36 The Barron's cover says "keep dancing" (contrarian alarm?)26:33 Fading El Niño: sugar, cotton & corn getting crowded31:02 Rare COT flip in the NASDAQ — specs are buying the dip33:33 NVIDIA's $650B revenue path vs. an awful tape35:56 IPO froth returns: Anthropic, OpenAI & bubble signs37:48 The 2000 playbook: indices at highs while leaders crash40:10 Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole: humility returns to the Fed44:31 Bottom line: it all comes down to the bond marketIf you got value from this, do the algo thing — hit LIKE and SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss next week's episode.This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.#stockmarket #bondmarket #aistocks #investing #trading #bitcoin

    Stocks, Bonds & the Dollar Are ALL Falling — Only Bitcoin Is Left

About

2 Traders, 1 Goal - Honest Conversations Markets Unscripted brings together two traders who approach the same world from opposite sides — and still end up finding truth in the same place. Each episode cuts through noise, narrative, and prediction to uncover what’s actually moving markets — the behaviour, psychology, and structure underneath price.

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