Market Maker

AmplifyME
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The AmplifyME Market Maker Podcast makes finance fun and easy to understand. Hosted by LinkedIn Top Voice Anthony Cheung, alongside trader-turned-founder Piers Curran and former investment banker and entrepreneur Stephen Barnett, each week they break down the biggest market stories and trends shaping the global economy. Get real insight, build your commercial awareness and learn how markets really work, with top guests from leading banks, hedge funds and asset managers sharing their expertise, career journeys and advice.

  1. 3 days ago

    Investment Banking Interview Prep: The M&A Deals You Need to Know in 2026

    Application season is underway, and if you’re targeting investment banking, understanding what’s actually happening in M&A can give you a real advantage in interviews. In this episode, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down the huge resurgence in global dealmaking in 2026, why mega-deals are dominating, which sectors and banks are benefiting, and how interest rates, AI and valuations are shaping the outlook. Most importantly, we explain how to turn that knowledge into better interview answers: which deals to research, how to structure your response and how to demonstrate genuine commercial understanding rather than simply memorising headlines. (00:00) Investment Banking Interview Prep (01:48) The M&A Boom (04:47) Why Mega Deals Are Surging (10:52) What Drives M&A? (17:46) Merger Arbitrage (19:41) The Hottest Sectors (24:04) Which Banks Are Winning? (26:15) How to Target Your Applications (30:21) Stephen's Favourite Episode (33:26) Anthropic IPO Prediction (34:46) Impact of US Mid-Terms (41:23) Number One Advice

  2. 10 Sept

    Is Inflation Coming Back? Why Oil, Food Prices & Interest Rates Are Rising

    Oil is back above $100 a barrel, food prices are climbing and central banks are once again facing pressure to raise interest rates. Is the world heading towards a second wave of inflation? In this episode, Anthony Cheung and Piers Curran explain why the latest inflation threat goes far beyond the headline oil price. China is returning to the crude market just as conflict continues to disrupt global energy supplies, while refinery problems are pushing petrol and diesel prices even higher. At the same time, food commodities including wheat, rice, coffee, sugar and cocoa are rising as war, extreme weather and supply disruption hit global production. We look at how those higher costs eventually reach the supermarket checkout and why a £100 UK weekly shop from 2020 could soon cost around £150. Finally, we break down what this means for the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and other central banks, why bond yields are rising, and whether higher inflation could force interest rates to stay higher for longer. (00:00) Is Inflation Coming Back? (01:33) Why Oil Is Above $100 (05:57) The Trump Oil Problem (07:11) Petrol Prices Surge (12:43) How Oil Traders React (15:58) Food Inflation Returns (22:44) Why Food Prices Are Rising (23:59) Interest Rates Going Higher? (28:47) The Stagflation Risk (31:36) The £150 Weekly Shop

  3. 7 Sept

    Why Nvidia Just Paid $12.9 Billion for Hugging Face | The Business of AI

    Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, paying around 86x revenue for one of the most important platforms in open-source AI. In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down what Hugging Face actually does, why Nvidia wants it, and how the deal fits into Jensen Huang’s wider strategy to control more of the AI ecosystem. We look at Hugging Face’s journey from a failed chatbot to the “GitHub of AI”, why open-source AI is becoming increasingly important, and whether Nvidia’s growing influence should concern regulators and developers. We also look at the parallels with Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub and the extraordinary returns generated by some of Hugging Face’s earliest investors, including NBA star Kevin Durant. A deep dive into the strategy, valuation and economics behind one of the biggest AI deals of the year. (00:00) Nvidia Buys Hugging Face (08:23) Why Nvidia Moved Now (15:56) Who Made Billions? (18:59) What Is Hugging Face? (27:42) How Hugging Face Started (30:19) The $12.9bn Valuation (32:31) Nvidia’s AI Strategy (44:04) Kevin Durant’s 240x Return

  4. 4 Sept

    Can Governments Really Control Financial Markets? | FX Intervention Explained (JPY, CHF, USD)

    Can governments really control financial markets, or can they simply delay the inevitable? Japan has spent nearly $100 billion trying to support the yen, with the US taking the extraordinary step of joining the intervention. But despite the firepower, the forces driving the currency, interest rate differentials, the carry trade and Japan’s economic fundamentals, haven’t simply disappeared. In this episode, Anthony Cheung and Piers Curran explain how FX intervention actually works, why governments and central banks step into financial markets, and why intervention often treats the symptom rather than the underlying cause. We also revisit the extraordinary 2015 Swiss franc collapse, when the Swiss National Bank abandoned its currency floor and triggered one of the most dramatic moves in modern FX history, before looking at the US Treasury market and the attempts to bring rising long-term bond yields under control. From the Japanese yen to US Treasuries, this is a practical guide to what happens when governments decide to fight the market and why the market often has the final say. (00:00) Can Governments Control Markets? (07:26) Why the Yen Is So Weak (15:24) The Yen Carry Trade (17:59) The Intervention Explained (19:41) Symptom or Disease? (21:14) Japan’s $100bn Intervention (27:11) The Swiss Franc Collapse (41:10) The US Bond Market Problem (45:51) What Could Break Next? (52:49) What Happens Next?

  5. 31 Aug

    Stripe’s $7.5 Billion AI Bet: Why It Just Bought OpenRouter

    Stripe has just made one of the biggest AI acquisitions yet, buying OpenRouter for around $7.5 billion — a company that was valued at just $1.3 billion only months earlier. So what exactly is Stripe buying, and why has OpenRouter become so valuable so quickly? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down OpenRouter’s extraordinary rise, how its platform connects businesses to hundreds of different AI models, and why the economics of AI could increasingly favour the platforms routing intelligence rather than the companies building the models themselves. We also unpack the remarkable story of Stripe, founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison, which now processes payments equivalent to around 1.6% of the entire global economy. We explore how Stripe became a critical part of the internet’s financial infrastructure, and why its latest acquisitions point to much bigger ambitions across AI, payments and agentic commerce. From venture capital and AI valuations to network effects, business moats and the future of online commerce, this is the business behind Stripe’s $7.5 billion bet on the AI economy. (00:00) Stripe’s $7.5BN AI Bet (02:30) The OpenRouter Deal (05:01) From Startup to $7.5BN (09:29) How Venture Capital Works (11:13) What Is OpenRouter? (16:32) Building a Billion-Dollar Startup (22:21) What’s OpenRouter’s Moat? (28:19) Why Stripe Bought OpenRouter (33:20) The Rise of Agentic Commerce (37:12) The Story of Stripe (40:07) How Stripe Makes Money (44:35) Stripe’s Acquisition Strategy (47:13) Have We Reached Singularity?

  6. 24 Aug

    China’s Robot IPO Boom & India’s Biggest IPO Ever Explained

    The global IPO market is roaring back but some of the most interesting action isn’t happening on Wall Street. In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett take a whistle-stop tour of the global IPO boom, from China’s extraordinary robotics race and Hong Kong’s growing pipeline of AI listings to what could become the biggest IPO in India’s history. We break down why Chinese robotics companies are attracting huge investor demand, what embodied AI could mean for the next stage of the technology cycle, and why Hong Kong is emerging as an important fundraising hub for the sector. We then head to India to look at the planned listing of the National Stock Exchange, before exploring the surprisingly active IPO markets of Pakistan and Zambia. Finally, we return to the US to ask an important question: with so much investor capital being pulled towards mega AI and technology listings, are other companies being crowded out? A global look at where capital is flowing, why IPO activity is returning and what it tells us about the changing shape of markets. (00:00) The Global IPO Boom (03:48) IPOs Are Back (06:00) Careers in Equity Capital Markets (10:04) China’s Robot IPO Boom (11:36) The Unitree Robotics Story (18:36) China vs the US (22:15) Hong Kong’s Robot Gold Rush (27:27) India’s Biggest IPO Ever (30:36) Inside an IPO Roadshow (33:01) Pakistan’s Record IPO Year (36:12) Zambia’s IPO Boom (39:10) Why This US IPO Flopped (40:39) The Defence Tech Opportunity

  7. 20 Aug

    The Business of Boeing: How Did It Go So Wrong?

    Boeing is back in the spotlight following the release of Netflix’s new documentary Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing. But beyond the safety failures and scandals, there’s another important story: how does Boeing actually work as a business? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, we break down the economics behind one of the world’s most important companies. How does Boeing make money? Why can selling aircraft be loss-making while servicing them generates huge margins? Why is its $700bn+ order backlog so important? And how have Boeing and Airbus ended up controlling more than 90% of the commercial aircraft market? We also explore the decisions that changed Boeing: the McDonnell Douglas merger, the shift from engineering excellence towards shareholder returns, billions spent on share buybacks, the development of the 737 MAX and the financial consequences that followed. If the Netflix documentary tells the story of what happened at Boeing, this episode helps explain the business behind it and why the decisions made decades ago still matter today. (00:00) The Business of Boeing (01:32) How Boeing Became an Icon (05:29) How Boeing Makes Money (11:33) Boeing’s Hidden Profit Engine (16:06) The Accounting Behind Boeing (21:43) Boeing’s $55bn Debt Problem (26:24) Boeing vs Airbus (29:45) Can China Break the Duopoly? (33:16) When Boeing’s Culture Changed (38:18) The 737 MAX Disaster (41:52) Boeing After the Crisis (43:43) Boeing Today

  8. 17 Aug

    SpaceX’s 40% Rally Explained | Inside Apollo’s £5.7bn EasyJet Deal

    SpaceX shares have surged nearly 40% from their recent lows, despite fears that its unusual staggered lock-up structure would unleash a wave of selling. So what actually happened? Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down how IPO lock-ups work, why SpaceX’s tiny public float matters and how retail buying, index funds and a potential short squeeze helped drive the rebound. We also return to EasyJet following Apollo’s £5.7 billion takeover, unpacking the private equity financing behind the deal, before looking at Cambridge Aerospace — the two-year-old UK defence technology company now valued at more than $3 billion. A packed episode covering IPOs, private equity, debt financing, defence technology and some of the biggest stories moving markets. (00:00) What’s Coming Up (04:21) Why SpaceX Stock Surged (05:27) Staggered Lock-Ups Explained (12:36) Why Investors Bought the Dip (15:45) The SpaceX Short Squeeze (17:24) The Elon factor (21:10) The Success of Staggered Lock-Ups (23:12) Can SpaceX Justify Its Valuation? (24:55) Apollo’s £5.7bn EasyJet Deal (29:21) How Private Equity Funds a Takeover (36:37) Apollo’s Plan for EasyJet (40:00) The UK’s $3bn Defence Startup (44:53) Coming Next: Boeing Deep Dive

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The AmplifyME Market Maker Podcast makes finance fun and easy to understand. Hosted by LinkedIn Top Voice Anthony Cheung, alongside trader-turned-founder Piers Curran and former investment banker and entrepreneur Stephen Barnett, each week they break down the biggest market stories and trends shaping the global economy. Get real insight, build your commercial awareness and learn how markets really work, with top guests from leading banks, hedge funds and asset managers sharing their expertise, career journeys and advice.

Information

  • Creator
    AmplifyME
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    461
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © AmplifyME
  • Show Website
    Market Maker

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