Live from the FTWeekend Festival in London

SPEAKER_2 (0:06)

Pushkin.

Katie Martin (0:09)

First of all, for the avoidance of doubt, this is water. Just so that you know. So let me tell you what's gonna happen today. I'm Katie Martin, this is my associate, Rob Armstrong. Together, we are the Unhedged podcast. It goes out twice a week, and we try and talk about markets and finance and economics for normal people as well as for finance people. What's gonna happen today is we're gonna do a live recording, someone at the back has promised me that someone else is gonna press the buttons to make sure that it's all recorded beautifully, and it will very much sound different to how it normally does. Please laugh out loud at our jokes, even if they're not funny. So that's Rob's jokes.

Rob Armstrong (0:52)

Yes.

Katie Martin (0:52)

Yes. Cheer, laugh, don't worry if your dog starts barking. It's all good, we want it to sound different. I'll save a little bit of time at the end for questions, and then we'll do our usual long short, which Rob has not prepared for.

Rob Armstrong (1:11)

It's true.

Katie Martin (1:13)

But it's gonna be fine, planning is for wimps. So that's what's gonna happen. Like I say, please laugh at the appropriate time. So, ha ha ha. Good practice. Right, I'm gonna hope someone at the back has pressed the right button. Otherwise, we're screwed. Hello, everybody. And welcome to the Unhedged podcast live at the FT Weekend Festival in London.

This is fun. This is different. I'm Katie Martin. I'm a markets columnist at the FT. I've been let out of the basement at FT Towers to a marquee in the grounds of Kenwood House in London. This is not my normal part of town. I'm very much a fish out of water up here. But there are real humans in the audience, real humans. Say hello. Whoo! I'm joined, as usual, by Rob Armstrong, who has escaped from the oppressive regime of the USA to come back to civilization. Rob, how are you finding London?

Rob Armstrong (2:24)

I love it here. I lived here for five years. It's very good to be back. There is another tent over there called the Big Ideas Tent, and I'm a little hurt we're not in there. We're in the Little Ideas Tent.

Katie Martin (2:35)

With small ideas, small ideas convincingly made. So, Rob, when people talk to me about our podcast, they say a few things. They say, first of all, they're glad it's short, which I'm not quite sure how to take, to be honest. Secondly, they're surprised that we're not in the same room or that we can't really see each other. I can't see you at all.

Rob Armstrong (2:56)

No, you're in London, I'm in New York, and it's, yeah, just boats passing.

Katie Martin (3:00)

Yeah, exactly. But the other thing that people say is that we seem to really get along.

Rob Armstrong (3:07)

Yes, which is an illusion we've worked very hard to create.

Katie Martin (3:11)

The reality is that we cannot stand each other, but we are obliged for contractual reasons to be here today and make a podcast recording. So let's just make the most of it.

Rob Armstrong (3:22)

Grit your teeth, Martin.

Katie Martin (3:25)

So we're talking about beyond the taco trade. What's next for investors? Rob, first of all, the taco trade is your single greatest contribution.

Rob Armstrong (3:36)

That was my 15 minutes of fame. We're on like minute 36 here, so I haven't been famous for another 15 minutes.

Katie Martin (3:43)

Stretch this out for people who were lucky enough to miss this whole phenom. Tell us about the taco trade.

Rob Armstrong (3:49)

The taco trade, taco stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. And this was an idea that I developed just to have a shorthand in the column for the fact that particularly early in this presidency, Trump would make a big, noisy announcement and there would be gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair. And then he would essentially say, just kidding. And everything would go back to normal and markets would plunge. Then he would say, just kidding. And they would come roaring back. And this pattern recurred so much that I needed a shorthand way to refer to it. And this phrase, taco, broke containment, got out of the lab, escaped to Wall Street and from Wall Street to White House press conferences and so forth.

Katie Martin (4:31)

Yes. So it's like TikTok and stuff.

Rob Armstrong (4:34)

Yeah.

Katie Martin (4:34)

There was all of a sudden people were making songs about the taco trade.

Rob Armstrong (4:38)

Yeah. This was all like both gratifying and embarrassing. But what what I get now is trolls calling up saying, well, who's making jokes now?