Truthful Hyperbole Meets Trench Warfare

August 3, 2026 | Season 8 | Episode 24

A market can look calm right up until it doesn’t, and this week’s setup shows why. We start with the big drivers that hit all at once: the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady, a bond market that reacts to credibility as much as data, and a fresh wave of headlines out of Iran that immediately changes the tone for oil, stocks, and risk appetite. If you follow geopolitics and markets, the Strait of Hormuz and the path of crude prices are not abstract. They are inputs into inflation expectations, Treasury yields, and equity multiples.

Then we zoom out to something most investors don’t spend enough time on: the psychology behind leadership. I walk through how Winston Churchill’s early combat and war-correspondent years built a risk tolerance and communication style that later shaped real decisions, and how Donald Trump’s New York City tabloid era taught him to treat media attention as leverage. The takeaway is practical: if you want to anticipate how policy is messaged and how pressure is handled, you study the blueprint, not just the latest headline.

From there, we get tactical on what moved markets: the rare US and Bank of Japan currency intervention that jolts USD/JPY and flows directly into the Treasury market, plus the AI trade unwind that shows how leverage and margin calls can force liquidation even when a thesis is directionally right. We also break down big tech earnings from Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple to separate AI capital expenditures from real AI monetization. Finally, we close with a second major investing theme gaining speed: GLP-1 obesity drugs and why the next wave, including oral pills, could reshape healthcare and markets.

If this helps you think more clearly about risk, rates, tech earnings, and the narratives that move prices, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

** For informational and educational purposes only, not intended as investment advice. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Fast Market Setup

Alan Eppers 0:00

And now introducing Mr. Keith Lanton.

Keith Lanton 0:03

Good morning. Today is Monday, August 3rd. We made it to August. The full month behind us. In the midst of summer of 2026. Historically, summer has been perceived as a slow time, but I can attest this morning that we have a lot to discuss. There's a tremendous amount going on, so we got a lot of ground to cover this morning. , we're gonna be discussing the Federal Reserve, keeping interest unchanged last week, the market reaction to the Fed and what they had to say. We also are gonna talk about big tech earnings. Last week we got earnings on Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. So we'll discuss some of the implications and takeaways from what we heard from from those companies. And this morning we are getting significant intervention from the U.S. and the Bank of Japan and the currency markets, , and we'll talk about that. And of course, every week we have a discussion with what's taking place in the Middle East and what's going on with Iran. And we see this morning once again, , as we see on several different weekends in the last few weeks, that there is some optimism, and hopefully that'll carry forward into actual action with respect to whether or not there was some sort of agreement that is in agre in alignment with U.S. and Israeli and our Middle Eastern partners' interests and whether or not we can come to a resolution and decision, especially with respect to the Iranian nuclear stockpile, as President said obviously that is a key critical to have a nuclear weapon at this. So we've got a lot to unpack this morning. Last week was a super vol volatile week. We had a hedge fund, mini I would call it a blow-up, um, perhaps more than mini, but at the end of the day, there was some liquidity for the remaining positions, , and that was one of the driving factors behind market last week, and arguably what situational awareness was doing, perhaps causing some of the euphoria and froth preceding last week. So we'll also delve into that and try and understand how some of these forces can influence markets and hopefully make us all more intelligent, wiser, better investors. And when we

The Investor Edge In Backstories

Keith Lanton 2:18

talk about becoming better investors, we're gonna start out this morning before we dive into all of the different news and events that have taken place over the last several weeks. We're gonna talk about taking a look at our leaders and taking a look at if you want to predict where a market or a leader is heading, you can't just take a look at the current events, the current quarterly reports. As we've talked about before, you have to go backwards, you have to look at yesterday's blueprint. And as investors, our ultimate edge doesn't come from reacting to real-time headlines. Everybody sees those at the exact same time. It comes from understanding the psychology of the people that created them. And to decode how leaders handle risk, leverage, and narrative under pressure, you have to understand the crucibles that forged them. So we're gonna take two leaders. One, our current president Donald Trump, who decades before he was in the Oval Office, his playground was the cutthroat world of 1970's Manhattan real estate. It's where he learned to wield the media as a weapon, using the high-stakes New York City tabloid culture to build a brand out of leverage and seek dominance in terms of public attention. And then if we take a look at another leader who preceded President Trump by about a hundred years, about a century earlier, that was Winston Churchill, who created his playbook in two distinct firestorms. One on the battlefield and two in the press. Churchill, as a young cavalry officer, rode into direct combat in Cuba, India, and the Sudan. He developed a tolerance for risk and command and control instinct under fire, served him well as World War II emerged. He also worked as a war correspondent. Again, here we go again is a you know similarity between him and President Trump. As a war correspondent, he mastered using his literary craft, using the power of the pen, so a different way, but nonetheless being able to be able to you know stroke the narrative that was important to him to write his own myth, to shake, shape public sentiment, and to help him finance his political ambition. So we have two men, two vastly different eras, two totally different media and risk playbooks, but both were both of these men were forged, were created, their their methods were set up way before the world was watching. So today we're gonna break down how analyzing the formative histories of leaders, past, present, and future gives investors a deep psychological edge that financial models often miss.

Churchill’s Risk And Narrative Machine

Keith Lanton 4:52

So let's go back to Winston Churchill going back almost a century. And in 1940, he famously wrote, I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been put had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial, is what he said when he became prime minister. His past life was shaped by two careers, an army officer on the front lines and a war correspondent from conf conflict zones. So these experiences created his strategic mindset, helped him become a master of communication, and helped create the distinct leadership style that he was as a wartime prime minister in Great Britain. Now, Winston Churchill graduated from the Royal Ministry College in 1894, and he saw combat, as we said, in India and Sudan, and in the Second Boer War. During World War I, he personally commanded a batil a battalion, the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scott Fusiliers in the trenches on the Western Front. So unlike many career politicians who viewed war in the abstract, high level terms, Churchill understood terrain, he understood logistics, he understood tactics, he understood troop morale firsthand. So when he became fine minister, he took the unprecedented step of appointing himself Minister of Defense, giving him direct oversight of the British Chief of Staff. Having witnessed and experienced the stagnant trench of trench warfare in World War I, Churchill was obsessed with tactical mobility. He was an early proponent of the tank because the tank was the greatest weapon to avoid trenches going forward, the tank being developed as a result of the trench warfare in World War I. He championed radar because he understood how critically important it was. He championed amphibious landing craft, he championed specialized military technology, and because he possessed real military experience, he challenged his generals, he challenged his commanders, he distrusted pure military consensus, he questioned troop deployments, he questioned strategic plans. Now let's take a look at that journalistic experience. Before entering politics for full time, Churchill was a celebrity war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and the Morning Post, and he was captured in an armored train ambush during the Boer War, and he made a dramatic escape across enemy territory, which helped him become a household name in the United Kingdom. So journalism taught Churchill how to capture an audience, how to condense complex situations into compelling narratives, how to write with urgency. He used language as an operational weapon to sustain civilian and allied morale during the darkest days of the Blitz. So having worked in the media, he understood how headlines were made, similar to President Trump, and how information could be leveraged. In the 1930s, he used newspaper columns to warn the public about the threat of Nazi rearmament, the dangers of appeasement policy. When he became prime minister, he knew how to manage press censorship, shape news coverage, maintain close working relationships with the press. His newsroom habits followed him to the prime ministership to 10 Downing Street. Churchill was famous for demanding short, punchy, brief memos. He wanted everything summarized on one sheet of paper so that it was simple and it could be condensed down to something that the public could understand. His instincts made him intolerant of bureaucratic waffle and forced his war cabinet to focus focus on actual intelligence.

Trump’s Tabloid Era Playbook

Keith Lanton 8:21

Now if we move to the current situation with the President Trump as our commander in chief, and in the White House, if we take a look at his history, well long before entering national politics, President Trump mastered the art of media in the ruthless ecosystem of New York City tabloids in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. While conventional public figures were afraid of the press, Trump recognized that in New York City, attention and visibility equaled leverage. He came to understand that bad press was significantly better than no press. His time navigating the New York Post, the Daily News, page six gossip columns, local broadcast TV served as his media laboratory where he refined techniques that later defined his political playbook. While most Manhattan real estate tycoons hid behind public relations firms, Trump himself made himself extremely accessible to reporters, columnists, and editors. When he wanted to plant a story without attaching his name or spin his financial and personal standings, he used pseudonyms, posing as his own spurks spokesperson. He talked about this in his book Art of the Deal. He would call journalists to brag about his business deals, high-profile romantic pursuits, and general status. He created an illusion of overwhelming demand and glamour around his personal brand. In 1990, during his high-profile divorce from Ivana Trump and Public Affair with Marla Maples, Trump broke the standard public relations rule of laying low. He leaned into the spectacle. When the New York Post ran its famous and also famously embellished cover quote, which was Best Sex I've Ever Had, Trump used this sensationalism to cement himself as a larger-than-life tabloid king character. So he leaned into the sensationalism that he didn't necessarily create, but he used it strategically. He learned that the public enjoy drama, that salacious personal coverage could keep his name on page one for weeks at a time, and he learned that if he could control what was on page one, and he focused on the salacious salaciousness, that it would eclipse his business setbacks like his Atlantic City casino bankruptcy. So in 1987, in his book Art of the Deal, Trump coined the term truthful hyperbole, explaining people want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. In the New York City press he mastered the use of superlatives. Every building project, you've seen this probably now today as president, was the most luxurious in the world. Every delay was ahead of schedule. Every financial setback was a brilliant deal. By constantly repeating extreme assertions, he forced journalists to react to his framing of reality as opposed to setting their own. Even when reporters sought to debunk his claims, they had to quote his claims first, ensuring his narrative dominated the headline. So President Trump learned that generalists run on tight deadlines, have a constant hunger for fresh content. So what he did was he made their job easier. He provided quick, colorful, aggressive quotes on pretty much any topic, real estate, city politics, celebrity gossip, thereby guaranteeing himself a permanent spot in the news cycle. And he learned that if a story started to turn against him, he would immediately introduce a fresh distraction or launch a sharp counterattack to reset the media focus. This strategy of constantly overwhelming the news cycle with new plot lines became a cornerstone of his later political style. So by going backwards, we can look forwards. Alright, so let's look forward to what's taken place this morning. This morning,

Iran Headlines Lift Risk Appetite

Keith Lanton 11:58

news from Iran that President Trump is calling off his planned attacks, as he said that Saudi Prime Minister had reached out to him and sought restraint. The Iranians wanted restraint as well. Iran in a Reuters article saying that no contact with President Trump. But nevertheless, headlines this morning are on the optimistic side that we are once again working deal in the Middle East, and oil prices are reflecting that. Oil down this morning five cents a barrel or about six and a half percent lower. We're seeing strength in Dow futures in particular, up over one percent over to 81 points. SP futures are up about half a percent, NASDAQ futures are up about 40.5% enthusiasm currently in the NASDAQ, seeing more the Dow. So stocks coming off a mostly higher volatile week, strong earnings from Microsoft and Amazon, which helped reignite some enthusiasm around the AI build-out cycle. This week we will see a sizable chunk of SP companies reporting earnings, including several large chipmaker names along with SpaceX. On the data front, we will get the final SP Global Manufacturing PMI at 9.45 a.m. this morning, followed by June construction spending and July Manufacturing Index coming out at 10 a.m. Some individual companies in the news this morning. AstraZeneca, symbol AZN, is down about seven points or a little over four percent, and reports that they are in discussions combined with Bristol Myers, which is up about three points or five percent that coming out of the Financial Times. So markets , at least from AstraZeneca, the acquirer's standpoint, not enthused with this acquisitional discussion to continue. Alibaba, symbol BABA, is moving higher this morning. They used a new AI model according to Bloomberg, that stock up about percent. Marriott was out with earnings this morning. they beat expectations by 11 cents, but missed on revenues and third quarter earnings per share below consensus, but said fiscal 2000 above consensus for the year above for the next below stock voting there, investors voting to the downsides down about percent. Taking a look at the overseas markets, the Korean Cospi, which is taking the mantle as the most volatile market region with SK Heinox and Samsung index, that market down five percent, but that was on the heels of some big game Friday. The Nikkei is down about one percent. We'll talk about what's going on in Japan and then the currency market, the Hong Kong market down, I'm sorry, up a half a percent, the Shanghai in China down about a percent. Speaking

Earnings And Data That Matter

Keith Lanton 14:47

of that Japanese intervention, U.S. Treasury confirmed that it took point part in a joint intervention in the foreign market with Ministry of Finance, and Treasury Secretary Besson called for increasing the size of the facility that would conduct that, and we'll talk about the implications in a bit. Major European markets trading mostly higher with the one market there, market where Britain AstraZeneca and weakness in that stock, Bristol Myers, the German DAX, the strongest of the European percent. President Trump saying that we have just been asked by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack, and the perimeters of a deal have been agreed to. He said this would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Strait and Hormuz and an end to the Iran nuclear threat. But react warning at this time. Iran says it's close to reaching a deal with Oman to manage shipping through the Straits of Hormuz. That deal is critical to prevent the U.S.-Iran war times. CBS News saying the U.S. is investigating if Iran was responsible for a cyber gun water system in seven states. Politico talking about the implications of a salacious in Ohio. The senator there talking about his son-in-law, who is a Republican congressman in Ohio as well, saying that his son-in-law Max Miller should not serve, and that's following abuse allegations. Close house race in an area that leans Republican, so with the senator coming out opposed to his son-in-law taking another term, this could influence the outcome of that race. political pundits will be watching carefully for months. The Wall Street German journal Wall Street Journal saying that the Fed chair Kevin Walsh has floated the idea of having fewer Fed meetings, but say topic of discussion, not a formal proposal. New York Fed President John Williams said that he expects inflation will decline, but the Fed will act if not decline. The Senate this week will vote on a continuing resolution to extend government funding from September 30th, December 11th. The Senate will also vote on a bill this week that allows President to impose up to Russian energy. And there are reports this morning that attorney acting attorney General Todd Blanche has given writtenness to Senator the anti-week terminated that according to Politico, and that it is yet to be determined if this and alone will put the senator forward. Tillis and Cornyn that nominate this concession gets moving forward. So far, 60% of SP five companies have reported results, 90% have beat earnings per share estimates, three-quarters surpassed revenue expectations. This week we have a plethora of earnings reports out. , Palantir announces earnings today, AMD, , Caterpillar, McDonald's, Merck, and SpaceX tomorrow, CVS, Eli Lilly, Sandisk, Uber, Walt Disney, West Digital on Wednesday, , Thursday sees AirB and Bo Phillips with earnings, not to name a few this week. Um, I mentioned later today we will supply management releasing its manufacturing and services purchase index in July. For manufacturing, we're looking at 53.9 reading while for service, we're expecting 54.5. Markets will be very focused on the jobs report on Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases that report. Economists forecast an 83,000 increase in non-farm payrolls after a 57,000 gain in June. Unemployment rate expected to hold steady at 4.2%. Fed chair Kevin Warsh last week described the labor market solid and steady. So one of

Why The US Joined Yen Support

Keith Lanton 18:15

the big events this morning is the intervention in the currency markets, and this is significant impact in dollar yen. we're seeing the yen now trading at about 157 the dollar, as the yen is appreciating against the dollar. And this is having a significant impact in the bond market, what in the stock market? We are seeing the 10-year down about eight basis points, 4.67, the 30-year treasury six base to 5.1. And why is that the case? Well, this is perhaps one of the big incentives on why the USB intervened in the currency markets along with Japan, is because the Japanese are largest single holder of US Treasury. A lot of folks think Chinese, but in fact it is the Japanese that own the most, and the Japanese have been trying to thwart the decline in their currency. And in order to do that, they have to buy their currency. In order to buy their currency, they have to sell another currency. So that currency is the reserve currency, which is to sell dollars. What are their dollars invested in? Well, their dollars are invested in U.S. treasuries, so they need to sell treasuries. One of the factors behind some of the weakness of treasuries and the pickup in interest rates is the Japanese sellers of treasuries in order to buy their currency. So by having the U.S. help them, and early reports are that the U.S. is helping them not by helping them with selling dollars, but the U.S. is selling their euro reserves to help prop up the Japanese currency. So U.S. participation potentially changes the game in terms of market psychology. If you are a trader and you expect that the Japan decline against the dollar, you're willing to suffer some short-term pain with the action that you'll have more gain. , but when you have the U.S. join in alongside the Japanese, that bet becomes a little bit less comfortable. So this action warning shot across the bow to some speculators, with the US and Japan taking the unusual step of acting in the country markets together in order to stop the decline of Japan. And the Japanese, of course, have an incentive to stop the decline in there because it causes inflation at home. So at this time, if you is weak, well, your imports become more expensive. And that's something that the Prime Minister is starting to grapple with as the Japanese inflation for the time and her approval rating is starting to waver as goods start to creep higher. And of course, the U.S. has its own incentives to try and stop the increase of bonds here, 30-year treasury at its highest at 2007. So we are inserted effort, and this is significant to an ion.

AI Trade Unwind And Leverage Lessons

Keith Lanton 20:44

Last week, very volatile market, very volatile in the markets. we we saw the SP up about 1%. This was the Dow and the NASDAQ. We had three significant factors playing into the market action next week. We had those tech earnings we'll talk about, we had the Fed, we'll talk about that, and of course we had in the Middle East. So, in addition to the big four tech companies reporting last week, the calendar also included second quarter domestic gross domestic product, June personal consumption expenditures price index, and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. And on schedule, not part of the calendar last week, there was a meltdown of the artificial intelligence trade as highly leveraged bull positions were liquidated. The iShare semiconductor ETF was down 12% over three days, and one of the most successful AI investors, hedge fund situational awareness, saw margin calls and forced sales, and at the end of the day, basically liquidation, no longer hedge fund. But on Wednesday afternoon the skies cleared. A couple of events met up. One was that Citadel Ken Griffin had agreed to purchase the remaining positions from Situation awareness for somewhere in the range of eight to ten billion dollars. This $45 billion sometime a few weeks ago, if not beginning of last week. And then we also started to get some of the earnings that we saw last week giving the market some comfort.

Big Tech Earnings And AI Spending

Keith Lanton 22:14

So the latest earnings that we saw, large public clouds like Amazon and Microsoft Azure takeaways were that they were on fire. Their results confirmed the success from Google Cloud, which reported results a week ago. So all three cloud segments easily beat expectations for revenue and even more crucially for operating margin. Clear message this earnings season is that there is real profit to be had from all of the capital expenditures. These companies have been marring their pristine balance sheets and cash flows, but their income statements are now seeing a clear benefit. The company saying that the capital expenditures will continue at least through the end of this year. Google and Amazon raised their 2026 capital expenditures guidance while Microsoft held their steady. Some it's rewarded with a second increase, Microsoft share price, largely as a result of the fact it's steady. These three companies, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft, will spend about $600 billion on AI data, and they are hint next year. And as nice as Microsoft's cloud quarter was, its best results may have come in business software. In the latest quarter, Microsoft business software segment beat expectations for both sales and operating margins, and that defied out there who are expecting some weakness. Also encouraging was the sign that the Microsoft's flagship AI Software through Pilot is finally starting to gain traction after a slow start. Some say it's a common pattern for Microsoft products. Company first revealed paid user data six months ago, and markets were underwhelmed by finding out that there were 15 out of 450 in Microsoft, 365 subscriptions in Copilot. The latest number is still small, but it has doubled to 30 million. Alone among the big AI spenders that does not have a cloud unit to directly monetize all of its data centers was the one of the Mag 7 stocks that was not a strong performer last week, and that was Meta. In its earnings call, Meta said that their capital expenditures will be up to about $145 billion. The street was not happy with Meta's continued increase in spending on capital expenditure, especially as they saw that the effects of all that capital taking place over the last few years have added up to mounting depreciation in AI research expenses, and that has sent Meta's profit margins to the downside. So without a clear path of monetizing those CapEx expenditures, seeing the pain there at Meta, the street wants to see Meta perhaps set up a cloud segment and sell some computing capacity. Meta has indicated that at the moment they need all that capacity. So at the moment, unless there's some sort of pivot or some sort of change of heart with respect to Meta's strategy, the street is questioning Meta's and Mark Zuckerberg's decisions, at least at this time. Something we've seen before, and we have seen Mark Zuckerberg pivot before. , we don't know if that'll happen, but something to be on the lookout for. And then we also had Apple report earnings. Stock was down about 7% after earnings. The concern there is that Apple is perhaps no longer the most important buyer of tech components that they buy all these components for their and many of us's iPhones, and therefore Apple's had a lot of leverage with suppliers, but now they're getting competition from AI server makers, swallowing up lots of memory products and components, and therefore Apple not as important of a customer, certainly a super important customer, but perhaps not the only super important customer anymore, meaning that Apple has less leverage with respect to price, which you have to raise their prices. It also means that they may not be able to get the supply that they're at the end of the major factor behind the drop in the stock price was that perhaps Apple was experiencing supply shortages, and they talked about that on the call. Street is also looking for Apple and what their AI strategy will be. The Street has rewarded Apple after initially punishing them for not spending heavily on the capital expenditures, and Apple is just spending $2.5 billion when they just compare that to the Metas and the Microsoft $50 to $200 billion of the year, and you know, Apple somewhere in the $10 to $15 billion range, that they are maintaining a balanced cash flow state are pristine, but nevertheless, while Wall Street is rewarding Apple at the moment for not an AI infrastructure, they do nevertheless want to see results, and that's something of attention. So stepping back to the other big event last week, and that was the blow up at Situational Awareness, which is a tech hedge fund. They were forced to liquidate their holdings, and perhaps we can learn some lessons from the meltdown at Situational Awareness. Main lesson is that trading with borrowed money works the same way on the way down as it does on the way up. You can be right on the fundamentals and get crushed. Important to understand, important to keep in mind if you're ever trading on margin, it's the same concept as what was going on at Situational Awareness. You are operating with leverage, situational awareness founded by a young former open AI engineer with a now familiar thesis by AI hardware stocks and short software. He was absolutely correct. The returns were magnified by leverage, but then came July, a rapid sell-off. Semiconductor index was down 27% over the course of roughly 30 days. Margin calls ensued, and situational awareness was forced to sell its public company shares to Ken Griffin Citadel in a block sale. The good news was at the end of the day there was liquidity in the remaining assets, and situational awareness, though, had taken on too much risk, going too close to the sun, and was not able to survive an episode. So we talked about the tech earnings, we've talked about Iran, let's talk a little bit about the Fed. Last week we had a Fed meeting, we had the new Fed chairman Kevin Walsh explaining his decision to keep rates steady, but at the end of the day, analysts decided that his message was contradictory, confounding, and perhaps overly confident. And at the end of the day, analysts and stock market investors, and more importantly, bond market investors, decided that perhaps they are losing some confidence in the new Fed chair, and bonds sold off significantly after the Fed meeting. , we've seen a significant sell-off in two-year treasuries, ten-year treasuries, although the two-year treasury did see a little bit of a bounce and change. So why are we talking about the sell-off in treasuries and why are we at the Fed? Because you had Chairman Walsh saying that he's deeply committed to a two percent target. But the takeaway is that you've got to take some action. If you say that you're deeply committed to a two percent target and you see inflation above two percent, well, Fed Governor Waller said earlier this month that if you sternly stare at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze, well, that won't get the job done. Bloomberg's Michael McKee put the point to Walsh in a post-decision press conference saying that while the chairman promises to bring down inflation, he said all you've talked about today is talking about it. Despite the the great value he put on his wars, Walsh did not give guidance about future actions. So what is the market telling you? Well, it's telling you that if if you're talking about bringing inflation down to 2% and you really mean it, and you're saying it unequivocally, well, then you've got to take some action to get it there, or you're going to suffer credibility where we are at least this moment in time. All right. Last thing

Fed Credibility And The Bond Selloff

Keith Lanton 29:47

I'm gonna talk about is an article in Barron's, and we're gonna talk about perhaps the second biggest thesis taking place in financial and artificial intelligence, and that is obesity drugs, something that some refer to as GLE1s. Barron's saying that the next wave of these drugs are going to potentially treat a lot more than obesity, so there might be an even bigger opportunity here than was originally thought, and the opportunity was originally huge. Artificial intelligence might be Wall Street's current favorite profit story, but the runner-up is gaining ground quickly, and it might actually change human health forever. We're talking about GLP1 drugs. What started as diabetes and weight loss treatments are fast becoming what analysts call an everything pill. Today we're breaking down why this blockbuster drug class is shattering records, where the tech is going next, and how the battle between Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the two big makers at the moment of GLP1 drugs, is playing out. For years, the GLP1 space has been a duopoly between Denmark's Novo Nordisk and India's Indiana's Eli Lilly. But sales estimates are blowing through old ceilings. Morgan Stanley recently projected that 2035, about eight years from now, GLP1 sales for obesity and diabetes drugs alone could hit $190 billion. Put that in perspective, Pfizer's peak COVID vaccine sales hit $40 billion, and top cancer drugs bring in $50 billion. Nothing in pharmaceutical history comes close to those. Why the explosive growth right now? Expanding coverage and a game-changing shift in delivery, the rise of oral pills. Pills promise to open the floodgates by reaching needle-averse patients, lowering costs, conquering overseas markets where refrigerated injectables are difficult to bring to the masses. By 2030, oral GLP ones are projected to make up a quarter of the market. Crucially, pills aren't cannibalizing injectable sales. Over 75% of new pill users have never taken a GLP1 before. When it comes to oral options, the competitive dynamic shifts. While Lily leads in injectables, both companies' pills focus on a single GLP1 receptor. Novo's Oral Wagovy has actually shown slightly higher weight loss in trials and holds an early eight an early 85% pill market share. However, Lily's pill wins big on daily convenience. That pill is called Found AO. Because Found AO is a synthesized small molecule. It's shelf stable and can be taken at any time with or without food. Novo's pill is a delicate peptide that requires precise daily ritual, taken immediately upon waking with a small sip of water, followed by a strict 30-minute wait before having breakfast and coffee. That difference in flexibility could be a deciding factor. Long-term glad. Beyond pills, Lily is pushing performance even further with its pipeline. Their next injectable is called retiturtide, retitrutide, nicknamed triple G. It targets three distinct receptors. In trials, patients lost an astonishing 28% of their body weight, approaching the results of bariatric surgery by increasing baseline energy expenditure so patients burn more fat while resting. Lilly is also developing an amylen-targeted drug to signal fullness while preserving critical muscle mass. So from an investment standpoint, right now Wall Street is favoring Eli Lilly. Lilly's patents run through 2036, a five-year advantage over Novo Nordisk. Analysts project Lilly could double its earnings per share over the next five years, generating $62 billion of cash flow by 2031. While Lilly trades at a higher valuation, about 35 times earnings, compared to Novo's 16 times, its innovation is at the moment giving it an edge and a formidable moat. Beyond stock tickers, the real story is where these drugs go next. GLP ones act as powerful inflammation modulars throughout the body. They are being studied for kidney disease, drug addiction, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, alcohol addiction, and heart disease, to name just a few of the applications. We're already seeing some of the impacts. U.S. obesity rates dropped this year to 40.7%. That has sent ripples through the big food and medical device stocks. McKinsey estimates that global health improvements from this drug could boost the world economy by $5 trillion annually by 2050. So if you thought GLPNs were just a weight loss trend, think again. The next wave is on the horizon and it has the potential to rewrite medicine, perhaps portfolios, and we will see where these development innovative accomplishments take us and personally and the financial markets.

Keith Lanton 34:37

That's everything I've got.

Wrap Up And Disclosures

Keith Lanton 34:39 Alan Eppers 34:39

Thank you for listening to Mr. Keith Lanton. This podcast is available on most platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify. For more information, please visit our website at www.heroldlanton.com.

Sophie Cohen 34:57

Opinions expressed herein are subject to change and not necessarily the opinion of the firm. Best performance is no guarantee of future results. The information presented herein is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide personal investment advice. It is important that you consider your tolerance for risk and investment. But making investment decisions. Investing in security is not important for equity and the potential of losing money. The material does not come into research investment advice or trade recommendations.