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The Five-Year Countdown: How AI Will Dramatically Reshape The Economy And Asset Markets

Darius recently sat down with Raoul Pal of Real Vision for an enlightening conversation about the accelerating impact of AI, the exponential age, and what investors must do now to stay ahead. If you missed it, here are the three most important takeaways that could significantly impact your portfolio:

1) The Next Five Years Will Change Everything—Faster Than Expected

Raoul Pal’s “Exponential Age” thesis is happening at an even greater speed than anticipated. With AI advancing at an exponential rate—expected to surpass human intelligence within the next year—the way we work, invest, and interact with markets will fundamentally shift. AI will replace entire job sectors, disrupt business models, and introduce extreme efficiency into capital formation. Investors need to understand that the old rules of economic cycles and the age-old labor vs. capital debate are being rewritten in real-time.

Key Takeaway:

The next five years are crucial—investors who don’t adapt will be left behind. This is the window to build financial security and position portfolios for the seismic shifts ahead.

2) AI and Automation Will Reshape Market Structure

Financial markets will undergo a transformation as AI-powered investment strategies begin to dominate. The firms with the most advanced AI will gain an enormous edge, potentially absorbing vast amounts of market share and capital. At the same time, markets will become both hyper-efficient over the short-to-medium term and hyper-inefficient over the long-term—creating opportunities for those who can navigate the chaos.

Key Takeaway:

The traditional diversification approach (e.g., 60/40 portfolios) will likely underperform. Instead, investors should focus on secular trends such as AI, blockchain, and exponential technologies—these will be the defining investment themes of the coming decade.

3) The Key Risk Is Not Being Over or Under Invested—It’s Being In The Wrong Assets

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is under-allocating to exponential assets. Traditional portfolio management focuses on diversification across asset classes, sectors, and factors, but in this new era, the most successful investors will be those who hyper-concentrate in the right areas. Crypto, AI-focused equities, and cutting-edge technology plays offer the best asymmetric upside.

Key Takeaway:

Investors need to be positioned in exponential assets. Staying on the right side of market risk during the “exponential age” increasingly requires a risk management framework that adapts to rapid change, like our KISS Portfolio Construction Process and Dr. Mo (Discretionary Risk Management Overlay). The size, scope, and rapid pace of change in the economy and asset markets means investors relying on legacy frameworks will struggle—especially as the share of trading activity generated by AI accelerates. Trend following is the best solution to ensure you are participating alongside the supercomputers, not fighting them.


Final Thought: The Time to Act Is Now

If you believe the world will look drastically different in five years, your portfolio should reflect that. The biggest macro opportunity in history is unfolding—don’t get left behind.

Since our bullish pivot in January 2023, the QQQs have surged 86% and Bitcoin is up +316%.

If you have missed part—or all—of this market, it is time to explore how our KISS Portfolio Construction Process or Discretionary Risk Management Overlay aka “Dr. Mo” will keep your portfolio on the right side of market risk going forward.

Thousands of investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, accurate, and affordable signals—and as a result, they make more money.

Thousands of investors around the world use 42 Macro to confidently navigate market shifts and optimize their portfolios. If you’re ready to incorporate macro into your investment process and stay ahead of these monumental changes, we invite you to watch our complimentary 3-part Macro Masterclass.

The Macro Class

No catch—just real insights to help you stay ahead in the #Team42 community.
Best of luck out there,

— Team 42

How Will Trumponomics 2.0 Impact Investor Portfolios?

Darius recently joined Charles Payne on Fox Business to discuss the potential impact of President Trump’s economic agenda on asset markets, the importance of observing the market rather than predicting it, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways fromthe conversation that have implications for your portfolio:

1) How Will President Trump’s Economic Policies Broadly Impact Markets in 2025?

When assessing the impact of President Trump’s economic agenda, both positive and negative effects on the economy and asset markets are likely.

Specifically, factors such as tariffs, securing the border, and a hawkish shift in Treasury net financing (i.e., less bills + more coupons) are likely to contribute negative supply shocks to the economy and asset markets. Conversely, tax cuts, deregulation, and accelerated energy production could generate positive supply shocks.

Investors should closely monitor the size, sequence, and scope of these policy changes, as they will play a crucial role in shaping asset markets throughout 2025.

2) What is The Likely Impact of Tariffs on Asset Markets?

Although many Wall Street investors cite the Smoot-Hawley example when discussing tariffs, we believe anchoring on that scenario is misguided. The real impact lies in the currency market. China is likely to respond to fresh tariffs by significantly devaluing the yuan, which carries profound implications for global asset markets. Historically, when China devalues the yuan, other major economies follow suit with sympathy devaluations to maintain competitiveness, resulting in a much stronger U.S. dollar.

If a similar pattern emerges in 2025, this would likely lead to a reduction in global liquidity, which is problematic for asset markets in the context of the global refinancing air pocket that may develop later this year.

3) Should Investors Focus On Observing The Market Rather Than Predicting It?

In short, yes. Our number one piece of advice for every investor is: Listen to what the market is telling you. Because asset markets trend far more frequently than they experience changes in trend, it is always best to align your portfolio with what the market is trying to price in, not against it. The trend is your friend.
Whether we are in an inflationary or deflationary environment, the most consistently successful strategy across all market conditions is trend following.

To successfully remain on the right side of market risk, investors must rely on signals from proven risk management systems (e.g., KISS and Dr. Mo) far more than their gut feel, emotions, or understanding of company or economy fundamentals.


Since our bullish pivot in January 2023, the QQQs have surged 81% and Bitcoin is up +328%.

If you have fallen victim to bear porn and missed part—or all—of this rally, it is time to explore how our KISS Portfolio Construction Process or Discretionary Risk Management Overlay aka “Dr. Mo” will keep your portfolio on the right side of market risk going forward.

Thousands of investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, accurate, and affordable signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to learn more about how our clients incorporate macro into their investment process and how you can do the same, we invite you to watch our complimentary 3-part macro masterclass.

No catch, just macro insights to help you grow your portfolio—our way of saying thanks for being part of our global #Team42 community of thoughtful investors.

Best of luck out there,
— Team 42

Will Risk Assets Crash In 2025 Like They Did In 1998?

Darius recently joined Adam Taggart to discuss the likelihood of significant deficit reduction during President Trump’s administration, a potential global refinancing air pocket, and more.
If you missed the interview, here are the two most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

  1. How Likely Is A Significant Reduction Of The Federal Budget Deficit Amid DOGE And Tax Cuts?

Although we believe DOGE is likely to achieve meaningful fiscal expenditure reduction, our analysis of U.S. federal budget dynamics highlights significant challenges to achieving meaningful deficit reduction. Cutting spending ≠ cutting the deficit, once extending and expanding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are accounted for.

Our research indicates that approximately 61% of the federal budget is effectively untouchable. This includes FFTT’s “True Interest Expense” metric, which comprises Medicare, National Defense, Net Interest, and Social Security. Collectively, these expenditures represent programs that are unlikely to face cuts amid the current populist political climate and are compounding at a rate of +13% per year. The remaining 39% of the budget has already been shrinking at a compound rate of -12% per year over the past three years.

Given these dynamics, we believe meaningful deficit reduction appears improbable without tackling politically protected categories.

  1. Is A Global Refinancing Air Pocket On The Horizon?

At 42 Macro, we conducted a deep-dive empirical study on the global refinancing cycle and found it to be correlated with the global liquidity cycle. Currently, the lagged growth rate of global non-financial sector debt is accelerating sharply, and our models project this trend to continue through late 2025.

While conventional wisdom suggests this is likely to catalyze an increase in global liquidity, the risk remains that liquidity may fail to expand meaningfully, thus creating a global refinancing air pocket, similar to the divergences observed in 2008-09, 2011, 2015-16, 2018, and 2022, where the S&P 500 declined between 15% and 57%.

If global liquidity fails to follow the path of the year-over-year growth rate of world total non-financial sector debt, we believe it is likely to lead to severe disruptions—or even a meltdown—in global financial markets. However, we ultimately expect the dip will be bought because investors will finally find attractive valuations to bet on the AI supercycle amid tax cuts and deregulation. 1998 is a good analogy for how we are approaching financial market risk in 2025.


Since our bullish pivot in November 2023, the QQQs have surged 44% and Bitcoin is up +201%.

If you have fallen victim to bear porn and missed part—or all—of this rally, it is time to explore how our KISS Portfolio Construction Process or Discretionary Risk Management Overlay aka “Dr. Mo” will keep your portfolio on the right side of market risk going forward.

Thousands of investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, accurate, and affordable signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to learn more about how our clients incorporate macro into their investment process and how you can do the same, we invite you to watch our complimentary 3-part macro masterclass

No catch, just high-quality insights to help you grow your portfolio—our way of saying thanks for being part of our global #Team42 community of thoughtful investors.