Risk and Return

About Risk and Return

Charlie Gasparino and S3 Partners Founder Bob Sloan break down the biggest business headlines and actionable insights that give listeners an inside edge on the markets.

Publisher

S3 Partners

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Apr 2025

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

75 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Midterms and the Markets: Defense Shorts & CoreWeave’s Debt Test

   S3 founder & managing partner Bob Sloan and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post cover the headlines and data moving markets. This week: what the Democratic sweep in the midterms means for markets. Charlie shares what his Wall Street sources saw coming, why they expect both parties to keep moving to the extremes, and why AI could be the one issue where Republicans and Democrats agree, possibly the catalyst that pops the AI bubble. Bob explains why the market rallied 1,000 points: if AI spending slows, so does the pressure on interest rates. Plus why tariffs hit the working class hardest, and how campaign messaging decided the election. Then the data. Short sellers held their bets against aerospace and defense going into the vote, with short interest at a one-year high above 8% of float. They didn't cover in the late-October bounce, and defense is falling as Microsoft and Amazon rally. The neoclouds are down 38% since August, the worst of any AI buildout group, and Bob compares their debt-funded model to Japan's cross-shareholding web before its crash. Shorts and active managers are both adding, and Bob explains Apollo CEO Marc Rowan's line on the trade: either the 17% yield is right or the equity valuation is, but not both. CoreWeave reports next week with shorts up 34% since August 31, and five of its six reports have been followed by a drop. And at Core Scientific, CoreWeave's landlord, active managers have cut their stake ahead of their earnings Thursday. Plus Charlie on what the election means for Ukraine, possible cabinet changes, and why the White House is calling him about his criticism of tariffs. Chapters: (0:00) Intro (1:26) Wall Street saw the midterm sweep coming (5:18) Investigations ahead: crypto, Trump's businesses and AI (6:50) Cabinet changes and pushback on tariffs (7:58) What the election means for Ukraine (11:36) Texas, demographics and the night's biggest surprise (14:12) Tariffs as a tax on the working class (15:31) The brand of "free" and the Iran message (23:31) Why the market rallied 1,000 points (25:19) Campaign messaging in the social media era (38:25) Shorts held their defense bets into the midterms (39:32) Neoclouds lead the AI buildout selloff (41:29) Bob's Japan parallel for the AI buildout (43:29) Shorts vs. longs and Marc Rowan's "17% or $40 billion" (44:55) CoreWeave earnings preview (47:08) Core Scientific: longs thin out as shorts return Hosted by Bob Sloan, founder & managing partner of S3 Partners, and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post. Visit: https://www.S3Partners.com Follow: Bob Sloan: https://x.com/BobSloanS3 Charlie Gasparino: https://x.com/CGasparino S3 Partners: https://x.com/S3Partners Nothing in this episode should be considered investment advice.

2. 

   30 Oct 2026

   Hedge Fund Positioning Map and the Braves Lockout Trade

   S3 founder & managing partner Bob Sloan and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post cover the headlines and data moving markets. This week: how an AI "apocalypse" would actually play out in the markets. Charlie lays out why a correction is more likely to roll through segments than hit all at once, starting with the neoclouds that borrowed to buy chips, and Bob explains why the debt markets have caught up with that model. Plus Anthropic's S-1, why Charlie's sources say OpenAI follows with an IPO in the first quarter, and why big liquid names like Amazon and Intel are getting sold to make room in portfolios for the biggest IPOs in history. Then the data. Bob walks through the hedge fund sector map, where Tech and Health Care are being trimmed and Consumer Discretionary has the biggest short increase and biggest hedge fund long decline of any sector, a bet against the consumer. The biotech specialist trade that was up 45% by August got crowded and gave most of it back, and short sellers flagged the losers in June before the September unwind. The AI buildout trade is mostly red since August, with shorts now building against the companies that house, train and equip the data center workforce: Civeo, Target Hospitality, Boot Barn, Snap-on and Universal Technical Institute. And with the MLB season over, Bob reads the short interest in Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK) as a leading indicator on the lockout. Plus Charlie on the bipartisan college sports reform bill heading to the lame duck House, a midterms preview, and the 1986 Mets. Chapters: (0:00) Intro (1:16) How the AI apocalypse plays out by segment (3:36) Anthropic's S-1 and OpenAI's Q1 IPO (6:28) Selling Amazon and Intel to make room for the IPOs (10:24) Midterms: Fetterman as the fulcrum, Texas and Michigan (13:19) College sports reform in the lame duck session (26:15) Hedge fund sector map: trimming Tech and Health Care, shorting the consumer (29:20) The biotech specialist trade worked, then gave it back (31:50) Short sellers called the biotech losers (32:52) The AI buildout trade mostly red since August (35:31) Shorts are betting against the AI worker (36:26) The MLB season is over, the Braves trade isn't (41:16) The 1986 Mets Hosted by Bob Sloan, founder & managing partner of S3 Partners, and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post. Visit: https://www.S3Partners.com Follow: Bob Sloan: https://x.com/BobSloanS3 Charlie Gasparino: https://x.com/CGasparino S3 Partners: https://x.com/S3Partners Nothing in this episode should be considered investment advice.

3. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Who’s Selling CoreWeave? Meta Taps the Market. Shorts Cash In on the AI Buildout.

   S3 founder & managing partner Bob Sloan and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post cover the headlines and data moving markets. This week: the CoreWeave panic, and who was actually selling. Bob walks through why the stock fell through the floor with passive money holding half of it, why the sellers were insiders and retail rather than institutions, and why technology specialist hedge funds leaving while generalists pile in is the bearish tell even as active longs keep buying. Plus why CoreWeave is still the least shorted of the neoclouds next to Nebius and IREN, why France has become one of the best short trades on the board with CAC 40 short interest up 10% since August and Renault’s S3 Active Long-to-Short ratio collapsing, as imports weigh on the French automaker. Plus Charlie on Meta’s new share class, which he reported on weeks ago, and why the short interest building since August pointed to a secondary ahead of the Anthropic IPO, what the S-1 has to say about price compression from open source models, why nobody can define what winning in AI actually means, and why beer stocks keep getting shorted as everyone wakes up to what alcohol does to sleep. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:25 Meta’s new share class and the secondary the shorts saw coming 6:05 Anthropic’s S-1 and the open source price war 8:19 What does winning in AI actually mean 14:27 Workflow is a drug: why the cheapest model doesn’t win 18:25 Meta earnings and smart money buying CoreWeave converts 26:34 Beer stocks: Molson Coors, Boston Beer and dry Bob 35:29 CAC 40 shorts, Chinese cars and Renault at one to one 37:37 CoreWeave coverage lookback 40:41 CoreWeave: passive owns half, insiders and retail sold 43:14 Generalists in, specialists out 45:24 CoreWeave is the least shorted neocloud 46:44 Next week’s agenda and Charlie’s bubble column 51:32 SpaceX, Tesla and the calls this show got right 53:27 Midterms: Texas, Michigan and the tariff problem 56:36 Wrap Hosted by Bob Sloan, founder & managing partner of S3 Partners, and Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business and the New York Post. Visit: www.S3Partners.com Follow: Bob Sloan: https://x.com/BobSloanS3 Charlie Gasparino: https://x.com/CGasparino S3 Partners: https://x.com/S3Partners Nothing in this episode should be considered investment advice.

Who has been a guest on Risk and Return

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Charlie Gasparino
• Richard E Farley
• William Cohan
• Marc Cohodes
• Ihor Dusaniwksy

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.4 / 5

14 ratings

Spotify

4.4 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 32 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

50

Contact Risk and Return

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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