Key Takeaways-High-yield bonds are a key indicator of market sentiment.-Market leadership can shift significantly after corrections.-Positioning in commodities like palladium can signal potential reversals.-Sentiment often drives significant price movements in metals.-Understanding COT charts is crucial for gauging market positioning.-Traders should avoid shorting at all-time highs without confirmation.-The cannabis market illustrates the challenges of competing with the black market.-Psychological factors play a significant role in trading decisions.-Developing a consistent trading process is essential for success.-Letting the market dictate trades can lead to better outcomes.
Markets looked weak… then one thing changed: stocks started reacting well to good news again. In this episode, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro break down the AI-led reversal, why Micron’s reaction mattered, and how to manage risk when a move starts in after-hours and confirms the next day.
They also compare two very different approaches:
Matt’s “news + momentum” playbook (build size as the market confirms it)
Jason’s “news failure / turnpicking” playbook (fade crowded trades when the market rejects the story)
Plus: why the current backdrop (AI + liquidity + rate cuts) may be one of the most bullish setups we’ve seen—and why you still need the market to confirm your thesis before leaning in.
Key topics covered:
What a market “tone change” looks like in real time
How to trade a news-driven move without getting chopped up
Relative strength: why leaders matter most during drawdowns
Why seasonal/tax narratives rarely produce edge
What Jason watches next (positioning/COT + market reaction)
Subscribe for weekly, unfiltered market conversations.
In this week’s episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro independently arrived at the same conclusion:
something in this market has changed — and not for the better.
For the first time since this bull run began, both traders have shifted to defensive positioning, and in this episode they break down exactly why.
We cover:
• The AI trade breaking down — Palantir, Nvidia, AMD, Oracle, IREN, Oklo
• Liquidity no longer lifting markets despite bullish headlines
• Why leaders failing together is a major character change
• Breadth improvement that may actually be a bearish rotation tell
• The NASDAQ lagging the S&P and Dow — a historic topping signature
• Bitcoin selling off in what “should” be its most bullish environment
• How traders trap themselves with bias, ego, and social-media tribes
• Why mental flexibility matters more than “being right”
• The single most important chart Jason is watching: 30-year bonds
• Why shorting is so dangerous—even when you’re ultimately right
• How to use tape action to spot turns before the headlines catch up
Matt walks through the breakdown in relative strength across leaders, key reversal signals in AMD and Hood, and why small caps cannot replace trillion-dollar AI names.
Jason explains how he’s reading liquidity, why bonds may be the real driver of what happens next, and what a policy-driven snapback could look like.
This episode is a masterclass in tape-reading, flexibility, and managing risk when markets stop behaving normally.
The Fed is days away. AI leaders areswinging wildly. And 2025 is ending with markets sitting right near all-timehighs — despite a year FULL of reasons they “should have” cracked.
In this episode of MarketsUnscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro break down what actuallymatters heading into the final Fed meeting of the year — and why so many widelydiscussed narratives (“priced in,” “bubble risk,” “seasonality,” “AIexhaustion”) continue to mislead traders.
This week’s deep-dive includes:
opics We Cover
Why the Fed’s December meeting may be Powell’s last major decision that matters
The real question traders should ask: What’s the next upside catalyst?
Why “everything is known” — yet inflows keep powering the market higher
Tape-reading vs technical analysis: how both methods arrive at the same truth
The danger of assuming news → market outcomes
Why the market climbs a wall of worry
New leadership trends: AMAT, TER, VIAVI, testing equipment names
How to spot the next Amazon — and avoid the fate of Carvana
The psychology & danger of shorting (Jason’s “heroin analogy”)
Cotton, soybeans, the WASDE report, and the next big catalyst in currencies
How a rising dollar or steepening yield curve can give stock traders an edge
Viewer question: What does it really take to become a full-time trader?
If you’re serious about improving yourdecision-making heading into 2026, this one is essential
Is this really an “AI bubble” — or are traders blaming the wrong thing?In Episode 3 of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro break down what’s actually happening beneath the surface of this market: AI leaders vs pretenders, Bitcoin’s unwind, and why liquidity still drives the whole game.They cover:AI bubble or OpenAI bubble? Why Google (GOOG) and other AI infrastructure names held firm while OpenAI-linked stocks like ORCL struggledHow to read true relative strength using live examples: GOOG, LITE, COHR, VIAV, STLD, ATI, AMATWall Street analyst narratives vs reality — and why listening to them can cost you 40–60% drawdownsBitcoin, MSTR & liquidity risk — is MicroStrategy a new LTCM-style test of the system?Gold & silver breakouts while Bitcoin sells off: what that says about the liquidity cycle“Buying the dip” vs buying strength — why the “it’s on sale” mindset doesn’t translate to marketsBuffett-style value vs today’s tape — cheap vs good and why many “value traps” stay deadThe LAW trade (CS Disco) — an AI legal-tech stock that quietly turned into a leaderCotton, commodities & macro tells — what Jason’s watching through the WASDE reportHow to let the market agree with you before you size up — instead of trying to out-think the tape now🔔 Follow Markets Unscripted for more conversations on:AI stocks & market structurePositioning, sentiment & COT dataRisk management, liquidity & real trader process👍 Like the episode, drop a comment with what you want us to cover next, and share it with a trader who keeps calling every rally a “bubble.”#marketsunscripted #aistocks #bitcoin #google #liquidity #gold #silver #stockmarket #tradingpodcast #mattcaruso #jasonshapiro
In this week’s episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt and Jason dive straight into the part of trading nobody wants to talk about — the spiral. The drawdowns that hit harder than you expected. The moments when your process cracks. The emotional tailspins that turn small losses into career-ending ones… unless you know how to stop, reassess, and rebuild.
Matt opens the show with the question every trader eventually faces: What do you do when you get hit harder than you can handle?
Jason answers with brutal clarity — stop trading, confront your assumptions, and get honest about whether your process actually has edge… or whether you’ve been lying to yourself.
From there, the conversation widens:
True to the show’s name, Matt and Jason pull zero punches — challenging the myths, exposing the traps, and reminding traders that longevity is the real measure of success.
Whether you're navigating a tough tape or trying to build a career that survives more than one cycle, this episode cuts straight to the truth.
In the debut episode of Markets Unscripted, Matt Caruso and Jason Shapiro go straight at the dominant narrative: is AI a bubble or not?
They break down Berkshire’s surprise move into Google, the recent AI-driven weakness, what Bitcoin and crypto are really saying about liquidity, and why Palantir’s reaction to great earnings was a classic “bad tape” tell.
From there, they zoom out to the bigger lesson:
Why the market is a casino if you don’t know how to “count cards”
How liquidity, sentiment, and positioning actually interact
Why most traders lose by treating opinions as edge, instead of letting the tape and process lead
What Matt’s watching next (CRS, ATI, AI leaders) and what Jason is watching in crypto, Japan, and liquidity
If you’ve ever felt caught between “AI bubble” headlines and your P&L, this episode will help you reset: focus less on the narrative, and more on the odds.