In the latest Facts vs Feelings, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist, are joined by financial journalist and TKer founder and editor Sam Ro. Together, they cover Sam’s background, his curated newsletter approach, emerging data-quality issues at the BLS, and why human judgment still matters in the age of AI.
Key Takeaways
- What Sam Ro Actually Does All Day
Sam is the founder and editor of TKer (pronounced ticker), a daily financial newsletter. He previously led markets coverage at Business Insider and was managing editor at Yahoo Finance. His role now is synthesizing market data and macro trends into clear, actionable insights for readers — many of whom are financial advisors. - The Market Goes Up—Until It Doesn’t
Sam chose the slogan “The stock market usually goes up” for his newsletter because, well, the market usually goes up. But, as Sam cautions, it’s important for investors to be prepared for downturns, or they can get badly dinged in the short term. - Parsing the Data
The group discusses a recent announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about collecting less data than before, and how budget cuts and staffing issues at the bureau could lead to less accurate data collection in economic surveys like CPI and employment reports. - More Than Just Statistics
Sam, who majored in religion in college, discusses the notion that data only goes so far in predicting the markets. Models can’t predict everything, and sometimes you just need to embrace uncertainty and have a bit of faith that the markets will sort themselves out over time. - AI Can’t Replace Human Judgment
While AI chatbots now summarize reports faster—and sometimes more eloquently—than humans, Sam stresses that interpreting nuance and making editorial decisions remain human domains.
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Connect with Sonu:
Questions about the show? We’d love to hear from you! factsvsfeelings@carsongroup.com
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