The national debt has crossed $40 trillion, but Chuck Zodda and Mike Armstrong argue that the usual panic over deficits, bond vigilantes, and the dollar losing reserve currency status often ignores how markets actually work.

Chuck and Mike discuss why higher Treasury yields are not automatically explained by the deficit, why investors should be careful about predictions of the dollar’s demise, and why Social Security, Medicare, interest, and defense remain the real federal spending challenges. They also cover rising diesel prices, Anthropic’s potential record setting IPO, concerns over super voting shares, and how a large 401k balance can create future tax planning issues. Plus, Paul LaMonica of Barron’s joins the show to explain why Chinese IPOs are surging, how government priorities are shaping investor interest in robotics and AI chips, and why political risk remains a major concern for Chinese stocks.