A year ago, we had the pleasure of hosting Louis-Vincent Gave on the podcast. His perspective stood out immediately: instead of looking at markets through headlines and narratives, Louis starts with the deeper forces—capital flows, currencies, and long historical cycles.

When we invited him back this week, the world had changed dramatically.

Oil had just traded in a $40 range in a single day.
War in the Middle East is threatening critical energy infrastructure.
Supply chains are once again showing how fragile the global system can be.

In this new episode, Louis lays out a simple but powerful framework:

Economic activity is energy transformed.

And when energy prices spike, they don’t just move one sector of the market—they destabilize everything. In his words:

“Energy is the dark force of our economic systems. Once it goes up a lot, everything else dies.”

We discuss:

• Why the old habit of “buying every geopolitical dip” may no longer work

• Why energy is becoming the central constraint of the global economy

• Why China may be far better prepared for this new era than most Western countries

• What rising geopolitical tensions mean for interest rates, bonds, and global capital flows

• How investors—and ordinary people—should think about positioning themselves in a more volatile world

The conversation also turns surprisingly personal:
What it actually looks like on the ground in China today, why Europe may be losing momentum, and why the next decade may reward resilience and real-world production over financial engineering.

It’s a wide-ranging discussion with one of the sharpest macro thinkers we know.

If you’re trying to understand how energy, geopolitics, and global capital flows fit together, this is an episode worth listening to.

As always, thank you for listening - we look forward to your comments and questions!

— Lovis & Jason

PS.: Please leave a like on Substack if you enjoyed this episode - it helps others find out about our content!

Jason and I had to reschedule a guest last week. Instead of forcing another interview into the calendar, we finally did something we’ve talked about for a while.

We recorded our first Overtime episode.

Overtime is simple: just the two of us catching up, thinking out loud about the world, and trying to make sense of the forces shaping our lives — geopolitics, business, culture, and the long game of building something meaningful.

This conversation started with a feeling many people probably share right now:
The world feels increasingly “uninvestable.”

When you zoom out, the headlines are overwhelming.
Geopolitical tension, policy shifts, deglobalization, and economic uncertainty.

But there’s a trap in focusing too much on those things. As Jason put it during the conversation, some outcomes are simply “uninvestable.” You can’t plan for them. And if you try, you end up paralyzed.

So the question becomes:

What can you actually control?

That’s where this episode goes.

We talk about:

• Why focusing on what you can control is the only sane response to an unpredictable world

• A new policy change that affects my own ability as a permanent resident to acquire U.S. businesses

• Why short-sighted policy often produces the opposite of its intended results

• What the West can learn from the long-term thinking embedded in Asian business culture

• The lessons from Tai-Pan about trade, power, and building dynasties rather than quarters

• And why, even in uncertain times, the answer is still the same: keep building

If the world feels chaotic, the instinct is often to withdraw.

Our instinct is the opposite.

Build the company.
Raise the family.
Invest in relationships.
Play the long game.

That’s what this episode is about.

As always, we’d love to hear what you think.

— Lovis & Jason

Brand-new episode of The Covered Call Podcast with none other than Rick Rule - and this one hits different.

You may remember our last conversation with Rick exploded — our best-performing episode to date.

This time, we go even deeper.

• Gold at near $5,000

• Silver closing in on $100

• Venezuela back in the headlines

• Globalism unraveling in real time

Rick shares how he’s positioning for a world that’s moving fast - and breaking everything. We talk about the rise of resource nationalism, the failure of central planning, and why he’s still bullish on human freedom (and oil stocks).

Oh, and covered calls? Yeah - still part of Rick’s playbook.

If you enjoy the episode, leave us a like and a comment right here on Substack. It helps a ton with visibility - and we always read what you write.

Thanks for listening,
— Lovis & Jason

P.S. Rick will be joining us once per quarter going forward. Hit reply and let us know what you’d love to hear him tackle next time.

Today’s episode is a catch-up with an old friend - and one of the most open/honest conversations we’ve had in a while.

This one is about what happens after you walk away from the obvious path - the salary, the equity, the sense of security everyone tells you not to give up.

Flo did exactly that.

He walked away from a well-paid role with equity, not because things failed, but because something more fundamental broke: trust and integrity. It was a brutal decision in the moment - and, looking back, the right one.

We talk about:

• Why “playing it safe” often carries hidden risks

• Why most people quit before compounding ever has a chance to work

• Why universities and companies are struggling to keep up with the pace of change

• What it really means to survive long enough to benefit from upside

• And why integrity is non-negotiable when you’re trying to build something long-term

This episode isn’t about tactics or hot takes.
It’s about judgment, patience, and choosing the harder path when the easy one quietly limits your future.

If you’ve ever felt that staying put was costing you something you couldn’t quite name - this conversation will resonate.

As always, thanks for listening - and for thinking independently alongside us.

— Lovis & Jason

In this episode of The Covered Call, we sat down with Stephan Kinsella — a patent attorney turned libertarian legal theorist whose work challenges one of the most deeply held assumptions of modern society: that ideas can be owned, and that the state is the natural guardian of order.

Stephan is best known for his book Against Intellectual Property, but this conversation goes much deeper than IP law. We explore first principles: property, aggression, freedom, and the role - or non-role - of the state itself.

Some of the questions we wrestle with in this episode:

• Is the state, by its very nature, an institution built on aggression?

• Why do property rights depend on scarcity — and why do ideas break that logic?

• Does intellectual property promote innovation, or quietly suffocate it?

• Can cooperation and empathy replace coercion as the foundation of social order?

• What happens to liberty as technology pushes us toward a post-scarcity world?

Stephan argues that real freedom doesn’t come from better rulers or smarter laws, but from respecting individual rights and voluntary cooperation — even when that conclusion feels uncomfortable or radical.

As always, this isn’t about agreement. It’s about clarity.
About tracing ideas to their logical end.
And about asking what kind of systems actually allow human flourishing.

If this conversation challenges you, sit with it.
If it resonates, share it with someone who enjoys questioning first principles.

Thank you, as always, for being part of our journey toward freedom.

Warm regards,

Lovis & Jason
The Covered Call

Jason and I recorded this conversation with Eric Yeung on November 12 - just one month ago. At the time, silver had barely broken past $50.

Today, it’s already above $60… and suddenly everything Eric said feels even more urgent.

Eric is one of the sharpest observers of the global shift playing out between East and West. He spent decades in China’s manufacturing world, watching - from the front row - as the dollar system frayed, trust eroded, and physical gold quietly began replacing U.S. Treasuries as collateral in global trade.

This episode dives deep into:

• Silver shortages and why today’s price action is still just the beginning

• De-dollarization from the perspective of someone who lived inside the FX machinery for 20 years

• China’s construction of a parallel gold-backed collateral system

• Why the freeze of Russia’s reserves changed everything

• How BRICS countries are reshaping the monetary plumbing of the world

• And what all of this means for individuals trying to preserve freedom, mobility, and wealth

Eric has a rare combination of real-world experience, geopolitical perspective, and the ability to explain complex monetary mechanics in plain English. This is one of the most information-dense episodes we’ve recorded—and the speed at which markets have moved since we spoke only underlines how fast the landscape is changing.

If you’ve been watching the chaos in global trade, the surge in precious metals, or the escalating East–West currency tensions, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Please take a listen now!

As always, reply and let me know what stood out to you—or who you want us to bring on next.

Lovis

In our first conversation, Jayant challenged us to rethink freedom, truth, and the cultural foundations of civilization. Since then, we’ve joined him in Vancouver at his Capitalism & Morality conference — where voices like Rick Rule, Maxime Bernier, Stephan Kinsella, and Amy Wax pushed the boundaries of honest debate.

In this new episode, Jayant expands on those ideas — warning that the West is moving toward instability and civil conflict, not because of external enemies, but because of a thousand small compromises eroding trust, discipline, and cultural coherence.

We discuss:

• Why homogeneity — not diversity — underpins stable, high-trust societies.

• How political correctness turned schools into propaganda machines.

• Why China’s rise is cultural as much as economic.

• What India’s decline reveals about leadership and social philosophy.

• And why truth-seeking demands both financial freedom and moral courage.

Jayant’s insights are controversial, sharp, and difficult to ignore. Whether you agree or not, this conversation forces you to confront uncomfortable realities about the world we’re living in — and the civilizations we may yet lose.

Watch or listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Best,

Lovis & Jason

PS.: This episode was released with about 2 months of time delay. Since a certain important character is mentioned several times, we thought it prudent to let the heat of the discussion die down. This is self-censorship, make no mistake about it - and we are not proud to do it! But rather than editing it out, we thought this was a way to have our cake and eat it too.

If you haven’t read their work, Doomberg has built one of the largest paid audiences on Substack by doing something rare: connecting the dots between energy, money flows, and power without ideology or illusions. They call out uncomfortable truths about how the world actually works — and what happens when empires overreach.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why Doomberg believes World War III is already underway - and why it’s being fought with sanctions, energy, and supply chains instead of soldiers.

• How China achieved escalation dominance by mastering the industrial foundations the West abandoned.

• Why Europe’s collapse may be painful but necessary - and how it could spark renewal.

• The case for American resilience, energy abundance, and local sovereignty.

• And finally, how Doomberg themselves live by a rule that’s surprisingly hopeful: fewer “have-tos,” more “get-tos.”

This episode isn’t just about geopolitics - it’s about how to think clearly, stay free, and build a life of purpose in a world that’s losing its way.

If you’ve ever wondered what the world looks like after the empire - this conversation will make you think differently about what’s ending… and what might be beginning.

—
Lovis & Jason

She was in the room when China joined the WTO.
She’s advised presidents, Wall Street CEOs, and now leads work at the Paulson Institute and her firm Basilinna - helping chart the future of green and nature finance from Washington to Beijing to the Middle East.

Most people read the headlines, Deborah helped write them.
But what makes her story remarkable isn’t just access to power - it’s her ability to stay independent within it.

In this conversation, we explore:

• How U.S.–China relations really work behind closed doors - and why there’s still reason for hope.

• The quiet power shift reshaping the world as the Middle East becomes the new growth frontier.

• Why “money has no flag,” and how capital - not politics - may decide the next era of globalization.

• The rise of nature finance and how valuing biodiversity could unlock a new wave of innovation.

• And how Deborah herself has navigated institutions of power without ever becoming defined by them.

This episode isn’t just about trade or geopolitics.
It’s about how freedom survives inside the system - and how individuals can still shape the world without being owned by it.

If you’ve ever wondered how power really works - and how to stay free while moving through it - this conversation will leave you thinking differently about influence, independence, and the flow of global capital.

—
Lovis & Jason
The Covered Call

Maxime spent over a decade inside Canada’s political machine before saying enough was enough. In this conversation, he breaks down why the West is in decline — not just economically, but morally and philosophically — and why liberty, not bureaucracy, is the only real cure.

We talk about:

• The coming monetary reset and why gold will reprice the entire system

• How mass welfare and mass immigration are eroding the social fabric

• Why comfort is killing our freedom

• And what it takes to leave behind a life of political privilege to stand for conviction

A note about this episode:

This isn’t a policy debate — it’s a look at the deeper civilizational struggle between freedom and control, responsibility and dependency.

Maxime is banging the drum for mass deportations pretty hard, and this rhetoric rubs us, as the hosts of the show, a bit wrong. We are both guests in the countries we choose to live in, and believe in small, efficient government and cannot earnestly reconcile that a small government would engage in actions such as mass deportations.

In our own opinion, a small government would rather address the underlying incentives to curb and reverse the kind of immigration that would bring a society over its “carrying capacity”. Please listen to the end, where Jason and Lovis recap and share more of our personal view on the subject.

Stay free,
Lovis & Jason

Last time Rick joined The Covered Call, Bitcoin had hit $100,000. This time, he’s back to explain why the arithmetic of America no longer adds up - and why that’s great news for people with real skills.

Rick argues that what’s coming isn’t an honest default, but a dishonest one - a slow erosion of purchasing power disguised as stability.
But instead of despair, he offers a blueprint for thriving in chaos:

“People who deliver real utility in a free market will do extraordinarily well.”

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why inflation isn’t an accident, it’s policy.

• How to use volatility and liquidity to your advantage.

• Why the next decade will punish the entitled and reward the capable.

• Why Rick is “celebrating retirement by starting a bank.”

• What true freedom means in an age of dishonest money.

Rick’s message is timeless - and timely: crisis is the sorting mechanism that separates the useful from the dependent.

If you enjoy it, share it with someone who’s preparing for the next decade rather than hiding from it.

See you inside,
Jason & Lovis

In this week’s episode of The Covered Call, we sit down with David Fishman, an American who is a longtime China resident, energy consultant, and writer of Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones. David has spent over a decade inside China’s transformation, advising multinationals on nuclear, renewables, and grid economics - while also telling the stories of ordinary people navigating those changes.

We go deep into questions that matter for all of us:

• Why is energy the invisible infrastructure of freedom?

• How does China’s pragmatic, abundance-first approach differ from the West’s capital-optimized, often ideological model?

• Why do “activists make poor analysts” when it comes to designing energy policy?

• What lessons can we take from China’s playbook to build resilient, affordable, and sustainable systems?

David’s perspective is refreshingly non-ideological - rooted in engineering realities, not slogans. If you’ve ever wondered why energy debates in the West feel stuck, and what a more pragmatic path forward might look like, this episode will give you answers.

🎧 Listen or watch now!

As always, thank you for being part of this journey. If the conversation resonates with you, please share it with someone who cares about freedom, prosperity, and the systems that make them possible.

Onward,
Jason & Lovis

Rahim has spent decades asking the hardest questions about freedom, coercion, and what it means to live an intellectually sovereign life. Our conversation ranges from the collapse of Western institutions, to the illusions of democracy, to why Bitcoin may be the ultimate “no” to power.

Some highlights you’ll hear:

• Why he says “Institutions already failed — they’re just not sustainable.”

• The forgotten roots of democracy (hint: pirate ships, not parliaments).

• Why peace without responsibility can become a path to decay.

• How Austrian economics provides the tools to navigate uncertainty.

• Why mobility is the new survival strategy in a collapsing system.

This is an episode for anyone who feels the mainstream narrative doesn’t add up — and wants tools to think, act, and live freely in uncertain times.

👉 Click above to take a listen!

P.S. Rahim also shared details about his project citadel.garden — designed for mobile, entrepreneurial families who want to build freedom into their lives. Worth checking out.

This wasn’t a sightseeing tour. It was a boots-on-the-ground, trains-and-taxis, cigars-and-coffee kind of trip—ten cities in twelve days—meeting people, building connections, and getting a firsthand feel for life and business in modern China.

We went in with plenty of questions and a few preconceived notions. Some were confirmed, many were flipped upside down.
From Shenzhen’s whisper-quiet electric streets to unexpected home-cooked dinners with near-strangers, the warmth and openness we encountered caught us off guard—in the best possible way.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The surprising beauty and style of Chinese cities

• Cultural nuances that unlock deeper connections

• Why politics rarely came up (and why that matters)

• The vanishing expat scene—and the opportunities that might create

• Our biggest takeaways for anyone curious about working with China today

Whether you’re China-curious, a fellow freedom seeker, or just here for the travel stories, this one’s packed with moments that made us stop and say, “Wait, this isn’t what I expected.”

See you inside,
Lovis & Jason

In our latest episode, Peter Alexander returns to unpack the global trade war from a perspective few dare to share. After nearly 30 years on the ground in China, Peter has a front-row seat to the seismic shifts shaping the next century—and his insights challenge everything the Western media has told you.

We dive into:

• The real effects of the U.S.-China decoupling

• Why America’s strategy might be strengthening its rival

• What China actually wants—and why no one’s talking about it

• The silent assumptions that shape global policy decisions

Peter doesn’t mince words. He explains why underestimating and disrespecting China isn’t just bad politics - it might become fuel for war.

This conversation is one to remember. We’re recording it for posterity.

As always, stay curious and free!

Jason and Lovis

This week on The Covered Call, we sit down with someone who’s spent decades pulling back the curtain on how the world really works - Willem Middelkoop.

You might know him as the author of The Big Reset, manager of the Commodity Discovery Fund, or a long-time voice warning about the fragility of our financial system. But this conversation goes deeper.

We talk about:

• How Willem carved a life of freedom across ten careers

• The childhood event that made him hyper-aware of his surroundings

• His brutally honest take on startups, digital assets, and the rise of Asia

• Why discovery investing is his ultimate game - and how he sees the next decade playing out

• The single metric he uses to define personal happiness and success

One of our favorite moments?

“You don’t need a plan. You need a compass.”

If you’re building a life outside the mainstream, or just want to sharpen your lens on where the world is heading, this episode is for you.

Let us know what you think - and feel free to forward this one to a friend who needs to hear it.

—Lovis & Jason

P.S. We also talk about gold, why cash flow beats savings, and why Willem hates holidays. Seriously.

We sat down with Jen Zhu Scott: investor, entrepreneur, mom, and the visionary behind PowerDynamics.ai.

Named one of Forbes’ Top Women in Tech, Jen has advised HBO’s Silicon Valley, spoken on the TED stage, and now she’s building containerized compute and energy infrastructure to decentralize power—both literally and figuratively.

But this episode goes much deeper than tech.

We talk about:

• Growing up in West China and catching a “lucky break” in Shenzhen

• Why younger generations “lying flat” may be more evolved than we think

• What it means to raise grounded kids in an AI-driven world

• How Taoism helps her navigate leadership, parenting, and uncertainty

• Why the West keeps getting surprised by China—and what that reveals

And she drops one line we’ll never forget:

“The biggest problems in the world aren’t American, Chinese, or German. They’re human.”

If you care about the future - yours, your kids’, or the planet’s - this one’s worth your time.

As always, thank you for being part of this curious and freedom-seeking tribe.

Lovis & Jason

Alex didn’t go to college - he studied Human Action instead. Raised on a steady diet of Mises, Rothbard, and Maltz (via his father's Sunday school-style “Gentleman’s Club”), Alex shares how applying sound theory - rather than chasing trends - shaped everything from his mindset to the long-term structure of the investment firm that his father co-founded and Alex is invested in.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why “to know and not to do is really not to know”

• The power of studying original thinkers vs. academic gatekeepers

• Why Switzerland remains a true safe haven in a volatile world

• What it means to build a business where you manage your own money first

• And how to develop an operating system for life that outlasts any economic cycle

If you're serious about freedom, wealth that lasts, and using better ideas to build a better life—this one’s for you.

In this episode of The Covered Call, we sit down with CJ Gustafson — former CFO of a $250M exit, now the founder of Mostly Metrics, one of the most respected voices in business and finance media.

CJ didn’t just change jobs.
He changed games.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The mental shift from salary to self-ownership

• How CJ found product-audience fit

• The underrated metrics that separate valuable businesses from noise

• The exact flywheel behind his audience of 60,000+ CFOs, founders, and investors

• Why going all in might be the most rational move you can make

You’ll also hear a reference to one of our favorite books of all time:

“I truly believe the universe conspires in your favor when you go all in on something.”

This one’s about freedom, focus, and the compounding power of commitment.

—> Watch and listen now!

Stay free,
Lovis & Jason

PS.: If you’ve been sitting on a decision… this might give you the spark.

After all, It coincided nicely with a recent podcast interview Lovis and I had with on the topic of China and investing in general. Louis’ comment quoted below seemed mighty apt.

"There are 2 kinds of people in the world, those who have visited China and see the future, and those who do not visit calling the former communist party shills.."

- Louis Vincent Gave

The post went viral and is now by far the most retweeted and liked post I have yet come up with. I guess the online world at large is rather interested in the broader topic of China, especially when an on-the-ground perspective is given.

Seeing how much interest it has garnered, I thought our substack audience might find the observations to be of value too. So here goes, our first little travel report, straight from the Middle Kingdom:

At the beginning of March, 2025, I brought my family to Yunnan, away from the industrial hubs and into the rolling hills in the south of the country. What I saw, heard and tasted was indeed a version of the future as Louis had mentioned, and one that seemed rather pleasant to me and my family.

When I am usually in China, I am almost always on some crazy business trip visiting 8 factories in 6 cities in 4 days, all while being jet lagged. This time, I was able to spend time getting lost, and learning about things that are perhaps less economic, and more cultural.

For example, being in Yunnan, the art (and science) of Chinese teas was on full display. I was lucky enough to get introduced to this delicious practice by some sincere tea lovers, giving me a peek behind the curtains at what is a millennia long cultural norm. The balance and beauty of the interior spaces often took our breath away.

Talking about beauty, the landscape around us was also pretty gorgeous. This was dawn in the city of Dali (大理) 2000m above sea level.

Now let’s talk about prices.

Freshly handmade wanton (pork dumplings served in a home cooked bone broth) for breakfast - 7 RMB (less than 1 USD). Everything paid for by scanning with my Alipay app. Cash is still fine to use, but the digital payment ecosystem has truly taken over.

Geopolitics was also on the menu, with the grandpa making the dish firing questions at us while we waited. Topics included:

“What's going on with the AFD in Germany? Alice Weidel seems like she makes sense doesn't she?”

“Trump is going to make things tough for China, but perhaps we have more of a shot of peace with Ukraine?”

Warm soybean milk for the kids, at 3 RMB a mug.

A meal for the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids) rarely cost more than $10 USD when eating simply (but healthily). Fast food from western chains would be more than double the price in Downtown Kunming.

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Another aspect of China that really surprises me is how quickly they pick up cultural aspects from other places, study it and make it their own.

Being in Yunnan means that you are surrounded by all things tea related. However, the old rolling hills are now prolific arabica coffee producing regions too. The sheer amount of Melbourne level coffee on offer was a pleasant surprise. Flat white? It is called 'aussie white' in China (澳白.

I remember being in China in 2015, having to pay $8 USD at the marriot for a pretty average brew. On this trip, I had countless varieties to choose from, and the coffees were roasted and brewed with care. I was even asked, "which beans would you like? Those growing on the sunny side of the hills, or north facing beans?" I was literally gobsmacked. But happy.

Some extra shots of us enjoying caffeinated beverages.

Most of us outside of China have heard about their impressive rail network.

We zipped around between Kunming and Dali with their high-speed trains. Even I was taken aback by how many trains were travelling at any given time between these relatively unknown cities, and how affordable the tickets were.

I guess as Einstein says, alles ist relativ, and I have been living in Europe since 2015.

While posting this, I did a scan for trains travelling between Shanghai and Beijing on the Alipay app. This is a 6 hour ride spanning approx 1300km. Check the prices. Note the ability to translate for foreign tourists within the app.

Once we arrived at a city, we would then take taxis everywhere, with their version of Uber/Grab being called DiDi.

It was just as easy to use, with the only thing we couldn't figure out being the price. A 10 min ride usually cost 12 RMB. About $1.5 USD.

Drivers were friendly, relaxed and taxis were clean and new. All cars were locally made and electric.

A screengrab from my whatsapp messages to friends. According to the taxi driver in Kunming, it costs $5 USD for 400km of range? $10-12k USD for a new electric car?!

The electric vehicle revolution also had a profound impact on the urban landscape. Streets were packed, but were eerily quiet. Even the rental bicycles are now electric. After having just been to Indonesia before China, it was a shock to the system. After spending 3 days there, the rare sound of an ICE car or scooter really stood out.

Just before signing off, a few snippets from Dali’s old town. I had never heard of the place, but it dates back over 1,000 years, and was once the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom.

Cobblestone streets, Bai architecture, and Cangshan mountain views make it feel frozen in time. Seeing silver smiths banging on bars of silver by hand really drove the vibes home. Finger food fresh off the grill was also paid for with Alipay linked to my Mastercard. It seems the past still exists in this future.

I hope more of us get the chance to travel to see how things are on the other side. It might make for a more balanced dialogue on a civilisation that makes up nearly a 5th of our global population.

If you enjoyed the observations from my little journey to the east, perhaps you might enjoy a previous episode Lovis and I did. In that episode, we look at how different and contrasting values and cultures of the chinese are compared to the west and how it often manifests in interesting ways.