This week’s Alpha Trader podcast features hosts Aaron Task and Stephen Alpher talking with David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, and the author of There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths.

Among the topics discussed:

While the energy sector has been red-hot this year, it’s hard to say things are frothy, says Bahnsen. He notes yield spreads remain high, price-to-earnings and price-to-cash flow multiples remain low, and stock prices for many exploration and production companies are down 30%-50% from the last time oil was in the $80 per barrel area. He notes Chevron (CVX) just had its best cash flow quarter ever, and Exxon’s (XOM) capital discipline during the tough times is paying off in a big way.

As he said during his May appearance on Alpha Trader, Bahnsen believes there’s no more under-appreciated sector in energy than the midstream space, i.e. the players involved in transporting, storing, and pipelines. Yields are strong, valuations are reasonable, and financial metrics continue to improve. He continues to like Kinder Morgan (KMI) and Enterprise Product Partners (EPD), but his major holding is in the USCF Midstream Energy Income Fund ETF (UMI).

A fan of the goal of cleaner energy, Bahnsen is pleased that “grown-ups” like Goldman’s David Solomon and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon have pledged to continue facilitating capital towards fossil fuel producers, as it’s just not possible at this time for renewables to fuel the globe’s energy needs.

As for the current inflation scare, Bahnsen expects it is cyclical, not secular. The overwhelming level of government debt has been, and will continue to be a major deflationary force. This will again be apparent once the economy works through this expansion’s supply chain and labor shortage issues.

Moving away from the energy sector, Bahnsen is an owner of Merck (MRK) and JPMorgan (JPM), noting healthy and growing dividends for both. Merck has the soon-to-come Covid treatment pill, and the balance sheet for effective M&A ahead of patent cliffs (see the recent Acceleron purchase). JPMorgan, says Bahnsen, is the best-run big bank in the U.S. He reminds of the big dividends the House of Dimon continues to get from its pennies-on-the-dollar financial crisis purchases of Bear Stearns and WAMU.

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