Exclusive Interview with a Veteran Wall Street Fund Manager: On Crude Oil, U.S. Stocks, and Chinese-American Listed Stocks

Costco vs. S&P 500 Similar opportunities were abundant during the pandemic: many high-quality companies suffered only short-term disruptions due to the outbreak and algorithmic ETF sell-offs, yet their long-term profitability remained intact and their balance sheets remained healthy—creating exceptional buying opportunities. Examples include Kornit, Cloudflare, Xilinx, Booking, Dufry, and Wynn. In short, in today’s market—where algorithmic trading accounts for roughly 90% of total trading volume—fundamental investors should not compete head-to-head with algorithms to capture short-term, data-driven trading opportunities. Instead, they should focus on identifying opportunities that algorithms cannot access—qualitative shifts in fundamentals not yet reflected in hard data—and thereby outperform both the broader market and algorithmic traders over the long term. Looking ahead, I am personally more concerned about three pandemic-related factors: First, given that U.S. containment measures have been far less stringent than China’s, it remains uncertain whether the U.S. will experience a post-summer reopening resurgence akin to Singapore’s; Second, the pace of post-pandemic economic recovery—which hinges largely on the implementation effectiveness of fiscal stimulus. At least from what I’ve observed among my portfolio companies, many are still awaiting the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans they were supposed to receive by the end of March, delayed due to administrative bottlenecks; Third, whether a second, potentially deadlier wave of the pandemic will hit this fall or winter—if vaccines remain unavailable by then. Thus, in my view, the U.S. broad market is likely to remain range-bound between 2,600 and 2,800 in the near term, breaking out only once clarity emerges on these three issues. On personal life: Investors need imagination 1. You’ve worked in both private equity and public markets for many years—what draws you to this profession? Two things keep me deeply engaged in investing: First, I’m intensely curious by nature; investing lets me interact daily with people across diverse industries, learn new things, and gain fresh perspectives on how the world works—something I find profoundly fascinating. Second, my academic background is in history—a discipline that stresses distinguishing between “historical truth” and “narrative truth,” and that relies on cross-referencing multiple sources to “connect the dots” and piece together fragmented truths. Investing is similar: beyond understanding a company’s fundamentals, one must also grasp the dominant market narrative—or what people commonly call “tailwinds” or “trends.” Investors need imagination—to connect fundamentals with market narratives, to assemble hidden patterns, and to uncover mispricings. The very process of piecing together this puzzle is what makes investing so enjoyable for me. 2. How do you see the key differences between private and public markets? Traditional private equity (e.g., buyout funds) emphasizes two things: First, deeper involvement in company management—ideally securing board control and stepping directly onto the front lines alongside management to solve operational challenges; Second, designing investment structures carefully to amplify returns or secure stronger protective provisions—not relying solely on the company’s underlying performance to generate outsized returns.

Bitcoin Approaching $100,000—How Much Longer Until the ‘Altcoin Season’?

RENDER has already delivered an astonishing historical performance, surging from $0.47 to $13.64—a staggering 2,791% increase. This remarkable rally underscores its growth potential and sends a strong bullish signal, fueling market expectations that it may soon reach new all-time highs. Currently, RENDER is building momentum in preparation for its next breakout. Its price now sits slightly above its 100-day moving average and is approaching a key resistance level at $6.02. A successful breakout above this level could propel its short-term gains by 20–30%. Following this trajectory, achieving a 250% increase by year-end appears well within reach. Render Token is the core utility token of Render Network—a centralized platform leveraging GPU rendering technology to help creators reduce costs. The network efficiently utilizes idle GPU resources from node operators to deliver high-performance solutions for animation and visual effects production. In return, node operators receive RENDER tokens as rewards—sustaining a self-reinforcing ecosystem. As demand for rendering resources continues to grow, RENDER offers a novel solution. With its unique use case and rapid development pace, Render Token has the potential to emerge as a leader among altcoins—especially amid the current sustained bullish sentiment. ONDO Ondo Finance’s native token, ONDO, has recently experienced notable market volatility, driven upward by positive developments. This month, integration with PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD triggered a 35% surge in ONDO’s price. Over the past week, it rose a further 9%, reaching $1.05. Cumulatively, ONDO gained 13% over the month—indicating steadily rising investor interest. On November 15, Ondo Finance announced a strategic partnership with PayPal’s PYUSD—a significant milestone. This collaboration enables users to instantly convert between PYUSD and Ondo’s short-term U.S. Treasury product (OUSG). This initiative does more than expand stablecoin utility—it marks a critical step toward integrating DeFi with traditional financial systems. Ondo Finance plays a pivotal role in harmonizing these two domains. Looking ahead, ONDO’s market outlook is widely viewed as highly optimistic.