In the Press


Speed Dial with Dave Nadig: Inflation Update featuring Sam Rines

The inflation story has been one of the market’s key narratives this year. Investors, advisors, and all kinds of market watchers have been watching each data drop for clues about the Federal Reserve’s next moves. The latest CPI print is no exception, another data point that invites scrutiny from those trying to predict further hikes or an eventual pause. VettaFi financial futurist Dave Nadig sat down with Sam Rines for a short discussion.



The Power of Price and Margin Strategies

When inflation spiked last year, companies responded by raising their prices. As price pressures started to ease, companies opted to prioritize pricing over volume. The move made perfect sense, says Samuel Rines, as pricing helped maintain margins. It’s a strategy he has dubbed “price and margin” (PAM). And as input costs retreated and prices stayed steady, the money fell to the bottom line. It’s one of the things that kept him bullish in the face of widespread bearishness early this year. He also sees several things simmering beneath the surface that suggest the economy may not be as weak as many believe.



Companies Aren’t Eager to Cut Their Prices as Costs Fall

This week I interviewed Samuel Rines, an investment strategist at Corbu L.L.C. in Houston. Rines said he coined the term “price over volume” in June 2022 to describe how companies were fighting higher costs at the time. Revenue equals price times volume, of course. If a company could manage to raise its price by a big percentage and have its volume go down by only a small percentage, it would increase its revenue, offsetting its higher costs.



Is This Stock Rally Rolling Over?

Sam Rines joins Maggie Lake to explore the driving forces behind this week’s equity market action and discuss whether we’ve reached a turning point. Plus, Sam will share his thoughts on the metals space, food commodities, and why stagflation looks to be taking hold in the services economy.



Has the A.I. Revolution Begun? | The Lowdown

On this episode of The Lowdown, Mike Smith is joined by Samuel Rines,  and the author of After Normal: Making Sense of the Global Economy, to discuss the Artificial Intelligence revolution and its potential effect on the global economy.



Investors Are Loving Companies That Are Finding Excuses to Raise Their Prices

“[We] wanted to check in on the companies called out for it on the Odd Lots podcast,” said Rines. “As it turns out, PoV has been rewarded.” The price-over-volume dynamic has arguably helped all kinds of companies to boost profits since the pandemic set off a wave of supply shocks, giving them de-facto monopoly power, or the ability to raise prices together.



Deep Dive with Dave Nadig: Sam Rines on Consumers

I sat down with Samuel Rines — who’s been an econ sage for the last few years — to talk about how we can possibly have a recession with the consumer indefatigable, price-over-volume continuing to drive earnings, the surprising strength of middle America, and why a credit crunch isn’t going to stop the reshoring capex spend.



Will AI Take Your Job? Exploring the Realities of Automation

In the latest Week Ahead episode, three experts – Todd Gentzel, Chris Balding, and Sam Rines – discuss the impact of AI on the job market and the enterprise. The conversation delves into the macro environment and the rise of AI, with Sam Rines framing the discussion by noting the fast adoption of AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney, which are taking out low and mid-level writing, creative, and analyst tasks. This is a threat at a scale not seen before as this generation of AI is targeting professional, corporate, and office jobs.



Companies Are Telling Us the Real Reason They’re Still Raising Prices | Odd Lots

On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Samuel Rines, who has gone through numerous transcripts and come to the conclusion that management teams are still being rewarded for “price over volume” strategies. Companies in this environment are happy to sacrifice a bit of volume sales in order to keep moving through large price increases. He walks us through what he’s learned from companies like Wingstop, Tractor Supply, and PepsiCo. And he talks about what you should expect to see when the inflationary urge finally starts to crest.