Episode summary
ETF Prime
ETF Prime
· · 55 min · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman
Summary
The episode split between two ETF themes: nuclear infrastructure and precious metals. A nuclear research analyst argued that AI data-center power demand is only the visible part of a broader nuclear revival, driven by energy security, climate goals, bipartisan policy support, and new reactor deployment. He said the more interesting opportunity may be in companies that supply the physical buildout of plants, not just uranium miners, because most reactor construction dollars flow into components, engineering, and materials rather than fuel.
The second half focused on Yall Street Asset Management’s new physical gold and silver ETFs, YSAU and YSG. The guest said the key differentiator is that both funds custody 100% of their metal on American soil, fully allocated and segregated, to reduce geopolitical and settlement risks tied to overseas vaulting and unallocated London pools. He argued that recent supply-chain shocks, tariff disruptions, and tightening metals liquidity justify a domestic structure.
He also made the case that gold and silver still belong in portfolios: gold has low correlation to equities and, he said, has outperformed the S&P 500 on a total-return basis this century. Silver, he said, is both a monetary and industrial metal with a five-year supply deficit and added upside from AI-related demand.
Key takeaways
- The nuclear guest said AI is the headline catalyst, but bipartisan policy and energy-security concerns are the deeper forces behind the nuclear trade.
- He argued that uranium and nuclear-equity exposure are different bets, because new reactors do not automatically translate into higher uranium prices.
- The guest said NUKZ is differentiated by holding names tied to plant construction, including BWXT, Mirion Technologies and Flowserve.
- Tar Saab said YSAU and YSG keep 100% of their bullion on American soil to reduce exposure to overseas vaults and unallocated London pools.
- He said gold has returned about 1100% this century and has zero correlation with equities, which supports a diversification case.
- He said silver has been in deficit for five years and benefits from both industrial demand and leverage to a metals bull market.
Notable quotes
“the approval rating for data centers and nuclear energy when you look at them side by side, people would be much more willing to have a nuclear reactor built in their area via a data center”
“we are creating a domestic market and these are fully segregated fully allocated bars”
“you never have any intraday exposure to whatever the London pool is”
“Gold has returned, 1100% this century. The S&P 500 has returned about 600 650%”
How the episode opens
When positions come into an ETF and in many ETFs they are holding positions using unallocated metal that's sitting in a poolled account in London. So those bars are not actually settled into the ETF. All right, joining me will be TK Saab, CEO and co-founder of Texas Precious Metals, which is one of the largest precious metals companies in the world.
That includes serving as a market maker for gold and silver coins and bars. Uh they work with retail clients, wholesalers, institutional clients. They also operate the Texas Precious Metals Depository, which is a state-of-the-art storage facility for gold, silver, and other precious metals.
And then not only that, most relevant to this podcast, they are also behind Yaw Street Asset Management. Yall Street, great name. They just entered the uh ETF space a few weeks ago with the launch of the Yall Street physical gold ETF, ticker YSAU, and the Yall Street physical silver ETF, ticker YS A.
And the key differentiator with these ETFs is they are the first and only physically backed ETFs to custody 100% of their gold and silver on American soil. And so we are going to have a full conversation around why TAK believes that's important and then we'll also highlight some of the other key selling points of these ETFs which are obviously in highly competitive categories right these are tough spaces to enter but TK clearly believes they can compete here and I should mention that TK is used to competing in all sorts of areas because believe it or not he was actually on the apprentice with Donald Trump back in the 2000s and made it pretty far. That was the uh number one show on television back then for those of you who uh aren't as old as I am, but he has a unique backstory and career path to include founding Texas Precious Metals.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf investing
- portfolio allocation
- market moving etfs
- investment performance
- market drivers
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from ETF Prime
-
Inside the Latest iShares ETF Trends with BlackRock’s Jay Jacobs -
Anthropic IPO & Bitcoin DRIP ETFs -
Baird Strategas’ Todd Sohn on ETFs: What’s New and What’s Next -
The AI Trade: Opportunity, Risk & What Comes Next -
SEC’s Brian Daly Provides an Update on Novel ETFs -
The ETF Stories to Watch for the Rest of 2026
ETF Prime, this episode and its artwork belong to Nate Geraci. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
