AI’s surge in demand for memory and storage drove some of 2025’s biggest stock market winners, including hard-drive makers Seagate Technology and Western Digital, and AI chip maker Micron Technology. Retail trading platform Robinhood also put up a blockbuster year and made its S&P 500 debut. And the bidding war by Netflix and Paramount for Warner Bros. Discovery propelled the entertainment giant into a top market performer. Not all companies fared as well, with those tied to health care and ...
Jan 04, 2026•34 min
In this week’s episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest host WSJ Chief Economics Correspondent Nick Timiraos are joined by Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, to discuss the state of the U.S economy, interest rates and the central bank itself. Hammack shares her views on what she’s hearing from businesses in her district and what that could mean for consumer prices and the labor market. She emphasizes the importance of Fed independence and th...
Dec 21, 2025•39 min
This week we’re bringing you an episode of our sister podcast What’s News Sunday, a weekly show tackling the big questions about the biggest stories in the news. In this week’s special episode, Lingling Wei, WSJ’s Chief China Correspondent, focuses on how China has been making major inroads on the technology front from artificial intelligence to autonomous driving, complicating its relationship with the U.S. She is joined by Peter Landers, WSJ’s Asia Business Editor, and Victor Wang, a Silicon V...
Dec 18, 2025•19 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest host Hannah Erin Lang discuss the Federal Reserve's recent rate cut and whether further easing is expected in 2026. They get into the upcoming CPI report, which is expected to show stubborn inflation, and how that could pressure consumer stocks like Nike and General Mills. The hosts also look at the busy slate of global central bank decisions from the EU, the U.K., and Japan — highlighting how a potential rate hike f...
Dec 14, 2025•26 min
In this week’s episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos is joined by WSJ markets reporter Hannah Erin Lang to discuss the return of investor optimism as the S&P 500 approaches all-time highs ahead of the FOMC’s upcoming meeting. They also analyze the next test for the AI trade: earnings from Oracle and Adobe this week. Plus, the U.S. dollar is sliding as the Federal Reserve prepares to cut rates while Japan signals hikes. The hosts discuss how this could drive capital abroad. A...
Dec 07, 2025•30 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest host Hannah Erin Lang discuss the volatility of the AI trade and how Nvidia's earnings report at least somewhat helped restore investors’ faith. They analyze new signals from retailers, including those who recently reported earnings, such as Target and Walmart, about the K-shaped U.S. consumer economy and the uneven spending patterns heading into the crucial Black Friday and holiday season. The hosts also note that t...
Nov 23, 2025•30 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos discuss the lingering economic impact of the U.S. government shutdown and why a lack of crucial inflation and jobs data is making the outlook murky for the Federal Reserve. Next, Nvidia is set to report its third-quarter earnings this week. And Morgan Stanley estimates that only half of the roughly $3 trillion in global data center spending through 2028 could be funded by projected cash flows. So how are te...
Nov 16, 2025•29 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest host Miriam Gottfried discuss the Supreme Court case challenging President Trump's reciprocal tariffs and how that’s playing out in the markets. Next, they look at affordability as the winning message from recent elections, such as Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign to be the next mayor of New York City. Plus, they explore the recent drama in the private credit market after executives at Blackstone downplayed the “...
Nov 09, 2025•33 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, guest host Miriam Gottfried speaks with Eric Resnick, CEO of private equity investment manager KSL Capital Partners, about the resilience of the travel and leisure sector. He explains why he sees leisure travel demand as a powerful anchor that allows the sector to defy pressures typically seen during an economic downturn. We dive into the outlook for corporate travel, the challenges facing new hotel construction, the rising experiential economy a...
Nov 02, 2025•22 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos discuss market speculation, from the recent sputtering in the gold rally to what to expect from this week's Federal Reserve meeting. Next, Apple is reporting earnings this week, but the company saw a bump after a research report was released saying the company saw strong sales with its latest iPhone. Later, Robinhood has come a long way since the meme stock mania, entering the S&P 500 company earlier th...
Oct 26, 2025•25 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos dig into the latest big bank earnings and what they signal about the health of the U.S. consumer. Next, they explore the disconnect between potential economic warning signs and the market’s speculative fever, where the “buy the dip” mentality continues to drive stocks to new records. Finally, they look ahead to the upcoming earnings from Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford and GM. Then, aft...
Oct 19, 2025•28 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Telis Demos is joined by Miriam Gottfried to tackle gold’s continued rally. They discuss the debate over whether its surge is a bet against the U.S. dollar or simply "catastrophe insurance" against a faltering AI-led stock market. Plus, with the U.S. government shutdown delaying key economic reports, investors are turning to Bank of America, Carlyle Group and likely this week’s bank earnings for clues on the economy's health. After the b...
Oct 12, 2025•30 min
In both economics and politics, there is a widespread view that central banks should be free of political pressure, with cautionary tales around the world of what happens when politicians meddle: out of control inflation, spiraling debt crises and economic collapse. And with the U.S. Federal Reserve's independence now under attack by President Trump, WSJ chief economics correspondent Nick Timiraos joins business and finance editor Alex Frangos , markets reporter Chelsey Dulaney and senior market...
Oct 09, 2025•34 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos explore how the Federal Reserve’s independence, a government shutdown and volatility around tariffs are driving gold to hit record highs. Then, does videogame maker Electronic Arts’ $55 billion buyout signal a long-awaited M&A boom? Plus, they discuss the “debasement trade” and how concerns over the U.S. dollar are also fueling a rally in bitcoin ETFs issued by firms like BlackRock. Then after the break...
Oct 05, 2025•27 min
Artificial intelligence spending is hitting epic levels as Big Tech companies shell out for massive data centers to power new chatbots and other AI services. But will the spending--expected to amount to trillions of dollars in the coming years--pay off for investors? This week on our columnists roundtable, business and finance editor Alex Frangos , markets reporter Chelsey Dulaney and senior markets columnist James Mackintosh are joined by Heard on the Street tech columnist Dan Gallagher to disc...
Oct 02, 2025•35 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos kick things off by talking about perpetual futures or “perps,” which are offering turbocharged bets on bitcoin. Next, with the September jobs report out this week, they break down what investors should be looking out for beyond the headline number. Later in the show, Telis is joined by John Murphy, a managing director of strategic advisory at Haig Partners, for a deep dive into what the end of the EV tax su...
Sep 28, 2025•28 min
Gold prices are up more than 40% this year, on track for their best year since 1979 —when a global energy crisis fueled an inflationary shock that thrashed the world economy. And while it's a very different economy today, with stocks hitting record highs on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, gold serves as a form of insurance for a diversified investor, particularly when facing risks such as inflation, government debt, war, and questions about the Federal Reserve’s independence under President Trump. T...
Sep 25, 2025•30 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos talk to billionaire investor Cliff Asness, the co-founder and chief investment officer of AQR Capital Management. AQR is a global investment management firm known for quantitative investing, an approach that builds strategies based on data and research. Asness discusses one of the market's biggest trends: the explosion in popular ETFs designed to protect investors from downturns. But do they actually work? ...
Sep 21, 2025•38 min
The Trump family’s latest venture—a so-called “crypto treasury” stock—could generate their biggest payday through the WLFI token from World Liberty Financial, while being a potential minefield for investors. The offering follows the success of Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy, now renamed as Strategy, a “bitcoin treasury company” that accumulates bitcoin by using debt and new stock issues to keep on buying more. Listen in on a conversation between some of The Wall Street Journal's sharpest financi...
Sep 18, 2025•33 min
Listen in on conversations of The Wall Street Journal's sharpest financial minds. Featuring the Journal’s award-winning columnists and writers Alex Frangos , Chelsey Dulaney and James Mackintosh , the podcast provides insights to help finance-curious listeners connect the dots between what's happening in policy, markets and the economy to their financial lives and investments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Sep 17, 2025•2 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos talk about Oracle's shocking more than 40% stock surge after the technology company said it won several billion-dollar contracts in its latest quarter, and what it signals about the future of the AI investment boom. Next, they explore the Federal Reserve's tricky position as it weighs a weakening jobs report against persistent inflation. Lastly, the hosts ponder how U.S. tariffs are complicating the economi...
Sep 14, 2025•28 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos talk about the bond market, the post-Labor Day volatility it experienced due to concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence, investors piling into gold, and the U.S.’s potential loss of its tariff income stream after a decision by a Court of Appeals. Later in the show, Telis is joined by Dana M. Peterson, chief economist and leader of the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center at the Conference Board. ...
Sep 07, 2025•28 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Gunjan Banerji and guest co-host Miriam Gottfried dive into the big questions around the AI trade after last week's stumble. Could Nvidia’s earnings this week shift things back? Meanwhile, Gunjan points out a shift under the market’s surface: a rotation into blue chips as tech takes a back seat. Plus, earnings from Target and Walmart offer mixed signals on retail. Later, Miriam and Adrienne Yih, senior retail analyst at Barclays, are set ...
Aug 24, 2025•26 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos dissect the latest consumer price index data and how its results have U.S. markets asking: “Will the Federal Reserve cut rates in September?” Next, Gunjan explains how a new generation of investors are “buying the dip” when markets decline. Plus, home-improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s have earnings out this week. Then after the break, Gunjan sits down with Neil Dutta, head of economic research at ...
Aug 17, 2025•27 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest co-host Miriam Gottfried analyze the implications of a weak jobs report and the removal of Erika McEntarfer, the top official from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, examining how investors are grappling with the prospect of less-reliable economic data in the future. The discussion also covers this week's key CPI, PPI and business inventory reports. Plus, Telis offers a stablecoin primer befor...
Aug 10, 2025•27 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos dive into how, for the first time, brokerages have taken out more than $1 trillion dollars in margin debt to buy stocks and other securities. Next, they chat about Robinhood’s blowout earnings as another sign of market exuberance, and why investors are eagerly awaiting software and data analytics company Palantir's earnings this week. Then after the break, Sébastien Page, head of global multi-asset and chie...
Aug 03, 2025•26 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos start the show by digging into the meme-stock mania surrounding OpenDoor, Krispy Kreme and Kohl’s, and how the factors driving this are different from 2021. Then they get into President Trump’s latest trade deal with Japan and how it’s showing up in auto-sector trades. Plus, some economic talk ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week to discuss interest rates, and the release of the latest jobs report....
Jul 27, 2025•26 min
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos are joined by Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and voting member of the 2025 FOMC Committee, to discuss the economy, inflation, tariffs, escalating trade wars and the Federal Reserve's approach to monetary policy. Goolsbee explains how the economic conditions and the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment plays into his decision making on cutting interest ra...
Jul 19, 2025•26 min
After a couple years in a slump, the market for initial public offerings has been stronger this year. In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, host Telis Demos is joined by Arnaud Blanchard, global co-head of equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, to discuss how recent IPO deals from companies like Chime and Voyager Technologies are giving the market a bump, where IPOs are expected to go in the second half of 2025 and if there is any chance of the market returning to its 2021 highs. ...
Jul 13, 2025•29 min
With mounting pressure from President Trump and investors to lower interest rates, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision later this month. In this bonus episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Gunjan Banerji is joined by Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, to discuss the future of monetary policy, inflation and tariffs, and why he’s in no rush to cut interest rates. Plus, Barkin shares why he likens the current economic environment to “driv...
Jul 02, 2025•26 min
