WSJ's Take On the Week

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 markets columnist James Mackintosh for our roundtable podcast exploring the impact on today’s investors, markets and the economy. Plus, Nick details the fallout from President Trump’s attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook and unpacks the historical context of what has shaped our idea of Fed independence, including the Great Depression, World War II and the high inflation of the 1970s. And they discuss how politics can impact the Fed’s goal of regulating the economy and keeping inflation under control. Further Reading Fed Minutes Reveal Divide Over Outlook for Cuts The Supreme Court Just Became the Last Line of Defense for Fed Independence Supreme Court Allows Lisa Cook to Keep Her Job for Now Fed Independence Reaches Its Moment of Truth as Supreme Court Weighs Cook’s Fate Powell’s Last Stand: Balancing a Tricky Economy and Intense Political Pressure Trump Says He Is Removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook Appeals Court Rejects Trump Request to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook Why the Market Doesn’t Care Much About Trump Firing the Fed’s Cook Further Podcasts The Federal Reserve Under Siege Extreme Inflation From A to Z: Argentina Extreme Inflation From A to Z: Turkey Extreme Inflation From A to Z: Zimbabwe For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on the Street Column and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Send us an email to let us know what you think of the roundtable format: takeontheweek@wsj.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, Gunjan sits down with Neene Jenkins, head of municipal research at JPMorgan Asset Management, to dive into municipal bonds, which are used to fund infrastructure, highways, sewer systems and school districts. Is higher education issuing more debt because of federal challenges? Later, they discuss the sector's resilience to government shutdowns, and Jenkins answers a key question: How likely is a recession? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Municipal Bonds May Not Remain This Cheap For Long Are Muni Bonds Still a Darling on Wall Street? It Depends Who You Ask A Mystery in the High-Yield Muni Market: What Are the Riskiest Bonds Worth? ETFs Are Flush With New Money. Why Billions More Are Flowing Their Way. A Once Unstoppable Luxury Housing Market Is Starting to Crack Electronic Arts Goes Private for $55 Billion in Largest LBO Ever For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 discuss the promise of AI. They discuss the major investment deals announced by Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Microsoft and Alphabet and dig into the use of debt to finance growth, including by companies like CoreWeave, which has emerged as a key player in the data-center buildout.  Plus, they separate fact from fiction when it comes to comparisons between AI and the dot-com bubble. And, finally, our panel answers a question from our previous about the tax implications of buying gold. Further Reading Spending on AI Is at Epic Levels. Will It Ever Pay Off? Debt Is Fueling the Next Wave of the AI Boom What the Dot-Com Bust Can Tell Us About Today’s AI Boom CoreWeave, Meta Enter $14.2 Billion AI Cloud Infrastructure Deal Nvidia to Invest Up to $100 Billion in OpenAI Nvidia Has a Problem: Too Much Money Oracle Is the New Nvidia, for Better or Worse For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on the Street Column and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 subsidy this week could mean for the auto industry. Then, Murphy makes the case for why the best strategy for Ford, Stellantis and GM may be to focus on their truck businesses. Later, Telis asks: Does the end of the EV credit mean a renaissance for the internal combustion engine? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Why Ford’s Made-in-America Strategy Hurts It in Trump’s Trade War Ford's Big EV Dilemma Auto Industry Takes $12 Billion Hit From Trade War Detroit Rediscovers Its Love for Giant Gas Guzzlers Get Rich or Get Wiped Out: Bitcoin’s Hottest New Trade Detroit Rediscovers Its Love for Giant Gas Guzzlers For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. This week on our columnists roundtable, editor Alex Frangos and markets reporter Chelsey Dulaney are joined by senior markets columnist James Mackintosh and chief economics commentator Greg Ip to discuss what’s driving a new rush to gold, how the yellow metal compares to Bitcoin as an inflation hedge and whether it's worth buying in, through the SPDR Gold Trust ETF or by picking up gold bars at Costco. Further Reading Why You Should Own (Some) Gold Gold Hasn’t Rallied This Much Since 1979 The Costco Shoppers Putting $2,000 Gold Bars in Their Carts Gold Miners Eschew Hedging to Lap Up Sky-High Prices A Historic Gold Rush Is Under Way, From Wall Street to Main Street For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on the Street Column and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Later, Asness shares why he thinks trading on Robinhood can feel more like betting on FanDuel, why the stock market has become less rational due to social media, and whether Palantir and Tesla are on the meme stock spectrum. Then, he weighs in on companies reporting earnings every six months, market froth and the bind facing the Federal Reserve. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Funds Promising Shelter From Wild Swings Are Booming. But Do They Deliver? Traders Are Snapping Up Bullish Bets on Tesla In This Frothy Market, It’s Boom Times for Brokers Like Robinhood A New Generation of ‘Buy the Dip’ Investors Is Propping Up the Market For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 financial minds in the debut episode of Ticker Shock as our team unpacks the trade. Ticker Shock 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. This week, business and finance editor Alex Frangos and markets reporter Chelsey Dulaney are joined by Streetwise columnist James Mackintosh and Markets A.M. newsletter writer and investing columnist Spencer Jakab to discuss the “infinite money glitch.” They also talk about how these sorts of tokens compare to meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC. Further Reading Trump Family Amasses $5 Billion Fortune After Crypto Launch The Trumps’ New Crypto Money Maker: Deals With Themselves Trump Brothers-Backed Bitcoin Mining Company Surges After Nasdaq Listing The Recipe Behind the Trump Family’s Crypto Riches: PancakeSwap The Hottest Business Strategy This Summer Is Buying Crypto The Man Making Billions From the Wildest Bitcoin Bet For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on the Street Column and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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 economic outlook. Then after the break, Telis is joined by Adoniro Cestari Neto, the head of trade and working capital solutions at investment bank and financial services company Citigroup, for an inside look at the impact of U.S. tariffs. Cestari explains how global companies are adapting their supply chains through "efficiency" to avoid passing costs to consumers. Later, Telis gets an answer to the central question: when it comes to tariffs, who really pays the price? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. They begin with the research group’s August consumer confidence index and whether its results mean we’re in "vibecession.” Then Peterson defends the importance of survey-based data and why revisions are necessary. And Telis asks: Could private data replace government data? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Consumer-Confidence Survey Slips in August Government Data Is Under Fire, but It Makes the World Go ‘Round Consumer-Confidence Survey Improved in July Trump Advisers Consider Changes to How Government Collects Jobs Data Trump’s BLS Firing Tests Wall Street’s Reliance on Government Data For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 to dive into the impact of tariffs on companies such as American Eagle Outfitters, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch. Then, Yih tells Miriam why this back-to-school season is important for apparel retailers. Our last take: Which retailer has the most pricing power right now? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Retail Sales Rose 0.5% in July Ulta Beauty, Target to End Partnership Tapestry Shares Fall as Kate Spade Brand, Tariffs Weigh on Profitability Target Shares Tumble After Retailer Names a Lifer to Steer Its Turnaround Walmart Wins Over More Shoppers as Tariffs Push Prices Higher For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Renaissance Macro Research, to discuss housing. First, they dive into the state of the housing market and why Dutta believes it is in a recession. Later, Gunjan asks the important question: “Can the housing market be in a recession without the entire economy falling into a recession?” This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading A New Generation of ‘Buy the Dip’ Investors Is Propping Up the Market Home Prices Hit Record High in June, Dragging Down Sales Pending Home Sales Fell Unexpectedly in June Housing Starts Gain but Still Lag From Last Year For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 before crypto firm Circle Internet’s upcoming earnings announcement. The episode continues with Telis and Dan Dolev, a senior financial-technology analyst at investment firm Mizuho Americas, exploring the burgeoning world of stablecoins. Dolev offers insights into Circle's revenue streams, whether stablecoins can disrupt Visa and Mastercard’s payment network, and their broader implications for international money transfers. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading U.S. Hiring Slowed Sharply Over the Summer Real Strains Inside the BLS Made It Vulnerable to Trump’s Accusations June CPI Report: Inflation Accelerates to 2.7% Trump’s BLS Firing Tests Wall Street’s Reliance on Government Data Figma Had a Dazzling IPO. It Could Have Been $3 Billion Better. For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 chief investment officer at T. Rowe Price, joins our hosts to chat about why he thinks AI stocks have strong financial and economic positions, and why he believes stocks will still deliver an equity risk premium. Plus, Page shares what he thinks investors could learn from sports psychology. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Five Signs of a Market Bubble Investors Are Tracking With Hectic Trading in Krispy Kreme and OpenDoor, Stocks Head for a Meme Reversion Fed Holds Rates Steady, but Two Officials Back a Cut For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Later in the show, Imran Khan, founder and chief investment officer of Proem Asset Management, joins Gunjan to talk about the AI trade surrounding companies like Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet. Plus, Khan chats about how AI enthusiasm is driving market speculation, herd thinking in markets, and the value of private-market investments like OpenAI.  This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or thevideo page of WSJ.com. Further Reading:  Kohl’s and Opendoor Headline a New Class of Meme Stocks  With Hectic Trading in Krispy Kreme and OpenDoor, Stocks Head for a Meme Reversion  Trump’s New Trade Standard Takes Shape With 15% Tariff Deal How Nvidia Became the World’s First $4 Trillion Company  For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog.  Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 rates. Plus, he discusses the potential for AI to drive long-term productivity gains but cautions against the risk of an "exuberance bubble" similar to the dot-com era.  This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading  Latest Tariff Threats Could Delay Rate Cuts, Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee Says  For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Blanchard also shares what companies and sectors he thinks investors should pay the most attention to and whether he sees new offerings like “tokenized stocks” from brokerage upstart Robinhood as a threat to the IPO market.  This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com.  To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com  Further Reading  Wall Street Hangs On to Hopes for a Boom in Deals  Private Equity’s IPO Exit Doors Expected to Open Wide in Second Half  Chime Financial Is the Latest IPO to Soar in Debut  Voyager Technologies Rises in Debut, Signaling Improving IPO Market  For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog.   Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 “driving through fog,” the connection between consumer sentiment and spending, and how AI could reshape the job market. Finally, Barkin gives his take on whether investors should be expecting a recession any time soon.  This interview was recorded on June 26. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com  Further Reading Trump Considers Naming Next Fed Chair Early in Bid to Undermine Powell   For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of WSJ's Take On the Week, we jump straight into a topic on many minds: the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill. Co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos are joined by Michael McLean, public policy senior analyst at Barclays, to unpack what some investors are paying attention to when it comes to the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill. McLean explains the differing viewpoints between Washington and Wall Street and the role of a rising U.S. deficit. Plus, the hosts share and answer listener questions about tax policy asked at WSJ’s Future of Everything conference in May. The conversation also explores what economic growth the tax and budget bill can bring and why investors and government officials alike are watching to see how this tax bill addresses concerns with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com.  To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.  Further Reading  Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Gets Slimmed Down in Senate  The Tax Bill Would Deliver a Big Win for Private Schools—and Investors  The Path to Record Deficits  For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog.  Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest co-host Miriam Gottfried explain why the private market has its eyes on your 401(k) retirement savings account. To offer insight into what that means for retirement savers, we’ll be joined by two separate guests. The first is Holly Verdeyen, partner and U.S. defined contribution leader at Mercer, a human resources consultant and asset manager. Verdeyen shares why and how the addition of private investment assets to a retirement portfolio can affect long-term savers and what differentiates private assets from public assets like stocks and bonds. Later on the show, we’re joined by WSJ’s retirement and personal finance reporter, Anne Tergesen, to further explore which investors are best suited for investing in private assets, and what a first-of-its-kind private credit ETF between asset managers State Street and Apollo means for investors. Tergesen lays out the additional fees and restrictions that come from putting money into private assets that investors should be aware of. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com.  To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com  Further Reading  For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog.  Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices