WSJ's Take On the Week

In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, Telis Demos and Gunjan Banerjii—in her final appearance as regular co-host—are joined by incoming co-host Miriam Gottfried. Our trio get into the high-stakes bidding war between Netflix and Paramount for Warner Bros. Discovery and why Netflix shareholders may be skeptical of the deal. Then the hosts dive into the historic rally in gold and silver, and whether the debasement trade is back after news of an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Plus, they look at what upcoming earnings might reveal about how President Trump’s affordability agenda is playing out.

After the break, Telis and Miriam are joined by Monica Guerra, head of U.S. policy at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, to discuss how investors should position themselves for a midterm election year. Guerra explains that gridlock in Congress has historically led to market outperformance. She also shares a bold prediction that the Supreme Court could strike down President Trump’s tariffs.

This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, and Miriam Gottfried, WSJ’s private equity reporter, 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 [email protected] watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.comFurther Reading

Why Democrats Aren’t Threatening Another Shutdown This Time

The Winners and Losers From 2026’s Mix of Tax and Benefit Cuts

For Years, Powell Avoided Fighting Trump. That’s Over.

Gold Breaks Through $4,600 on Fed Concerns, Haven Boost

Democrats See Path to House Control in 2026

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 Miriam Gottfried here and Telis Demos here. 

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In this special edition of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Miriam Gottfried and WSJ banking reporter Alexander Saeedy go inside the high-stakes world of HBO’s financial television drama “Industry.” They are joined by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, former bankers turned co-creators of the show, to unpack how real-world market dynamics inspire the series.

Down and Kay reflect on their early careers at Morgan Stanley and Rothschild, and explain why season 4 shifts away from the fictional trading floor of Pierpoint to the new frontiers of fintech, short selling and media. 

The group compares the financial series’ plotlines to real-world reporting on 100-hour workweeks and the mental health toll on junior bankers. They also take a look at the gamification of finance—from meme stocks to Polymarket—how a new generation is redefining risk, and the "cult of personality" driving financial fraud.

Later, the creators weigh in on a hypothetical "cutthroat" trade: How would the show’s characters Harper Stern and Eric Tao play the Venezuela reopening trade?

Polymarket has a data partnership with Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones.

This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where we 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 [email protected].

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com

Further Reading

‘Industry’ Season 4 Review: From Banks to Boudoirs on HBO

‘Industry,’ the Hit Show About Finance, Leaves Bankers Scratching Their Heads

How Bank of America Ignores Its Own Rules Meant to Prevent Dangerous Workloads

Bank of America Urges Bankers to Sound Alarm on Overwork After WSJ Investigation

110-Hour Workweeks Drove Young Bankers at a Boutique Firm to the Brink

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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 consumer brands flagging through last year. A major reset of expectations in October cratered Fiserv’s stock, putting the payment processing company near the bottom of the barrel.

What awaits in the year ahead? For our first episode of 2026, co-host Telis Demos along with WSJ Heard on the Street Editor Aaron Back and Heard Columnist David Wainer tackle audience questions about what to expect for the year and offer their own predictions for investors and the U.S. economy.

This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where we 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 [email protected].

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com

Further Reading

Flood of AI Bonds Adds to Pressure on MarketsAre Stock Analysts Useless?

For Trump, the Warner Megadeal Talks Are All About CNN

Runaway Insurance Costs Bring Back Talk of Price CapsAI Data Centers, Desperate for Electricity, Are Building Their Own Power Plants

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.  

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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 the chairman’s role in fusing differing viewpoints to create stable monetary policy. She also offers her perspective on the so-called neutral rate as well as artificial intelligence.

At the end of the episode, Telis and Nick analyze the interview, offering their takes on the outlook for tariffs, inflation and jobs. They also break down what influence the new Fed chair will have on the central bank’s rate-setting committee and how markets may react to the nominee.

This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where we 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 [email protected].

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com

Further Reading

The Fed's New Rate-Setting Officials for 2026: Three Hawks and a Dove

Fed Officials Spar Over Whether Rate Cuts Risk Credibility on Inflation

Cleveland Fed’s Beth Hammack Skeptical of Further Cuts

‘We Still Have an Inflation Problem.’ A Fed Newcomer Wants to Go Slow on Rate Cuts.

The Fed Did Banks a Solid This Week. More Favors May Be Needed

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.  

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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 Valley venture capitalist to address audience questions related to this dynamic tech race. 

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