In short
Markets rebound as “dip buyers” return; Schwab leaders discuss long-term investing, concentration risk, retail sentiment, and the investment implications of AI, crypto, prediction markets, and private markets. They also debate valuation/ROI concerns and the bond-market “flight to quality” narrative, plus risks from debt and shadow banking/private credit.
Guests (backgrounds)
- Rick Wurster, President and CEO of Charles Schwab (took over Jan; previously president and head of Schwab Asset Management Solutions).
- Lizanne Saunders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab Center for Financial Research.
- Omar Aguilar, CEO and CIO of Schwab Asset Management.
- Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Schwab Center for Financial Research.
Key claims
- Long-term ownership beats market timing; diversifying concentrated positions matters.
- Retail investors are “strong hands,” buying dips; Schwab differentiates via research, education, and multi-channel support.
- AI spending is shifting from hyperscalers/chips to users/data centers; valuations are a sentiment “temperature gauge,” not a timing tool.
- Schwab is not actively considering prediction markets; gambling can be wealth-negative.
- Crypto exposure via crypto ETPs; spot crypto planned for “next year.”
- Private credit/private markets should expand via access, passive structures, and single-company marketplaces.
- Bond yields have limited room to fall without major economic change; Fed is “pause and wait.”
- Main hidden risk: buildup of debt/shadow banking/private credit; cascade risk.
Notable examples
- Client story: selling stocks in 2016, then missing major gains after returning.
- MAG-7 free cash flow growth turning negative (two quarters).
- S&P 500 breadth vs index returns: average S&P member drawdown ~17% since April 8; Nasdaq average drawdown ~36%.
- Airline anecdote: flights not full on a recent trip, suggesting early consumption pressure.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOMarket Overview and Charles Schwab
0:30 to 1:29
Get insights into the investment universe and Charles Schwab's market position.
“So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises.”
Market Overview and Charles Schwab
2:24 to 2:36
Get insights into the investment universe and Charles Schwab's market position.
“All right, folks, if you really want to know what's going on in the investment universe, you really want to talk to the folks at Charles Schwab.”
Earnings and Retail Investing Trends
2:36 to 4:25
Delve into recent earnings and the impact of retail investors on the market.
“First of all, it's a$175 billion market cap company.”
Navigating Market Volatility
4:25 to 5:46
Learn how to focus on long-term strategies amidst market volatility.
“So reduced expectations for Fed rate cuts, a prolonged government shutdown.”
Advice for Concentrated Positions
5:46 to 8:02
Understand the conversation around concentrated stock positions and diversification.
“I think one of the most pressing topics from investors today is how to navigate concentrated positions.”
Retail Traders and Sentiment Trends
8:02 to 10:01
Explore the role of retail traders in the market and their resilience.
“Number two, they have access to the most robust research platform.”
Prediction Markets and Gambling
10:01 to 12:07
Discuss the implications of prediction markets and their relationship with gambling.
“Because this is something that I think Gen Z wants.”
Crypto's Role in the Investment Landscape
12:07 to 14:01
Assess the current status and future potential of crypto as an investment.
“The thing I worry most about is the conflation between gambling and investing.”
Blockchain and Crypto Market Insights
14:01 to 14:39
Learn about the role of blockchain and crypto in investment portfolios.
“I think the blockchain is something that is likely to play a bigger part in markets, and therefore crypto can have some value around blockchain.”
The Role of Private Credit in Portfolios
14:39 to 15:03
Discussion on private credit and its significance for retail investors.
“Its volatility is something, its standard deviation is something like 50%.”
Show all 29 chapters
Navigating Market Volatility and Elections
15:03 to 16:15
Understanding how political changes affect investment strategies.
“There's lots of great private companies in our country that apply really well.”
Navigating Market Volatility and Elections
17:43 to 19:00
Understanding how political changes affect investment strategies.
“it may not automatically fit the way your business works.”
Navigating Market Volatility and Elections
19:06 to 20:13
Understanding how political changes affect investment strategies.
“Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC.”
Navigating Market Volatility and Elections
20:17 to 20:28
Understanding how political changes affect investment strategies.
“Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., member FDIC.”
Market Trends and S&P 500 Analysis
20:28 to 20:57
Analyzing recent trends and benchmarks of the S&P 500.
“Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m.”
Analyzing Market Dynamics with Lizanne Saunders
20:57 to 26:55
Insights from Lizanne Saunders on current market conditions and AI's impact.
“Meantime, the index is now traded above its 50-day moving average of the longest since 2011.”
Future Investment Environment Predictions
26:55 to 28:00
Discussing potential market bifurcations and investment outlook.
“But what he said is he was able to ask you questions, do analytics so much faster.”
Market Dynamics and Historical Context
28:00 to 28:42
Discussion on market dynamics, comparing current conditions to past lows.
“and then obviously all those bifurcations.”
Reflections on Year-to-Date Performance
29:17 to 30:22
Omar Aguilar reflects on the year's financial performance and investor behavior.
“We're just talking about just how much money is under the Schwab universe.”
Addressing Credit Concerns
30:22 to 32:00
Discussion on recent credit market stress and its impact on investments.
“You know, I was thinking about your background, and I just want to lay it out.”
Corporate Stability and Inflation Risks
32:00 to 36:50
Analysis of corporate balance sheets and potential inflation impacts from tariffs.
“When you look at it today, the delinquencies are growing, but not outside of the norm that you will have in this part of the cycle.”
Momentum and Market Volatility
36:50 to 37:22
Discussion on market momentum and the need for volatility correction.
“And again, going back to what you said, this is repeated.”
Momentum and Market Volatility
38:53 to 40:00
Discussion on market momentum and the need for volatility correction.
“Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC.”
Flight to Quality and Market Reactions
40:09 to 42:00
Discussion on market reactions, particularly the bond market and stock performance.
“Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., member FDIC.”
Market Reaction to Economic Changes
42:00 to 43:38
Explore the current state of the stock and bond markets and the implications of economic forecasts.
“Now it's their turn at the stock market.”
Fed's Navigational Challenges
43:38 to 45:29
Discuss the Federal Reserve's current stance and the risks of policy missteps amid unclear data.
“And it is very difficult to forecast all the time.”
Concerns Over Private Credit and Debt
45:29 to 47:22
Delve into the risks associated with private credit markets and the potential for cascading financial troubles.
“So, you know, what is the thing that gets us?”
Labor Market Dynamics and Economic Impact
47:22 to 50:55
Analyze the implications of labor market conditions and government support on the economy.
“So it kind of brings us back to the Fed and how the Fed works in an environment such as this, in an environment where it's not getting much data.”
Labor Market Dynamics and Economic Impact
51:55 to 53:09
Analyze the implications of labor market conditions and government support on the economy.
“These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Carol Massar:What if data didn't sit still? What if intelligence moved with us? Not buried in reports, but activated in real time, where lives are being shaped, where decisions are being made. It all starts with a question. Where is the potential? Cotality turns data into clarity, intelligence into insight, insight into action. Because when intelligence moves, we all move forward. Cotality. Intelligence beyond bounds. So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need.
0:41Carol Massar:Now, a global workforce of 300 ,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94 % of common questions. Not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM. When you own your own business, you own every decision. Now own the card that rewards you for it. Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business is a pay-in-full card that elevates your travel experience and offers premium benefits that will take your business to the next level. Sapphire Reserve for Business offers 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel, 3x points on social media and search engine advertising, airport lounge access, and more.
1:25Carol Massar:Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business. It's the card that gives back all you put in. Learn more at chase.com forward slash reserve business. Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. Accounts subject to credit approval. Restrictions and limitations apply. Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., member FDIC. Game night rush or any night of the week, really. Genius keeps every order moving. From online ordering to your kitchen to the front counter. Big League reliability for any business. That's genius.
2:22Carol Massar:Happens, the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio. All right, folks, if you really want to know what's going on in the investment universe, you really want to talk to the folks at Charles Schwab. It is a great place to start. First of all, it's a$175 billion market cap company. Stock is up about 26 % year to date. Following its recent earnings, at least 11 analysts raised their price target on the stock after Schwab's third quarter earnings beat, thanks to a surge in retail investing activity, and it's something we certainly want to dig into.
2:54Carol Massar:Yeah, let's talk about some more numbers behind the firm. $11 trillion, more than that in client assets, 38 million client brokerage accounts, 2.2 million bank accounts, 5.6 million workplace plan participant accounts, and over 16 ,000 independent investment advisors. Thousands of them are here at Schwab Impact 2025 in Denver. Now, Rick Wurster took over as CEO in January of this year after previously serving as president for about three years at the company. He was head of Schwab Asset Management Solutions before that. So you have been at the company for nearly a decade. Is that right? Yes. Welcome.
3:25Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. And we're so thrilled that you made the trip to be here in Denver at the conference. Well, we love coming here because we really do feel like it's good to get out of, I feel like, the coasts. And I feel like it's good to talk to the people who are actually managing tons and tons of money on a daily basis. Talk to us about your first year and some of what's been coming at you and how you and your team are making sense of kind of the investment environment when things can change often on a day-to-day basis? The most rewarding part of the first year has been serving our 46 million clients.
3:55And it's been a year in which the value of what we bring to the table, great in-person experiences, the leading digital app, the strength of our bank and wealth capabilities, where all of those things have been necessary to help clients navigate markets. So that's what I take most from the first year. It's just such an incredible opportunity to serve our clients, and the 16 ,000 advisors on our platform, many of whom are here, it's a real honor to be their partner in business.
4:21Carol Massar:Well, the market environment right now, we want to dive right in there because really this week we've heard from different Wall Street executives that an overdue collection have weighed on the market this week. So reduced expectations for Fed rate cuts, a prolonged government shutdown. Michael Burry added to the negative tone with his disclosure of bearish wagers on Palantir and NVIDIA. Dip buyers, though, coming back into the trade today, retail investors have been buying dips. How do you see today's environment from a risk-reward perspective? We try to focus our clients on the long term. I think that owning securities and assets over long periods of time will generally go up.
4:56It's really hard to get the timing of markets down because you have to make two correct calls. First, you got to nail it to get out at the right time, which is really hard in the strength of the kind of market we've had and the momentum we've had. To get out at the right time is incredibly hard. And then you've got to be able to get back in at the right time or you miss out. I was down in Charlotte, North Carolina visiting with some clients. And I heard from one client who back in 2016 didn't like the presidential administration and so had sold out of stocks. And this was back when we were having a pullback and they said would now be a good time to get back in the market.
5:32And they'd sat out a huge amount of gains over a short-term point of view. We try to have clients avoid that. If clients can stay in the market and tolerate some volatility, we think over the long run that gets rewarded because it is so hard to call the markets both when to get out and when to get back in. So as you walk around the floor and you're talking to advisors, I mean, what are they talking about in terms of timely advice that you're getting maybe from the advisors and what they are kind of hearing from their clients. I think one of the most pressing topics from investors today is how to navigate concentrated positions.
6:08The S &P is as concentrated as it's ever been. Right. The MAG-7, the big tech. Yes. And it's created tremendous wealth for lots of retail investors. And now they're wondering how to diversify their portfolio and to do so in a way to minimize their tax burden. And there's all kinds of strategies that they can work with their advisor on to create a more diversified portfolio without having to pay a tremendous amount in capital gains. Rick, how hard is it, though, that when clients are like, but why would I want to get out of NVIDIA when I've seen what they've been doing for how many years? How tough is that?
6:40Because we constantly have conversations of people saying it's time to broaden out, back off the big tech, and then it's the big tech with so much momentum. Well, you're absolutely right. And it's a really hard conversation to have. And oftentimes, we don't win it, but we want to make sure the client is cognizant of the risk and the choice that they're making. And to be fair to those investors, they've been right by sticking with their concentrated position for the most part, because the names that have driven the market higher have been the same ones here for a while. And so many people have stuck with it and they are sitting on more gains than they might've anticipated.
7:13Carol Massar:So let's go further into the retail trader because they've grown to about 20 % of the U.S. equity market today. I'm curious about sentiment trends, like the structure of this trend, how resilient are retail traders in an eventual downturn. Well, I think retail traders have been the ones leading the market higher and have been the ones buying the dips. And I think they were out actually in many ways out ahead of the institutional buyers. And so I think you have a retail buyer that has strong hands and will stick through the market. So we'll see how it all plays out, but markets go up and down and retail investors will inevitably make some decisions in there that's best for them.
7:50Carol Massar:People here, retail investor, they think about Robinhood, for example, your customer versus Robinhood's customer base. What are the differences there? Well, our customer is an incredibly thoughtful group of retail investors. First, they have access to what we think are the best investing platforms in the industry. Number two, they have access to the most robust research platform. We produce 35 hours a week of live education and training for investors so that they're making the most informed decisions. We also don't make them choose a channel, not only the leading digital app, but they can walk in and talk to someone.
8:21They can call our phone and get their question answered in less than 30 seconds. We have 1 ,000 professional traders that wake up every morning ready to answer the phone to help our clients trade. So I think we bring everything we can to help our clients be successful, and I think they make thoughtful decisions that are best for their financial life. Now, you guys have talked about one-third of your clients are Gen Z. So talk to us about how you continue to bring them in. How do you defend them, keeping them in? What do you need to kind of do to serve them and keep them on your platform? So one third of our new to firm clients are Gen Z, which is between the ages of 13 and 28.
8:58We are having tremendous success. Forgive me, that was new customers, right? New customers, but we're having tremendous success with the young investor because we see through their eyes and we put all the weight and strength of our firm behind helping them live their best financial life and make the smartest financial decisions for them. We don't just say, hey, here's a platform, go for it. certainly many want to do that and they can have at it. But we also stand behind every one of them if they want access to our research, they want to talk to a professional. And in terms of where we're finding them, it's interesting.
9:27I went to our marketing department and said, I don't see enough about our advertising to young people. And they said, Rick, it's because you're not cool and in the places where young people go. Did that hurt? It hurt a little. We're the number one followed financial services company on YouTube. We're all over TikTok. We're on all these different places where young people are, and they're attracted to the breadth of the Schwab value proposition and how different it is than other offers they see in the market.
9:53Carol Massar:Well, speaking of what's out there in the market. Wait. Go ahead. Are you going to ask about crypto? No, not yet. Do you want to wait? Yeah, I want to wait. All right, go. I want to ask about prediction markets. Okay. Because this is something that I think Gen Z wants. And Polymarket is back in the U.S. It is certainly related to crypto, Carol. What role does Schwab have in prediction markets in the future? Well, I think prediction markets started out with financial services companies with the best of intentions. They wanted their investors to be able to bet on what was going to happen with the inflation report, what's going to happen with the job report, or what the Fed's going to do.
10:26And they realized that there's not a lot of volume and interest in those events in the general public, and that there's already ways in financial markets to invest around those activities. And then the election happened. And the volume in prediction markets skyrocketed, and these companies got a windfall of money. And then they said to themselves, Well, a presidential election only comes one out every four years How do we generate this level of interest on more of an ongoing basis so we can see this windfall more regularly? And then they migrated from things that were tangentially related to financial markets Pure sports gambling because every Saturday and Sunday there's lots of activities that the nation cares about And now I think we're in a world where what's driving all the volume and prediction markets is pure sports gambling
11:10Carol Massar:So yes or no for Schwab getting involved That's something we've got to keep an eye on. You're considering it? We're not actively considering it. And the reason we're not actively considering it is our mission is to make our clients better off in their financial life. Five percent of people, and actually I read this on Bloomberg very early this morning, five percent of people that put money into a gambling app take out more than they put in in the first place. So gambling has proven to be a net negative contribution to your wealth. Now, it's fine if you use it as entertainment and you're doing it in a thoughtful way.
11:42But our mission is to make clients better off in their financial life and enhance their wealth. Does that then say to you that it's not a good idea in terms of the prediction markets and kind of mixing them with traditional investing? From my viewpoint, we want to do everything we can to put our clients in the best chance to grow their wealth. Right. And I think it's fine for people to gamble. People are going to gamble. Hopefully, they do it in a responsible way. The thing I worry most about is the conflation between gambling and investing. If you're a young investor, you've got$10 ,000 in your account, you can move it easily between investing in a stock that over the long run is likely to go up over the course of your life.
12:21Right. Or you can go bet on the Eagles game that weekend. I think that is not the greatest thing for the retail investor. Speaking of gambling and perhaps gamification, crypto. Where does crypto fit into all of this for you guys? Well, crypto has become an asset class that many people have their full confidence and trust in, and they view it as a store of value. Right. And on our platform, we have lots of people engaged in crypto today. In fact, our clients own 20 % of all the ETPs, crypto ETPs in our country. So our clients are big investors in crypto. And for most people, buying the exchange-traded product is the right way to go because they're not looking to transact in Bitcoin.
13:01They're just looking to get exposure to the price movements. Now, in addition to offering the ETP, we will, in time, offer spot crypto. And we're confident that we've got clients that are sitting at digital native firms that have been long Schwab clients that we know want to bring those assets back to Schwab. And we're looking forward to being able to do that. This year? Next year? Next year. Still first off of 2026? That's what we're shooting for. And so far, so good. May, June? Do you have an idea? I'm not going to get that specific. I'd get slapped later by somebody. We don't want that to happen.
13:35Carol Massar:Speaking of, last year you sat in this chair. We were in San Francisco. We had a fun conversation about crypto. You made headlines. You said, this was a year ago. I have not bought crypto now and I feel silly. You also said crypto investors have been right and that you haven't been right. So update us. Have you bought crypto since then? I have not bought crypto. I have nothing against crypto. I can certainly see the case of it. If people believe it's a store of value, it is scarce and it could go up. I think the blockchain is something that is likely to play a bigger part in markets, and therefore crypto can have some value around blockchain.
14:08For me personally, my investments are in assets that I consider to be productive assets. They're generating earnings, they're generating principal or interest, and that's where I focus my investment portfolio.
14:19Carol Massar:It's interesting that you say that because when you said that comment to us last year in the middle of November, Bitcoin was at, and we were talking about Bitcoin, was at$100 ,000. Right now it's at about$104 ,000. So you look right by not actually getting in right then. Possibly. And Bitcoin and crypto generally is going to go up. It's going to go down. Its volatility is something, its standard deviation is something like 50%. So we should expect wild swings. And for the right group of folks, they want to own it. They believe passionately in it. And they should have it as part of their portfolio.
14:51For some investors, it's what they want to invest in. Private credit, private markets. How about that in terms of, you think, the role that that will play in investors' portfolios? In our retirement accounts? How do you feel about that one? Well, you're a great private company. There's lots of great private companies in our country that apply really well. Right. I think retail investors should be exposed to private opportunities. We would like to bring it to market in three ways. Number one, we provide access to retail clients to great alternatives, managers in private equity, private credit, venture capital, a lot of the names that you're familiar with.
15:27Second thing is, I think at the right time, we would love to be able to offer passive exposure in a fund-like structure to private markets. Just like in public markets today, you can go buy the S &P 500 EJX fund and get broad representation of stocks. You should be able to do that in private markets. We'd love to play a role in that in the future. And then third, like you can buy individual stocks if you don't want either the active management or the passive exposure to the broad market, I think that marketplace for single security private companies should expand over time. And so those are the three ways we envision the market expanding, and we want to play a role in all three.
16:05Do we have to wrap? Can I get you 20, 30 seconds on elections and changes and environments and I think the midterms and what might happen next time at the White House? How does that fit into your thinking in terms of long-term strategy for the company because we've had a volatile year a little bit. Markets have thrived through all types of administrations and changes in presidents and changes in the Senate and House and all of that. And so our message to clients is stay diversified and be invested and stay invested and have a plan for your financial life. And if you do those things, they'll navigate different ups and downs associated with different administrations.
16:41And that's our counsel to clients. All right. So appreciate your time as always. And fun to be at your event. Always love seeing you here. And I I appreciate the commitment you both made to be here in Denver and be a part of the Impact Conference. Thank you.
16:53Carol Massar:Well, hopefully we'll see you next year and more between now and then. Yeah, exactly. Rick Worcester, President and CEO of Charles Schwab, of course, kicking off our coverage here at Schwab Impact 2025. We are here in Denver. Rick, again, thank you so much. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily coming up after this.
17:13Carol Massar:What if data didn't sit still? What if intelligence moved with us? not buried in reports, but activated in real time, where lives are being shaped, where decisions are being made. It all starts with a question. Where is the potential? Cotality turns data into clarity, intelligence into insight, insight into action. Because when intelligence moves, we all move forward. Cotality, intelligence beyond bounds. The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across HR, IT, and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work.
18:03Carol Massar:Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM. Support for the show comes from public.com. If you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions. Buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge. On public, you can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English. Like, if the VIX hits 25, buy a put option on the S &P 500. Or, if my cash balance goes above$20 ,000, move the excess into my direct index.
18:41Carol Massar:You approve of the workflow and your agent handles the risk. Monitoring the market, watching for your conditions, and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API. Go to public.com slash market and fund your account in five minutes or less. That's public.com slash market. Paid for by public investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures.
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19:57Carol Massar:Make every journey more rewarding with a$300 annual travel credit and access to a network of airport lounges. whether you're looking for pre-flight productivity or time to rest and recharge. Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business. It's the card that gives back all you put in. Learn more at chase.com forward slash reserve business. Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. Accounts subject to credit approval. Restrictions and limitations apply. Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., member FDIC. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m.
20:34Carol Massar:Eastern. Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Or watch us live on YouTube. I got to say, gains in the S &P 500, I just want to mention, since April, I have seen the U.S. benchmark decouple significantly from its moving averages. The gap with the 200-day gauge widened to 13 % in October. That's a level that's usually proved unsustainable in the past 15 years. Meantime, the index is now traded above its 50-day moving average of the longest since 2011. So everything is awesome? Everything. I don't know. We're going to ask Liz. She's shaking her head. Let's get into it with Lizanne Saunders.
21:10Carol Massar:She joins us here at Schwab Impact. She's chief investment strategist of Charles Schwab. Everybody knows Lizanne Saunders. How are you? I'm good. I'm so glad you're here again. Thank you. Welcome to our cozy little event. 5 ,000 people or something. It's not cozy and it's not little, but we are happy to be here. It's a huge event. It was huge last year in San Francisco. It was huge the year before that in Philadelphia. You were shaking your head when I was saying everything is awesome. Why? Well, it's a bit of a tale of two markets. You've got cap-weighted index returns and the lack of any significant downside, particularly since the April 8th closing low.
21:48But here's an example. The average member within the S &P just since April 8th has had a 16 percent, no, actually 17 percent drawdown. The average member within the NASDAQ since April 8th, when the NASDAQ's up 50 some odd percent, has had an average maximum drawdown of 36 percent. So the breadth isn't there. The breadth isn't there, but there's a lot of churn and rotation going on under the surface that you don't pick up if you're only looking at the index level returns. So do you think the pullback that we saw, which wasn't really much yesterday, but do you think it is, are we starting to see signs where investors are kind of questioning some of the valuations that are out there, the AI spend and whether we're getting the return on investment on it?
22:33Tell us your thinking. I think the margin of error has narrowed a bit. There's obviously sensitivity, whether it is diminution in return on invested capital, whether you're seeing pressure on margins. Obviously, the concern about circularity of financing and the fact that so far this - That's a real thing, right? It is a real thing. I mean, we are kind of blown away what feels like it's all in the family.
Read the full transcript
22:56Carol Massar:Yeah, here's$5 billion so you can buy$5 billion worth of stuff from us. Right. You guys at Bloomberg had this incredible visual that I think made it on Michael Burry's post. We were talking about the post. Yes, yes. But that is such a great visual. I've seen more simplistic ones of a power strip with the plug plugged into the power strip. Yeah, but that's exactly true, right? And I think the boom so far has been finance debt of cash flows. It's been largely equity finance. But now you've got, to just pick on the MAG7 cohort, MAG7 free cash flow growth has gone from more than 60 % year over year six quarters ago to now two quarters in a row of negative.
23:41And so you're starting to see more deals financed with that. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just a different environment. But I do want Meta and Alphabet, right? Didn't they just recently do it? Oversubscribe. Like, there was lots of investor interest. But I do, like, I don't know, Liz, what, we just have to keep an eye on it or what? I think, you know, valuation is a tough one. I think valuations, and I'm going to say this generally, not just specific to AI stocks or Max 7. It's not a market timing tool. It's more a temperature gauge than it is a timing gauge. It's almost an indicator of sentiment.
24:19There are times where valuations can get stretched and they can get more ridiculously stretched. and the market still has a long runway ahead of it. So I think it represents some of the angst that's coming into the narrative right now, but it doesn't necessarily pretend impending doom. It's just a cost-saver AI, and it boosts margins. So we had the early focus solely on the hyperscalers and the chips, and then more recently it's gone into the energy usage and the data centers. Because now I think where you're actually getting meat on the bones in terms of productivity statistics, in terms of the beneficial to cost, is the users of AI.
25:02And I think that is likely to continue.
25:04Carol Massar:But then does it create this destructive element in our society as a result of those entry-level jobs, those white-collar jobs, those blue-collar jobs that end up being completely eliminated? I mean, I know we're talking about a future that none of us can see, but we had an interesting conversation with David Weston last week. And he was basically like, how do we have this payoff without the money savings from getting rid of all these employees, basically? I think that we're in a moment of creative destruction, to quote Schumpeter. And that happens anytime we have a major innovation or we've shifted our economy from being an ag economy to industrial, industrial to innovation.
25:43And that happens. But ultimately, new types of jobs are created. I actually think that companies that don't adopt AI are going to have more job losses. I think what we need to bring in is what AI doesn't yet provide and maybe won't ever. You know, the C's, creativity and culture and community and connection, context. So I think there's still, I still think AI, yes, it is replacing certain kinds of jobs, but I think it's replacing tasks more than it's replacing full occupations. But I think workers have to adapt to it and adopt it and bring it into their lives, or they will be left behind. You know, I pulled up my phone because someone came up to us, and Dwayne, who is a financial advisor, he's here, and he said, you guys did something on AI.
26:38No, he said you. I did. You did something on AI. At an event, and we had somebody who showed how to use AI. And he said, after that, I went home and started playing with Chachi BD.
26:46Carol Massar:This was the panel you did at this conference last year in San Francisco. No, it wasn't. No? I don't think so. Okay, well, it was something. But anyway, there's a lot of stuff going on. But what he said is he was able to ask you questions, do analytics so much faster. It was accurate. And he said, it just took less time. And I actually produced better returns for my clients, which was pretty cool stuff. It is a game changer, but the hallucination rates are still high enough. They're low still digits, but high enough that I think it was Gene Munster. He spoke right before me at a recent conference who said, you know, LLMs are like an intern.
27:28They do a lot of the work for you, but you kind of have to check their work. Got to keep an eye on them. Next 6 to 12 months, what do you think the investment environment looks like? I think these bifurcations that have pervaded the economy, even the inflation data, and obviously the stock market, I don't see a convergence to any significant degree. I think you're going to still see those bifurcations, whether it's from a CapEx perspective, AI or non-AI, asset owners versus non-asset owners, high-income consumers versus low-income consumers, tariff-impact goods versus non-tariff-impact goods from an inflation standpoint, and then obviously all those bifurcations.
28:05What I would watch for that may be interesting is we could have a situation where if some of the mega cap names, some of the leadership names, continue to have some sort of pullback phase, watch what the rest of the market does. I don't think it's going to be extreme as late 2022, but what was interesting about that low in October of 2022 relative to the low prior to that, in June of 2022 is that when you had the real crush, there was greater participation under the surface. That's what you want to look for. We will do that. Liz, thank you so much. Always great to see you guys. Thank you. Same here.
28:43Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab.
28:45Carol Massar:Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily coming up after this.
28:54Carol Massar:This is the Bloomberg Businessweek Daily podcast. Listen live each weekday starting at 2 p.m. Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg 1130. Can't wait to get to our next guest. We're gonna have a lot of fun with him. Omar Aguilar, he's CEO and CIO of Schwab Asset Management. We're just talking about just how much money is under the Schwab universe. We're talking about$1.6 trillion in assets under management. Omar joins us here on site at Schwab Impact 2025 in Denver.
29:29Carol Massar:Good to be with you again. How are you? Doing very well. Can you believe this is the 35th year we have done Impact? And for me, it's 14 years. It's just unbelievable. Well, let's talk about this year because as we were chatting ahead of this interview, you made the joke, I wish we could just end the year right here. Because it's been a good year. It's been a good year. But what does that portend for the next two months? It's been great for investors. It's been great for investors. You actually see it. I would probably say there were many points throughout the year where we all wish things were actually going to be different.
30:01Carol Massar:And I don't think anybody anticipated that we're going to be at this stage so far into this year. From the beginning of the year, the uncertainty around administration to Liberation Day to recovery to the rise of AI to the economy, the consumer, all the way to where we are now. It's such has been a ride that I think investors have taken advantage of. You know, I was thinking about your background, and I just want to lay it out. You've got 25 years of investment management experience in equity markets. You've seen a lot of cycles, and I know I think I often reach out to you guys to ask you about this.
30:34What do you make of some of the recent stress that we've seen, Omar, whether it was concerns about credit, some of the regional bank issues again? We've heard different stories about whether or not credit concerns are something that might linger for a little bit. And then there's the private credit market. So how do you see it? And do you see it at all impacting kind of the tone of trade and activity on your platforms?
30:55Carol Massar:Yes, it is. It is interesting because, yes, I have seen a lot of tech. I have, too. So we're just like a good bottle of wine. You know, my gray hairs, you know, take, you know, I'm taking pride of it. But but yes, you know, it is interesting because, you know, what we what I have seen historically is you actually go to the source of what is actually maybe the reasons why something cracks. There will always be in every single cycle, you know, areas of risk that are what we call idiosyncratic. That's such a fancy word. But, you know, what that means is that there will always going to be things that will happen that will make people nervous.
31:30Carol Massar:And we just need to understand whether it's systemic or it's just isolated to a certain area. Interesting enough, you mentioned about, you know, the particular credit market. You know, the credit market has been incredibly resilient since 2008. And I think when you look at the current, even the high-yield market, it's not as junky as it used to be. I remember back in 2005, 2006, or 2001 and 2002, those were periods where you will really feel that there was a lot of delinquencies, there was a lot of risk, there was a lot of uncertainty around them. When you look at it today, the delinquencies are growing, but not outside of the norm that you will have in this part of the cycle.
32:09Carol Massar:Why do you think that's not happening? Well, a lot of that has to do with corporate America. Their balance sheets are fairly, fairly strong. And the amount of leverage that you see in corporate America is basically to the lowest in many decades. So what that actually means is that, yes, companies that are taking excess leverage and safe risk and they're more risky in the way they manage their business, they're clearly more at the risk end. But the majority of America, it's actually pretty solid in terms of how they manage their balance sheets. And in fact, a lot of the reasons we were talking about in other forums about the reasons why tariffs have not been having the impact as big as it has been is because profit margins have been very, very benign and have not been affected as much.
32:52Carol Massar:So does that mean that it's only a matter of time before we actually see inflation as a result of these tariffs when these companies say we're not going to pad the impact anymore with our healthy profit margins? We're ready to pass these on? Well, we're already seeing some of that. We're already seeing two things. One is we're already seeing companies that are, they're not going to have a choice, but actually pass through those increasing prices to the consumers. You know, we have seen those companies that have the biggest, you know, opportunities and the biggest, widest margins. They're already good, but they're ones that are getting squeezed and squeezed.
33:25Carol Massar:We already see some of that already in the early parts of this earning season. The second part that we're observing is consumption. you know consumers and the demand destruction started to happen you're starting to see a little bit in terms of like you know airlines and the tickets and you know you see that actually on my way here for the first time the plane was not full that that was unique because you know for the entire year you know you always go there and it's actually a big big chunk of it so you can see a little bit of that consumption starting to just get affected by it this happened to us last Last month on our way back from Los Angeles, the person at the gate said, this is crazy.
34:02Carol Massar:It's been full pretty much until now. The flight was empty heading back. Again, it's an anecdote. We're not hearing it from airlines yet. But airlines have been so smart about keeping those planes packed, right? And so to me, it seems like a clear indicator. I know I said you've seen a lot of cycles, but I think about your background, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch. These are firms that are no longer around post-GFC, the great financial crisis. So I guess I always try to think, you know, what are we missing in an environment where so many people are like, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. And I'm like, what are the possible risks, do you think, for investors in this environment?
34:36Carol Massar:Well, we have seen, and actually we saw this in the last six weeks, if you look at the performance of those companies that did not have positive earnings, negative earnings companies in small and mid-cap sectors, they outperformed by almost 20 % in a short period of time. So what is called the junk rat. And in many cases, the concern is that this component of excess goes into areas that goes like that. And that volatility is not healthy. You know, volatility, when you have something that is extreme valuations, that's still generating earnings, but you know that there are multiples way ahead, it is normal and it's healthy.
35:13Carol Massar:And in fact, I tend to do this to clients and advisors here to say, hey, look, some volatility is healthy. You know, you don't want a straight up market. I think the exposure to momentum is one that I have seen in many cycles. It blows up. It goes very quickly up, and it just blows up very quickly. It doesn't have to be all the cancer. So the concern we have now is that there is too much momentum in the market still, and it needs to be somehow corrected. Is it the AI trade momentum? It is beyond just the AI trade. The AI trade, if you look at it, a lot of that is being represented in CapEx. So the capital expenditure from a majority of companies has translated into AI.
35:54Carol Massar:Those companies are generating flows. Not all AI companies are doing it. But now they're tapping debt markets. They're tapping debt markets. And at the same time, you're starting to see that there's companies that are spending in capital. They're not seeing their returns. They're starting to just be questioned about their capital expenditures and their ROI. So I think some of that, it's healthy. It is the right thing. Not all AI is going to be the same. And I think to me, that is a good thing for that consolidation. A little of those pieces will actually come to break. But if there's a blow up, is it the AI thing or is it something else maybe in terms of risk?
36:26Carol Massar:Well, I think it's just generally market because the concentration risk is the one that worries me the most. If you think about until this moment, only 30 % of the companies in the S &P 500 have outperformed the index. The rest have underperformed. So you can actually just feel how that translates into a significant amount of rebalancing that needs to happen for this to continue. And again, going back to what you said, this is repeated. In the past, you've seen it was energy at some point. It was consumer discretionary at some other point. It was tech back in the 2000s. So this time, even though it's not the same as with back there because companies are generating free cash flow, still, you feel that there's going to be some rebalancing that needs to happen.
37:09Who do we have to talk to to get more time with you? I'm just going to put it out there. We want to talk more to your people so we can get more time with you. Omar, thank you always. Always appreciate it. Omar Aguilar, he's CEO and CIO of Schwab Asset Management.
37:21Carol Massar:Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily coming up after this.
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40:37Carol Massar:From game day crowds to memorable meals, big league reliability for any business. That's genius. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern. Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Or watch us live on YouTube. Yesterday on the plane. Yeah. I'm writing my intro for Kathy Jones. Furiously. Oh, I got some stuff to talk about because there's a flight to quality happening right now. I like that you did that. And then today. I know. It's basically like, oh, erase the whole intro. I know. The flight to quality that we saw yesterday.
41:17Exactly.
41:18Carol Massar:Isn't happening? I don't know. We got some decent maybe data today. I guess that's what it was. But does that change the narrative? I don't know. I thought yesterday changed the narrative. What is a long-term narrative? Let's see what Kathy Jones has to say. She's Chief Fixed Income Strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. She joins us here on site at Schwab Impact in Denver. She has to figure out the longer-term narrative. I thought yesterday was kind of this turning point with this flight to quality. We saw equity sell off. There was this chorus of Wall Street executives who were like, okay, not so fast.
41:47Carol Massar:What did you think? Yeah, it certainly felt like the stock market was getting a little yippee. That's what the president said earlier this year. But he said about the bond market, he said it. Yeah, I know. As you know. Now it's their turn at the stock market. And so I thought we had a decent bid in the bond market, but it wasn't huge. In times past, if you had a really good sell-off in the stock market from elevated levels, you'd get a big jump. We didn't get a big jump. Why didn't we? You know, I'm not sure that the bond market has a lot of room for longer-term yields to go down absent a very big change in the economic outlook.
42:30So there's a floor, you see.
42:32Carol Massar:Is a big change in the economic outlook if the Supreme Court says, sorry, IEPA tariffs, those are not legal. Yeah, I don't think that has a big impact on the bond market. $100 billion that could go back to companies and consumers. You know how much debt we have? Yes, I do. Trillions. In terms of the bond market, I'm growing in is a fairly small drop in the bucket. And, you know, then how fast does that actually get back to somebody's pocketbook for spending? But, you know, in general, the economy seems to be chugging along. Great. Okay. It's not great for everybody, but in aggregate, it's good enough.
43:09Inflation is stuck at 3 % and kind of edging higher. Where do we go from here? If you've got inflation at 3%, maybe moving up at a 4 % 10-year yield, that's equilibrium right now. We need something to change. Do you think it's going to change? I think in 2026, we'll probably get enough slowing growth and some easing and inflation that we'll see yields come down. But I think the market was just way over its skis, expecting the Fed to cut over and over again. And it is very difficult to forecast all the time. But now between Tarasoft, no data, policy shut down, policy making shut down, you know, I think the market's just kind of, the bond market's kind of just going, whoa, we're pretty well priced.
44:05Let's just sit here and wait for things to happen. Well, so then does that increase the chances, Kathy, you think of the Fed having a policy misstep here? It's certainly a possibility, but I think my impression that I get from Paul and from many of the other members is, look, we're back to this navigating on a cloudy night thing, right? We don't have information. The path ahead isn't clear. And we've taken a couple of steps. We're not restrictive anymore. So now we pause and we wait and see what happens if it goes slow. I'm a sailor and I've navigated at night and it can be kind of not so great.
44:44You can hit a rock or you could hit something because you just don't read something correctly. Or things can be smooth sailing. So is there a chance, though, that I don't like I think so many people are shocked that the economy is still growing and we're kind of doing all right. And the market continues, the equity market to hit highs. Not necessarily what everybody was predicting a few months ago. But I just do wonder, what's the thing we could be missing? Well, right now, financial conditions have been very supportive. Yeah. And I think that's another reason the Fed can kind of wait. They're saying, well, there's no evidence that the level of interest rates is holding back the economy.
45:25People can borrow as much as they want. Except for housing still a little bit. Yeah, maybe. But, I mean, you know, even housing is starting to kind of recover because prices are adjusting. So, you know, what is the thing that gets us? It's never the thing you're looking at in your face, right? It's the thing you don't know. I'm worried about the buildup of debt, you know, behind the scenes and the shadow banking system.
45:51Carol Massar:Private credit? Yeah, to some extent. We know that the quality isn't great there, and we know that some firms are struggling. How would a crisis like that in private credit manifest? I think the issue is who's lending to the private credit folks. Don't the banks lend to the private credit folks? Yeah. So what's their exposure? Well, we don't know. Well, you know, because private credit is private, you know, it's hard to know the quality of the assets in any given day. Your face is really telling. Are you concerned that the exposure by the banks is a lot more than we know? I think the banks, you know, no.
46:34I think the banks are, the major banks are fine because against their will, they've been forced to hold a lot of capital since the Basel rules. And so I think the banks are okay. But it does get to be sort of a cascade, right? You know, one thing leads to another, leads to another, and a lot of interwoven lending takes place, and there's hidden leverage. And that's where you worry about things starting to change. I don't have any particular. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. No, I don't have any particular, like, this guy's going to blow up story to tell. These are the ways in the past we've run into trouble.
47:15Somebody gets over leveraged, asset prices get out of whack, people are overconfident, and then things change.
47:22Carol Massar:So it kind of brings us back to the Fed and how the Fed works in an environment such as this, in an environment where it's not getting much data. We did hear from Lisa Cook this week. She said she sees the risk of further labor market weaknesses greater than the risk of inflation will pick up. Chicago Fed President Austin Gould, we said he was more nervous about inflation. Who's right? Yeah, we'll find out. We'll find out when we reach our destination. Yeah, you know, I'm more in Goolsbee's camp right now. Although the labor market is clearly softened, some of that is supply side, right? So we got the ADP numbers today as a positive number.
47:59Who's to say that that number isn't consistent with equilibrium in the labor market?
48:05Carol Massar:So are these numbers accurate now? Well, ADP is as accurate as we can get. Right now. Yeah, at the moment. But when we used to get government data, we used to get the ADP numbers on the day before, a couple days before. Right. Day before? I don't even remember. It was the same way. Wednesday, right? Yeah, we'd get them a few days earlier. Yeah. And then we'd get the numbers from the government, and they would oftentimes not even be close to one another. Yeah. And that's true. I think part of that is ADP is private sector only. They didn't include government workers. So there's that discrepancy.
48:38And, you know, yeah, their surveys are different. But it's all we've got to go on. So it looks like they're picking back up a little bit. And that's good news. The ISM figures, the manufacturing figures were okay today with prices paid continuing to climb.
48:55Carol Massar:But then you have these fast casual restaurants coming out and saying, hey, we're not seeing the young consumers come in and spend 15 bucks on a lunch. Forgive me, slop bowl, but that's like what they're called now because they're feeling squeezed. Yeah. And that's the issue of the economy is working well for some and not well for others. And we've seen problems in the car loan market, usually subprime borrowers running into trouble. I am concerned about the agricultural sector. Great. We've been really hard hit by tariffs. And, you know, it's not just farmers or agricultural businesses. It's their lenders.
49:34We have banks that lend in that sector as well. So these are pretty good-sized parts of the economy. But we've got then the CapEx spend, wealthier consumers continuing to spend. and that in aggregate is adding up to positive growth. When does, I keep talking about this quote, I know, I don't know, rich European or somebody who just said, you know, I don't want to be a rich person in a poor country. I don't want to be a billionaire in a poor country. When does the lower rung of the K, I mean, I think we were all shocked about the SNAP benefits and how many Americans are getting assistance when it comes to food in the world's richest country.
50:17So when does that, ignoring if you can even the social issues, but the economic costs too of that. And so when does that come home to roost? Are we seeing that with government debt? I don't know. Yeah, we've spent, you know, we've run up a lot of government debt. On different things. Right. On many things to sort of fill the gap. And that's been a positive. But, you know, it's always about the jobs, right? People are okay until they lose a job. Yeah. So that's why the unemployment rate is so crucial to watch. And, of course, we don't really have that. We have now the Chicago Fed putting out their estimate, which is helpful.
50:58Right. That last one was 4.4%, a little bit above the last one we got from the BLS. But 4.4 % is not a high unemployment rate historically. We used to think full employment was around 5%. Right. Right. So, you know, it's going to if there's going to be a problem, it's going to be because people lose their jobs. That's usually the way it happens. It's as simple as that. I mean, not so simple if you're losing your job. It's a it's a big cost. Kathy, so great to have this chunk of time to spend with you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Kathy Jones, she fixed income strategist over at the Schwab Center for Financial Research right here with us on Schwab Impact 2025.
51:36Carol Massar:This is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern on Bloomberg.com, the iHeartRadio app, TuneIn, and the Bloomberg Business app. You can also watch us live every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Terminal.
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From the publisher
Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
At a time when every dip in stocks is perceived as an opportunity, buyers emerged after a brief pullback led by some of the biggest winners of the artificial-intelligence boom. Bitcoin rallied. Bonds fell.
Equities rebounded, with the S&P 500 up almost 1% following a slide that underscored worries over how stretched the market has become and how sensitive it is to unfavorable news. Chipmakers, which bore the brunt of the recent selling, led gains on Wednesday.
Bonds slid as data showed US services activity expanded at the fastest pace in eight months. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said a report underscoring a rise in employment at companies was “a welcome surprise,” but reiterated rates need to be lower.
Today's show features:
- Rick Wurster, President & CEO of Charles Schwab on Advisor Services as a critical driver of Schwab’s business growth
- Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab, on the market outlook for the remainder of 2025
- Omar Aguilar, CEO & CIO of Schwab Asset Management on whether a resilient US economy is poised for a downturn
- Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist. Charles Schwab, on US interest rate outlook and the Federal Reserve
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
