Bloomberg Money: Inflation Angst Returns & Micron Millionaires

Summary

Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Summary

Episode: Bloomberg Money: Inflation Angst Returns & Micron Millionaires
Date: July 25, 2026
Hosts: Tom Keene, Scarlet Fu, with Jonathan Ferro
Main Guests: Ed Yardeni (Yardeni Research), Nikki Waller, Stacey Vanek Smith, David Gura, Liam Knox, Trisha Scarletta, Sarah Foster, Lisa Mateo

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Overview: Navigating Money Anxiety in the Era of Inflation

This episode dives deep into the persistent concerns around inflation, interest rates, and the ever-increasing costs of core needs like housing, healthcare, and higher education. The hosts bring in financial experts, economists, and education analysts to unpack how Americans—from Gen Z to Boomers—are coping, saving, and investing amid economic uncertainty, with a special look at wealth management, retirement readiness, and education funding.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Inflation and the Personal Finance Domino Effect

[02:25–04:00, 13:18–14:31]

• Inflation’s Impact: Inflation remains at the forefront, driving up mortgage rates, utility bills, healthcare costs, and education expenses.
• Rate Hikes Expected: Anticipation of Fed rate increases, with consensus that higher rates are making life more expensive across the board.
• Quotable Moment:
  • Scarlet Fu: “Everything is getting more expensive. We've talked about this for week after week.” (02:57)
  • Co-Host: “If you're looking to get a mortgage. Mortgage rates have creeped back up again.” (02:53)

2. Political Gridlock and Tariff Tensions

[04:45–06:13]

• Election-Year Gridlock: Government gridlock is expected to continue, with an impending threat of a government shutdown in October.
• Tariffs’ Burden on Americans: New tariffs under President Trump are “absolutely inflationary,” largely absorbed by American companies and consumers, despite political messaging that they target foreign entities.
• David Gura:
  • “It is a choice, to say the least, that the administration is doing this...It’s still incumbent upon them to try to make the sale, to explain to the American people why this is the route that they're going down.” (05:38–06:13)

3. Generational Money Mindsets: Gen Z to Boomers

[06:17–08:54]

• Gen Z: “Retirement Maxing”
  • Many younger adults are prioritizing saving over spending, channeling earnings directly into retirement accounts or IRAs—even at the expense of current quality of life.
  • Contrasts with “financial nihilism” seen elsewhere in Gen Z who take extreme risks or ignore saving altogether.
  • Nikki Waller: “They're putting away money into savings rather than spending in the moment, sometimes even ignoring their bills… because they don't know what's coming ahead.” (06:49)
• Funflation:
  • Experiences and entertainment have become significantly pricier—IMAX tickets, movies, outings with children now regularly hit $200+.
  • Stacey Vanek Smith: “Even going to see the Odyssey this weekend could cost a lot of money… The tickets for IMAX are on sale on the secondary market for several hundred dollars.” (07:33)
• Boomtowns:
  • Some U.S. cities, like Boise, Idaho, are experiencing explosive economic growth, illustrated by phenomena like “Micron millionaires.” (08:10)

4. Healthcare and Retirement Realities

[09:11–09:45]

• Staggering Healthcare Costs for Retirees:
  • A couple retiring this year faces an estimated $371,000 in out-of-pocket healthcare costs—an 8% annual jump.
  • Nikki Waller: “If you are retiring this year, your health costs that you will pay out of pocket… is up to $371,000.” (09:11)
• The “Sandwich Generation":
  • Gen Xers are sandwiched between paying for parents’ care and saving for kids’ education—exacerbating long-term financial anxieties. (09:31)

5. Ed Yardeni’s Optimistic Take on the Markets

[14:31–23:17]

• No Recession Bear Market (Oct 2022):
  • Ed Yardeni describes the 2022 market downturn as “a panic attack” rather than a recession, citing economic resilience.
  • Quote: “It was the Godot recession… I just kept betting on the resilience of the economy.” (14:55)
• ROARING 2020s & Beyond:
  • Yardeni is bullish, seeing parallels between current markets and past growth decades. Predicts S&P 500 could reach 10,000 by decade’s end if resilience holds.
  • “If the roaring 2020s works… there's no particular reason why it couldn't be the roaring 2030s.” (20:49)
• Generational Wealth Transfer:
  • Baby boomers hold $90 trillion in net worth; much will be spent and/or passed down, further impacting the economy.
  • “The stock markets [have] become the American retirement system.” (17:21)
• Investment Strategy:
  • Yardeni prefers broad-market ETFs for simplicity and liquidity, favors tech growth.
  • “Basically, I believe in the market...the S&P 500 has been awfully good and even better has been the NASDAQ 100.” (22:59)
• Rates Outlook:
  • Current 4–5% yields are considered a healthy “normal” rather than “higher for longer.”

6. The Crisis in Higher Education Funding

[24:13–33:55]

• Doubts About ROI of College:
  • Tuition inflation is eroding confidence, costs for elite schools reaching $100,000/year.
  • Graduate programs face added political and financial headwinds (visa limits, loan restrictions, funding cuts).
• Liam Knox:
  • “A perfect storm of political threats has hit Master's programs and PhD programs especially hard... The wealthiest schools are able to be more flexible... But a lot of colleges are stretched too thin to really adapt...” (24:43–27:27)
• Private Lender Perspective:
  • Private lenders now sometimes offer better rates, but federal lending offers few limits—potentially fueling tuition bubbles.

7. 529 College Savings, Trump Accounts & Parental Trade-offs

[28:07–36:03]

• 529s Still Effective If Used Early:
  • The key: start saving/investing as early as possible, ideally even before kids are born.
  • Trisha Scarletta: “If you start early and save often, you can do it. But the issue is people don't start early enough.” (29:02)
• Not All Need a ‘Fancy’ School:
  • Average private tuition is $65,000—aid and informed decisions matter.
• Savings Hierarchy:
  • New Trump accounts offer $1,000 seed, but for education, 529 plans still best due to tax benefits and flexibility.
• Flexibility Myths:
  • 529s can be used for apprenticeships, vocational programs, and even equipment relevant to majors.
  • Rolling excess 529 funds into a Roth IRA offers further peace of mind.
  • “People are so afraid they're going to put this money away and the kid's not going to go to school. Reality is 70% of kids go to school…” (35:39)
• Parental Dilemmas:
  • Most asked question: “What if I overfund a 529?” (35:05)

8. Experiential Splurges: Movies, Events, and FOMO

[40:07–44:44]

• The Odyssey Film Release:
  • Some are spending $500+ and traveling for the IMAX experience, reflecting “funflation” and shifting priorities toward “experiential luxury.”
  • Sarah Foster: “Some people were willing to spend $500, travel cross country to see this as Chris Nolan intended... young people in particular really are down to spend big and to just be in the moment.” (40:46)
• Book Recommendations:
  • “The Trojan War” by Barry Strauss and a new book on The Simpsons’ impact on TV.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tariffs and Inflation:
  • David Gura: “Despite President Trump's claim that other countries pay for it, the duties are all basically borne by American companies and at the end of the day, American consumers.” (05:27)
• On Market Resilience:
  • Ed Yardeni: “We are experiencing the most widely anticipated recession of all times. That just isn’t going to happen.” (14:55)
• On Retirement Anxiety:
  • Nikki Waller: “If you are retiring this year, your health costs that you will pay out of pocket...is up to $371,000. That is an almost 8% jump from last year.” (09:11)
• On Education Savings:
  • Trisha Scarletta: “You absolutely want to get that free money, that thousand dollars... But for education savings, you go 529 because of the tax benefits for sure.” (32:22)
• On Generational Wealth:
  • Ed Yardeni: “The baby boomers have $90 trillion... So talking over $100 trillion of retirement net worth assets for the largest generation ever that is retiring.” (17:27)
• On College Choices:
  • Trisha Scarletta: “You don't need to save 100%... anything that you're putting away and investing is going to be less this is done in the future.” (31:08)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:25 – Show opens, inflation & Fed discussion
• 04:45 – Government gridlock, tariffs & inflation
• 06:17 – Gen Z extreme financial behaviors
• 07:33 – “Funflation” & outsized event spending
• 08:54 – Boomtowns & Micron millionaires
• 09:11 – Healthcare costs spike for retirees
• 14:31 – Ed Yardeni on market psychology (multi-segment interview)
• 24:13 – Education costs & higher ed’s value proposition
• 28:07 – 529 plan deep dive with Trisha Scarletta
• 40:07 – “Odyssey” movie phenomenon & luxury spending surge
• 45:52 – Comic-Con, more spending trends, and parental education struggle

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Final Thoughts

The episode paints a vivid portrait of the persistent affordability crisis in American life—driven by inflationary pressures and policy choices—and offers actionable insight for listeners managing their personal finances, retirement planning, and education strategies. The consensus: Start saving early, remain skeptical of sensationalism, focus on resilience (of markets and personal plans), and balance aspiration with pragmatism. And, if you can, enjoy a movie or two—even if the tickets outpace inflation.

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For more resources, financial analysis, and market news, visit: Bloomberg Money

Transcript

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[Tom Keene]

This is the Bloomberg Money Podcast. I'm Tom Keene with Scarlet Fu.

[Scarlet Fu]

Join us each week for a smart

[Tom Keene]

look at the forces shaping your financial life. On personal finance, on retirement and wealth management, we will explore how people are earning, investing and building wealth. We are live Fridays at noon Eastern on Bloomberg Television. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. And as always, on the Bloomberg Terminal and the Bloomberg Business app.

[Scarlet Fu]

Good noon, everyone. Is Bloomberg Money on personal finance, on retirement, on wealth management as well. Scarlet Fu and Tom Keene, thank you for being with us today. A great set of people coming up. At first we got to talk a Fed meeting next week and it's got to have something to do with my personal finance. I don't know what yet.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

They're going to talk about inflation. It's definitely going to come up.

[Scarlet Fu]

They're going to raise rates.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Some people think so.

[Scarlet Fu]

The rate market this first personal finance, the rate market this week, what does it exactly do to the housing market?

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

It Makes it more expensive if you're looking to get a mortgage. Mortgage rates have creeped back up again.

[Scarlet Fu]

And of course, the whole thing here is everything is getting more expensive. We've talked about this for week after week.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

But the fact gas prices are more expensive now because of oil, it was an eventful week. It certainly was. Topped by the fact that LeBron James is going to the Philippines.

[Scarlet Fu]

The clock that took folks 18 seconds up. The script right now we turn to Akron, Ohio's Nikki Waller here. You almost canceled being on the show, right?

[Nikki Waller]

Yeah, I had to drive to Philly.

[Scarlet Fu]

Are you going to Philly? Did you just assume he'd go back to Cleveland?

[Nikki Waller]

I was hoping. I mean, what a great pre retirement move.

[Scarlet Fu]

The control room is going, what in God's name, Bloomberg money. Here's what we're doing. Edward Yardeni is in the building. It's incredibly important to speak to Ed Yardeni. He is optimistic about the roaring twenties. He is optimistic that the bond vigilantes won't get us scarlet.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

And later this hour, we'll speak with Trisha Scarletta. She's head of education savings at J.P. morgan Asset Management. Just a few more weeks to go before it's back to school. So saving for college and all things, 529 are top of mind.

[Scarlet Fu]

I love her because she's got huge enthusiasm. Most people in education are boring, boring, boring, boring. And Trisha just kills it. I mean, there's a real enthusiasm there about taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from us.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Well, you know, I mean, she's got to be the cheerleader for everyone saving.

[Scarlet Fu]

Let's look at our first discussion here with good Bloomberg people. Nikki Waller is with us from personal Finance. We're going to get to two important stories there in a moment. Stacy Vanek Smith with us today as well. Everybody's business, her wonderful podcast. And David Gurr has chosen to be with us. And this is after driving by Reds in me. You came all the way back just Red Lobster in me.

[Ed Yardeni]

I had to be here.

[Scarlet Fu]

The line there is like the Odyssey mile long.

[David Gura]

I was driving an Odyssey as it was. But anyway, yes, it's like the Honda Odyssey.

[Scarlet Fu]

Odyssey, good to have you. This came up this week out of the blue and we're totally, we don't descriptor. David doesn't know what I'm going to throw. I don't gridlock gridlock, do we? Are we rooting for gridlock in 2027?

[David Gura]

Oh, that's a great question in Washington or just broadly speaking?

[Scarlet Fu]

I would broadly speaking. But In Washington, the Washington, the David

[David Gura]

Gure, I think we're facing a lot of gridlock here as we get closer and closer to the election. Look, there's talk here of a government shutdown in October of this year. We just had this vote on a war powers resolution in the House. We saw four Republicans come over to join their Democrats on the other side of the aisle. I think that people are aware of the fact that given the pressures that we're seeing overseas now manifest in domestic pressures as well, it's unlikely that we're going to see a lot of movement in Washington.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Well, speaking of domestic pressures, tariffs are back, David. And despite President Trump's claim that other countries pay for it, the duties are all basically borne by American companies and at the end of the day, American consumers.

[David Gura]

Absolutely right. So we see the president using section 301 of that Trade act of 1974 to impose 10 to 12 and a half percent tariffs on 60 countries. And more perhaps are on the way here. Look, it's an interesting moment at which this is happening. You're going to talk about inflation, I'm sure, over the course of the show. We know that these are going to be inflationary. It is a choice, to say the least, that the administration is doing this. As they look at this war in the Middle east winding and lasting longer than they thought it would be. I think it's still incumbent upon them to try to make the sale, to explain to the American people why this is the route that they're going down. These latest tariffs on human rights grounds, at least in name. And we'll see sort of if the

[Scarlet Fu]

American, I think people are numbed, we're benumbed into the summer.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

They're accustomed to a lot of things flying around. Absolutely. But it is a picture of economic anxiety and you see it in the price action. And Nikki, it's fascinating to see how people respond, especially young people, which is a real picture of extremes. Right. You've got financial nihilism on the one end and then you've got what some, what some people are calling retirement maxing on the other end.

[Stacey Vanek Smith]

Yes.

[Nikki Waller]

We took a look this week at this cohort of Gen Z, who are not the ones on prediction markets, who are not the ones taking these YOLO bets in the stock market. But instead they are, and we use

[Scarlet Fu]

this with our tongue in cheek a

[Nikki Waller]

little bit, retirement maxing. And they're putting away money into savings rather than spending in the moment, sometimes even ignoring their bills. Most of them. Not yet. Because people under 30. Yeah, that'll take care of your excess. But yeah, people putting into IRAs and their 401ks as much as they can because they don't know what's coming ahead.

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Right.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

And this idea that they're not even spending on themselves because they're just saving in every way. Stacey, you have written or you've written about and you've talked about on your podcast this idea that Americans are spending less time on enjoying themselves, on spending for themselves, recreational products. There's something called funflation taking place.

[Stacey Vanek Smith]

Yes, there's a little bit of fun inflation taking place because things have gotten so expensive obviously since the pandemic. We've spent a lot more money on experiences rather than just goods. We've, we've tended to spend on services. Demand for services is up. Prices for services are up. Even going to see the Odyssey this weekend could cost a lot of money. The tickets for IMAX are on sale on the secondary market for several hundred dollars. But this, I mean if you have kids for instance just going out for ice cream, just going out, you know to try to movie and pizza can. Can easily go into the top tick.

[Scarlet Fu]

$200 in Brooklyn wants going to go to the movies. Right.

[David Gura]

Because you have a whole meal at

[Scarlet Fu]

the movie, the whole meal and all that. Stacey, I got to ask you, I talked to Nashville today. I talked to Austin, Texas. You know Boise cold with Micron in the boom there. I mean part of this nation has explosively boom cities, don't they?

[Stacey Vanek Smith]

Oh yeah, yeah. I grew up in Boise and right now everyone's talking about the Micron millionaires. So Micron is based in.

[Scarlet Fu]

Should we congratulate you?

[Stacey Vanek Smith]

I tragically am not a Micron. I did, I went into journalism. I don't know what I was thinking but yeah, I mean it's the, it's one of the biggest employers in the state. It's been making chips since 1972. Lot of ups and downs but. But now thanks to I. I mean it's just, it's going nuts.

[Scarlet Fu]

I want to get this in. It's just too important. We do personal finance, we do retirement, we do wealth management. And Nikki Waller and Suzanne Woolley have without question the essay of the day comes from Marlon over at Fidelity. I was shocked at the chart the jump condition in health care costs for retirees.

[Nikki Waller]

Yeah, it is absolutely. It's been rising for years and what we're seeing is that if you are retiring this year year your health costs that you will pay out of pocket. If you're a couple, it's up to $371,000. That is an almost 8% jump from last year.

[Scarlet Fu]

Is supposed to be almost like free, like $15,000.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Yeah, no, that, that doesn't happen anymore. And if you're a Gen Xer like David Gurren myself, you're also thinking about really paying for your parents care and saving for your kids college tuition at the same time. So this just adds to it. We'll be working forever.

[David Gura]

Incredibly daunting. Yes, I agree.

[Scarlet Fu]

Okay. David Gura, thank you so much. Thank you for coming. Nice to have you. Tom, Next time bring something from red. So with you, Stacey Vanek Smith, thank you. Waller, thank you so much as well. You know, I look at this and I know the theme of the show should be called Bloomberg Inflation should be

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

that, you know, rebrand.

[Scarlet Fu]

But this has been a really stressful week. I mean, I'm sorry, Wednesday it was like vibrating.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I know. But it's come down a little bit here on this Friday and you know, next week we've got a lot to look ahead to, especially this hyperscaler earnings because it looks like driving this entire economy.

[Scarlet Fu]

And everybody involved with Bloomberg Money Retirement wealth management, they all own it, don't they?

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

We don't own it one way or another.

[Scarlet Fu]

To talk about that, we have a wonderful lineup here. Coming up, Edward Yardeni of Yardeni Research. He is definitive across the linkage of economics into the markets. He is a true decade optimist. Ed Yardening on these roaring twenties from New York City, it is Bloomberg Money.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Anyone seeing Odyssey this weekend?

[David Gura]

You're going to go.

[Scarlet Fu]

I'm not.

[David Gura]

Maybe, maybe I'll go.

[Tom Keene]

You're listening to Bloomberg Money. Stay with us. With more to come after this.

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[Scarlet Fu]

Bloomberg Money A perfect Friday in New York City. We had someone in from Austin and Scarlet. 105 degrees.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

105.

[Scarlet Fu]

105 degrees. They said in Austin, some of the south, you know you expect it as well. But did you get your utility bill for.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I want to look at it.

[Scarlet Fu]

I looked at it last night. It's painful.

[David Gura]

Yeah.

[Scarlet Fu]

Afterthought at the air conditioned 247 for 30 days in a row. Let's do this. Let's look at inflation, look at our optimism within the markets. Joining us now definitive on Wall street at 7, C.J. lawrence. Just a few years ago he helped invent the synthesis of economics into stock market analysis. Ed Yardeni joins us. Yardeni Research and we got a one hour conversation. We're going to cram in here. I got a first go to the therapy that's needed as you go to retirement which is you've got Max, Chloe Cooper in Bailey at the Yardening house. It's a four dog night.

[Ed Yardeni]

Yeah, it certainly is. It's their King Charles Cavaliers and the couch potato dogs.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I love those.

[Ed Yardeni]

They're always on the couch and they're sleeping.

[Scarlet Fu]

What are the kennel fees? I mean the vet bill must be just like seriously.

[Ed Yardeni]

But you know you have to get health insurance for your dogs.

[Scarlet Fu]

I mean it's, it's, that's, that's your Bloomberg money advice.

[Ed Yardeni]

Thank you very much.

[Scarlet Fu]

Why is here let me go to the chart right now. Pull up an important chart here. Coming out of COVID in an October of 2020 to a guy named Ankara in the chart area and Yardeni in the economics and finance said courage buy here. What did you see in October 22nd that gives you continued confidence in the market?

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, October 22nd was a very strange bear market. Usually bear markets are associated with recessions. There was no recession. As a matter of fact, at the time I kept saying that we are experiencing the most widely anticipated recession of all times. That just isn't going to happen. It was the Godot recession, if you will. I just kept betting on the resilience of the economy. And so I kind of viewed the bear market as the aberration rather than the economy which remained very strong. The earnings were holding up reasonably well. So I kind of viewed that as a panic attack. Now look, there were good reasons for concerns. The Fed was raising interest rates from the 0 to 5.5% of the Fed funds rate. The bond yield was going up, oil prices got a big spike. And yet the resilience, the economy came through remarkably well. We were betting on that and that. We're still betting on the resilience of the economy.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Yeah. So I want to take it to what we are seeing right now because you said bond yields were going up, oil prices are going up. That's exactly what's happening now. The stock market has kind of slowed down a little bit. So the parallels between then and now we, one could say is noteworthy.

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, there's definitely parallels, but one of the big differences is earnings. We've got what I call, you know, everybody talks about fomo, fear of missing out. I'm talking about fimo and that is fabulous earnings momentum that we didn't have that back in 2020, 22. And it was really at the end of 2020, 20, November that we suddenly had chat GPT, an AI revolution just starting.

[Scarlet Fu]

And the arc of this. And I just finished Justin Bier's wonderful book on Ned Johnson and you know, the industry from a recent 1974 forward. My basic take is we've rationalized in ownership of bonds, which has been really difficult since 22, since 21 as well. Is the basic psychology of retirement now afraid of stocks?

[Ed Yardeni]

I don't think so. I think actually quite the opposite. I think a lot of my friends are retiring. We're the baby boomers. I'm still working for a living because I don't play golf. So I don't know what I would do with myself. You know, by the way I get seasick on cruises. My friends are all going on cruises. They used to go one every three years, now they go three a year and I get text messages for them saying I don't know what you're doing but keep this market going up because, because we're spending money like crazy and our net worth.

[Scarlet Fu]

Shunas last week Scarlett was brilliant on this saying the stock markets become the American retirement system.

[Ed Yardeni]

It absolutely has. Do you know that the baby boomers have $90 trillion, trillion, not billions trillion dollars of net worth. And by the way, there's still some people left from the so called silent generation older than the baby boomers. They have $20 trillion. So talking over $100 trillion of retirement net worth assets for the largest generation ever that is retiring.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Are they going to use that? Are they going to actualize that or are they going to just pass it

[Ed Yardeni]

on to their, you know, the kids didn't listen and they didn't, they didn't like, we didn't like their friends and they were noisy so why leave them anything? Just spend like crazy. But look, a lot of people have been talking about the K economy economy that you know, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. I think that's Mrs. What's really going on and that's the demography. We've got a very, very well off baby boom generation and they're helping their younger children and grandchildren. The affordability crisis is really old versus young retiring people. They don't really care if the Fed tightens. Retiring people really don't care much about the labor market because they're retired. All they really care about really is the stock market.

[Scarlet Fu]

How should our audience of retirement, of personal finance, how should they synthesize the Fed madness? You and I remember when Arthur Burns had smoke coming out of the pipe and we interpreted that. Now we've got this parlor game. How does Ed Yardeni filter that if it's for long term investment?

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, I think you focus on the economy if you believe in the resilience of, of the economy, if you believe that the labor market is in balance. We've got a 4.3% unemployment rate which is awfully good. We have an inflation problem. The Fed is going to have to probably raise interest rates at least once, maybe a second time, maybe even a third time according to where the two year treasury note yield is right now. I think you, you kind of grin and bear it and try to enjoy your retirement life because I think the market will continue to defy the bears because the Economy will continue to defy the pessimists.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

You were saying that the boomers don't care about the Fed raising rates. They're going to enjoy their retirement. I'm not a boomer. I'm a Gen Xer. So I got to work for longer. And I'm wondering whether a higher for longer interest rates means that I have to rethink, reassess, pivot my investment strategy.

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, the short answer is is yes. But I'm not a big fan of the higher for longer idea about interest rates. I think interest rates are back to normal. In other words, 4 to 5% 10 year treasury bond yield is a sign of a very healthy economy. It's a yield that made sense before the great financial crisis. The aberration, you know, higher for longer implies we're going to be going back to. I see what you're closer to zero interest rates.

[Liam Knox]

This is it.

[Ed Yardeni]

This is, this is.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

That was the abnormal.

[Ed Yardeni]

Yeah. Now 6, 6, 6 and a half percent, 7% mortgage rates seem awfully high to a lot of people. Compared to what? Compared to where they were when the economy wasn't doing so well.

[Scarlet Fu]

And I know that you're seeing the Odyssey. I guess it's tonight you're going to see Friday Today. They don't know that you were writing a newsletter in Sparta a few years ago. We all know that after the 1920s roaring 20s it wasn't pretty. What happens after the Yardeni roaring 20s of this 21st century?

[Ed Yardeni]

I'm trying to sort that out now. I think that if the roaring 2020 works and then in other words, that the economy doesn't have a recession, the stock market continues to go up. I've got 10,000 on the S&P 500 by the end of the decade. If that works. There's no particular reason why it couldn't be the roaring 2030s. As a matter of fact, the talking about a decade is roaring. That's what the stock market usually does during decades. Have only been a few decades where the market was just kind of flat, where it was a nothing kind of environment. And certainly that was the 1930s were terrible and the 1970s were no picnic. And then the period around the great financial crisis was. So we've had, we've had decades where you made nothing. But there have been lots of decades where the market's done very well. Not just the 1920s, be nice to the 1970s.

[Scarlet Fu]

We had Bob Seeger. So we got through it somehow. Eddie's with us and we'll continue with this.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

You are bullish on the equity market. You've long been bullish on the equity market. You talk about boomers, this generation that is feeling pretty good with the gift that they've seen. What would surprise other people about how you spend, how you save money, given what has happened.

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, I found over the years that I can't really trade. I can't really manage my own money because I'm too busy doing my day job. And the other thing is this kind of a conflict of interest. If my portfolio suddenly is sinking and turns me pessimistic and then I'm writing pessimistic and it's kind of just reflecting my own personal angst. So I try to basically stay in ETFs and you know, keep things somewhat liquid. Also have stocks and, and bonds, but mostly in an ETF portfolio.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

How far out do you go? How colorful do you get with your ETFs?

[Ed Yardeni]

Well, you know, as I, as I get old, as I get older, I don't need bonds that go to for 30 years though. Maybe, you know, maybe I should do that.

[Scarlet Fu]

I think you should consider triple leveraged. All cash flow would be secure.

[Ed Yardeni]

But basically I believe in the market. I believe that, you know, the s and P500 has been awfully good and even better has been the NASDAQ 100. Technology has been a leading sector in our economy.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Okay, so it looks like growth all the way for Dr. Ed Yardeni.

[Scarlet Fu]

Yeah.

[Ed Yardeni]

And I think, you know, a lot of these so called Trump accounts probably will get invested that way.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

All right, Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research,

[Scarlet Fu]

Bloomberg Money. Good afternoon everyone. Tom Keener. Scarlett, We've got to do a data check. It's not as frenzy as Wednesday or Thursday, but you know, there it is.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

It's calmed down quite a bit. In fact, we started the day kind of unchanged and now we're at session highs. The s and P500 gaining 2/3 of 1% for the week. However, we're still looking at two straight weeks of losses. And the Vix coming down to 17 and a half.

[Scarlet Fu]

John gallobed soon port he had 34% I believe it is of aspects next week earnings.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Yeah, huge, huge number.

[Scarlet Fu]

Cross asset is the way we roll. We look at equities, bonds, currencies, commodities. Oil pulls back. That's American oil from a 92 back to 88 DX. Y pretty much solid here. Strong dollar watch again over the weekend and again equity markets are up today.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

All right, well, you know the thing that so many families save for higher education, it's in trouble. Costs are out of control, schools are closing, and Americans are increasingly questioning the return on investment of a college degree. This was the thrust of a Bloomberg News story written by Liam Knox, our education policy reporter, who finds himself in New York. So we brought it in. Thank you so much, Liam.

[Liam Knox]

Thanks for having me.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

So I want to focus on grad school programs, which you recently wrote about. Master's and PhD programs are in even bigger trouble than college programs as a whole.

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Why is that?

[Liam Knox]

Well, there are many factors to that, but right now, chief among them is President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has been working to reshape higher education in general, but, you know, a kind of perfect storm of political threats has hit Master's programs and PhD programs especially hard. There's the crackdown on student visa applicants and international students who make up a disproportionate amount of of grad students in this country compared to undergrads. There is the curtailing of federal research money and the huge historic uncertainty around that relationship between the federal government and research universities, which are hitting grad programs especially hard. PhD programs in particular, but also master's programs, particularly in STEM fields. And then there's also new, strict limits on federal lending for grad students who used to be able to borrow practically unlimited amounts of money to attend grad school and are now going to have some pretty strict new caps on that lending.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

And a lot of people say that it was those uncapped loans that kind of fueled the rise of grad school programs, making them the cash cow for universities. I actually recently sat down with Ken Ruggiero of Ascent Funding about student borrowing from the private loan perspective. They're a private lender. Let's take a listen.

[Ken Ruggiero]

In about 50 to 75% of the student situation, the private sector can spend, support the student with all the borrowing they need at rates that are either a little less than the current federal loan or a little bit higher than the federal loan.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Why is there a difference in the rate that some private lenders would charge versus the federal government?

[Ken Ruggiero]

The federal government doesn't pull credit. Credit is priced relative to the expectation of repayment. So when there's a high expectation of repayment, then we can give very, very low interest rates lower than the federal government.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Okay, so the economics are clearly changing for grad school. What are the schools themselves doing in response to this? How are they dealing with this?

[Liam Knox]

Some of the wealthiest schools are able to kind of be more flexible, and some of them are actually setting up their own federal loan programs, rather their own loan Programs to replace federal lending streams. Yale did this, UPenn did this. Harvard is doing it. Others are going to be hedging by enrolling more undergraduate students. The ones that can do that, that have deep applicant pools, big brand names, money to expand physically their campuses. Columbia is doing this. The University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, other schools that don't have the same kinds of brand name recognition, they're setting up online programs, cheaper programs and things like AI. But a lot of companies, colleges are stretched too thin to really adapt and are going to really feel this hit them very hard financially.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

All right, they're going to have to come up with some solution. Liam Knox, thank you so much. Our education policy reporter, normally in Washington, but here in New York for the

[Scarlet Fu]

day, came into the office. He did massive work from office. It's a whole new thing.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

We appreciate it.

[Scarlet Fu]

We appreciate it. When we put Bloomberg Money together, one of the first names I said is we have to have Trisha Scarlett on. She's head of education savings at JP Morgan. Boring like articles and 529 in this. She brings an energy and verve to this agony like no one I know. We're thrilled she could join us today. Why is Wellesley 100,000 bucks? Room, board and tuition.

[Trisha Scarletta]

You started so nicely, Tom. I think look, because people want to go there, because everybody sees, you know, kids on school social media having a great time and every kid wants to, wants to experience the same thing. When there's demand, there's demand, people will pay.

[Scarlet Fu]

So there's a top hundred schools, a top 250 schools.

[Trisha Scarletta]

There's a top everything school. Don't you. If you read, you could see there's top party schools. There's top schools for degrees and there's top schools for experiences. So the competition is out there and there are people that pay.

[Scarlet Fu]

I mean, a school like Cornell or Wellesley, Scarlett, you look at it, one what, 20 applicants and one gets in.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I mean, I think the ratio is

[Trisha Scarletta]

a lot smaller than I think it is. A lot smaller.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Yeah, it's. That's nowhere close. Okay, my question is, given how much Wellesley or Cornell costs right now, 529 plans are meant to help people save, to pay up for that. Do we need the 529 plans to do much more than what they're currently built to do?

[Trisha Scarletta]

No, I think if you're doing it the right way, I think.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

What's the right way?

[Trisha Scarletta]

The right way is starting as early as possible.

[Sarah Foster]

Right.

[Trisha Scarletta]

And so that's the problem is, is that most people just avoid it. They. And look, it's also problem is life is expensive and it's hard to balance all these things. Retirement, saving for emergencies, saving for college. But if you start early, right. And save often, you can do it. But the issue is people don't start early enough. They don't. They don't actually save and invest early enough. So I do think that they can help you get there for sure. I think the responsibility of parents though is also being realistic. Know what you can afford. Not everybody has to go to Wellesley.

[Scarlet Fu]

Not everybody has to go to the fancy school.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Exactly. There's plenty of options.

[Scarlet Fu]

What's the average school cost? If we're talking about the drama of 100,000. NYU, Wellesley, what's the average cost in America?

[Trisha Scarletta]

Average private school today they say is 65,065. That's assuming somebody's getting aid.

[Scarlet Fu]

We went out, we did a very careful survey here. Went out on the street. We dragged into the studio someone to talk about the future. 18 years out. Let's listen.

[Parent Interviewee]

For me, I have a six month old son.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Congratulations.

[Sarah Foster]

Thank you.

[Parent Interviewee]

And the team college savings team was calculating for me how much it could cost in 18 years to send him seven figures to my alma mater pen. And they asked estimate it could cost $800,000. I think separating. Right. You have your retirement money which is still really important to continue saving for. What we see is a lot of families end up actually using their retirement money.

[Scarlet Fu]

They borrow from it because $800,000 and I mean, you know, it's Gabriela Santos, of course, of course. J.P. morgan is. Well, so when you start, how do you start?

[Trisha Scarletta]

Well, you start. Well, if you want to pay for $800,000, you've got to be saving a couple thousand dollars a month. It's a lot of money. So how do you start? You start, like I said, when the baby 529 programs. Yeah. And I think you start when the baby is born. If you're expecting. Look that my, my most favorite clients are the ones that are actually starting before they have a child, you know, and actually putting money away before the wedding.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Kids just give us money for the kids.

[Trisha Scarletta]

I'll tell you, it's so true. So, so really. But here's the thing. You don't need to save 100%. Anything that you're putting away and investing is going to be less. This is done in the future.

[Scarlet Fu]

What you just heard there, folks with Trisha, Scarlett Bronze it. This idea of saving for it all is particularly if you have multiple children like you do. Like how you think that's funny. Bronze that you don't have to do it all.

[Trisha Scarletta]

You don't have to do it all. But be educated. Understand like you mentioned earlier, the return on investment. You know, think about what is the return, what is the degree. I'm not saying one degree is less valuable than another, but monetarily there are differences. So, so really go into it understanding what is the cost of this institution, what is the return going to be on that cost?

[HomeServe Advertiser]

Right.

[Trisha Scarletta]

And look at state schools, there's plenty of options. Kids also go half the time. They'll do start the first two years in a community school and then do another California.

[Scarlet Fu]

That's what they do out west.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I know. Well, it's a changing world.

[Trisha Scarletta]

It's half the cost. It's half the cost. If you do that, no one cares where you went. They just want to know where you got degree from.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

So this month also saw the introduction of the Trump accounts for babies. Does that change a saving hierarchy for parents? I mean, which do you prioritize if you can't put money into both?

[Trisha Scarletta]

So that's a really great question. I think a Trump account should be looked at as a wealth building account, an early retirement plan. It should not really be looked at for an education savings plan. So for those who are going to get that seed money, you absolutely want to get that free money, that thousand dollars. So Today there's about 1.7 million people who have already gotten that. Right. And so there's a lot more that are eligible. So you want to get that seed money for sure. But for people that have to make a choice between do I put money in a Trump account for education or do I go 529? In my opinion, you go 529 because of the tax benefits for sure.

[Scarlet Fu]

And then there's down the road, let's look at Trisha Scarlett or writing in January here. It's a money must read for you this afternoon. One in six they owe federal student loans with an average of 39,400. It's $445 every month. Could go for other financial priorities. That's the reality. And some of those numbers are much, much higher.

[Trisha Scarletta]

For people are just putting off a lot because they have this debt. So you're graduating college, you're earning an income, you can't move out, you can't move forward in life because you have this. And then you have, you know, parents who take on debt take on more debt typically than the child and they're delaying their retirement.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

So another question here about 529, because I think there's a lot of misconceptions and misperceptions about it too. It's a lot more flexible than people realize. I mean, Tom can use it for his grandchildren too.

[Trisha Scarletta]

He absolutely can. And another difference between a Trump account and a529, a Trump account has to be opened by a parent or a guardian.529 account, anyone can open the account.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I can open one tomorrow if I wanted to go back to school.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Yes. And you can open one for my kids if you'd like. So, I mean, look, I think it's a lot of flexibility and again, I think the misconception is that it's only for two and four year institutions. It's much wider now.

[Scarlet Fu]

I just believe that Tricia Scarlatti has a statistic. How many people pay full boat?

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Yeah, it's about 40ish percent, probably 100% of our audience.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Yes.

[Scarlet Fu]

Because, you know, you look at the FAFSA and you go, you're kidding me. And so then there you are. And if the kid can't put the puck in the net, like you were full boat at Cornell for hockey, right?

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Oh, clearly, clearly.

[Scarlet Fu]

But if you can't put the puck in the net, it's full boat.

[Trisha Scarletta]

It's full boat. It really is. And a lot of these schools, they, you know, you get schools like Villanova, Boston College, they don't need to give any money because there are so many people lined up that want to go there. So the University of Michigan, you know, all those schools, they don't need to give them, they just want to go

[Scarlet Fu]

to Villanova because of Jalen. I mean, there's no reason.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I wanted to go to Villanova too. I didn't. I went.

[Scarlet Fu]

What's the number one question you get on a road working for JP Morgan was the number one question. In seminars you get interesting.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Now it's about the Roth ira. Everyone asks about the Roth ira. So people don't save enough and invest enough in a 529 account. But they're always so worried that I'm going to have too much money in the account.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Why is that?

[Trisha Scarletta]

That is biggest fear. I'm going to have too much money. Yet I don't put enough money away. But I'm worried I'm going to have too much. Then what are my options? So now it really has helped us having the flexibility of the Roth IRA rollover. So that, that this year is the biggest question is, okay, I'm going to. If I'm overfunded, what Can I do? And a great people feel much better that they could do the rollover.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

It just speaks again to the misperceptions and misconceptions out there about all of this.

[Trisha Scarletta]

People are so afraid that they're going to put this money away and the kid's not going to go to school. Reality is 70% of kids go to school. And like you said, it's not just for. It's not just two and four year institutions.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

You can vocational apprenticeships in economics. You could go to 529.

[Scarlet Fu]

For you, I need a 520. The biggest problem is a 529 used to be terribly restrictive.

[Lisa Mateo]

Right.

[Scarlet Fu]

Fossils like me don't realize how constructive it is now.

[Trisha Scarletta]

Correct. It's. And when you think about a qualified withdrawal, I always use this as an example. Every child's qualified withdrawal is going to be different. I have a child who's a musician going for music. A qualified withdrawal for him is the pedals for his equipment is the production because he's a music major. But then if I got an econ major, I can't use as a qualified withdrawal a guitar. But it is going to be what that child needs to get the degree is a qualified withdrawal. It could be books. Books for sure. It could be computer. It's equipment. So think it's very expansive.

[Scarlet Fu]

Your child needs the Eventide H9, a new H9 pedal. It's exquisite.

[Trisha Scarletta]

You've had Mike Conrad on. We go to Mike all the time. He's an incredible guitarist and he tells us what he doesn't need to.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Thank you so much for joining us today.

[Trisha Scarletta]

My pleasure.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Trisha Scarlett of J.P. morgan Asset Management. Coming up on Bloomberg Money. The money, the man, the muse. Why put People are digging deep into their pockets and splashing the cash to see the Odyssey. You're going to go this weekend, right?

[Scarlet Fu]

I'm not going this weekend, but I got to admit, across a cross section of people, what a huge buzz.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I loved it and I wasn't expecting to love it. This is Bloomberg Money, but Robert Pattinson speaking in American accent. That was on imax.

[Tom Keene]

You're listening to Bloomberg Money. Stay with us with more to come after this.

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[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Bloomberg Money is your destination for personal finance is a cross platform effort that extends beyond your TV, including our new digital hub at bloomberg.com/money and Tom1 of the highlights this week is about the Odyssey, the movie and how some people are spending thousands of dollars to watch it in its full IMAX splendor.

[Scarlet Fu]

Amazing. I mean I know IMAX from long, long ago, but people say this is the imax. You have to see it.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Well, this was the first movie that was built with IMAX in Mind. So joining us now to discuss is Bloomberg money reporter Sarah Foster. And Sarah, you guys went out and talked to a whole bunch of people who like figured this out a year ago and booked their tickets in advance to see this on imax.

[Sarah Foster]

My colleagues, Michelle and Ponza, Michael Barkley, they really tracked down some big spenders here. Some people were willing to spend $500, travel cross country to see this as Chris Nolan intended. Others were even telling stories about how they were staying up all night, you know, going 24 hours without sleep. What this really shows me is that when you have these big cultural events like this, young people in particular really are down to. To spend big and to just be in the moment.

[Scarlet Fu]

It's about this experiential thing, I mean, which I just get. I mean, it's beyond me. But the answer is people like FIFA, like the World cup or being together, they like being together. They want to spend some money to do it right.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Right. And they want to be able to hear the waves crashing in the movie again in its full IMAX splendor, because it's like loud. It's like the spectacle.

[Sarah Foster]

I think there's even something to be said about this new version of luxury. You know, only 25 theaters in the US can show it the way Chris Nolan intended. Only 41 worldwide. You know, it's almost a three hour runtime for a movie.

[Scarlet Fu]

Is it three hours?

[Sarah Foster]

You can be there and see it. You know, you're one.

[Scarlet Fu]

So when you saw Scarlett, was it. Were you dragging here? Were you like, you know, to two hours, 30 minutes?

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

I was a little skeptical. I went in there, I had to have a drink before because I was

[Scarlet Fu]

like, okay, that could make a banner. Please fool at the Odyssey had to have a beverage of her choice to

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

have a drink ahead of time. But I sat there through the whole thing and it was great.

[Scarlet Fu]

Our books for the week. This is a joy and an honor. You go to college, if you're ever so lucky, you have a professor that can get it done. Barry Strauss is definitive at Cornell and you had him in class. What is it like to have the job client Barry Strauss lecturing you on the Trojan War?

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

You know, it was pretty cool because I did not know about him beforehand. I took a class with him and another professor where they compare the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War. So it was like this cross historical analysis. It was really, really interesting. And then you picked that book. So I know you picked it out of the blue.

[Scarlet Fu]

But folks, I can't say enough about if you want to learn about this beyond Matt Damon's good looks? The answer is Professor Strauss of Cornell owns a high ground.

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Absolutely.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

And his book separates reality from myth. Right. Helen of Troy was a catalyst. Myth. Reality is about control of shipping routes in the agnc, which Matt Damon actually says to Anne Hathaway in the movie. They kind of whisper it, but it's there. So I just gave you a spoiler. Your book is tied to the odyssey and to Homer. My book of the week is about Homer. Homer Simpson and his family and the people who created the show and wrote for the show, like Conan o'. Brien. It's called stupid tv. Be more funny. How the golden era of the Simpsons changed television in America forever. Are you a Simpsons fan?

[Sarah Foster]

I am a Simpsons fan. It's hard not to be.

[Scarlet Fu]

It's amazing how people are or they're not.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Are you not a Simpson?

[HomeServe Advertiser]

Oh, no.

[Scarlet Fu]

I'm a huge fan.

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Okay.

[Scarlet Fu]

I think the craft there. I could go on all day about this, but, you know, I mean, I think it's interesting. I was looking, looking up Homer and they thought on AI they thought I wanted Homer Simpson and they would be right.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

That's what I picked. Who's our favorite Simpsons character?

[Scarlet Fu]

I, I. You could go all day about it. I think I like the soccer ones. We do the, we do the football ones and the soccer. I mean, it's great. And I think you could do both. Frankie. The heart of the matter is you can do Homer Simpson and Homer from a few years ago. Odyssey as well.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Homer Simpson is most people's favorite character. Mine is kind of a tangential because it's a world building exercise. The Simpsons. I liked Patty and Selma, Marge's older sisters. Dmv. Yeah. And there they are at Orlando Universal. The expression is priceless.

[Optum Healthcare Narrator]

Tom.

[Scarlet Fu]

They look like we're in. We're in the Bloomberg money planning meeting Tuesday. That's what it. That's what it looks like.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Sarah, do you have a favorite Simpsons character?

[Sarah Foster]

Definitely Lisa. Oh, I identify with Lisa.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

She's ahead of her time.

[Sarah Foster]

Very similar to her.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Lisa, by the way, predicted that Donald Trump would become president toward the Simpsons. Did overall. So, you know, there's a lot of truth telling in the Simpsons. Sarah Foster. Thank you.

[Lisa Mateo]

Thank you.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Bloomberg money reporter Sarah Foster. And for the latest reviews and recommendations from Bloomberg, subscribe to the on books newsletter.

[Scarlet Fu]

Welcome back to celebrity load Star zone. It's Tom Keene with Scarlet Fu. We've been talking about some of the people that like to listen to us on radio. Scarlet in the morning. And myself as well. And of course, here on television. And it's just sort of like humbling. Like they. They want to know about economics, finance, personal finance, and also wealth management. It's all.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

You get a lot of people emailing you out of the blue who, like, I what's great?

[Scarlet Fu]

One day I'm a JFK K and I'm by the luggage ramp next to this girl, and everyone's looking at me. And then I figured out they weren't looking at me. I'm standing where this. This woman. And everybody's like, you know, that it's Emily Blunt. And I was the only one in the terminal who didn't know who she was.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Oh, my gosh. All right, well, there you go. Maybe you'll see Emily Blunt this weekend. Maybe you'll see, you know, another celebrity like Matt Damon this weekend. Let's look ahead to the weekend and to next week. Bloomberg. This weekend's Lisa Mateo joins us now in studio. What do you have your eye on?

[Lisa Mateo]

Yeah, we're looking at Comic Con. Okay. This is. Yeah, this is the nation.

[Scarlet Fu]

Emily Blunt will be there.

[Lisa Mateo]

Emily, no, think she'll be there. But some of your favorite, maybe a Chris Hemworth, maybe whoever. But you have all these folks. Okay, so we're not just talking comics, right. We're talking tv. We're talking gaming. Gaming is huge for these. You have all these people dressed up. Cosplay is, of course, a big thing for it. So they're coming out and they're going to this. It started yesterday in preview. So the big day is today through Sunday. So it's a big thing. Tickets are like, you know, about 85 bucks or so. But the thing is, they sell out. So now on the secondary market, they're going anywhere from 500 to like a thousand.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Secondary market.

[Lisa Mateo]

So it's. It's a big problem. But it's also good for. For downtown San Diego. They're going to get a big boost economic there. People going to restaurants everywhere for the parties in the area.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Did you say John Cena was going to be there? I heard a rumor.

[Scarlet Fu]

I saw. I heard a.

[Lisa Mateo]

You think, you think.

[Scarlet Fu]

I think. Here is a list for San Diego. It's a. It's a big thing. I mean, San Diego is the biggest one, right?

[Lisa Mateo]

It is the biggest one. I've been to the New York one. I've covered it a number of times. There may or may not have been a Wonder Woman costume involved, but it is a good time and it's good to see. Not just. It's not just kids, it's the adults who come out to it. So it's a good time.

[Scarlet Fu]

We just talked about education on the show Bloomberg Money. And I know, Lisa, you've been through the gauntlet of education here in the last 12 months. What was the biggest surprise? Getting a cherub on the path to college?

[Lisa Mateo]

I think the biggest surprise was just how much it was going to cost. I mean, the cost of it was ridiculous. And looking at the number of scholarships, like doing all the research into that and then finding, you know, having the talk with your kid, like, here's the reality, here's where you want to go, here's where we can go. And I think that is the toughest conversation, but it's to be had. Yeah, most definitely.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

All right. We also have earnings and I know we've talked a lot about the hyperscaler results, but there's a bunch of companies that are going to tell us how the consumer is doing, of course.

[Lisa Mateo]

And that's why we want to look to the consumer ones, because the big list would be too much to get into. So if you start with Tuesday, we start with Coca Cola and then we go to Visa. So that's for Tuesday. If we go to Wednesday, Procter and Gamble, we have Microsoft and Meta as well. Thursday, we have MasterCard, Apple, Amazon, Friday Co, Colgate, Palmolive, Chevron and Exxon.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

So two big oil, Chevron, Exxon, they're raking it in right now with oil prices the way they've been.

[Scarlet Fu]

They got to be in refinery products as well. To me, actually inside baseball, the theme here this week of refinery products up is the story for next week.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

Well, we will. I mean, especially with Bloomberg Money up

[Public.com Advertiser]

and up and up.

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

No, it's actually squarely in the heart of Bloomberg Money with oil prices where they are. Lisa, thank you so much. Lisa Mateo, I, of course, on Bloomberg this weekend, every Saturday and Sunday morning starting at 7am Eastern time. That does it for Bloomberg Money. This is Bloomberg. Get a drink of our choice.

[Lisa Mateo]

Yeah, I heard about that.

[Parent Interviewee]

You had to have.

[Tom Keene]

This is the Bloomberg Money podcast, bringing you a smart look at the forces shaping your financial life. I'm Todd. Tom Keene with Scarlet Fu. You can watch the show live on Bloomberg TV every Friday at noon, Wall street time. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. And as always, on the Bloomberg Terminal and the Bloomberg business app,

[Co-Host (Possibly Jonathan Ferro)]

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[Scarlet Fu]

It's called football.

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[Scarlet Fu]

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[Scarlet Fu]

Yeah, fully.

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[Scarlet Fu]

Don't ruin it.

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