Podcast Summary: Your Money Minute – "Bullish In 2026" (January 5, 2026)

Main Theme

This episode explores the ongoing bullish sentiment in the U.S. stock market as 2026 begins. Host Jessica Ettinger gathers expert opinions on market performance, discusses investor optimism despite slightly lower-than-recent gains, and highlights the resilience of the economy and consumers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stock Market Performance Recap

• [00:00] Jessica Ettinger notes that the market delivered “a little more than 16% gain in the S&P 500 index for the full year of 25,” which, although below the over 20% gains seen in 2023 and 2024, is still a strong result.
  • Quote: “Some were disappointed with a little more than 16% gain in the S&P 500 index for the full year of 25… But 16% is still solid and a lot of people are looking for even more in 2026.” (Jessica Ettinger, 00:07)

2. Expert Outlook: Strong Market Optimism

• [00:28] Jim Leventhal from Saraty Partners expresses extreme bullishness.
  • Quote: "We're very incredibly bullish. We're seeing a lot of bull breakouts.” (Jim Leventhal, 00:28)
  • Quote: “Extreme bullish sentiment here.” (Jim Leventhal, 00:34)
• [00:35] He explains the lack of bearishness in the market:
  • Quote: “You got to come up with something out of left field to become bearish… I don't like to do that sort of thing of roll the dice and just see, hey, maybe I'll be right if I call for a recession. And I think nobody else does either, which is why nobody's bearish.” (Jim Leventhal, 00:38)

3. Market Resilience: Tariffs, Labor, and the Consumer

• [00:53] Jessica Ettinger summarizes investor sentiment: "The markets have handled the tariffs well and the labor market may be slowing, but it's not collapsing. And consumers are still spending."
• [01:01] Dan Greenhouse (Solace Alternatives) challenges the narrative of a collapsing consumer base:
  • Quote: “There's people who talk about things that I don't think are accurate like the consumer's rolling over. And I keep hearing from companies time and time and time again, we had to raise prices a little bit. We saw no pushback. Yeah, there's pockets of weakness, obviously. But on balance, I think the economy is doing fine. I think the market's doing fine. And until something happens to tell me otherwise, I don't know why you would be bearish.” (Dan Greenhouse, 01:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We're very incredibly bullish. We're seeing a lot of bull breakouts.”
  (Jim Leventhal, 00:28)
• “You got to come up with something out of left field to become bearish... nobody's bearish.”
  (Jim Leventhal, 00:38)
• "I keep hearing from companies time and time and time again, we had to raise prices a little bit. We saw no pushback. Yeah, there's pockets of weakness, obviously. But on balance, I think the economy is doing fine."
  (Dan Greenhouse, 01:01)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – Summary of recent S&P 500 performance and investor sentiment
• 00:28 – Jim Leventhal discusses reasons for bullish market sentiment
• 00:53 – Jessica Ettinger on market resilience and consumer spending
• 01:01 – Dan Greenhouse expands on consumer and market resilience

Tone & Takeaway

The episode is upbeat and bright, mirroring the prevailing optimism among investors and analysts. Both experts emphasize the lack of reasons to be bearish, the continued strength of the consumer, and the adaptability of markets to recent economic challenges. The consensus: maintain a bullish outlook for 2026 unless significant negative surprises emerge.

For further updates and analysis, listeners are encouraged to visit CNNBC.com.